Kilkenny M9 Link road junction with ring road....

road_high

Just wondering will the new link road tie in to the ring road be just an at-grade roundabout type thing. It seems to be coming in around the Hebron road roundabout on the new stretch of ring road (at Newpark house). Not very appealing really, considering what we already have at the present Dublin road roundabout

It doesn't seem very appealing either to me that the Hebron road will be the new main artery into the centre of town, kind of by default. Neither will give a great 1st impression of Kilkenny to my mind

Munurty

It looks like it's going to be left as is. I went digging for a plan of it and found one in the EIS. It's pretty old at this stage but probably still accurate.

M9 Link Road Map

From the map it seems that the contractors won't be touching the current junction.

Just had another look and in one of the text boxes on the map it says that the entry will be widened to 3 lanes. Not too sure how to interpret that is it 1 lane out and 2 in or 3 lanes in.

It hopefully won't be as bad for tail-backs up to the ring-road as the existing Dublin road roundabout. The Dublin road is in chaos because of the traffic that the Sign road/shops/garages etc create.

The Hebron road certainly won't be a great entrance to a tourist town (read city) like Kilkenny but on the brightside, we will have an amazing road all the way to Dublin.

Once inside the ring-road the Hebron road will probably become a disaster. The industrial estate has already been ruined. It can take 20 minutes to get out at lunch time due to the ring-road traffic. Then the turn off for Hebron Park, the roundabout at O’Loughlins, lights at McDonagh junction, the “Hilly” roundabout and the lights at the top of John Street will be subject to traffic volumes that they weren’t designed to take.

As is the case with new roads, time will tell.

jiggajt

They may not send inbound traffic in the hebron rd. They may divert them left as your coming in the new rd back to the existing dublin rd. If they dont the hebron rd will reuire some serious changes both from the point of view of junctions into the industrial estate and shops and businesses along the road.

In saying that though, are they going to change the entance to the hebron industrial estate altogether. Is the extension that currently goes under the ring rd going to end up at cilin hall?

fricatus

Don't forget that the M9 will remove an awful lot of traffic from the KK ring road.

Every truck between Waterford and Dublin has to travel on the N10 because the N9 at Thomastown can't accommodate them (at least if they obey the big signs at Paulstown and Ballyhale, that is).

Glanbia trucks from Ballyragget to the Waterford area, also a significant number, will exit left off the ring road at the Hebron roundabout so as to use the new link road and access the M9. This will take a lot of pressure off the Dublin Road roundabout.

Given all this, it probably makes sense to assess the traffic situation in KK after the new motorway opens, rather than before.

johnbk

There will be many options to comuters after the motorway opens.

However I don't think Kilkenny rush hour will be much different from what is is now as the ring road is essentially a residential commuter route. I have always felt Kilkenny is a popular place for people to live who don't work in the city. They could be working in Clonmel, Waterford (and the south of the county) or Ballyragget (north of the county).

The junction on the M9 at Dansfort is only 10 minutes max so people south of the Bennetsbridge road roundabout could always use this junction if the ring road is still busy espescially if they are going to Waterford.

Anyway where will traffic from Clonmel and Callan join the motorway, will they cut accross to Dansfort or use the ring road to gain access to the link road?

road_high

johnbk wrote: »

Anyway where will traffic from Clonmel and Callan join the motorway, will they cut accross to Dansfort or use the ring road to gain access to the link road?

Basically they are going to be taking a turnoff pastthe Cashel turnoff on the N76 and cutting cross country to Danesfort...heard murmers that the road is to be upgraded but nothin concrete. So it'll just turn to into a rat-run effectively. A lot of lorries use it already cuttin across from Bennetsbridge area

road_high

Some good pics of nthe M9/ N10 KK link road under construction here;

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30294381@N02/sets/72157607162609456/

road_high

Coming in the Carlow road last Thurs morn and traffic was back up past the fox & Goose pub. Is that normal, I don't usually be on that road at that time.

Biggest problem seemed to be flagmen on the new N10 link road giving priority to Dumper trucks working on the road. Not exactly common sense during rush hour on a busy road..:rolleyes: