Clare's first motorway about to become a reality

drunken_munky52

As mentioned in the post:

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=61170943

But what will Clare's first motorway actually mean for the county? Besides the obvious of getting from North to South quicker.

firesidechat

It will get you from A to Z,
Exactly as it say's in the can!!!

They're only changing the colour of the signs..

Run_to_da_hills

Deleted User wrote: »

They're only changing the colour of the signs..

And the speed, 120Kph as opposed to 100Kph also learners will be banned along with slow moving vehicles along with the possibility if introduing tolls in some part of the route, probably on the Galway side.

Ennis to Limerick in less than 25 minutes, Ennis to Galway in 40 minutes, Who would want to take the Western Corridor that could take twice that time. Currently the Bus is faster than the Train to Limerick and thats without the motorway.

I say reserve this route for vintage steam and heritage Diesel runs.

firesidechat

I take the train to limerick quiet often and find it a very good service.
i see were some members of the council have objected to the motorway status based on safety grounds.The NRA have refused to hear their argument and are going ahead as scheduled.Although the western corridor may sound like money badly spent at the moment i think there will be a time in the future when it will be appreciated,We must continue to invest for the future and in these hard economical times we can get greater competion on prices and help substain jobs .Now is the time to push our infrastructure into the 21 century.

Clareman

The train to Limerick is very handy, I often get it if I'm going out in Limerick. I saw the motorway signs this morning, fantastic, it means you can go 20% faster which means you should be able to reduce your travel time, to be honest though I don't think it's going to make a huge difference overall, I remember (I'm not that old honest) when going to Limerick was a massive hassle, get into the car, stuck in Clarecastle, stuck in Newcastle, stuck in Bunratty, stuck in Cratloe, now, you can realistically look at doing it in 20 minutes without breaking any speedlimits

Kradock

Clareman wrote: »

The train to Limerick is very handy, I often get it if I'm going out in Limerick. I saw the motorway signs this morning, fantastic, it means you can go 20% faster which means you should be able to reduce your travel time, to be honest though I don't think it's going to make a huge difference overall, I remember (I'm not that old honest) when going to Limerick was a massive hassle, get into the car, stuck in Clarecastle, stuck in Newcastle, stuck in Bunratty, stuck in Cratloe, now, you can realistically look at doing it in 20 minutes without breaking any speedlimits

No wonder it was hassle:p

Clareman

Ah j@ysus, it's too early, that'd be an awful treck wouldn't it

Newmarket of course

I remember going to the 92 Munster Final and turning off at the Clare in, into Shannon, up by Cratloe and parking around Thomond Park and my father thinking it was great that it only took 45 minutes, now I normally leave 45 minutes before a HEC Cup game in Thomond, 30 minutes for a Magners game

BLITZ_Molloy

I think the NRA should up the speed on Motorways/dual carriageways another 10 or 20 kph and reduce the speed on all other routes. It's the bad roads where all these accidents happen, assuming you don't have a politican drink driving on the wrong side.

fryup

first motorway??........but isn't limerick to shannon a motorway??

pajoguy

Nope its a dual carriageway. Difference is there are too many sharp curves on limerick to shannon section which also affect forward sight distance therefore wouldnt come under 120kph guidelines. Even though some of the slip roads on the Ennis Bypass surely dont measure up. The Barefield junction is hairy enough at 100kph not to mind 120kph.:eek:

Motorway will start from smithstown interchange on N-18 as far as i know.

Gregor Samsa

pajoguy wrote: »

Nope its a dual carriageway. Difference is there are too many sharp curves on limerick to shannon section which also affect forward sight distance therefore wouldnt come under 120kph guidelines. Even though some of the slip roads on the Ennis Bypass surely dont measure up. The Barefield junction is hairy enough at 100kph not to mind 120kph.:eek:

Motorway will start from smithstown interchange on N-18 as far as i know.

There's also houses with driveways right on to the dual carridgeway on the way into Limerick, and the Radisson hotel is right on it, (not to mention that really dangerous junction in the meridian of the DC just across from the Radisson), so the Limerick to Cratloe stretch could never become a motorway without a serious amount of work.

As for the really short slip roads at Barefield and the Tulla Road, yep, they are far too short, and when the bypass first opened, I thought that they'd put an end to the idea that the road could ever be a motorway. Putting my foot down in my Focus (1.6 petrol), I the best I've got up to is about 90 km/h before the hard shoulder begins - really, you should be able to get up to full speed before you merge.

But I've since driven in Italy, where the autostrada have the exact same length slip roads, but a limit of 130 km/h. So it looks like it can be done without pileups every time anyone merges. But maybe I have too much faith in the abilities of Irish drivers.

Claregirl

Saw a car yesterday morning around 9.30 going the wrong way on the dual carriageway....!

Glad they weren't doing 120km!:eek:

Tech3

Heres some photos I took a few days ago:

drunken_munky52

HAHA What the ??? By which I mean, I like the photos!

Tech3

phutyle wrote: »

So it looks like it can be done without pileups every time anyone merges. But maybe I have too much faith in the abilities of Irish drivers.

They are actually ok if people drive on motorways correctly, people are so damn stupid that they wont pull into the fast lane to let these cars merge.

fryup

i just hope there's no addition to the amount of roundabouts in Ennis, cause evertime i go there on the way to lahinch i get dizzy:rolleyes:

drunken_munky52

Motorway status means that roundabouts cannot be on it directly. Its interchanges must be on/off ramps. The flow of traffic cannot be stalled at any stage. This ensures long commutes do not cause bottle necks for other along the way traffic.

Its great, and with the opening of the US customs at Shannon, Im hoping this will give the region a much needed competitive boost following recent bad news jobs wise.

Gregor Samsa

tech2 wrote: »

They are actually ok if people drive on motorways correctly, people are so damn stupid that they wont pull into the fast lane to let these cars merge.

Very true, an awful lot of cars don't bother moving into the overtaking lane to let people merge as they should.

However, some vehicles, such as busses and trucks, aren't legally allowed drive in the overtaking lane of a motorway. Also, you have instances of people overtaking traffic as they approach the slip road, basically preventing traffic in the driving lane from moving out to let the cars merge.

I think they skimped a bit on the construction of those two junctions (Tulla Road and Barefield) - they have enough land to build longer slip roads with a more gradual turn. I don't even mean something as big as the Dromoland interchange, or the one for Ennis itself - just maybe another 150M of merging lane. All all that would be lost is a bit of hard shoulder.

I assume that there'll be more of these short slip roads on the Gort bypass stretch of the M18, and on other new roads around the country, so we'd better get used to them. With the new found abundance of M-ways, they're going to need to add some kind of training on them to the driving test. - but that's probably wishful thinking.

bowsie casey

phutyle wrote: »

I think they skimped a bit on the construction of those two junctions (Tulla Road and Barefield) - they have enough land to build longer slip roads with a more gradual turn. I don't even mean something as big as the Dromoland interchange, or the one for Ennis itself - just maybe another 150M of merging lane. All all that would be lost is a bit of hard shoulder.

I contacted Clare CoCo and the NRA when the Ennis Bypass opened to complain about the Barefield slip road (which I use frequently). It's simply too short, and difficult to reach even 60 km/h to merge. They could easily have doubled the length without additional cost.

Anyway, the party line was that it is within the specs. I don't see why they would build a junction at a lower standard than those on, say, the Newmarket bypass. Skimping I guess....

jochenstacker

The dual carriageway is a fine bit of road, I have been on the Autobahn back home and some old bits of it aren't even up to that standard. And the Germans would be complaining that the limit on those bits is a measly 130 km/h. And some of those stretches don't even have a hard shoulder.
Driving up to the North I notice a steep decline of road quality once over the border.
This road is easily suitable for 120 km/h. Heck, it would be suitable for 130-140 km/h, but you'd have to take the driving into account. People hogging the fast lane at 98.98 km/h (You're not getting pasht me, boyo!), people who think the name of the game is "Don't Let That Car Off The On Ramp!" (just pull alongside and accelerate past them and out in front), farmers who got their licence in a box of cereal 35 years ago and think the hard shoulder is reserved for people driving at 45 km/h (funny how these guys drive at 45 km/h no matter what road they're on), tractors pulling HUGE diggers (sorry, but that is oirish, I haven't seen that ANYWHERE in Europe) and as the DC passes through knockanean, some sheep have managed to break out and are grazing alongside the fence, they could easily wander onto the road.
But honestly, driving has improved. When the DC first opened things where worse, people have gotten used to it.
And what every child could tell you is that Limerick, Ennis, Shannon and Galway should be linked by both, rail and road.
The road will eventually get there, but I'm worried about the rail link, which eventually will go from Limerick to Ennis (as it does now) and from there to nowhere and somewhere in the middle of it.
We're supposed to take the train. Ha, bloody ha.
I would like to take the train from Crusheen to Galway, because the road to Galway is abysmal and parking is terrible.
I can't, so I won't.
Galway mustn't be too interested in garnering business from Clare people.
Sure they don't need the money.
So I go to Limerick instead.

glineli

Disappointing there is not a train stop in Crusheen but thats for another thread i guess

drunken_munky52

jochenstacker wrote: »

I would like to take the train from Crusheen to Galway, because the road to Galway is abysmal and parking is terrible.
I can't, so I won't.
Galway mustn't be too interested in garnering business from Clare people.
Sure they don't need the money.
So I go to Limerick instead.

Agree, Galway is a nightmare. Its dual carraige ways are antiquated and in need a serious upgrade. The city centre is always choked and parking... what parking?

The only priority for Galway is the road to Dublin. Ever notice in Galway there are more cheeseballs driving around, in BMWs and Audis? The registration is either G or D.

Anyways, motorway all the way, Cork to Donegal (hopefully)

firesidechat

The Newmarket on Fergus bypass was built by roadbridge and the design was done by Clare county council.
The Ennis bypass was built and designed by Gama,
That should explain why there is such a difference between the two stretches of roadway and structures.

golden

Did anybody notice they spelt Ennistymon with a "i" ie Ennistimon on the blue signs just before clareabbey turnoff on the Limerick bound side?

Somehow dont think the Tulla Road on and off ramps on both sides of carriage way are motorway standard. So wonder with the NRA do something with the junctions.

The first week that the Tulla Road off ramp was opened a red northern plated car had careered off the road it appeared it was going into towards Ennis surprised there has not been more.

exiot

golden wrote: »

Did anybody notice they spelt Ennistymon with a "i" ie Ennistimon on the blue signs just before clareabbey turnoff on the Limerick bound side?

They also seem to be spelling Lahinch as Lehinch now for some strange reason

ktc1

exiot wrote: »

They also seem to be spelling Lahinch as Lehinch now for some strange reason

There are multiple spelling inconsistencies on the road signs around Ennis already. In addition to Lahinch/Lehinch & Ennistymon/Ennistimon, I've also spotted Kildysart/Kiladysart. Why can't they be consistent and go with the regular commonly accepted spellings?

drunken_munky52

Weather the speed limit has changed to 120kph or not yet, those blue signs just wanna make you put the pedal to the metal!

Takes me 12-15 minutes to get to Shannon doing 120kph as a opposed to 18-20 for 100kph.

Have noticed that if I floor it to 130-140kph I get there in 10 minutes or less.

I remember one night I made it back from Limerick in 15 minutes, that was doing ludicrious speed!

fryup

drunken_munky52 wrote: »

Takes me 12-15 minutes to get to Shannon doing 120kph as a opposed to 18-20 for 100kph.

Have noticed that if I floor it to 130-140kph I get there in 10 minutes or less.

I remember one night I made it back from Limerick in 15 minutes, that was doing ludicrious speed!

you're cruising for a bruising:cool:

Tech3

phutyle wrote: »

I assume that there'll be more of these short slip roads on the Gort bypass stretch of the M18, and on other new roads around the country, so we'd better get used to them. With the new found abundance of M-ways, they're going to need to add some kind of training on them to the driving test. - but that's probably wishful thinking.

Nope Gort-Crusheen will be HQDC basically motorway standard road and all junctions are grade separated junctions. There is only two junctions on the route: The Crusheen interchange and the Gort interchange.

The Ennis bypass was not constructed motorway standard but as standard dc which allows LILO's like that one for Scariff. But it does feel like it is motorway standard being on the mainline itself.

I agree on the driving test as there will be just over 1000km of motorway next year. Back in the 90's you would only come across a few km's going into Dublin!

Dr Kamikazi

Went to Germany on holidays last year. Had rented the usual sh*tcan (some small biscuit tin with a just about 1 litre engine) and was upgraded to a Fiat Bravo, 130 bhp, 1.9 litre turbodiesel.
There was a 200 km stretch of the A7 without any speedlimits.
Cruising betwen 200 and 220 km/h, that distance was despatched in less than an hour.
Best bit of my holidays, simply awesome, nothing beats cruising along at 200+ km/h for an hour for a good rush.

Claregirl

drunken_munky52 wrote: »

Weather the speed limit has changed to 120kph or not yet, those blue signs just wanna make you put the pedal to the metal!

Takes me 12-15 minutes to get to Shannon doing 120kph as a opposed to 18-20 for 100kph.

Have noticed that if I floor it to 130-140kph I get there in 10 minutes or less.

I remember one night I made it back from Limerick in 15 minutes, that was doing ludicrious speed!

drunken_munky52 wrote: »

Anyone who speeds in a built up area deserves to be caught.

drunken_munky52 wrote: »

That stretch of road is particulary dangerous, as it goes down a hill, passed a big housing estate entrance, into a bend up a hill! No one should be doing more than 60Kmh max on it.

Split personality??:rolleyes:

drunken_munky52

Claregirl wrote: »

Split personality??:rolleyes:

Its a motorway lassie, calm down. Straight wide road, ever hear of the Autobans? I said anyone in a built up area should get caught. What I dont agree with in the previous statements is crouching tiger hidden gaurd shooting fish in a barrel on a dual carraige way. Ever see a road safety ad with a motorway on it? Thats coz I cant remeber the last time I heard death on one. They all happen on those bendy ice rink bog roads and in urban areas.

Claregirl

drunken_munky52 wrote: »

Its a motorway lassie, calm down.

First off don't tell me to calm down:mad: I'm perfectly calm:D

drunken_munky52 wrote: »

I remember one night I made it back from Limerick in 15 minutes, that was doing ludicrious speed!

It's not the roads that are the problem it's the moron's behind the wheel! If anything there should be more garda checkpoints on the N/M 18.

Taken from the RSA "The main causes of death and injury on Irish roads remain speeding, drink driving and non-wearing of seat-belts"

drunken_munky52 wrote: »

Thats coz I cant remeber the last time I heard death on one. They all happen on those bendy ice rink bog roads and in urban areas.

In 2006, almost 3,300 people died on the motorway networks in the European Union. I take your point that motorways are safer than rural roads but it's still the nut behind the wheel responsible for the majority of road deaths.

Dr Kamikazi

Checkpoints on Dual Carriageway.
Pure laziness by the cops, I know where and when they will be there, they're regular as clockwork.
Meaning at the right time you can do 140 km/h no problem.
Backroads:
Anything goes, how fast is your car, how far are you willing to push it.
Once got caught for speeding, 4 years ago because a cop got lost and was checking for speed on the Kilrush road.
Do up to 1000 km a week and mostly very fast.
Cops under the bridge before the Shannon turnoff and sometimes hide on the on ramp to the Dual Carriageway. Mostly during the day and always in the same 3 spots.
Once you know that, you can put the foot down quite safely.

fryup

so has anyone been on this motorway yet, whats it like??

and just to clarify, where does it start & finish??

Tech3

fryup wrote: »

so has anyone been on this motorway yet, whats it like??

and just to clarify, where does it start & finish??

It wont be motorway until 28th of August. 100km/hr speed limit applies until then. It starts at the Shannon Junction and ends at Barefield. Next year when Gort-Crusheen is completed it will end at Gort.

Any news on the M17/M18 Gort-Tuam motorway going ahead next year? Its planned to be in construction Q4 2010 through a PPP mechanism but its a shadow toll meaning the Government will be repaying the costs luckily not the road user. I havnt heard much about it lately?

bowsie casey

tech2 wrote: »

Any news on the M17/M18 Gort-Tuam motorway going ahead next year?

Is that not in two sections ? I know the Gort-Oranmore section got delayed for a year at budget time...

pappyodaniel

tech2 wrote: »

It wont be motorway until 28th of August. 100km/hr speed limit applies until then. It starts at the Shannon Junction and ends at Barefield. Next year when Gort-Crusheen is completed it will end at Gort.

Any news on the M17/M18 Gort-Tuam motorway going ahead next year? Its planned to be in construction Q4 2010 through a PPP mechanism but its a shadow toll meaning the Government will be repaying the costs luckily not the road user. I havnt heard much about it lately?

Imagine gettin done for travelling between 100km-120km on the 27th August, I for one would be sickened!

Clareman

I wonder if the defense "But the signs were blue, I thought I was on a motorway" would work.....

golden

Clareman wrote: »

I wonder if the defense "But the signs were blue, I thought I was on a motorway" would work.....

I like your thinking but think unfortunately that would not work pity!! They would soon point out the 100km signs that are still in place.

drunken_munky52

Just thought there... I cant find any indication that they are going to upgrade that wonky, paddy the plasterer stretch of the N18 between Limerick and Shannon!

When the tunnel is finished and the N7 finally ties up with it just yonder Coonagh, there will be a nice stretch for a few metres and then that rollercoaster, until you meet the Drumline interchange.

Does any body know if that stretch is due for an overhaul anytime soon? They would need to build it all the way copying what they did at Drumlime, i.e. turn one lane of the existing dual carraige way into an access road for the houses and somehow squeeze new lanes in... an engineering nightmare I would say.

firesidechat

I just checked NRA and Limerick and Clare council sites ,there is no mention of any alteration to that route,It's only a few years since they redone all the safety barriers on that road.Three strands of streched wire
acting as a safety barrier.It has not been greeted afectionaly with the motorbike community,If i was a biker i couldn't see myself been too fond of it either.

Run_to_da_hills

firesidechat wrote: »

I just checked NRA and Limerick and Clare council sites ,there is no mention of any alteration to that route,It's only a few years since they redone all the safety barriers on that road.Three strands of streched wire acting as a safety barrier.It has not been greeted afectionaly with the motorbike community,If i was a biker i couldn't see myself been too fond of it either.

There was never any safety barriers fitted on this stretch of road. What you are referring to are the deadly "cheese graters" or cable barriers that were fitted about three years ago. These have the ability to decapitate or severely mame motorcyclists that are unfortunate to collide with them.

Clareman

I don't think there's any plan to upgrade that route, even if it was upgraded there isn't a suitable alternative route (which is needed if you want to have a motorway) so that won't be happening any time soon

Ludo

Seriously doubt this route will be upgraded any time soon either. The MIL lives near Setrights and their drive way opens directly onto the dual carraige-way. There are quite a few houses like that around there so no way can they make it a 120 zone.
We even tried to get the driveway moved so it would open onto the back road (to Sixmilebridge) as this would be a lot safer than coming out directly onto the DC but were refused permission for this as they didn't want entrances on this road...madness.

JupiterKid

Apart from the early 1990s Bunratty bypass, most of the N18 DC between Limerick and Shannon was built about 30 years ago, when roads standards were much lower than today.

It would be ideal to have it upgraded, but frankly there are other sections of our road network in much more pressing need of investment at the moment.

ktc1

The guards had a speed trap on the Ennis to Limerick side this morning at the overpass before the Shannon exit. It seems a bit petty with the impending change.

Dr Kamikazi

The Gards always have a speedcheck at that overpass.
Pretty much once a week. Always in the same spot.
But also beware that they sometimes sit on various "on" ramps along the DC, so you won't see them until they've clocked you and it's too late.
Where they never, ever sit, is on those specially built elevated spots, that where designed with this purpose in mind. And any backroad, where anything goes.

drunken_munky52

Dr Kamikazi wrote: »

The Gards always have a speedcheck at that overpass.
Pretty much once a week. Always in the same spot.
But also beware that they sometimes sit on various "on" ramps along the DC, so you won't see them until they've clocked you and it's too late.
Where they never, ever sit, is on those specially built elevated spots, that where designed with this purpose in mind. And any backroad, where anything goes.

Coming from Limerick one day, I spotted them on the opposite side up the ramp of the Dromoland junction, with the car turned on the hard shoulder so the shade sitting in the passenger seat could point the gun down on unsuspecting traffic going towards Limerick.

Also got a fright one day as I passed the Sixmilebridge junction goind towards Limerick. They were pulled into the gate of a field, didnt notice them until I was right on top of them. Luckily I was not going more the 100 at the time.

fergusman

Dr Kamikazi wrote: »

The Gards always have a speedcheck at that overpass.
Pretty much once a week. Always in the same spot.
But also beware that they sometimes sit on various "on" ramps along the DC, so you won't see them until they've clocked you and it's too late.
Where they never, ever sit, is on those specially built elevated spots, that where designed with this purpose in mind. And any backroad, where anything goes.

afaik, and I'm open to correction on this but on motorways legally they are only supposed to use the specially designed ramps to conduct stationary speedchecks
Its a safety issue.

Anyone else heard this?