N21 Castleisland Bypass Thread

Tech3

On the 28th of january it was announced that the government has given the go ahead for the castleisland bypass. As it is a short 5km bypass it would be descibed as a very small project. But to the people of Kerry it will complete the missing link of our road network and will be a great boost to our economy of the county.

I have decided to start a thread on this as it is a very important piece of infrastucture the county has been crying out for the last 10 years and will also give people info on the progress to date.


From the kerrys eye:

Castleisland bypass to start this year

€30m announced for Kerry roads for 2009

by Owen O’Shea

There were countywide celebrations on Wednesday afternoon following the announcement that €10m has been allocated to the Castleisland bypass project, which will allow it to get underway this year.

The Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey, allocated the money for the work as part of the €18.5m roads funding programme for the county for 2009.

The project, the only national primary road to begin this year, is seen as a crucial piece of infrastructure for the entire county. It is expected to begin construction as early as June.

Last week, it emerged that five contractors who applied to carry out the work were believed to have undercut the €27m cost envisaged for the scheme.

The chairman of the Castleisland Bypass Action Group, Cormac O’Mahony said the announcement was a vindication of the hard work of campaigners over the last few years.

There is added relief at the news, given that the bypass was not included for funding in last October’s budget.

“When we set up the campaign two years ago, we lobbied politicians hard and held a lot of public meetings to put the pressure on.

“A lot of people spent a lot of winter’s nights sitting at meetings to lobby for this, so it is great news for them,” said Cormac.

He said the construction phase of the project would also be a welcome boost to businesses in Castleisland.

“I understand that the NRA intend to have work completed in 15 to 18 months. This is great news, not only for Castleisland, but for the whole county, he said.

North Kerry Fine Gael TD, Jimmy Deenihan, said that he hoped the funding for the bypass would help start the fight back by the local economy.

Tech3

here is the map of the scheme from the kerry county council website



Castleisland Bypass PDF file

carchaeologist

Bring it on,it will make my job alot easier driving in and around the 'island!

And it will be a good boost to the local economy too:)

dh0661

If we could start tomorrow I'd bring a wheelbarrow and shovel.

I'm sick of being stuck in Castleisland on route to Limerick.

kerry4sam

You know with all the promises that have been made on this issue I am still not going to hold my breath until the work is complete.

It is certainly long over-due and more than needed for the county but with other projects like the Laune Bridge needing extra funding now due to sub-sidence/erosion I wonder will it receive some of the funds that were allocated to this project

Tech3

kerry4sam wrote: »

You know with all the promises that have been made on this issue I am still not going to hold my breath until the work is complete.

It is certainly long over-due and more than needed for the county but with other projects like the Laune Bridge needing extra funding now due to sub-sidence/erosion I wonder will it receive some of the funds that were allocated to this project

Yep funds were also allocated for the Laune bridge as well as some for the tralee bypass. Heres the total allocated to kerry for 2009.

Kerry roads funding for 2009

A number of other road projects in Kerry were given the green light by Minister Dempsey on Wednesday. €18.5m has been allocated to Kerry County Council for maintenance and improvement works in 2009.

Barraduff Bridge €1.3m

Tralee bypass €700,000

Castleisland-Abbeyfeale €650,000

Blackwater-Tahilla €550,000

Lissivigeen junction €450,000

Farranfore-Killarney €440,000

Gortahaneboy-Rathmore €400,000

Laune Bridge repairs €300,000

Listowel bypass €100,000

Charlie O’Sullivan, Kerry County Council’s Director of Roads, Transportation and Safety, said that in light of the current economic climate, it was a great boost to receive an allocation of €18.5m for Kerry as a whole

kerry4sam

tech2 wrote: »

Yep funds were also allocated for the Laune bridge as well as some for the tralee bypass. Heres the total allocated to kerry for 2009...

yeah but it is like a drop in the river Laune for what will be needed to fix the bridge unfortunately and coming up with the difference at the moment is not proving as easy as it would be to just re-allocate some funds from this project

Tech3

kerry4sam wrote: »

yeah but it is like a drop in the river Laune for what will be needed to fix the bridge unfortunately and coming up with the difference at the moment is not proving as easy as it would be to just re-allocate some funds from this project

I find this a disgrace that the government dont provide emergency funds for these type of situations. I also found during the week the ballinagar bridge in lixnaw collapsed in 2007. Its only going to be repaired this year. This is totally unacceptable when we see multi motorways being built on the east coast for billions.

I dont want to go into a dublin vs the rest of the country debate but when people cant get access to where they live would surely have more priority over upgrading roads.

ejmaztec

tech2 wrote: »

I find this a disgrace that the government dont provide emergency funds for these type of situations. I also found during the week the ballinagar bridge in lixnaw collapsed in 2007. Its only going to be repaired this year. This is totally unacceptable when we see multi motorways being built on the east coast for billions.

I dont want to go into a dublin vs the rest of the country debate but when people cant get access to where they live would surely have more priority over upgrading roads.

It's unfortunate that when the country was awash with cash, they couldn't manage to throw a lot more this way. Had any TD from any political party shown more of an interest in anything that happens north of Tralee, the situation would have been much different.

I await their future electioneering with interest. :rolleyes:

spacetweek

Weirdly Michelin's map of Castleisland already shows the bypass finished!!

Click here and zoom out.

carchaeologist

spacetweek wrote: »

Weirdly Michelin's map of Castleisland already shows the bypass finished!!

Click here and zoom out.

Weird indeed!!The michilen man is optimistic!!:p

Tech3

Just found more details on this. The NRA website is outdated when it said it was going to be constucted wide single carriageway.

The N21 side of the bypass will be constucted type 2 dual carriageway or in other words 2+2. Basically its 2 lanes with no hard shoulder on either side of the road seperated by a wire mesh for the median. Traffic cant cross either side of the road and to gain access to the other side will have to cross either the bridge overhead or tunnel underneath the new road.

Heres a example of a type 2 dual carriageway on the N4. Looks pretty neat
Dromad-Roosky N4

The kilarney side will be constucted wide single carriageway. I have emailed kcc to find out will the N21 and N23 meet with a grade seperated roundabout just outside the tralee side of castleisland.

Tech3

For those interested in the scheme I got an email back from the Kerry national road design office. There will be at-grade roundabouts at the N21 tralee and N23 killarney roads.

The scheme will have at grade roundabouts at the N23 Killarney road and the N21 Tralee Road. The cross-section between these two roundabouts will be Single Carriageway (S2).

The cross-section from the N21 Tralee Road to the N21 Limerick Road at Dooneen will be Type 2 Dual Carriageway ( 3.5km long approx)

dmeehan

i suppose the money isnt there to future-proof these junctions and build them grade-seperated. there will probably be the same problem (albeit to a lesser dgree) at this roundabout as in the existing (ridiculous) one-way system in Castleisland where the roads meet now.

the tralee bypass is all at-grade roundabout junctions too :rolleyes:

Tech3

dmeehan wrote: »

i suppose the money isnt there to future-proof these junctions and build them grade-seperated. there will probably be the same problem (albeit to a lesser dgree) at this roundabout as in the existing (ridiculous) one-way system in Castleisland where the roads meet now.

the tralee bypass is all at-grade roundabout junctions too :rolleyes:

No with the NRA's design all the junctions for 2+2 wont have grade seperated junctions just like the 2+2 that is proposed for the tralee bypass. From now on there will be no wide single carriageway like the schemes completed near headleys bridge near knockagoshel and the new road from castleisland to tralee. Any roads like these will be constructed 2+2 in the future. These ideas mainly came from Sweedens network which had high casulty rates in the early 90's due to driver frustration of overtaking opportunities. With 2+2 that has significantly reduced accidents on their roads.

The roundabout wont be as bad as I would have thought. When you take the roundabout at the current killarney-tralee junction there isint that much traffic congestion at the minute. I just hope its constructed much bigger than that one.

Anyway back on topic I have heard that over half of the land owners havnt been paid yet according to the kerrys eye. The kcc will have to act faster than this to get construction started before june. Especially with the government looking at all areas for savings at the moment. I guess they will have jackie to talk to if the bypass gets cut.

dmeehan

carchaeologist wrote: »

And it will be a good boost to the local economy too:)

isnt it funny how about 20 years or so ago, people campaigned AGAINST by-passes as they said it would kill business in the town due to loss of passing trade.

now its come full circle and people are campaigning FOR a by-pass

Tech3

some news on the scheme from the kerrys eye. I have already stated on another forum that if kcc didnt act quickly the government will be out to stop any project that is not under construction to halt to a stop. not good news but there is no answer yet from the NRA. The critics might be unfortunately right afer all :mad: Well know for sure come april. 30M is not a lot for the government to set aside.

THE future of the Castleisland bypass is once again in doubt following government instructions to Kerry County Council not to enter into any contractual agreements regarding the proposed works.

With the government's forthcoming mini-budget expected to see the postponement of all road projects that are not already underway, Kerry County Council has confirmed that no funding has yet been secured for the Castleisland project, and that the council has been ordered by the Department of Finance not to enter into any contract without its approval.

Kerry County Council Director of Roads, Charlie O'Sullivan, explained that the council met with the successful tender two weeks ago and has since submitted the tender report to the National Roads Authority. This report, he said, must now go to the Department of Finance approval.

Mr O'Sullivan confirmed, however, that despite the tender documents being with the NRA, Kerry County Council has been instructed not to enter into any contractual agreements until funding is approved.

The threat to the project was highlighted at Monday's meeting of Kerry County Council by Independent Councillor Brendan Cronin. He said that weekend media reports stated the minibudget will see the scrapping of all projects not already under construction.

South Kerry councillor, Danny Healy Rae, moved to dispel his concerns, telling the meeting that his father

this

week

for — independent TD Jackie Healy Rae ( pictured left) — had received assurances that the project would go ahead. He said that Deputy Healy Rae is confident that the government will 'live up to its promise' and deliver on the Castleisland bypass.

Castleisland councillor Bobby O'Connell — who has been extremely vocal in campaigning for the bypass — strongly rejected claims that the south Kerry TD had secured the project. He agreed with Cllr Pat McCarthy's proposal that Kerry County Council write to all sitting TDs and senators immediately to ensure they make put pressure on the government to make the project a priority.

http://www.kerryman.ie/news/castleisland-bypass-in-doubt-as-contract-talks-put-on-hold-1668601.html

carchaeologist

How much more pissing around do they have to do...
Im sick of it and i dont even live in castleisland..

dmeehan

get the finger out lads and start some work
what stage is it at now?

kerry4sam

@ Tech2:

I heard earlier this morning that the Castleisland bypass won't be going ahead this year now, as previous planned. They are just going to finish the works already commenced and hold off on any new projects until they have a better idea what their finances will be like for next year.

yet another wait for Castleisland.

Tech3

thanks kerry4sam for the info

Still theres no official statement regarding this but when theres rumours going around I guess it doesnt look good. Well definately know for sure when the april mini budget is announced.

Tech3

dmeehan wrote: »

get the finger out lads and start some work
what stage is it at now?

pending on funding from the state which will be probably announced on the 7 april. Then about another 50% of the landowners have to be bought out followed by fencing and then construction will start. If its financed then August or September will be the probable construction start.

dmeehan

see http://kerrynews.wordpress.com/2009/03/20/department-of-finance-gives-green-light-to-castleisland-bypass/

Tech3

dmeehan wrote: »

see http://kerrynews.wordpress.com/2009/03/20/department-of-finance-gives-green-light-to-castleisland-bypass/

thanks dmeehan, great news:D. I just put the link on the infrastructure forum also to cross reference what is to start this year.

Hopefully this will be the last p***ing about with it. We should see them approve a contractor in the next coming weeks. Construction start July or August I guess.

Also a nice little piece here about who won the Castleisland bypass claiming our very well known independent td didnt claim it. Considering the local elections are coming up soon no major suprise.

Sir— I was very surprised to read in a recent issue of The Kerryman a reported claim that Jackie Healy Rae was the man who delivered the Castleisland bypass. This is not true. Much work has been done over the years by Fianna Fáil representatives in Kerry to deliver the Castleisland Bypass.

In particular I would point out that significant work has been done by John O'Donoghue TD to make the Castleisland bypass a reality. During his years as a government minister he pursued this project relentlessly. Before the last election he had contact with the then Taoiseach.

There are records to show his continuing representations to the minister responsible and others on the matter. I trust this will set the record straight. Sincerely, Breandán Fitzgerald, Kerry South Fianna Fáil CDC PRO

:pac:

http://www.kerryman.ie/news/so-who-delivered-the-bypass-1676727.html

kerry4sam

Deeelighted it's going ahead ... Long overdue and so badly needed.

I can't help but wonder what state this country will be in at the end of the Summer with one (that I know of) *county council bordering bankrupcy and the others' keeping their purse strings closed tight.

dh0661

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: Thank you Mr. Healy Rea :D:D

North Cork

Ascon have the contract for the bypass all ready to roll

carchaeologist

North Cork wrote: »

Ascon have the contract for the bypass all ready to roll

Ill believe it when i see this..

dmeehan

will the roundabouts on the bypass not just replicate the traffic problems that are currently in the town? just move them out further?

carchaeologist

dmeehan wrote: »

will the roundabouts on the bypass not just replicate the traffic problems that are currently in the town? just move them out further?

No,its the traffic lights at the top of town and the badly designed junction below JKs that is the problem.Traffic is stopped completly for muinites at a time and that builds up in buys times of the day.Roundabouts are the best way to keep traffic moving.

dh0661

carchaeologist wrote: »

the badly designed junction below JKs that is the problem

Is that the Tralee / Killarney junction coming into Castleisland ?
Why the FU see K should people coming from Tralee have to yield to people from Killarney on their way into the town.

carchaeologist

dh0661 wrote: »

Is that the Tralee / Killarney junction coming into Castleisland ?
Why the FU see K should people coming from Tralee have to yield to people from Killarney on their way into the town.

Its just a disaster of a set up,three roads meeting at one point.

Dont worry though this webpage has all the answers..:D
http://gisagents.blogspot.com/2008/04/shockwave-traffic-jam-recreated-for.html

dmeehan

carchaeologist wrote: »

Roundabouts are the best way to keep traffic moving.

well a completely free flow grade-seperated junction is the best way to keep traffic flowing, but i dont think i will be seeing the castleisland spaghetti junction in my lifetime

Tech3

carchaeologist wrote: »

No,its the traffic lights at the top of town and the badly designed junction below JKs that is the problem.Traffic is stopped completly for muinites at a time and that builds up in buys times of the day.Roundabouts are the best way to keep traffic moving.

Not forgetting to mention the pedestrians slowly walking across the road, cars reversing out of the parking spaces, boy racers driving up and down town all day impressing the ladies. If we take all this out wont be much traffic at all :pac:

Tech3

Following the tender pre-qualification process, which commenced on May 9 2008, five tenders were shortlisted and the contract was awarded to BAM Civil Engineering - formerly known as Ascon - who submitted the lowest tender which was below what was budgeted for.


A number of technical issues are being finalised prior to the contract being rubber-stamped and signed but Kerry County Council expects the contractor to be on site by the middle of 2009.


The contractors will design the road following on from the preliminary design prepared by the Kerry National Road Design office which is based in Castleisland and will manage the project.


Around 100 jobs are expected to be created during the project which is expected to last around 15 months.


The scheme comprises of 5.4km of dual and single carriageway, bypassing Castleisland to the west of the town and linking the N23 Killarney Road at Clashganniv to the N21 Limerick Road at Dooneen, via the N21 Tralee Road at Knockannagore.

Wont be long til we see some diggers around

keane2097

I'm amazed that this is going ahead with the current state of the economy, but it's brilliant news to be fair...

Anyone know when work is expected to start?

Tech3

keane2097 wrote: »

I'm amazed that this is going ahead with the current state of the economy, but it's brilliant news to be fair...

Its brilliant news but it should have been completed a long time ago with so many broken promises by the government.

Anyone know when work is expected to start?

There is no concrete date but July or August is more than likely the expected time for construction start. Should be completed before the end of next year.

carchaeologist

I read in the kerryman that this will be a toll road,wonder is there any truth in this..

kerry4sam

carchaeologist wrote: »

I read in the kerryman that this will be a toll road,wonder is there any truth in this..

a toll road in kerry :eek: gosh I hope not!

Tech3

kerry4sam wrote: »

a toll road in kerry :eek: gosh I hope not!

april fools

The project is funded by tax payers money and the article is a p**s take. Good reading though. Funny enough the name of the company means a grain of salt in English :pac:

http://www.kerryman.ie/news/toll-bridge-looks-set-to-mar-castleisland-bypass-joy-1693562.html

Tech3

A 'still' taken from a toll bridge camera outside Prague and similar to the one to be installed on Castleisland's new bypass. The transmitted quality is much higher than the example printed here. Credit: Photograph courtesy of Cum Grano Salis

:pac::pac::pac::pac:

dmeehan

Erratic Driving Sensors will also alert and direct Gardai, by text and visual output, to the stretch of roadway on which the offending cyclist/motorist is being tracked.

Erratic driving sensors :D i love it

carchaeologist

Lol..i was wondering alright..seemed a bit high tech for the 'island!!:D

legspin

tech2 wrote: »

. From now on there will be no wide single carriageway like the schemes completed near headleys bridge near knockagoshel.

Just out of curiosity does anyone else think that the first junction for Koncknagoshel after Abbeyfeale is particularly dangerous?

Tech3

legspin wrote: »

Just out of curiosity does anyone else think that the first junction for Koncknagoshel after Abbeyfeale is particularly dangerous?

It is and it isint for me.

If your coming from abbeyfeale and turning off for feales bridge I think its fine but there is no two lane format coming from the knockagoshel side which should be done in other words narrow the current hard shoulder and provide a right lane for turning right.

Spread

legspin wrote: »

Just out of curiosity does anyone else think that the first junction for Koncknagoshel after Abbeyfeale is particularly dangerous?

Don't know the Koncknagoshel :rolleyes: turnoff but the one for Knocknagashel is dangerous if you are clipping it. Remember, if driving through village to turn volumn down and ignore SatNav :cool:

Tech3

Just looking at the N23/N21 horendous interchange today.

I have drawn up a better way of traffic flow proritising the N21 to tralee from Limerick using a basic overbridge junction on a 2+2. Im no road designer but its a lot better in my opinion. What do ye think of it all?




Here is my better version of the N21/N23 interchange. It elimanates the need of yielding main N21 traffic.








here is the one going to be constructed in the summer with 3 very busy exits.

dh0661

tech2 wrote: »

Here is my better version of the N21/N23 interchange. It elimanates the need of yielding main N21 traffic.

In lay mans terms - where is N21 & N23 - Farranfore ?

kerry4sam

tech2 looking at those drawings I am actually beginning to feel sorry for tourists that make it into Kerry

Tech3

dh0661 wrote: »

In lay mans terms - where is N21 & N23 - Farranfore ?

N21 is Tralee - Limerick
N23 is a spur off this road to Kilarney/Farranfore

kerry4sam wrote: »

tech2 looking at those drawings I am actually beginning to feel sorry for tourists that make it into Kerry

Yep I know my drawings wouldnt be up to scratch!! But in fairness I do think its a lot better layout even for the tourists!!! Mind you the signage might need to be top notch

Anyway its going ahead this way and hopefully some progress will be made soon. We can keep up to date with some pics of construction of the bypass when it starts.

kerry4sam

tech2 wrote: »

...
Yep I know my drawings wouldnt be up to scratch!! But in fairness I do think its a lot better layout even for the tourists!!! Mind you the signage might need to be top notch

cheers tech2 for the drawings. topnotch roadsigns in Kerry now that's a good one