N7 - Newlands Cross upgrade

Tragedy

Wild Bill wrote: »

What I said was "repaving the Naas bypass without also widening it was not a waste of time"

Which is typical of the short sighted thinking in this country. Congrats!

And building the NX interchange without widening the Naas bypass would not be a waste of time either.

Who said it was a waste of time? I didn't, I didn't see any other posters say it. You were probably too busy posting idiotic comparisons(a haircut and a fracture? What planet do you live on that you think that's an intelligent and constructive addition to a thread?) to actually have read what other people are posting.

You may write any ridiculous nonsense you wish - but please don't attribute it to me.

Pot, kettle, black. Got anything grown up to add? Didn't think so!

Jayuu

In fairness to Wild Bill this was your first quote on the matter because I commented on it as well.

Tragedy wrote: »

The more I drive the N7>N9>Kilcullen, the more I think fixing Newlands X without running three lanes to the N9 turnoff is essentially pointless and will help alleviate peak traffic not a jot. The N7 before and after Naas is just a complete mess from 4:30pm until around 6:30pm.

Now I notice you said in a later post that you say you think NX should be done but I still don't see how you can claim that you don't think its a waste of time if you believe that its not going to help traffic one bit and is essentially pointless. That's the inference of your statement and you can't get annoyed with people when they take you up on things you've said.

Tragedy

Jayuu wrote: »

Now I notice you said in a later post that you say you think NX should be done but I still don't see how you can claim that you don't think its a waste of time if you believe that its not going to help traffic one bit and is essentially pointless. That's the inference of your statement and you can't get annoyed with people when they take you up on things you've said.

Where did I get annoyed with people taking me up on things I posted? Wild Bill never took me up on something I posted, he talked about a haircut and a fracture, and while quoting someone else said I was posting nonsense.

That's how a child responds.

I do however, have a problem with your quote.

I said it's essentially pointless because it wont help alleviate peak traffic(i.e. further further out along the N7, and it certainly won't help merging on to the m50 or the Naas road). Your rewording of what I actually said bears little relation to what I actually posted. So far, no-one has actually disagreed and given reasons though I'm sure some do and I'm more than happy for them to do so.

Claiming that fixing one of two huge problems affecting the whole length of the N7 without fixing the second(or at least planning to) being essentially pointless at alleviating peak traffic problems isn't the same as called NX a waste of time and not ever helping traffic. If neither you nor Wild Bill can see the difference between the two, welp that's your problem and not mine! But the thread doesn't need Wild Bill's snide childish posts. If he disagrees, he can post and explain why like everyone else.

Amtmann

Tragedy, your posts are too truculent. You are treading a fine line in #242.

Jayuu

Tragedy wrote: »

I do however, have a problem with your quote.

I said it's essentially pointless because it wont help alleviate peak traffic(i.e. further further out along the N7, and it certainly won't help merging on to the m50 or the Naas road). Your rewording of what I actually said bears little relation to what I actually posted. So far, no-one has actually disagreed and given reasons though I'm sure some do and I'm more than happy for them to do so.

Claiming that fixing one of two huge problems affecting the whole length of the N7 without fixing the second(or at least planning to) being essentially pointless at alleviating peak traffic problems isn't the same as called NX a waste of time and not ever helping traffic. If neither you nor Wild Bill can see the difference between the two, welp that's your problem and not mine!

I left out the word "peak" in my last quote by mistake. It was not an attempt to reword your quote. However I stand by my assertion that there seems to be little difference in sombody saying something is "essentially pointless" and saying something is "a waste of time". But there's no point in arguing semantics.

Leaving the above to one side I did actually give a reason why I disagreed with your assertion in my repsonse to your very first quote. You just seem to have ignored it because of your issue with Wild Bill

What I said what that I think that by removing the artificial stop at NX, less than a mile away from the M50 the flow of traffic out of the city will be smoother and therefore there is very likely to be an improvement in the conditions of the N7 outbound even at peak times because a smoother flow of traffic tends to lead to less congestion. There will certainly be an improvement in the immediate area around the M50/NX.

A similar situation existed on the N4 with the junction at Lucan/Adamstown (Junction 4). When this was a traffic light junction similar to NX it created huge tailbacks on the N4 every evening well beyond 7pm. Now that the road has been grade separated those tailbacks have been hugely reduced.

Now I don't think it will improve much on the inbound leg of the journey because of the bad lane design at the N7/N50 interchange and I've said that in a previous post as well but overall I think the development at NX is necessary and while the widening on the M7 to three lanes may come at a much later date I'm glad this section of the road is being worked on.

Chris_5339762

To be honest, a few cans of paint would solve the N7 - M50 movements quite well.

Wild Bill

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

To be honest, a few cans of paint would solve the N7 - M50 movements quite well.

Or maybe a bit more than just paint.

They have that separate parallel lane to work with as well as the mainline. Maybe they could acquire 3m from the road-front properties - I don't see any insurmountable obstacles?

Sponge Bob

Does NAMA not own half that road frontage nowadays ??

Wild Bill

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Does NAMA not own half that road frontage nowadays ??

At least half I'd reckon.

Sponge Bob

You think like me Bill, nip in for quick bit of discreet overnight bulldozing and all will be made clear.

Jayuu

True it wouldn't take much to improve the N7/M50 inbound junction but it should never have been designed that way in the first place, unless somebody can prove to me that 2/3 of the inbound traffic does go straight through the junction in the mornings.

Wild Bill

From my (very unscientific) observations I'd say the northbound traffic splits about 50/50 between M50-bound and straight ahead.

Jayuu

Wild Bill wrote: »

From my (very unscientific) observations I'd say the northbound traffic splits about 50/50 between M50-bound and straight ahead.

Fair enough. I'd say more traffic aims for the M50 from my (equally unscientific) observations. Maybe it only seems that way because the tailbacks always seem to be on the M50 lane. However I think a certain amount of this is caused by the huge amount people who drive the whole way up the road in the middle lane and then muscle their way into the M50 lane at the last moment thus forcing everybody else to slow or stop to avoid them.

trellheim

Traffic counters can be found here, but I can't find one for N7/M50 branches.

http://nraextra.nra.ie/CurrentTrafficCounterData/index.html

Wild Bill

Jayuu wrote: »

people who drive the whole way up the road in the middle lane and then muscle their way into the M50 lane at the last moment thus forcing everybody else to slow or stop to avoid them.

Lol! One of my pet hates :mad:

BuzzFish

Get these lads in I'd say... impressive what can be done in a short time....

SIAC working on N25 - Cork

or these lads....

Replacement of the railway bridge

antoobrien

Funding apparently in place, no word if it's (still) BAM, or when it will start.

http://www.transport.ie/pressRelease.aspx?Id=475

Last bottleneck between Dundalk & Cork will now be removed

Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar has today (Tuesday) confirmed that the Government has approved a funding mechanism for multi million euro road projects in Dublin and Co. Wicklow.

Work is set to start next year on upgrading the Newlands Cross bottleneck on the main Dublin to Cork/Limerick road, while the N11 between Arklow and Rathnew will also be upgraded to four lanes.

Funding of more than €100 million is set to be provided under a Public Private Partnership involving a significant contribution from the European Investment Bank and Bank of Ireland, in the first such arrangement for road projects for a number of years.

Construction is set to start next year on both projects, and is due to be completed by 2014, at which stage the repayments will commence.

Minister Varadkar has said this is a very welcome announcement, particularly at a time when PPP projects are so difficult to get off the ground.

“I am delighted to be able to announce the upgrading of Newlands Cross, and of the N11 between Rathnew and Arklow. Both projects will make a real difference to the travelling public and to businesses. Each one covers a critical section of road, and is among a handful of stretches which were never resolved during the boom years.

“Thanks to this new arrangement, the work can finally be initiated.

“It’s particularly welcome to be able to remove the last traffic light between Dundalk and Cork, on one of Ireland’s most important and busiest national routes. The construction process will also create employment for hundreds of people.”

The NRA will now move on to the difficult task of trying to find financial backing for the Gort to Tuam motorway.

veryangryman

Toll booths not count as traffic lights Mr Varakaakar?

I count 3 from Dunkettle to border

dubhthach

veryangryman wrote: »

Toll booths not count as traffic lights Mr Varakaakar?

I count 3 from Dunkettle to border

Express lane + tag surely?

veryangryman

dubhthach wrote: »

Express lane + tag surely?

Ill see your tag and ill raise you a "just cos the lights are green doesnt make them any less lights" :P

Slow day...

Wild Bill

antoobrien wrote: »

Funding apparently in place, no word if it's (still) BAM, or when it will start.

http://www.transport.ie/pressRelease.aspx?Id=475

Is this finally the start or just another ordinary definite start?

antoobrien

Wild Bill wrote: »

Is this finally the start or just another ordinary definite start?

It's (only) the confirmation that funding is available (which was been hinted in the infrastructure budget a couple of months back), as I said there's no mention of the other details.

[extrememlysarcasticbit]
Next year means anything up to the 31/12/2012, maybe they're hoping that the Mayan prophecy is true and they won't have to build the road.
[/extrememlysarcasticbit]

Sponge Bob

When did Bank of Ireland get involved, after July when BAM became preferred tenderer?

And why can't those tossers in BAM find funds for the M17/18 ?

tomflynn

Sponge Bob wrote: »

When did Bank of Ireland get involved, after July when BAM became preferred tenderer?

And why can't those tossers in BAM find funds for the M17/18 ?

Interesting question, as there is also EIB loan approval for M17/M18 (see link http://www.eib.org/projects/pipeline/regions/european-union/index.htm?start=2010&end=2011&status=&country=ireland&sector=). However, it may be the scale of development and investment: the N7/N11 PPP is a relatively small compared with M17/M18.

L1011

N7/11 project also includes the concession to operate an ATM of sorts in what will be the only petrol station between Camolin and Kilmac (and the only one its safe to pull out of between Camolin and Lusk, realistically). Its still possible to borrow for this kind of project so that will, also, have helped.

antoobrien

Sponge Bob wrote: »

When did Bank of Ireland get involved, after July when BAM became preferred tenderer?

And why can't those tossers in BAM find funds for the M17/18 ?

BAM aren't finding the funding for this either.

BluntGuy

Curious. Anyone we can contact to find out how this deal was allegedly put together?

Sponge Bob

Intruiging, the government got another PPP off a month or two back...a schools bundle that time.

Wild Bill

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Intruiging, the government got another PPP off a month or two back...a schools bundle that time.

Why is that intriguing?

Sponge Bob

Intruiging finding out where the money is coming from for the Gort -Tuam project