M6/4 Motorway Galway to Dublin (for discussing completed sections)

I think that the best (of a bad bunch) solution would be to have an M50 style of Auxilliary lane between junctions*, not sure if it's possible to widen the bridge sufficiently to take 3 lanes (minus hard shoulder) though.

*already in plece between Cooson and Longford road junctions.

flazio

It would certainly be an idea if they could find a way to border off the hard shoulder between the Roscommon exit and the Coosan exit both ways and use that as a lane for non motorway valid vehicles to get across the shannon without hogging up half of Athlone town. I dare say you could even build a walkway bridge under the current bypass bridge for walking across from the Roscommon road to the Applegreen complex

L1011

flazio wrote: »

It would certainly be an idea if they could find a way to border off the hard shoulder between the Roscommon exit and the Coosan exit both ways and use that as a lane for non motorway valid vehicles to get across the shannon without hogging up half of Athlone town. I dare say you could even build a walkway bridge under the current bypass bridge for walking across from the Roscommon road to the Applegreen complex

The bypass bridge isn't three lanes wide each side. Its H/S is not full width (its only a tiny strip).

Chris_5339762

Although an auxiliary lane would be great it'd be way too expensive as a fair few bridges and small viaducts would have to be widened.

KevR

I'm not 100% sure but isn't the grassy median on the Athlone Bypass a bit wider than a typical narrow median conrete barrier on new Motorways/DCs? When the Bypass gets a facelift this year, the grassy median will be removed. I reckon they could fit auxillary lanes under the bridges if there's a little extra space to be gained from the median. The only place there definitely couldn't have an auxillary is over the River Shannon.

Lamacchi

I heard that last December the M6 was finally completed. I have to come in Ireland in April and I have to cross from Dublin to Galway and I wonder how long does it takes using the new M6. I have to drive during the night beacause Ryanair changed my flight times so I need to tell my estimated arrival time to my host. Can anybody help me? I read on wikipedia that shoul takes 2 hours...
Thank you!

dubhthach

Lamacchi wrote: »

I heard that last December the M6 was finally completed. I have to come in Ireland in April and I have to cross from Dublin to Galway and I wonder how long does it takes using the new M6. I have to drive during the night beacause Ryanair changed my flight times so I need to tell my estimated arrival time to my host. Can anybody help me? I read on wikipedia that shoul takes 2 hours...
Thank you!

Well I haven't driven from the Airport to Galway, but last Friday I drove from Leopardstown (equivalent distant south of N4 junction on M50 as airport is north) to Salthill in Galway City. It took me 2hours and 30 minutes and this was leaving at 5:20pm on a Friday! -- I was driving at the speed limit as well before any of ye start wagging your fingers!

At night time you easily do it quicker especially getting out of Dublin.

ohnoigotsick

Lamacchi wrote: »

I heard that last December the M6 was finally completed. I have to come in Ireland in April and I have to cross from Dublin to Galway and I wonder how long does it takes using the new M6. I have to drive during the night beacause Ryanair changed my flight times so I need to tell my estimated arrival time to my host. Can anybody help me? I read on wikipedia that shoul takes 2 hours...
Thank you!

2 hours should be about right.
airport to N4 - 15/20 mins at night
N4>M4>M6>Galway 1 hr 40.

note you have 3 tolls to pay each way

Lamacchi

ohnoigotsick wrote: »

2 hours should be about right.
airport to N4 - 15/20 mins at night
N4>M4>M6>Galway 1 hr 40.

note you have 3 tolls to pay each way

Thanks a lot! I don't mind have to pay some tolls. Here in Italy motorways are much more expensive than in Ireland. I remembered that I paid less than 1€ on the M4 about 2 years ago. Do you know how much is the toll on M6?
Thanks again.

Lamacchi

dubhthach wrote: »

Well I haven't driven from the Airport to Galway, but last Friday I drove from Leopardstown (equivalent distant south of N4 junction on M50 as airport is north) to Salthill in Galway City. It took me 2hours and 30 minutes and this was leaving at 5:20pm on a Friday! -- I was driving at the speed limit as well before any of ye start wagging your fingers!

At night time you easily do it quicker especially getting out of Dublin.

Thank you for the information! I think that I'll consider 2 hour and a half so I can take it easy!

ohnoigotsick

Lamacchi wrote: »

Thanks a lot! I don't mind have to pay some tolls. Here in Italy motorways are much more expensive than in Ireland. I remembered that I paid less than 1€ on the M4 about 2 years ago. Do you know how much is the toll on M6?
Thanks again.

toll on M50 (barrier free tolling) price ranges from 2 to 3 euro - more than likely 3 euro for you you should pay in advance at airport
toll on M4 is 2.90
toll on M6 is 1.90

total toll 7.80 euro

KevR

Lamacchi wrote: »

Thanks a lot! I don't mind have to pay some tolls. Here in Italy motorways are much more expensive than in Ireland. I remembered that I paid less than 1€ on the M4 about 2 years ago. Do you know how much is the toll on M6?
Thanks again.

M50 is €3 if you don't have an electronic tag.
M4 is now €2.90
M6 is €1.90

The M50 is now using a barrier-free tolling system. A picture of your number plate is taken as you pass through the the Westlink toll (you don't have to stop or slow down; in fact you might not even notice passing through where your number plate picture is taken). You have to pay the toll either online, over the phone or at any pay point nationwide. More information here.

There is a physical barrier for the M4 and M6 tolls where you have to stop and pay by cash or credit/debit card.

35x

Great pics tech2!.....esp interested in slip off for M6 off M4 going west...very easy to miss it, esp if artics in front of you...very inadequate signage as seen from one of tech2's pics. I almost got caught out there recently..( shhh.. when opportunity arose, I reversed back 20m to get back to M4. I noticed quite a few tyre marks in the mud, so I must not have been the first!!!!. Sorry:o, I should not have done it, but I made sure the road was clear ).
Surely, at such a major junction of two motorways a gantry type or other highly visible appropriate type should be there. A similar situation existed on the slip off for Cork of the Limerick - Tralee(?) M/DC - gantry has much improved that location, and its only for a slip road on to N20, not 2 M'ways!
Any views?????

csd

35x,

There is at least one large fork sign, an overhead gantry, and the sign at the gore of the exit. It seems you missed all of these?

/csd

veryangryman

csd wrote: »

35x,

There is at least one large fork sign, an overhead gantry, and the sign at the gore of the exit. It seems you missed all of these?

/csd

Never missed this myself and that was back in days of learning to drive. Perhaps one with motorway "tunnel vision syndrome" and/or chatting to passenger might miss it, but very few complains heard here or elsewhere about it. Overall a pretty decent setup by irish standards

BluntGuy

I have to concur, the exit is very clearly marked.

Even if you missed it, there was no need to turn back, considering there is an exit 500 m from the start of the M6! Of course, due to the M4/M6 interchange's crappy design, you couldn't go back onto the M6 to reach the M4, but you could've used the R446, which would've quickly gotten you back on the M4/N4.

veryangryman

veryangryman wrote: »

Never missed this myself and that was back in days of learning to drive. Perhaps one with motorway "tunnel vision syndrome" and/or chatting to passenger might miss it, but very few complains heard here or elsewhere about it. Overall a pretty decent setup by irish standards

Well the wife missed it once, she was too busy yapping to her sister to notice the signs! :rolleyes:

oddiot

35x wrote: »

Great pics tech2!.....esp interested in slip off for M6 off M4 going west...very easy to miss it, esp if artics in front of you...very inadequate signage as seen from one of tech2's pics.

Signage is adequate. People miss the exit for Galway only when their mind is on other things.

Stark

What baffles me even more is how someone could accidentally take it when they meant to stay on the M4.

nordydan

A 4km reminder with the junction number and destination and "2ND NEXT EXIT" would do no harm

They have this for major turn-offs e.g. airport on M1 and N8 Cork from M8(currently). Slight difference being that this is not the next but next-but one exit, failing that a proper double junction sign for J10 & J11 might help.

Agreed though you should really make this exit.

A "two fingered" sign before J10 showing both the Kinnegad and M6 as leading off the M4 would be useful as the advance warning signage overlap.

Something like this below (best image I could find, ut you get the idea)

munchkin_utd

The problem here is that the junction is being treated as a normal junction whereas essentially the motorway splits into two motorways.
Its an intersection, not a junction.

On the continent you normally have a "split" in the road with the roads running parallel for about a kilometre before the road splits.
The traffic has plenty of time to maneuveur into the correct lane and you really would be doing well to miss the split.

Heres a good example from Holland as to how to do it.
look down the road and you will see in the distance the eventual junction .




And heres one in germany for good measure, again note the series of overhead gantries to get you in lane and the two roads running in parallel for a distance before the motorway finally splits

Zubeneschamali

nordydan wrote: »

Agreed though you should really make this exit.

You forget that Irish driving style requires that you drive in the overtaking lane of the M4 until the last possible second, and then barge clear across the driving lane to take up station in the overtaking lane of the M6 for another 20 miles or so.

nordydan

Deleted User wrote: »

A "two fingered" sign before J10 showing both the Kinnegad and M6 as leading off the M4 would be useful as the advance warning signage overlap.

Something like this below (best image I could find, ut you get the idea)

There is something similar on the M1 (NI) near Sprucefield for the A1 & A101 (to Dublin, utterly stupid number)

Stark

munchkin_utd wrote:

On the continent you normally have a "split" in the road with the roads running parallel for about a kilometre before the road splits.
The traffic has plenty of time to maneuveur into the correct lane and you really would be doing well to miss the split.

M2/M5 split near Belfast is like that as well if I recall correctly.

Sponge Bob

Seeing as Mysterious and his magic crayons are not around I have taken the liberty of producing what I believe to be the correct Motorway Signage for a pack of Galway and Mayo people 'demerging' from each other at 120kph.

Chris_5339762

Those are the greatest roadsigns ever.

Carawaystick

oddiot wrote: »

Signage is adequate. People miss the exit for Galway only when their mind is on other things.

The first sign there is what, 500m ahead of the junction, then overhead gantries are at the junction, the diverge is only about 250m long, it's fairly hard to go from the left lane before the diverge to be in the left lane before crossing some of the dashed line on the M6 as the junction is badly designed, compared to the DUtch or German examples shown.
There is 4km advance notice of the M1/M1 junction for Dublin Airport, another 4km notice for the M9/M7 split, but on the M4 there's only 2km advance notice for one of the Kinnegad exits.

Motorway/Motorway junctions should have plenty of notice and a long diverge.
This one is badly designed.

on another note, there was loads of bush/shrub landscaping going on on the M6 and N65 last Saturday morning, all the branches are bare now but we should see some life in the next few weeks.

alpha2zulu

Carawaystick wrote: »

There is 4km advance notice of the M1/M1 junction for Dublin Airport, another 4km notice for the M9/M7 split, but on the M4 there's only 2km advance notice for one of the Kinnegad exits.

Even with that 4km warning on the M9/M7 I've still seen plenty of shockers heading south on that junction.
Between last minute dashes from the outside lane or cars stopped on the hatched markings, no matter what the advance warning there is still going to be people who screw it up.

The only issue I have with that junction is the fact that so many drivers move into the slip lane and then end up in the right hand lane of the M6, a lot of drivers simply don't keep left through the junction.

I often end up behind people who drift into the overtaking lane and take an age to get back into the left lane.

It is down to poor road markings, the lanes should be clearly marked all the way through the junction and backed up with signs that indicate that the slip has two lanes.