New motorway signs up already...

Zoney

Here's one for the M20, at the Dell roundabout at the beginning of the spur for J2 of the N20/M20 (Google Maps link - r'bout marked "Ballycummin"):



Every other new pole was empty and none of the other old signs have been removed. I'm guessing the new poles beside this one are for start/end of motorway signs. There are new poles on the slips at the end of the spur for new speed limit signs (the spur is currently 100 km/h and will presumably remain so, while the mainline will be 120 km/h).

Anyone spotted any more new motorway signs yet? I thought this one was up pretty early!

Chris_533976

I dont think they're terribly early, Dempsey signed on the 2nd July, we only found out yesterday

Still its awesome that these are up, even though that sign is wrong! Officially the M20 doesnt begin there, it begins about 400m further along the road (even though its inescapable and therefore de-facto a motorway)

Try and work that one out!

Zoney

Chris_533976 wrote: »

I dont think they're terribly early, Dempsey signed on the 2nd July, we only found out yesterday

Still its awesome that these are up, even though that sign is wrong! Officially the M20 doesnt begin there, it begins about 400m further along the road (even though its inescapable and therefore de-facto a motorway)

Try and work that one out!

No, if you look at a map, the spur beginning there is currently N20.

Victor

Not a motorway :mad:

BluntGuy

If I see anything happening on the M8 I'll grab a few shots.

The NRA have been very quick... this leads me to believe that the blue signs had been fabricated for a long time.

The site of "M20" on a sign is such a pleasure, nice to see the M7 signed correctly as well - at last, we're beginning to see a few motorways linking together in some kind of cohesive manner. Pity it's hardly going to be the longest stretch of motorway in the world come August 28th.

Zoney

Victor wrote: »

Not a motorway :mad:

Not yet, but the sign will be entirely correct on August 28th.

Chris_533976

Zoney wrote: »

No, if you look at a map, the spur beginning there is currently N20.

Its N20 for about 400m from this sign accordings to NRAs redesignation pictures. Only then is it M20. Thats illegal (as that 400m of road is inescapable so has to be a motorway) so theres a nice grey area floating around.

Edit: And I think the irony of signing the M20 as a wonderful fantastic motorway for the tourists to see, and then you come to the Cork side of Croom for the real story in road quality!

Zoney

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Its N20 for about 400m from this sign accordings to NRAs redesignation pictures. Only then is it M20. Thats illegal (as that 400m of road is inescapable so has to be a motorway) so theres a nice grey area floating around.

Edit: And I think the irony of signing the M20 as a wonderful fantastic motorway for the tourists to see, and then you come to the Cork side of Croom for the real story in road quality!

The redesignation pictures are wrong then. If you check OSi maps, or consult the SI for regional roads, that spur is firmly part of the N20, and as the N20 is to be motorway, the entire spur will become M20.

From S.I. 188 of 2006:

R510 Dock Road - Ballycummin, Limerick
Between its junction with N69 at Bunlicky and its junction with R526 at Raheen roundabout via Quinn's Cross all in the county of Limerick
and
between its junction with R526 at Ballycummin and its junction with N20 at Dell roundabout all in the county of Limerick.

BluntGuy

Is the sign shown in the picture and entirely new sign or was there an old sign there previously?

Zoney

Brand new sign on those collapsible poles. I think the two dull poles left of it may have been where the old (green) sign was. The two brighter tall poles left of that again are also new.

Chris, I looked at the redesignation map again (I hadn't looked at it since it first was published) and you're right that the blue doesn't go up to the roundabout. I would firmly class that as an error though - as it wouldn't be practical to have motorway regs commence only at that point (and the rest of the spur as N20). The signage on the ground is as it should be as far as I'm concerned.

I hope it is an omen of how the other motorway reg signs will be done - i.e. start/end of regs at the TOP of slip roads, not the bottom, and such.

BluntGuy

Zoney wrote: »

Brand new sign on those collapsible poles. I think the two dull poles left of it may have been where the old (green) sign was. The two brighter tall poles left of that again are also new.

Cheers for that. Do they also have poles up for "motorway ahead" signage and all that, and are there any indications that local signs saying "N20" will be replaced or patched?

Also, would you say the M20 will be getting cantilevers or gantries. I'm particularly anxious that the new M7/M20 junction is signed properly, because after my horrendous experience with the Red Cow, I'm weary of poorly signed junctions.

I hope it is an omen of how the other motorway reg signs will be done - i.e. start/end of regs at the TOP of slip roads, not the bottom, and such.

I hope so too.

I imagine at the start of the trumpet there'll be an "end-of-motorway 300m" sign as well.

Edit: ALSO, according to Colm R on the other thread, there are new M2 signs up as well.

Zoney

BluntGuy wrote: »

Also, would you say the M20 will be getting cantilevers or gantries. I'm particularly anxious that the new M7/M20 junction is signed properly, because after my horrendous experience with the Red Cow, I'm weary of poorly signed junctions.

No poles up yet for M20/M7 as it's still very much under construction. Indeed the current signs are a bashed up mess there now, and there's "sort of" a 50 km/h limit on the DC from J1 Dooradoyle to the start of the N20 (it's not very well signed although now signed as permanent rather than road works limit).

The rest of the junctions on the N20/M20 are *NOT* gantry/cantilever, just very tall poles. The poles at the gore are smaller than the old ones, as they will simply say "EXIT". There are new poles at the start of each off-slip diverge lane, that will presumably have the same style of sign as the cantilevers usually have. There are also new poles about 2km? away from the junctions that will presumably say "next exit" with the list of destinations.

The giant poles at the point where other routes have gantries - I am not sure what style sign they will have. Maybe just a larger version of the map sign?

Incidentally the N18 poles follow the same format.

Colm R

Yep indeed, there are M2 signs at the roundabout at the north end of Ashbourne. So far only on the roundabout itself. Nothing on the road itself or the approach from the town end. I'll try and grab a photo tonight or tomorrow.

Plenty of new poles up everywhere though.

BluntGuy

Thank you for that.

Well, as I've said before, I am more than confident the new motorway signage will be to an excellent standard. At least we know it'll be consistent (with the exception of cantilevers) with the new signage used on more recent motorway schemes.

I am worried about local signage being updated. The NRA/local councils have a poor track record with this.

sonyair

New countdown(can't remember the exact name for these) signs for the dooradoyle and raheen exits in place today.

JayeL

I'll hopefully have some M2 signage pics up by 7pm, very curious to see where they start, particularly on the R135 approaching the Nine Mile Stone (south Ashbourne) roundabout.

Surely the motorway regs signs would have to start before the roundabout on the 4 other approach roads to the roundabout. Or would that be overkill?

***Two photos just in***

Advance warning sign after Coldwinters exit:



Signs just before Blanchardstown exit:

darkman2

Thanks! Is it just the view or are those signs not straight Is that on the N2 carriageway itself?

JayeL

Just the view, it was taken from a moving bus on the N2. Just took more photos of the other end of the N2, up soon.

Zoney

Good to see there will be some advance warning signs. Hopefully these will be common enough on ordinary roads approaching the motorway junctions.

BluntGuy

Is this being used in place of the "motorway ahead" restrictions signs, or is it complimentary to them? Either way, it is good the alternative route is being well-highlighted.

I'm also glad the NRA are pressing right ahead with the signage and not just waiting until closer to the 28th. It's best they get the message into people's heads quickly that these schemes are now motorway.

JayeL

I headed up to the northern end of the soon-to-be-M2 an hour or so ago and found that they pretty much have everything in place today for 28 August, the workmen were just finishing up by the looks of it.

This is the first sign, near Ashbourne Retail Park on the R135 northbound:


Sign just before the junction with the N2:


Confirmation sign, end of motorway restrictions sign and sign for Dublin, just west of the roundabout junction of the N2 and R135:


Little clearer image of the same scene:


M2 route confirmation sign, southbound at the start of the Ashbourne bypass:


Close-up of same M2 sign:



I don't think they've done anything with the much-maligned gantry signs as yet, I'll keep an eye out though.

BluntGuy

Excellent snaps. Thank you very much.

They certainly haven't wasted time getting right down to business, this is great to see.

EDIT: Can I put one of your excellent pics onto the N2 wikipedia page. It would make a nice edition. Also, if you want, I could upload them to SABRE, to keep them in a nice archive.

Amtmann

BluntGuy, get thee to the M8 asap and take a few snaps for me please, would ya?

BluntGuy

Furet wrote: »

BluntGuy, get thee to the M8 asap and take a few snaps for me please, would ya?

Are you missing it that much already?!

I will try and get some snaps sometime this week, maybe next. I'm interested to see how poorly/well Dunkettle will be signed.

JayeL

BluntGuy wrote: »

Can I put one of your excellent pics onto the N2 wikipedia page. It would make a nice edition. Also, if you want, I could upload them to SABRE, to keep them in a nice archive.

Fire away!

BluntGuy

Cheers, I fired one up on the N2 page which I've just created a new "M2" section for:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N2_road

If somebody wants to flesh it out a bit, please do.

I'll slap them up on SABRE when I get a chance later on.

Tech3

Excellent stuff, this all happens when I'm on holdidays :mad:

Has anyone seen anything on the N18 yet, sorry I mean M18?

chewed

When they're reassigning these roads as motorways do they also have to change the broken yellow lines to be continuous?

Tech3

chewed wrote: »

When they're reassigning these roads as motorways do they also have to change the broken yellow lines to be continuous?

yeah this also has to be done.

Chris_533976

Keep an eye out for ADS signage. I'm intrigued to see if they're going to use junction numbering on the M18 and 11, or whether they'll go for "Crusheen Junction", "Gort Junction" etc, which would be stupid.

Zoney

More signs up for M20, the dual end of motorway signs are at the top of the off slip road, with a end of motorway 1km (Dell M20 spur) or 100m etc. sign at the start of the off slip.

Makes a nice contrast from the nonsense on the M7 through Co. Kildare.

marmurr1916

Glad to see the NRA being pro-active and efficient!

A quick list of all ROI motorways from end August:

1. M1
2. M2
3. M3
4. M4
5. M6
6. M7
7. M8
8. M9
9. M11
10. M18
11. M20
12. M50

Two motorways, the M2 and the M20 (the M20 especially), will be pretty short pending the completion of future road projects.

The M17 can be added to the list once the Oranmore to Tuam section of the M18/M17 is completed.

I wonder will any other motorways be completed within the next 10 years or so?

Hopefully we'll eventually have an extended M2/N2/A5 motorway/High-Quality Dual Carriageway, the M4 extended to at least Longford, completion of the Galway Outer Bypass, a completed M11, a completed M18, a complete Cork-Limerick M20, an M22 Cork North Ring Road, an N25/M25 Cork-Rosslare motorway/HQDC, and a Dublin Outer Orbital Route (the M99?).

Then we can get down to improving the remaining national primary routes to at least 2+2 dual-carriageway standard and improving the national secondary routes...

parsi

Seeing as the signs indicate that it's a motorway would you be able to claim that excuse if caught doing 115km/h before 28 August ?

BluntGuy

parsi wrote: »

Seeing as the signs indicate that it's a motorway would you be able to claim that excuse if caught doing 115km/h before 28 August ?

I don't think they've replaced any speed limit signs. So if you see 100 km/h, you're expected to stay below it.

More signs up for M20, the dual end of motorway signs are at the top of the off slip road, with a end of motorway 1km (Dell M20 spur) or 100m etc. sign at the start of the off slip.

So they're actually doing it right for once. Does indeed make a refreshing break from "end-of-motorway" signs half way up the slip road, or even worse, at the start of the slip road.

AndrewMc

I'm impressed with their enthusiasm for up-to-date signage, and yet the last time I checked the R445 in Limerick and R448 in Carlow still carry signage referring to them as N7 and N9... :rolleyes:

marmurr1916

AndrewMc wrote: »

I'm impressed with their enthusiasm for up-to-date signage, and yet the last time I checked the R445 in Limerick and R448 in Carlow still carry signage referring to them as N7 and N9... :rolleyes:

Some local authorities are better than others: sections of the former N8 in Co. Tipperary and Co. Cork are signed as the R639.

However, the sooner that responsiblity for Regional roads is taken away from local authorities and given to a Regional Roads division of the NRA the better.

IIRC correctly this idea has been floated by the government.

NFD100

Totally agree. Most County Council are appalling at anything to do with roads. Roads money gets diverted elsewhere. The sooner the NRA takes over the better. Roads Service provide a much better service in the north.

clon

Drove the N/M8 yesterday from cork city to jtn. 12 and there is no change to the signage/poles on the glanmire and watergrasshill sections.

icdg

parsi wrote: »

Seeing as the signs indicate that it's a motorway would you be able to claim that excuse if caught doing 115km/h before 28 August ?

No more than you could claim it on a motorway with a permanent 100 km/h speed limit, such as the M50.

Out of interest, is anybody aware of anyone being done for doing between 100-120 during the last redesignation phase.. ?????

I'm not??

KevR

A couple of pictures appoaching the Tuam Rd exit on the Athlone Bypass. Sorry for the poor quality - the strong sunshine made it impossible to get good pictures.

Click for full size images.

Why the hell did they grey out the countdown markers

KevR

Deleted User wrote: »

Why the hell did they grey out the countdown markers

Was wondering that aswell. The old countdown markers were still there when I took that photo on Friday. Will see on the way home this evening if both sets of countdown markers are still there and if the new ones are still greyed out.

glineli

Still no signs on the Ennis bypass!!!

Tech3

glineli wrote: »

Still no signs on the Ennis bypass!!!

Thanks glineli, I'll have a look from Shannon-Ennis next week and also the M7.

csd

Deleted User wrote: »

Out of interest, is anybody aware of anyone being done for doing between 100-120 during the last redesignation phase.. ?????

I'm not??

Yes, I remember reading of some motorists who were caught on the Carlow bypass before it was redesignated. They used the "but there were blue signs!" defence, and the judge threw the cases out.

/csd

Chris_533976

I'll be Galway - Cork around the end of July, I'll keep an eye too (bus but anyway).

KevR

KevR wrote: »

Was wondering that aswell. The old countdown markers were still there when I took that photo on Friday. Will see on the way home this evening if both sets of countdown markers are still there and if the new ones are still greyed out.

Were still greyed out yesterday evening and the old ones were still there.

Zoney

More new tall poles being installed on N20 today, also seems to be some preliminary work on some junction traffic islands for installing new poles. Seems new signs are going up slowly and sporadically - nothing new in the last few days (so far there are some but not all new 3/2/1 markers, some but not all end of motorway, and about two directional signs for motorway).

BluntGuy

I'll check out the N8 near Dunkettle on Friday maybe... see if there are any new signs up.

JayeL

The M2 sign northbound after exit 2 is now covered in black plastic sheeting, as is the speed limit sign above it.

Still has 120km/h signs further on, exit 3 sign is now blue and distance signage is blue. But countdown markers are still green, as are the roundabout signs in the motorway area.

So in conclusion, it's mixed in Meath.