M7 - Nenagh to Limerick

Tech3

Berty wrote: »

I know what the bypass looks like because it was already a bypass, just wider with temporary speed limits.

It's gonna have 120km/hr set on it from today AFAIK.

Stark

At least now you'll be able to overtake on it.

Berty

tech2 wrote: »

It's gonna have 120km/hr set on it from today AFAIK.

I wouldn't hold my breathe. They would still have works traffic around, temprary signage and many cones. 80-100kph at most I would say. It may have around 4.5kms of it at 120kph but not anywhere near the tie-ins.

Tech3

Hmm may only have 100km/hr across the Nenagh bypass with motorway restrictions:

The upgraded Nenagh bypass will also be classed as a motorway even though a 100kmph speed limit will still apply.

Link

If the max speed of 100km/hr is applied then I'm puzzled as it's built to motorway standard?

Stark

Probably because it's a short stretch sandwiched between two sections of 100km/hr road. They'll probably upgrade it to 120km/hr when the road either side is upgraded.

Berty

tech2 wrote: »

Hmm may only have 100km/hr across the Nenagh bypass with motorway restrictions:



Link

If the max speed of 100km/hr is applied then I'm puzzled as it's built to motorway standard?

Dont worry about the quality of the HQDC. It is built to the correct European standards. The M50 is also built to the same standard but it does not carry the 120kph on all sections of the motorway.

That 100kph will only be a temporary speed limit until such time as the entire motorway from Finnegans to the far side of Nenagh is open for business.

blackwarrior

Nenagh bypass is open as a motoway!!!

THis morning I drove eastwards, and, as normal, cone city.

This evening, coming home, I nearly crashed when this strange motorway opened up right in front of my eyes .... I didn't know it was opening.

What a weird experience. At first I whizzed up to 120km/h - then slowed down. After all these years doing 60-80, it didn't seem right. Clearly it will take us regular drivers some time to get used to this amazing micro-motorway.

Amazed and confused.

Berty

blackwarrior wrote: »

At first I whizzed up to 120km/h - then slowed down. After all these years doing 60-80

60-80 Yeah! :rolleyes:

Chris_533976

Pics and vids and narrated trip please

Tech3

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Pics and vids and narrated trip please

I have been told this is a fabulous stretch of motorway, will be taking a short drive from Limerick tomorrow to check it out. One problem....... no camera at the moment left it at home.

I shall write up a synopsis of the upgraded bypass afterwards

mysterious

blackwarrior wrote: »

Nenagh bypass is open as a motoway!!!

THis morning I drove eastwards, and, as normal, cone city.

This evening, coming home, I nearly crashed when this strange motorway opened up right in front of my eyes .... I didn't know it was opening.

What a weird experience. At first I whizzed up to 120km/h - then slowed down. After all these years doing 60-80, it didn't seem right. Clearly it will take us regular drivers some time to get used to this amazing micro-motorway.

Amazed and confused.

That will be a ticket and can I see your drivers licence.

its 100kmh!!!!:D

Thats not on now!:P:D

mysterious

I havent been down that way, (so I'm dieining to see it) This is so exciting to me Mainly because the whole country has been jaw dropping and thus having the hissy fit every time the M7 get's delayed and held back. now I feel like Im on crack!!!!!:D

Actually no I'm kidding, but I am rather pleased to have 7miles of "M7" opening in this decade!

Sierra Oscar

Does anyone have any pictures of the progress at the "Bog of Doom"?

brandon_flowers

Berty wrote: »

Dont worry about the quality of the HQDC. It is built to the correct European standards. The M50 is also built to the same standard but it does not carry the 120kph on all sections of the motorway.

That 100kph will only be a temporary speed limit until such time as the entire motorway from Finnegans to the far side of Nenagh near side of CityWest is open for business.

Fixed that for you..... because it seems every other section will be finished before the section starting at Finnegans will be finished.

Tech3

Just after driving the Nenagh bypass and wow it's about time. There is bits of construction signage left around the place still but it's 120km/hr! I found the drive southbound more enjoyable over the northbound section due to the carriageway being well cleaned up and some excellent scenery. The road surface is top notch also. The southern section tie in with the rest of the scheme (J26) still has a lot of work in it- railway bridge improvements and also the original bypass crash barrier hasnt even been removed. This runs for about 500m

On the rest of the scheme:

• J26 is not complete, M7 signage at the on ramps though.
• Rest area/layby north of J27 is nearly completed, ADS approaching J27 done
• Road marking and studding done on one carriageway side on most of the scheme, some wearing course and lining done on the southern section also.
• Cantilever installed approaching J28 northbound on the M7 SRR
• M7 signage at the on-ramp for J28

Note: The compact grade separated junction where J24 is being constructed is not fully accessible due to work commencing on the Nenagh to Castletown scheme. The slip for southbound out is closed.

blackwarrior

mysterious wrote: »

That will be a ticket and can I see your drivers licence.

its 100kmh!!!!:D

Thats not on now!:P:D

There were 120kph signs at the Limerick end at 7am this morning. Seems wrong though. This is flagged as a 100kph stretch when finished, and there are plenty of temporary signs and cones along the way - 120kph seems dangerous.

It was -5 deg this morning so people were taking it fairly easy in any case!

site

i dont mean to ask a stupid question but has this recession put our transport 21 plan into pause mode. If so we may not see another new road project starting for a few yrs.

murphaph

site wrote: »

i dont mean to ask a stupid question but has this recession put our transport 21 plan into pause mode. If so we may not see another new road project starting for a few yrs.

Short answer is yes. There will likely be very little on the roads front in the coming years and to be honest, it's high time the focus was on Dublin public transport in particular and publci transport in general.

mysterious

Ok, its time I said something about this, and I'm going to say it.


They found a very special archeological site at the bog of doom. This is what is really holding things up there. The money and contract isssue is a healthy meanwhile excuse to whats really there.

It's a good reason. But of course people would expect some people in authority to tell you this, rather than the constant bull**** that we are fed with.

There I said my piece on this thread. Thank god I said that.

Roryhy

mysterious wrote: »

Ok, its time I said something about this, and I'm going to say it.


They found a very special archeological site at the bog of doom. This is what is really holding things up there. The money and contract isssue is a healthy meanwhile excuse to whats really there.

It's a good reason. But of course people would expect some people in authority to tell you this, rather than the constant bull**** that we are fed with.

There I said my piece on this thread. Thank god I said that.

Do you know any more? Can the road still be built on the current alignment or is it serious enough to require it to be re-routed?

Sponge Bob

It must be Aliens , Sigourney Weaver was spotted in Shannon last week wasn't she ??

Rovi

When the archaeological people were excavating the Neolithic settlement they found in my place (M7/M8 project), I asked the person in charge how much more land they'd be taking off me to build the interpretative centre.
She visibly blanched at the thought, and quickly reassured me that the site wasn't of any particular significance and didn't merit that sort of preservation.

From what I've gathered over the years, an awful lot of the planning of these projects is devoted to avoiding sites of potential archaeological significance, and whole armies of fingers are crossed that they don't come across something utterly unknown and unexpected during the build.

Amtmann

They found over 400 skeletons on the route of the M8 just south of Cullahill. Didn't stop progress ultimately. I sincerely doubt the accuracy of your claim, mysterious. The problem would seem to be the buckling of the road deck as shown in tech2's photos upthread.

mysterious

Furet wrote: »

They found over 400 skeletons on the route of the M8 just south of Cullahill. Didn't stop progress ultimately. I sincerely doubt the accuracy of your claim, mysterious. The problem would seem to be the buckling of the road deck as shown in tech2's photos upthread.

Well I'm basing it on my gut feeling. I obviously cant prove it. But I just know someting is really off and the money and delay is just another excuse. I personally beleive they found something very significant there and its classified (like many to out there finds

If that makes sense.

One thing we can say is, anything archeoligcal or ancient will be very well preserved in the bog Strange that this spot hasnt got the "attention" in that regard

murphaph

mysterious wrote: »

Well I'm basing it on my gut feeling. I obviously cant prove it. But I just know someting is really off and the money and delay is just another excuse. I personally beleive they found something very significant there and its classified (like many to out there finds

If that makes sense.

I'm sure it makes sense to you, and that's all that matters.

Stark

My money's on a Stargate.

Wild Bill

No, all wrong. Problem is that actually they can't find the bottom. They have now probed several thousand metres and found nothing but empty peat. Very mysterious. :cool:

Chris_533976

A Stargate would be great, we could rig it up for instant trips between Limerick and Dublin. No more M7

Tech3

A recent report on the Nenagh bypass upgrade opening

New Thurles link road to open this week
(19/12/2009)

By Simon O’Duffy
The first section of the Nenagh-Limerick M7 motorway, including a new link to the Thurles road, is to open this week despite opposition from local councillors.
Project contractor Bóthar Hibernian has announced that a 7km section of the new motorway will open to traffic this Thursday, December 17. The section comprises part of Nenagh’s existing N7 bypass, which has been upgraded to motorway standard, and includes an interchange with the R498 Thurles road.
The interchange will enable traffic to join or exit the motorway at Knockalton instead of having to come through Nenagh town.
Bóthar Hibernian is advising motorists to exercise “extreme caution” on Thursday while temporary traffic management is being removed from the route. The contractor began uncovering and cleaning permanent signage on Tuesday and said centre line cones and temporary signage would be removed during Thursday.
It is expected that the 7km section will be open to traffic before 4pm on Thursday. Full motorway restrictions will apply, with a 120kmph speed limit in effect.
The section is opening ahead of the main 38km Nenagh-Limerick motorway, which is not expected to carry traffic until March or April 2010.
However members of North Tipperary Co Council this week made it clear that they do not support the manner in which the new road is being opened. Councillors have been asked to pass a Section 85 resolution, which would in effect see North Tipperary Co Council taking charge of the road. But they have been holding out on the move because they feel several outstanding issues should be addressed before the road opens. They are principally concerned that some landowners have still not been fully paid for lands acquired in the construction of the M7, and that local roads damaged during the construction phase have not been satisfactorily repaired.
Cllr Seamus Morris (SF) added that some workers involved in the project are on 90 days from invoice payments and said there is a need to ensure full payment after the M7 opens.
Cllr Morris said there are still unresolved issues regarding noise barriers and damage caused to local houses in the construction phase, while remediation works around the Five Alley remain outstanding. He said there is still a lot work to be done on the approaches to the motorway, and that councillors would need to see a safety audit report before sanctioning the road.
“All in all we are quite a long way from my support for the Section 85 and I am unimpressed by the softening up approaches being made to us in the last few weeks,” Cllr Morris said. “We are the ones that will have to pick up the pieces if we rush into taking the road in charge too quickly.”
Cllr John Carroll (FF) said many people would welcome the opening of the Thurles link road but that local councillors remain opposed to passing the Section 85 until such time as a “huge range” of issues are dealt with. He cited fencing, landscaping works at junctions, drainage works and measures to tackle illegal parking among other problems that have still not been resolved.
However Cllr Carroll said the most outstanding issue is that funding has still not been allocated to repair local roads that were damaged by trucks hauling raw material to the M7. Portroe Cross suffered extensive damage in this regard, and Cllr Carroll has called on the county council to carry out immediate repairs in the area.
“Local people have expressed serious concern that the road is in a very poor and dangerous condition and nothing is being done by the council to prevent serious injury,” he said.
Cllr Carroll said roads around Grennanstown, Ballymackey and Toomevara have also been damaged by trucks hauling material to the Nenagh-Castletown section of the M7.
At a recent council area meeting, he again pressed the local authority to work with the National Roads Authority and Bóthar Hibernian to ensure that all outstanding issues are addressed prior to the formal opening of the new motorway.
A spokesperson for Bóthar Hibernian was unable to comment on local councillors’ concerns, but said the company is presently focused on opening the new section of the M7.
North Tipperary Co Council Director of Services Marcus O’Connor said Bóthar Hibernian is fulfilling its contractual obligations to lead local authority Limerick Co Council in pressing ahead with the opening of the route. He said the local authorities have facilitated meetings with the elected members to hear their concerns and expressed confidence that the issues could be worked through.
Mr O’Connor welcomed the opening of the Thurles link road, which he said would relieve a lot of Nenagh’s traffic congestion.
Local TD Noel Coonan (FG) has also welcomed the opening of the new road.
“The opening of this section is a welcome relief and I only hope there will be no further delay on opening the remaining section,” he stated.

Link

Carawaystick

Tbh, they actually seem like reasonable reasons to hardball the contractor/nra instead of d'unbelievable stuff I was expecting a Tipp councillor to come out with.
should have been sorted out long before the road was ready to go though