M6 - Ballinasloe to Galway

cjpm

Altreab wrote: »

Better stay upwind of that solution
Have to say i know how kids feel waiting for Santa ....im feeling this for the opening of this motorway

Don't wish too hard in future Altreab, it might be safer for all of us!!

partypiper

anyone any idea when this road is completed what the travel time fro Athlone to Galway City will be???

?Cee?view

partypiper wrote: »

anyone any idea when this road is completed what the travel time fro Athlone to Galway City will be???

35-40 minutes?

roosterman71

Rumours of it opening with restrictions, and a manual toll being used as the toll plaza isn't ready yet

?Cee?view

Good luck to them trying to collect a toll today! They can't charge in these circumstances, especially when the road isn't fit yet to be used as a Motorway.

KevR

I think it's only opening from Galway to Loughrea today, the rest is not yet ready for an emegency opening. They might get the rest open tomorrow. Not sure what will happen with tolls during this emergency opening. I fully support them if they charge tolls, they're going out of their way to save people a lot of hassle and it will limit the amount of money that the economy loses out on because of the floods.

?Cee?view

I fully support tolls, but only when there's an alternative without tolls.

In an emergency situation such as this, the State should indemnify. Therefore, if tolls are charged which the company will likely need to do to cover their costs, then the State should pick up the tab.

...and yes, it would ultimately be us paying. It's for reasons such as this that we pay tax.

KevR

Churchview, I agree that the government should pick up the tab. But if the government aren't going to cover the costs of the construction company then I fully support them charging tolls to motorists. The construction company definitely shouldn't lose out financially, this is a very good deed on their part.

?Cee?view

Yea, I agree, altough I suspect that the construction company aren't doing this out of the goodness of their heart.

They'll have been arm twisted into it and will have sought all sorts of indemnities from the State, NRA etc.

I suspect though that the one thing that could be forgotten is who's going to pay the toll.


.....Now I've got to stop agreeing with you all the time....we need a good argument...it's getting boring...would you consider joining the Greens so we could liven things up a bit?

KevR

To be honest, there's more of a chance of a France-Ireland replay being played in my back garden than there is of me ever becoming a Green Party member. (No offence to anyone who is a green, but I won't ever be one myself).


Anyone have any further information about what time the M6 will open? AA Roadwatch are saying it will be "very soon"...

antoobrien

KevR wrote: »

I think it's only opening from Galway to Loughrea today, the rest is not yet ready for an emegency opening. They might get the rest open tomorrow. Not sure what will happen with tolls during this emergency opening. I fully support them if they charge tolls, they're going out of their way to save people a lot of hassle and it will limit the amount of money that the economy loses out on because of the floods.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/1120/floods.html

Apparently they're also trying to get the suck bridge section opened as well (no timeline mentioned)

KevR

AA Roadwatch wrote:

Galway Co. Co. have confirmed that 26kms of the M6 Dublin/Galway Rd (under construction) will open temporarily very soon, to bypass the flooding at Ballinasloe, Loughrea and Craughwell. Single Lane Traffic will be in operation and a strict speed limit of 50km per hr will apply.

So are they opening Galway-Loughrea to bypass the Craughwell flood and then just the Ballinasloe Bypass section to bypass the Ballinasloe flood?

KevR

They're hoping to get it open at 6pm. Galway-Loughrea and then Ballinasloe West-Ballinasloe East. Fair play to them for getting this done.

Apparently there is a big queue of traffic at Doughiska waiting for it to open.

antoobrien

KevR wrote: »

They're hoping to get it open at 6pm. Galway-Loughrea and then Ballinasloe West-Ballinasloe East. Fair play to them for getting this done.

Apparently there is a big queue of traffic at Doughiska waiting for it to open.

They're apparently running Garda cars down the road right now to ensure it's safe

KevR

Another update:

Galway-Loughrea not opening until possibly 9 or 10pm because they haven't finished laying the 25km of traffic cones. People who have been queueing are being told to move off the N6 . Feel really bad for them, what a nightmare!

Sponge Bob

They are the priorites and in that order KevR .

Furthermore , there is grave concern about the state of the following and they are to be restricted or closed outright for at least a week pending detailed inspection .

1. The Craughwell bridge ( down in the hole) and some culvert further west in Craughwell.
2. The Ballinasloe brdge which may be down to one line of traffic and one HGV at a time from now on
3. The Claregalway Bridge at the castle .
4. Some bridge near Moycullen on the N59 that was already subsiding but which allegedly appears to have worsened this week .
5. Some bridge way out in Connemara on the N59 or some R road just off it .

CrowdedHouse

KevR wrote: »

Another update:

Galway-Loughrea not opening until possibly 9 or 10pm because they haven't finished laying the 25km of traffic cones. People who have been queueing are being told to move off the N6 . Feel really bad for them, what a nightmare!

So they're using just one side/carriageway for both directions ?

Roryhy

http://www.nra.ie/News/PressReleases/htmltext,16918,en.html

Temporary Opening of Sections of Galway to Ballinasloe Motorway

To alleviate some of the traffic problems being experienced due to the major flooding problems occurring in Co. Galway, the National Roads Authority, together with the concession company building the new M6 Galway to Ballinasloe Motorway, have been working actively to enable the temporary opening to traffic of some sections of the uncompleted motorway.
All of the available construction resources are working on overcoming the obstacles – incomplete bridges, incomplete junctions, gaps in the road surfacing, several other construction issues – to make the road temporarily usable for traffic as quickly as possible. We are confident that a 26 km section of the motorway bypassing the badly affected Cruaghwell and Loughrea areas will be opened, with one lane of traffic in each direction, by this evening.
In addition, it is also hoped to open a 5 km section of the motorway bypassing Ballinasloe, again with one lane of traffic in each direction, this evening also.
These road sections are being opened in a temporary and incomplete condition. Road users are requested to take extra care in using these sections of road.
It is hoped that these measures will provide some assistance to the badly affected road users in this area.
We will provide specific opening times as soon as possible.

Sully

Road open from the clinic according to AA. One lane only and strict speed limit of 50km/hr

CrowdedHouse

Will be driving it later so

nilhg

Sully wrote: »

Road open from the clinic according to AA. One lane only and strict speed limit of 50km/hr

My daughter was in the first batch through last night at 10.00PM, they had a little convoy it seems, with a couple of countycouncil/contractor trucks and a squad car leading traffic towards Loughrea.

Chris_533976

Fair play to them.

Also who mapped it on OSM?

larryone

One of our more dedicated mappers =0)
I thought he was crazy to head out there under the conditions.
Nevertheless, it's a good update to have. It'll be re-tagged as construction once it closes.
We have a good few of the under-construction motorways charted, but this bit was missing.

CrowdedHouse

Well I suppose there's always one idiot
Came across to Galway this morning via the (M)6,but of course the 50kmh isn't quick enough for some people.

I was the 2nd car in our particular group,the first car was doing a steady 50 - grand.
At one part the road widened out a bit and a mr Megane came flying up the inside undertaking all the line,as the road was narrowing back again he moved in front of me.
For the next several kilometres it sat on the bumper of the car in front presumably trying to bully the car.So close and so obsessed with getting past that he didn't notice the squad car coming in the other direction and goes to undertake just as the cops had a good view.Cops swing around and pull him over - must say I enjoyed that.

All is needed is an accident caused by idiot to close this emergency help,I hope they throw the book at him.

mackerski

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Fair play to them.

Also who mapped it on OSM?

That'd be me.

mackerski

larryone wrote: »

One of our more dedicated mappers =0)
I thought he was crazy to head out there under the conditions.

The conditions were actually fine. Not a drop of rain and only one place on the old N6 with a flood extending half way across the road. I went out with the option to turn back at any time. It worked well, though.

As to retagging the road, it'll be interesting to see if it ever does close prior to full opening. Some of the reports of the bridge damage in Craughwell suggest it won't be so easy to fix in a hurry.

Chris_533976

Realistically though they can 'finish' the M6 project with traffic on it I guess, just like the Nenagh bypass. Might mean this doesnt open before Christmas but exceptional circumstances and all.

Chris_533976

BTW anyone fancy going out for the spin on the M6 to get some pics?

advise12345

There seemed to be no cops enforcing the speed limit on this stretch I only saw one squad car and that itself was flying down the road.


There were some gimps blowing their horns and trying to intimidate the drivers in front of them to speed up. I seen plenty of people trying to overtake.

At least those yellow vans with the orange lights seem to be keeping the traffic in check.

Delta Kilo

Hi guys,

Im sure lots of you are wondering how come kaizersoze doesn't have any pictures/comments of the pre-opening of the M6 motorway and/or pictures/comments about the floods in Ballinasloe.

The sad thing is is that you were probably looking at his house under water in your paper today! So he is without internet access for the immediate future!

Unfortunately his house is in one of the worse affected areas of Ballinasloe :mad: