Motorway redesignation Phase #2 released

BluntGuy

Well, I can only say that the DoT road policy spokesman is very helpful and you should certainly consider ringing the DoT if you require clarification on any issues relating to the redesignation.

The speed, and detail of the e-mail which I received were far superior to usual responses I obtain.

And yes, at least now we know exactly what is going on. From this point on, it's simply back to the waiting game as you said. :-)

The other project I'm keeping a close eye on is the motorway service areas.

turgon

Just a comment there as regards comfortable speed limits. Is it sufficient that you should only be able to go 120, because so many people will inevitably break the limit?

From my own experience the motorway from Athlone to Dublin is very safe at 180km/hr. And no, I wasnt driving.

BluntGuy

Ack!

Here I was expecting some news at last... lol

Oh well... may as well tell you that I rang the DoT two weeks ago, they replied back to me last week in an e-mail, and basically, the plan is to have the tranche done by the summer.

KevR

What would the situation be with the Athlone-Ballinalsoe section of N/M6 if it opens before the redesignation? It's already signposted blue at both ends.

Would they leave the blue signs but have a 100kmh limit?
Or would it be blue signs with 120kmh, although it wouldn't technically be a motorway?
They'd hardly have to remove the blue signs and put up green ones; and then put back up blue ones when the redesignation goes through would they?

murphaph

KevR wrote: »

What would the situation be with the Athlone-Ballinalsoe section of N/M6 if it opens before the redesignation? It's already signposted blue at both ends.

Would they leave the blue signs but have a 100kmh limit?
Or would it be blue signs with 120kmh, although it wouldn't technically be a motorway?
They'd hardly have to remove the blue signs and put up green ones; and then put back up blue ones when the redesignation goes through would they?

Blue signposts with 100 limit until redesignation goes through, exactly as happened on Carlow Bypass.

Chris_533976

I too saw this thread and said OMG UPDATE

What seems to be happening is that someone bumps this thread and the usual crowd of about four of us are on it within hours

Amtmann

Ok. When the news that redesignation has been approved finally does come, let's agree to start a new thread to talk about it.

KevR

KevR wrote: »

What would the situation be with the Athlone-Ballinalsoe section of N/M6 if it opens before the redesignation? It's already signposted blue at both ends.

Would they leave the blue signs but have a 100kmh limit?
Or would it be blue signs with 120kmh, although it wouldn't technically be a motorway?
They'd hardly have to remove the blue signs and put up green ones; and then put back up blue ones when the redesignation goes through would they?

Work on erecting new signs on the Athlone bypass started today, A large number of poles were erected during the day. There are already a couple of Blue signs around the Tuam road junction.

BluntGuy

I e-mailed the DoT again, and got back a quick response.

Without going into the specifics of the e-mail, here's what I was told:

All the papers in relation to the redesignation are to be put before the minister this week.

It is then up to him to decide which sections will get redesignated.

There is no time limit for this.

Once the minister has made the decision, things become straight-forward and the same process as last time will happen.

Again, if you want to hear it for yourself, the numbers and e-mail addresses are on the transport.ie website. But you really aren't going to get much more than this, the man told me he couldn't be any more specific, which is understandable.

Also, kudos to him for actually giving me answer. So many people I've e-mailed dance around the point and give me rubbish, but at least he genuinely made an effort.

Anyway, that's the beside the point. The point is we now know that before the week is up the minister will have the relevant paperwork in front of him that will allow him to make a decision. While any decision before June 5th is highly unlikely, we should at last see some movement on this in late June or early July.

KevR

Hopefully we'll have a decision before the Athlone-Ballinasloe section of M6 opens!

Tech3

Thanks BluntGuy, I take it the NRA are basically giving him the routes which they say are suitable for redesignation and he will sign and confirm. Its what seems to be the case if its taking this long for him to actually be given the documents?

BluntGuy

tech2 wrote: »

Thanks BluntGuy, I take it the NRA are basically giving him the routes which they say are suitable for redesignation and he will confirm. Its what seems to be the case if its taking him this long for him to actually look at the documents?

To be honest, I thought he'd already seen the paperwork and was already pondering the decision.

To find out that he'll only be getting the paperwork this week is disheartening to say the least, but on the other hand, at least we know what stage things are at.

And don't forget, even when he's made a decision - it still takes a good two or three weeks to prepare the instrunment.

Tech3

BluntGuy wrote: »

To be honest, I thought he'd already seen the paperwork and was already pondering the decision.

To find out that he'll only be getting the paperwork this week is disheartening to say the least, but on the other hand, at least we know what stage things are at.

And don't forget, even when he's made a decision - it still takes a good two or three weeks to prepare the instrunment.

Yeah it really is disheartening. The waiting game continues.....

The new signage poles will be gone by the time these route get redesignated :mad:

BluntGuy

tech2 wrote: »

The new signage poles will be gone by the time these route get redesignated :mad:

Don't talk. One of the new "end of motorway" poles at J18 of the N8 near Glanmire has already been bent out of shape by a car clattering into it.

Zoney

tech2 wrote: »

Yeah it really is disheartening. The waiting game continues.....

The new signage poles will be gone by the time these route get redesignated :mad:

They've only just finished installing them on the N20 in Limerick. I wouldn't get too despondant yet!

Looks like it's probably seen as better to do this after the locals than before - maybe they're more worried about local objectors to motorways than locals enthusiastic about them.

Chris_533976

The ones on the Ennis bypass are getting fantastic use for election poster spam.

dmeehan

Chris_533976 wrote: »

The ones on the Ennis bypass are getting fantastic use for election poster spam.

"election poster spam" lol
todays phrase of the day

emfifty

phase 2 redesignations all approved with the exception of athlone bypass which is still under consideration.

effective aug 30th.

article in today's irish times.

Irish and Proud

cherrypicker555 wrote: »

I have driven all over Europe, about 250k on Irish and UK roads and about a dozen EU countries.

In terms of safety, poor lighting, poor road services, being done on the cheap, the rep wins first prize.

I drove on the M50 about 12months after it opened it had pot holes i9n places, ffs.

Had been on the M50 many a time and in actual fact, the surface had generally held up very well for a long time - there were a few depressions alright, but in any case, it's not that Britain is so perfect. Hadn't been there for a long time, but I can recall a disgraceful section of the M54 heading towards Birmingham, as well as a couple of howlers on the M42 and M40 motorways, where there was inexcusable subsidence (and I mean subsidence) in 3 places. Also, some stretches of DC were as bumpy as hell!

…and what about in inexcusable lack of a motorway link from Manchester towards London - that's unforgivable mate! – not to mention the length of time in constructing a motorway to Glasgow. Also, where’s the motorway from London to Newcastle? …and, if you still insist on knocking Ireland - Britain (in my mind) could do with a little motivation in terms of getting things done. In a very short period, we'll have almost half the British total of motorways here - like our population is 1/15th the size of Britain's!

By comparison to Ireland per capita, Britain would seem quite lazy! I'm not here to blow about the wonders of Ireland, but I'll certainly not have anyone running it down - how dare you! - …and if you're British, maybe you're just jealous and wish you were Irish!

Come on Ireland!!! :cool::cool::cool:

Chris_533976

Problem with Britain is that its the world leader in climate change and green hoop-la and motorways are seen as being the most evil things in the world. Apparently everyone is supposed to take trains.

Simple truth is that the political will isnt there and the climate lobby are WAY too strong there.

Irish and Proud

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Problem with Britain is that its the world leader in climate change and green hoop-la and motorways are seen as being the most evil things in the world. Apparently everyone is supposed to take trains.

Simple truth is that the political will isnt there and the climate lobby are WAY too strong there.

...and what really annoys me about this climate stuff is that as per usual, it's the ordinary punter in his/her car that is blamed. There is nothing about the shear energy waste created by the practice of Built-in Obsolescence! If our goods lasted longer, less would need to be produced (thereby cutting CO2 emissions). If jobs go as a result, we could all work less hours and spread out the employment - sure if goods last longer, then we'd need less money to maintain our lifestyles anyway!

Regards!

Carawaystick

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Apparently everyone is supposed to take trains.

Well if they're good enough for Betty Windsor.....

bmaxi

Irish and Proud wrote: »

...and what really annoys me about this climate stuff is that as per usual, it's the ordinary punter in his/her car that is blamed. There is nothing about the shear energy waste created by the practice of Built-in Obsolescence! If our goods lasted longer, less would need to be produced (thereby cutting CO2 emissions). If jobs go as a result, we could all work less hours and spread out the employment - sure if goods last longer, then we'd need less money to maintain our lifestyles anyway!

Regards!

Did I not read that cattle farting causes more Co2, along with methane, than the motor car?
I also remember from my geography, that the eruption of the volcano Krakatoa, near Indonesia, caused more air pollution than the internal combustion engine has caused in it's entire history.
I suppose we can only control certain things. There's not a lot we can do about flatulent cows and we can't plug volcanoes but we can build leaner cars and burn less fossil fuels.

SeanW

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Problem with Britain is that its the world leader in climate change and green hoop-la and motorways are seen as being the most evil things in the world. Apparently everyone is supposed to take trains.

Simple truth is that the political will isnt there and the climate lobby are WAY too strong there.

Yeah, the U.K. has a silly amount of long distance dual carriageways >_<

D'Peoples Voice

bmaxi wrote: »

Did I not read that cattle farting causes more Co2, along with methane, than the motor car?

No I believe its the chomping of the grass that causes CO2, how I have no idea

KevR

D'Peoples Voice wrote: »

No I believe its the chomping of the grass that causes CO2, how I have no idea

Similar to cutting down trees?? Just a guess.

bmaxi

D'Peoples Voice wrote: »

No I believe its the chomping of the grass that causes CO2, how I have no idea

Given that grass breathes CO2, perhaps it's the overall reduction in the global volume of grass, caused by cattle.
Either way, it's them f*ckin cows that's to blame. :mad:

NFD100

BluntGuy wrote: »

Don't talk. One of the new "end of motorway" poles at J18 of the N8 near Glanmire has already been bent out of shape by a car clattering into it.

There are anti collission poles available that stop that carry on...... Bit of foresight is all that is needed. Wonder how long that will take to fix?:rolleyes:

L1011

NFD100 wrote: »

There are anti collission poles available that stop that carry on...... Bit of foresight is all that is needed. Wonder how long that will take to fix?:rolleyes:

They don't stop signs from getting damaged! They cause the sign supports to basically fold away - one of the few week old signs on the M4 has been smashed already and its concertinaed away from the impact.