M9 - Waterford motorway construction updates

patrickc

mackerski wrote: »

So don't overtake at those sections. You may only overtake where both the markings allow it _and_ it is safe to do so.

I won't but don't want to meet the idiot coming against me who is..

wellboy76

Right,

From the Granny roundabout to the M9/M7 merge took me 55 minutes today. 15 minutes to junction 8 (kilkenny) for the same roundabout!!!. (Imagine that a few months ago. They will be able to get to work here quicker now!!) Took 28 mins to the Carlow exit.

I left at 9.30 this morning and was on the Westmeath/Longford border at 11.30!!!!

So I did it like the anorak that I am on the iphone stopwatch from the M7/M9 merge on the way back (sorry couldnt do it from the red cow as I was coming from Mullingar);

Merge to Exit 2 Kilcullen - 2.51min
Exit 2 to 3 Athy/Moone - 8.18
Exit 3 to 4 Carlow - 5.43
Exit 4 to 5 Carlow/Rosslare/Bunclody - 5.31
Exit 5 to 6 Leighlinbridge/Bagenalstown - 3.14
Exit 6 to 7 Paulstown/Gowran - 5.39
Exit 7 to 8 kilkenny - 4.10
Exit 8 to 9 Stoneyford - 4.26
Exit 9 to 10 Knocktopher - 4.46
Exit 10 to 11 Vegas - 5.21
Exit 11 to 12 THE DEISE - 5.21

Total time 56.56

Used to take that to just get to kilkenny a year ago.

It really does make everywhere on the route very accessible and if you travel as part of your career it does open up business opportunities that you may not have thought of before because it takes such a short time to get places now

The main gripe I have with the road is that if you want to go south on the merge with the M7 you have to go north to the Mondello exit and double back.

Oh and would them clowns ever take them flags down off the bridges. The bloody colour of them, looks like they were soaked in shyte and puke!!

Bol_Whelan

I had the misfortune of having to drive from Letterkenny to Waterford yesterday evening. This took 5 hours on the button. If it were not for the M9 I may have been looking at a 7 hour trip.

I timed the journey from the start of the M50 near the airport to Waterford and this took just over 1 hour and 50 minutes. This was at peak time (6pm) and I had to endure the usual crawl at the N7 interchange and a another slow crawl past an accident outside Kill also on the N7. Beyond this it was a charm and very welcoming especially on a long journey.

One thing I noticed was a couple of kids on one of the flyovers just outside Paulstown. They did appear to be just looking at the traffic, but it does make you worry as you pass underneath them.

The guards were also positioned on another fly over just outside the N10 turnoff. Is there not more dangerous roads that could benefit from speed checks ? Easy pickings.

Jayuu

Bol_Whelan wrote: »

The guards were also positioned on another fly over just outside the N10 turnoff. Is there not more dangerous roads that could benefit from speed checks ? Easy pickings.

I think that they tend to do this when a motorway section first opens to try and discourage people from suddenly going a lot faster on the new section of road. Once word spreads that they are there people tend to be a bit more cautious, at which point they then seem to go back to the other places.

I've noticed this happening on practically all of the M9 sections as they opened so its probably a policy decision to do this on new sections of motorway.

wellboy76

Jayuu wrote: »

I think that they tend to do this when a motorway section first opens to try and discourage people from suddenly going a lot faster on the new section of road. Once word spreads that they are there people tend to be a bit more cautious, at which point they then seem to go back to the other places.

I've noticed this happening on practically all of the M9 sections as they opened so its probably a policy decision to do this on new sections of motorway.

Nah, i'd say it is just shooting fish in the barrel

JohnC.

When there's dickheads doing 200kmh on it, maybe they do have a point being there.

Dummy

Kahless wrote: »

When there's dickheads doing 200kmh on it, maybe they do have a point being there.

Hang on !!! They are already there doing 200 KMPH !! As well as :

- The idiots that cruise on the over-taking lane.
- The ones that fail to indicate.
- The fools that join the motorway, and cross straight over to the over-taking lane, when there is no need to.
- The same fools that cross from the over-taking lane, across the inside lane onto an off-ramp.
- The ones that drive at 60 or 80KMPH on the motorway.

I welcome the Garda being on every bridge on every motorway in Ireland, dishing out penalty points to beat the band. It will probably be the only way that some people will learn how to drive safely on a motorway.

Jayuu

wellboy76 wrote: »

Nah, i'd say it is just shooting fish in the barrel

They're only going to catch those fish who are doing excessive speed. A motorway is not a licence to go at whatever speed you want.

I tend to cruise in and around 120-130kmh. I may go a little faster to overtake but I reckon once you are doing this speed you're not going to get caught. And if you doing much faster then in my opinion you deserve to get caught.

frankie2shoes

Dummy wrote: »

Hang on !!! They are already there doing 200 KMPH !! As well as :

- The idiots that cruise on the over-taking lane.
- The ones that fail to indicate.
- The fools that join the motorway, and cross straight over to the over-taking lane, when there is no need to.
- The same fools that cross from the over-taking lane, across the inside lane onto an off-ramp.
- The ones that drive at 60 or 80KMPH on the motorway.

I welcome the Garda being on every bridge on every motorway in Ireland, dishing out penalty points to beat the band. It will probably be the only way that some people will learn how to drive safely on a motorway.

the big problem here is in education. the driving test system makes no mention of correct motorway driving. Am over in germany at the moment and the way they drive on the autobahn is commendable. but then they are taught to do that during their driver training!!!
i know its not rocket science but the level of ignorance in ireland is outstanding. i've lost count of how many times i've come across people hogging the fast lane. a reminding flash of the lights or a little honk on the horn and still they stay there. When all patience is lost and i overtake the numpties on the inside, i occasionally glance across. the expression on their face?- oblivious, completely oblivious. I'm forced to break the law 'cos they can't follow it.
<rant ends>

tramor

bemak wrote: »

anyone timed a full length trip yet from waterford to red cow etc

From Waterford roundabout to Newlands cross (takes out the variance on the timing the traffic lights there introduce)
Did it in 1 hour 15 minutes today. Was about 10 mph above the speed limit all the way. A bit bold I know!!

Did it in 1 hour 22 minutes on Friday, sticking to the speed limits a bit more closely.

Both results are better than I had hoped for or expected.

who_am_I?

frankie2shoes wrote: »

the big problem here is in education. the driving test system makes no mention of correct motorway driving. Am over in germany at the moment and the way they drive on the autobahn is commendable. but then they are taught to do that during their driver training!!!
i know its not rocket science but the level of ignorance in ireland is outstanding. i've lost count of how many times i've come across people hogging the fast lane. a reminding flash of the lights or a little honk on the horn and still they stay there. When all patience is lost and i overtake the numpties on the inside, i occasionally glance across. the expression on their face?- oblivious, completely oblivious. I'm forced to break the law 'cos they can't follow it.
<rant ends>

the worst numpty is the one who sits in the OT lane on an empty road. You approach them in the driving lane, Pull into the OT lane, Flash the lights, They pull over (eventually), You overtake and pull back into the driving lane and they return to the OT lane!!, I meet this 3-4 times a week

Amtmann

frankie2shoes wrote: »

Am over in germany at the moment and the way they drive on the autobahn is commendable.

I generally agree with you, but on the Autobahns there's no margin for error at all because the roads are generally full and fast. You have to get it right. That said, there is a serious issue with tailgating in Germany.

Ideally we'd have a speed limit of 150km/h on most of our motorways, but the standard of driving would have to improve hugely first, and we'd have to get tractors etc. off them. But we're kinda drifting off topic here I have to admit.

wellboy76

Jayuu wrote: »

They're only going to catch those fish who are doing excessive speed. A motorway is not a licence to go at whatever speed you want.

I tend to cruise in and around 120-130kmh. I may go a little faster to overtake but I reckon once you are doing this speed you're not going to get caught. And if you doing much faster then in my opinion you deserve to get caught.

I agree, its pretty much the speed I stick too also but my point about the Guards is that I'd much rather see them catch the likes of the twin cam clowns in my area of Tramore for example who use the ring road as a race track and have a penchant for donuts.

Practically any N or decent R road will have circular tyre marks at any straight and wide point

sk8board

tramor wrote: »

From Waterford roundabout to Newlands cross (takes out the variance on the timing the traffic lights there introduce)
Did it in 1 hour 15 minutes today.

Did it in 1 hour 22 minutes on Friday, sticking to the speed limits a bit more closely.

how long would the same journey have taken when the M9 was only a pipe-dream?

Bards

sk8board wrote: »

how long would the same journey have taken when the M9 was only a pipe-dream?

about 2:30 and up to 3 hours on a Friday afternoon

sk8board

Bards wrote: »

about 2:30 and up to 3 hours on a Friday afternoon

great! so not only does it halve the journey time, make Dublin more accessible, but its a much more comfortable drive too.

about time ...

Mr Clonfadda

Dummy wrote: »

Hang on !!! They are already there doing 200 KMPH !! As well as :

- The idiots that cruise on the over-taking lane.
- The ones that fail to indicate.
- The fools that join the motorway, and cross straight over to the over-taking lane, when there is no need to.
- The same fools that cross from the over-taking lane, across the inside lane onto an off-ramp.
- The ones that drive at 60 or 80KMPH on the motorway.

I welcome the Garda being on every bridge on every motorway in Ireland, dishing out penalty points to beat the band. It will probably be the only way that some people will learn how to drive safely on a motorway.

Have to add to the list, was of New N10 inbound to Kilkenny on Sunday and some idiot overtook on the car in front, on the Hard Shoulder (probably didn't realise it was only single carriage way) However much to my Satisfaction he scratched his car on the Crash Barrier!!

bemak

was delighted to get a run on the new motorway this weekend. went saturday morning from waterford to heuston and made it in 1:30 and that was just cruising at 100kmph at times. just a pleasure to drive.

medoc

Was down in Waterford and just wanted to say it is a fabulous road. Took about 50 mins from the Nass exit onto the M7 to the Bridge in Waterford city. It was quite on the road but it was early afternoon. I was heading home to Tullamore and usually headed up through Carlow but decided to stay on the motorway the whole way up, much nicer drive home than usual. Its a pity to have to exit at Kilcullen to go to the Newbridge exit to get onto the M7 (Stupid M7/M9 junction:mad:).

Also Many thanks to all who posted updates and pictures I followed them with interest. ( Roll on Birdhill to Limerick)

spacetweek

AngryLips wrote: »

I'm not arguing with that. My point is that these two benefits could have been achieved without having to construct a road that is way over capacity.

No, they could not - not futureproofed anyway. Messing about with online upgrades/single carriageway bits/roundabouts would have improved conditions only temporarily in the long run. Within a decade we'd be back to the road studying how it could be improved again.

With this M9 motorway we pretty much never have to touch the route again. Ever.

Empire o de Sun

frankie2shoes wrote: »

the big problem here is in education. the driving test system makes no mention of correct motorway driving. Am over in germany at the moment and the way they drive on the autobahn is commendable. but then they are taught to do that during their driver training!!!
i know its not rocket science but the level of ignorance in ireland is outstanding. i've lost count of how many times i've come across people hogging the fast lane. a reminding flash of the lights or a little honk on the horn and still they stay there. When all patience is lost and i overtake the numpties on the inside, i occasionally glance across. the expression on their face?- oblivious, completely oblivious. I'm forced to break the law 'cos they can't follow it.
<rant ends>

In Germany you can only learn to drive with a driving school and they have to teach you to drive on the Autobahn. Also the Police are pretty strict about enforcing the rules on the Autobahn although tailgating is a problem as said by Furet.

Driving on the Left lane (Right in Ireland) when the other lane is free is a big no no. People think you look like an idiot doing it,and will tell you if they are in the car with you . I think the rule is that you have 20 seconds to pull over into the next free lane on the right (left for ireland) when there is no traffic in it, after that the Police can pull you over.

Dummy

Mr Clonfadda wrote: »

However much to my Satisfaction he scratched his car on the Crash Barrier!!

What a very strange thing to say.

You should have been more satisfied that everyone got home safely. That was somebody's son or daughter. Maybe even some child's mother or father.

Three people lost their lives on the roads in Limerick last night.

nordydan

1h30 mins from Athenaeum Hotel, Waterford City to Milltown, Dublin this evening, or 1h15 from the end of the M9 to the N81/M50 junction, doing nothing silly.

Excellent road


Btw I am not sure if it is my Garmin, but the OSM upload from here seems not to have continuous carriageways under the M9 junctions. Is this a OSM error or just that site?

murphaph

Empire o de Sun wrote: »

Driving on the Left lane (Right in Ireland) when the other lane is free is a big no no. People think you look like an idiot doing it,and will tell you if they are in the car with you . I think the rule is that you have 20 seconds to pull over into the next free lane on the right (left for ireland) when there is no traffic in it, after that the Police can pull you over.

And if you are actually overtaking something you MUST travel at least 10km/h faster than the vehicle you are overtaking, so as not to cause undue delay to those behind. The cops will pull you for this as well. They don't just sit on bridges doing speed checks all day and call it "road safety".

Mr Clonfadda

Dummy wrote: »

What a very strange thing to say.

You should have been more satisfied that everyone got home safely. That was somebody's son or daughter. Maybe even some child's mother or father.

Three people lost their lives on the roads in Limerick last night.

Hi Dummy

my point was that yes they didn't cause an accident thank goodness because i was behind them but that hopefully he has learnt a lesson not to overtake on the inside.

hope that explains

frankie2shoes

murphaph wrote: »

And if you are actually overtaking something you MUST travel at least 10km/h faster than the vehicle you are overtaking, so as not to cause undue delay to those behind. The cops will pull you for this as well. They don't just sit on bridges doing speed checks all day and call it "road safety".

exactly right. speed traps on a motorway are just a money maker. doing 140kph on the motorway is not as dangerous as hogging the fast lane, not signalling correctly, or crossing multiple lanes at speed to get to the exit!!

back on topic. Am back home on friday, can't wait to drive the new road. living in danesfort, this road is going to change my life. gone are the 2-3 drives to dublin. looking at the posts here, looks like i could be in dublin airport in 1hr 10.
deadly!!!

Jayuu

frankie2shoes wrote: »

exactly right. speed traps on a motorway are just a money maker.

I completely disagree with this.

Its not the people doing 130-140kph that I worry about. As I have said I tend to cruise in and around this speed and I reckon a lot of people do as well from what I have experienced. However even at that speed I still have been overtaken by cars as if I'm going backwards. It's happened to me on three different motorways in the last four days!

I've even seen people fly past me on the M50 when I'm doing around 120kph (technically 20kph over the limit).

There is a section of our driving population who have no respect at all for speed and other road users and just because a motorway practically eliminates the head-on collision factor it doesn't mean that all risks are eliminated. Yes, I agree the guards need to be monitoring smaller roads as well and more ofthen, but the motorways should not be considered a speed trap free area.

Sorry to go off topic here. Maybe we need a dedicated thread for this discussion.

mackerski

nordydan wrote: »

Btw I am not sure if it is my Garmin, but the OSM upload from here seems not to have continuous carriageways under the M9 junctions. Is this a OSM error or just that site?

Prior to the opening of the road, OSM had benefitted from some sneaky surveys, at a time when there was not yet any separation evident in the N10 spur (sob) as it passed under the M9 mainline (I assume that's the location you mean). This was corrected on the map yesterday, and should filter down to published Garmin maps soon enough, depending how frequently they are generated.

Is there any other location where you don't see what you would expect?

frankie2shoes

Jayuu wrote: »

I completely disagree with this.

Its not the people doing 130-140kph that I worry about. As I have said I tend to cruise in and around this speed and I reckon a lot of people do as well from what I have experienced. However even at that speed I still have been overtaken by cars as if I'm going backwards. It's happened to me on three different motorways in the last four days!

I've even seen people fly past me on the M50 when I'm doing around 120kph (technically 20kph over the limit).

There is a section of our driving population who have no respect at all for speed and other road users and just because a motorway practically eliminates the head-on collision factor it doesn't mean that all risks are eliminated. Yes, I agree the guards need to be monitoring smaller roads as well and more ofthen, but the motorways should not be considered a speed trap free area.

Sorry to go off topic here. Maybe we need a dedicated thread for this discussion.

Good point well presented. I drive much like yourself it appears (115 to 140 kph max), but we're the ones who'll be paying the fines and getting the points for slipping above the speed limit!!
I also agree, maybe we do need a deeicated thread for this topic!

OBROIN

Have been driving down to West Waterford from Co. Louth on average 3 times a year for the past 20 years. The journey times ranged from 3 1/2 hrs to 6 1/2 hrs during that time. I was down in early June and this was the first time I didnt have to listen to, "This is the last time I am coming down here" from the Mrs. Heading down again tomorrow and really looking forward to driving the entire road. This road is a blessing for old guys like me.

Downloaded the OSM mentioned earlier, so am looking forward to not having to listen to "Please drive the highlighted route" or "recalculating". Happy days all round. Only found this site while googling M9 opening and glad that I did.

Thanks to all who contributed and the OSM contributers for mapping the route.

Regards,
OBROIN.