Motorway through the Wicklow Mountains - What route?

IIMII

I found myself pondering what exactly the suggestion is in terms of a route when you hear talk of extending the Dublin Outer Orbital Route through Wicklow. Bearing in mind that politicians seems capable of sanctioning just about any route anywhere on the island, what would they go for on a short-list of route options?

I guessed Naas, Blessington, plough through/tunnel the Wicklow Gap, Laragh, N11 might be a good one to cause murder? But the ESB with Turlough Hill might object to that (think Port Tunnel and national grid).

Or maybe Naas, Blessington, tunnel, Glenmalure, Wicklow town? :rolleyes:

But those doomsday scenarios aside, what routes could be contemplated on-high for this? Or is there is there a suggested route south of Wicklow for this that anyone has come across?

Amtmann

The DOOR won't start anywhere near the mountains; best bet is Naas or the M9/M7 junction as a startpoint.

I'd fancy a tunnel through the soft sandstone of the Galtees to carry the M20 from Mitchelstown to Limerick, but obviously it ain't gonna happen. Realm of fantasy and all that.

nordydan

There is no possible route through the Wicklow mountains as far as I can see. raising any motorway up to the height of 300m+ required in such a short distance is unrealistic. I reckon upgrading the N11/M50 from Arklow to Sandyford as D3M would be more realistic. If the DOOR route is built, then by logic traffic levels on the M50 between J10 and J3 should drop off regardless.

jd

N11 arklow upgrade and a good standard d2 from Carlow to N11 (N80) some time in the future would be fine

JupiterKid

There is no way that a motorway can be built right through the Wicklow Mountains. Even if there was huge demand for such as route, and environmental issues were of no concern, the gradients required to ascend the 300m + roof of the range would be unfeasible. Tunnelling would be required and this would make it probibitively expensive.

However, it would be possible to build a route through the south of the County Wicklow, where the main massif of mountainous land gives way to more isolated hills and smaller mountians where valleys exist that could easily accommodate a major road. Such a route might involve Gorey - Tinahely - Hacketstown - Baltinglass. There would be little demand to justify for such a route for a motorway.

Pisser Dignam

Have a drive through the Wicklow Mountains and you'll realise why that idea won't make it off this thread.

HonalD

JupiterKid wrote: »

There is no way that a motorway can be built right through the Wicklow Mountains. Even if there was huge demand for such as route, and environmental issues were of no concern, the gradients required to ascend the 300m + roof of the range would be unfeasible. Tunnelling would be required and this would make it probibitively expensive.

However, it would be possible to build a route through the south of the County Wicklow, where the main massif of mountainous land gives way to more isolated hills and smaller mountians where valleys exist that could easily accommodate a major road. Such a route might involve Gorey - Tinahely - Hacketstown - Baltinglass. There would be little demand to justify for such a route for a motorway.

Does the DOOR have to be a motorway?

IIMII

Pisser Dignam wrote: »

Have a drive through the Wicklow Mountains and you'll realise why that idea won't make it off this thread.

Used to live there, and it isn't my idea.. It crops up every now and again on the radio. I'd never really paid any attention to it but happened to get thinking about what exactly the suggestion was over the weekend. I didn't start the thread as a genuine discourse on doing it ( I don't see the point when if it really needed to be done, you could go around the south of the county) - I was hoping someone would remember what it was that had been suggested previously.

Sorry, I should have mentioned that tunnelling was indeed mentioned, not a road over the range. I'm sure it was in Cullen's time this was brought up

marmurr1916

Silly idea. There's no way that a motorway from roughly Naas to Wicklow Town will ever be built.

If you want a motorway route enabling traffic to avoid Dublin completely, then the best bet is to build the northern DOOR motorway from the M7/M9 junction to join the M1 near Drogheda.

Then upgrade the N80 between Carlow/the M9 and Enniscorthy/the N11 to motorway standard and you'll have a motorway which connects all the major routes to/from Dublin without coming anywhere near Dublin city.

The section of the existing N80 between the M9 Carlow bypass and it's junction with the N11 near Enniscorthy is less than 50km.

jd

marmurr1916 wrote: »

Then upgrade the N80 between Carlow/the M9 and Enniscorthy/the N11 to motorway standard .

As said, I think standard dc would be fine for this, bunclody and some small villages would have to be bypassed. Won't happen for quite a while

lostexpectation

a bit on the miltary road on todays nationwide

lostexpectation

really its cos we hate waterford