M1 New Section of D3 (three lanes) at Swords

runway16

amacachi wrote: »

Oh this should be fun for the next while.

Ah, I doubt it will be that bad. Given the works will be in the median, they will prob shut the overtake lane, and use the left lane and hard shoulder as two running lanes.

Southbound, given that traffic slows up before this section anyway for the M50 join, I doubt it could really be much worse!! ;-)

At least I hope not.....;-)

amacachi

runway16 wrote: »

Ah, I doubt it will be that bad. Given the works will be in the median, they will prob shut the overtake lane, and use the left lane and hard shoulder as two running lanes.

Southbound, given that traffic slows up before this section anyway for the M50 join, I doubt it could really be much worse!! ;-)

At least I hope not.....;-)

Aye, but if it adds more than ten minutes I'll likely either have to get an earlier bus or get the train which I can't really afford. *sigh* Woe is me. :pac:

Irish and Proud

Well after the M7 and M18 opens next month, we'll have at least one road project to talk about... :pac::pac::pac:

...look on the positive side!

Hopefully, the M17/M18 and N7X/M11 projects will commence early next year - wonder if the PPP jitters will settle after the budget
(psst, I just said a rude word! )

Now for the M1 works drama!

celticbest

Was there any sign of the works starting this morning?? I came onto the M1S at the the Airport junction just incase....

Bluetonic

They spent today cutting the ditch in the central median down to around 3 ft from Lissenhall to Drynam

sdanseo

No delay on M1S today between Drynam and City, nor any sign of works underway.

cargo

sdonn wrote: »

No delay on M1S today between Drynam and City, nor any sign of works underway.

Nothing NB either as of this pm.

Bluetonic

sdonn wrote: »

No delay on M1S today between Drynam and City, nor any sign of works underway.

On M1S (Drynam) today at 1.30pm they were putting up electronic signs to say hard shoulder closed for two km along with a number of cones along with the continued pruning which would probably be for sight lines on the approach for truck movements.

Jayuu

Don't know if it had anything to do with the works but there were huge tailbacks on the M1N this evening at around 5pm. The traffic was even tailed back well onto the M50 at the exit.

dcr22B

There were traffic management trucks parked just on the M1(N) hard shoulder this morning so they must be doing some start-up work on this today.

celticbest

As far as I can tell the only work being done on the M1 from Junction 3 on is the clean up of the central median, they have been cutting the hedge for the last few days.

This now seems to be a major logistical challenge compared to when the M50 was only two lanes & the Hedge and Grass was maintained on a far more regular basis & there was little or no fuss about it.

Praetorian

Incredibly shortsighted that they are only going 3 lanes for 2 km's. This definnitely should've been as least as far as Drynam, so it covered most of the Swords / Skerries / Lusk / Rush traffic.

dcr22B

Praetorian,

The new upgrade covers the Airport to Drynam section or am I misunderstanding your post?

sdanseo

He means Lissenhall I'm sure.

Should be to Balbriggan tbh, and I think we (including FCC, NRA) all know that. It's just funding.

celticbest

sdonn wrote: »

He means Lissenhall I'm sure.

Should be to Balbriggan tbh, and I think we (including FCC, NRA) all know that. It's just funding.

+1

NFD100

celticbest wrote: »

+1

+ 2

It is badly needed!

Carawaystick

sdonn wrote: »

He means Lissenhall I'm sure.

Should be to Balbriggan tbh, and I think we (including FCC, NRA) all know that. It's just funding.

Does traffic regularily back up between Lissenhall and Courtlough northbound?

I thought it was the merging at Lissenhall that caused most of the traffic southbound, if there were 3 lanes from there south, then there'd be no merge and a lot of the traffic issues would be solved.

sdanseo

Carawaystick wrote: »

Does traffic regularily back up between Lissenhall and Courtlough northbound?

I thought it was the merging at Lissenhall that caused most of the traffic southbound, if there were 3 lanes from there south, then there'd be no merge and a lot of the traffic issues would be solved.

True if widened to Lissenhall chances are there would be little traffic problems until the M50 or even the Tunnel merge, but we're talking about planning ahead as well as simply remedying existing problems. The current attempt (i.e. widening to Drynam) doesn't manage to do even that.

Even tripling the M1 to Dundalk won't fix the bottleneck when all those cars reach Dublin, though. What's needed is a proper Public Transport solution for the M1 corridor. People won't use the current train service because they can't park their cars and North of Malahide there aren't many ways of getting to the train station from most estates without driving or a very long walk. Even when you do get a parking space, you have to pay for it, then pay for the train too.

The answer to half the M1's problems is thus ridiculously simple: PARK AND RIDE at IÉ stations, NOW.

Bluetonic

sdonn wrote: »

People won't use the current train service because they can't park their cars and North of Malahide there aren't many ways of getting to the train station from most estates without driving or a very long walk. Even when you do get a parking space, you have to pay for it, then pay for the train too.

The answer to half the M1's problems is thus ridiculously simple: PARK AND RIDE at IÉ stations, NOW.

I think thats rubbish. The fact of the matter is that you can drive into the city center and in some case park for free in the same time as it takes to leave your house and get the train in. For example under worst case conditions, from Balbriggan it's possible to leave at 7.05 and be at your desk in the IFSC at 8am, parked.... for free. Thats less time as the 7.11 train from Balbriggan which gets to Connolly at 7.58, taking into account getting to the train station and parking, along with walk to office.

Why would you bother getting the train when it's at best on a par with the car, which of course is without considering the fact that you get a seat in your car and are fully in control of your environment. This of course is leaving aside the cost of car v train as many people value controlling their own environment and flexibility of car as priceless.

Balbriggan has a massive all day free car park with CCTV 800m from the train station, thats roughly an 8 minute walk even for slow coaches. Why is it not being used? See above.

sdanseo

Bluetonic wrote: »

I think thats rubbish. The fact of the matter is that you can drive into the city center and in some case park for free in the same time as it takes to leave your house and get the train in. For example under worst case conditions, from Balbriggan it's possible to leave at 7.05 and be at your desk in the IFSC at 8am, parked.... for free. Thats less time as the 7.11 train from Balbriggan which gets to Connolly at 7.58, taking into account getting to the train station and parking, along with walk to office.

Why would you bother getting the train when it's at best on a par with the car, which of course is without considering the fact that you get a seat in your car and are fully in control of your environment. This of course is leaving aside the cost of car v train as many people value controlling their own environment and flexibility of car as priceless.

Balbriggan has a massive all day free car park with CCTV 800m from the train station, thats roughly an 8 minute walk even for slow coaches. Why is it not being used? See above.

800m is a long enough way to people in a hurry. It's about making it easy for people to commute by train. The fact of the matter is that if we want people to use public transport, you have to provide onsite parking. Anyway Balbriggan is just one case - in Malahide you literally would have to be at the station at 6.30am these days to get a space, and even then it's €8 a week.

Not all of us have the luxury of free parking in town either, but that's a different story; I understand that most people do and thus are happy to sit in the traffic. My point being that for people that need to use the road to get where they're going, the task is made difficult by asshats who could be on a train (including myself, because I can't park at the local station). That needs to be addressed - if only because at peak time, there will always be a traffic issue on key arteries into the city becuase they simply can't be widened without tunneling or demolishing things.

Carawaystick

sdonn wrote: »

The answer to half the M1's problems is thus ridiculously simple: PARK AND RIDE at IÉ stations, NOW.

There's a huge empty car park in Donabate to park and ride to Dublin from.

The planning board disagree with having a park and ride service near there too.

dcr22B

Carawaystick wrote: »

There's a huge empty car park in Donabate to park and ride to Dublin from.

It's empty for one simple reason: you're doing well to get on a cramped and unreliable service so there are much better options. Until we have a sustainable and reliable public transport system in this country (I doubt I'll see it in my lifetime and I'm only in my 30s), people will continue to rely on the car as they are architects of their own commute (to some degree).

Irish and Proud

dcr22B wrote: »

It's empty for one simple reason: you're doing well to get on a cramped and unreliable service so there are much better options. Until we have a sustainable and reliable public transport system in this country (I doubt I'll see it in my lifetime and I'm only in my 30s), people will continue to rely on the car as they are architects of their own commute (to some degree).

I use this line 3 days a week and I wouldn't say it's unreliable, but sometimes a little late - like 5 mins usually. Now, don't get me started that the trains are unused - they're anything but! The main problem in fact is that you'd be very lucky to get a seat in Balbriggan most mornings - maybe that's why the carparks are empty further down. Remember, most trains are 8 carriages long (as part of upgrades in the early to mid 2000's). In short, the railway system is already over capacity and would require major investment (such as the DART Underground and quad-tracking much of the Northern Line).

Lengthening the platforms to bring trains to 10 carriages would provide some relief, but even in the recession they'll probably fill up fairly quickly. I remember my innocence when the M1 opened in 2003 - expecting the crowds on the trains to thin out a bit :rolleyes: - well I was waiting - in fact, it was only with the longer trains and the Malahide DART coming on stream when the crowds thinned out, but like everything else the trains gradually filled up again. Even with the major rail investment, it will be a very long time before it would ever come on stream - the M1 could be widened in a far shorter timeframe - afterall, it is structurally configured to accommodate 2 extra lanes in the median all the way to Drogheda.

We badly need the major rail projects, but we also need the motorway upgrades for the interim and beyond. During the mornings, the extra lane (next to the median) from Gormanston could be reserved for buses during the morning peak with a speed limit of 80kph (would only operate inbound durning the morning peak and would hopefully reduce congestion at Lissenhall) - this would also allow undelayed access for buses to the Port Tunnel. Of course, the bus lane would be open to all competition!

Regards!

cargo

Back on-topic,

there's a few more TM signs in place SB (didn't notice the other side) this am although they are turned away from the direction of traffic for now. They look like they are set-up to more the lanes over to the hard shoulder and lane 1. Also a digger parked up on the garda speed ramp.

dcr22B

Lane 2 now closed and the slip road from the Drynam exit now runs straight to the N32/M50 lane after the Airport flyover. Traffic is in a heap at the moment on the M1 regardless of the works so it didn't add too much more to my commute this morning.

Absurdum

dcr22B wrote: »

people will continue to rely on the car as they are architects of their own commute (to some degree).

not everyone works in the city centre or along the train line either

dcr22B

Absurdum wrote: »

not everyone works in the city centre or along the train line either

Fair point, was just putting forward my own scenario.

Carawaystick

Saw a bit of works going on on this as I drove that way a few times late at night/early in the morning.

The limit seems unnecessarily low, I think it was only reduced to 80 for the building of the Holywell junction.
The signage going onto the M1 at Holywell is poor, the signage does not explicitly mention the short merge, which it should.

Irish and Proud

Carawaystick wrote: »

Saw a bit of works going on on this as I drove that way a few times late at night/early in the morning.

The limit seems unnecessarily low, I think it was only reduced to 80 for the building of the Holywell junction.
The signage going onto the M1 at Holywell is poor, the signage does not explicitly mention the short merge, which it should.

During the past week, I've seen the M1 traffic stopped on the Broadmeadow Bridge while crossing the Malahide Viaduct. I usually travel by train and would normally see slow M1 traffic on the bridge, but not completely stationary. Maybe it will take time for motorists to get used to the restrictions associated with the M1 Widening works.

Regards!

Bluetonic

Irish and Proud wrote: »

During the past week, I've seen the M1 traffic stopped on the Broadmeadow Bridge while crossing the Malahide Viaduct. I usually travel by train and would normally see slow M1 traffic on the bridge, but not completely stationary. Maybe it will take time for motorists to get used to the restrictions associated with the M1 Widening works.

Regards!

The traffic has been stopping there to some degree for the last number of years during the morning rush hour, it's not a recent event.