Is the M6 completed yet?

snowy2008

hi

im going to galway at the weekend and wondered if

1. is it ok to go with all the flooding
2. is the new motor way opened?

thanks
snowy

Sponge Bob

yeah
no

BluntGuy

Travel advice is better suited for our friends over at Commuting and Transport.

Thread moved.

Victor

It is motorway from Leixlip to just before Ballinasloe.

Ballinasloe-Galway is nearly, but not quite ready. AFAIK the N6 is open.

Carawaystick

Victor wrote: »

It is motorway from Leixlip to just before Ballinasloe.

Apart from a dual carriageway section around Athlone

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

It is, as was said before this post, essentially motorway the whole way to the east side of Ballinasloe, apart from at Athlone, which is technically still a Dual Carriageway. Anyway the point is the road quality is all motorway standard to Ballinasloe.

You'll have to go through Ballinasloe itself but the flooding has subsided and there won't be a problem there, or anywhere the rest of the way to Galway.

Tarabuses

deccurley wrote: »

It is, as was said before this post, essentially motorway the whole way to the east side of Ballinasloe, apart from at Athlone, which is technically still a Dual Carriageway. Anyway the point is the road quality is all motorway standard to Ballinasloe.

You'll have to go through Ballinasloe itself but the flooding has subsided and there won't be a problem there, or anywhere the rest of the way to Galway.

Why would anyone design a motorway to end before Ballinasloe?

onemorechance

Up to date status on Irish roads.

http://www.aaroadwatch.ie/map/map.asp

Chris_533976

Tarabuses wrote: »

Why would anyone design a motorway to end before Ballinasloe?

Because the Suck bridge would be too expensive as part of the Athlone - Ballinasloe East contract but can be lumped in with the PPP of Galway - East Ballinasloe.

paconnors

according to www.galwaynews.ie it will be open on the 18th of this month

StephenM_smc

deccurley wrote: »

It is, as was said before this post, essentially motorway the whole way to the east side of Ballinasloe, apart from at Athlone, which is technically still a Dual Carriageway. Anyway the point is the road quality is all motorway standard to Ballinasloe.

If the Athlone bypass is motorway quality, it is very poor. Bad surface with very faint "cats eyes" and faded road markings. I hope they do a resurfacing job on this section of road in the very near future. Its not very comfortable driving when people keep sitting in between lanes that are hard to see on dark and wet nights like tonight.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

StephenM_smc wrote: »

If the Athlone bypass is motorway quality, it is very poor. Bad surface with very faint "cats eyes" and faded road markings. I hope they do a resurfacing job on this section of road in the very near future. Its not very comfortable driving when people keep sitting in between lanes that are hard to see on dark and wet nights like tonight.

Point taken, what I meant was that the Athlone Bypass doesn't deviate from the Motorway sections in width, gradient etc. Obviously the Bypass isn't to the standard of the new road surface wise, but its been there for almost 20 years compared to a year and a bit since the motorway opened as far as Athlone, and was only resurfaced once. Anyway, my point is you can drive on the Bypass and it doesn't differ significantly from the rest of the road. Its fairly obvious where the link ups are, but i'd hardly call it dangerous..

D'Peoples Voice

Tarabuses wrote: »

Why would anyone design a motorway to end before Ballinasloe?

ah because you're thinking of what would be logical,
you must remember that in Ireland certain road schemes are designed so that the whole scheme finishes within a COUNTY border,
check out the map of roscommon, then look where Athlone to Ballinasloe falls within,
likewise with the M8 ending at Culahill,
the N9 being built in stages
the M3 only being built in Meath, not Dublin or Cavan
the N7 Nenagh upgrade
the list goes on and on.

Carawaystick

Tarabuses wrote: »

Why would anyone design a motorway to end before Ballinasloe?

Because the motorway from Galway to the same point was supposed to be finished before the bit between there and Athlone. the link between the end of the M6 and the rest of the N6 was part of the Balinasloe to Galway project originally.

L1011

StephenM_smc wrote: »

If the Athlone bypass is motorway quality, it is very poor. Bad surface with very faint "cats eyes" and faded road markings. I hope they do a resurfacing job on this section of road in the very near future. Its not very comfortable driving when people keep sitting in between lanes that are hard to see on dark and wet nights like tonight.

It was rumoured on here that'd it'd be resurfaced completely had the motorway redesignation gone through. Its being sat on at the moment.

From what I can find out, bits of the bypass opened in 1988, so some of the surface is 20 years old and untouched since.

Carawaystick

StephenM_smc wrote: »

If the Athlone bypass is motorway quality, it is very poor. Bad surface with very faint "cats eyes" and faded road markings.

Sounds like parts of Autobahn with no speed limit

Sponge Bob

MYOB wrote: »

From what I can find out, bits of the bypass opened in 1988, so some of the surface is 20 years old and untouched since.

It was asphalted in the late 1990s, before then it was bitmac. The flyovers on top and some slips may have the original surface dressing.

Chris_533976

Out of interest why was the Athlone bypass built as DC? Its not a huge town and I'm surprised that with the lack of money in the 80s that it was built to such a high spec, way before any plans for motorway between Galway and Dublin were realised.

StephenM_smc

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Out of interest why was the Athlone bypass built as DC? Its not a huge town and I'm surprised that with the lack of money in the 80s that it was built to such a high spec, way before any plans for motorway between Galway and Dublin were realised.

A rare piece of forward thinking?

I had a quick look at the development plan for Athlone but I didn't spot anything about upgrading the dual carriageway. I am guessing that resurfacing wouldn't need to be outlined in a plan like that, so here's hoping for a job being done in the near future.

L1011

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Out of interest why was the Athlone bypass built as DC? Its not a huge town and I'm surprised that with the lack of money in the 80s that it was built to such a high spec, way before any plans for motorway between Galway and Dublin were realised.

Nearly all bypasses that went to spec in the 1980s were DC/motorway. Swords, Mullingar, Maynooth, Newbridge, Newtownmountkennedy, Lucan, Chapeliziod, etc. Actually most of them were grade seperated ones too! I'd guess we used to do things better when it was money in short supply we were spending.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Out of interest why was the Athlone bypass built as DC? Its not a huge town and I'm surprised that with the lack of money in the 80s that it was built to such a high spec, way before any plans for motorway between Galway and Dublin were realised.

I imagine the main reason was that the traffic volume going through the town from Galway to Dublin was large enough to merit a DC standard bypass.

Athlone was an absolute nightmare to get through on a friday evening! Its not a massive town but if you look at the town's layout, it spreads right along with the route of the old N6 for a good 5 or 6 miles, very narrow streets plus only one bridge across the Shannon. Fantastic fun!