€182 million spent to cut 10 mins off journey...

CrazyRabbit

€182 million for 10 minutes reduction in journey time? I think they're nuts. But hey, at least we're not paying for it.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0729/m1.html

The final stretch of dual carriageway linking Dublin and Belfast was opened today, shortening the journey time between the two cities to around two hours.
When the M1 motorway was constructed in Northern Ireland in the 1960s it ran westwards from Belfast.
The A1 road to Newry and the border branched off outside Lisburn.
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Now the dual carriageway and motorway on both sides of the border from Dublin to Belfast is complete.
The road is opening five months ahead of schedule and will shorten journey times by around ten minutes.
It will link in with the M1 motorway from Dublin to Dundalk, which was completed a few years ago.
Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and Regional Development Minister Conor Murphy opened the 12km bypass at 11am.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen also attended the opening and hailed the road as a boost for the whole island.
'It brings all of us closer,' said Mr Cowen, who said the development would also bring economic and social benefits.

Celly Smunt

Did the british government not pay for this?

jesus_thats_gre

Yeah, that was the sole purpose of it.


Are some people on this website just completely retarded?

Mike 1972

There are other advantages to motorways/dual carriageways besides immediate reduction in average Journey time.

In fact in this day and age any developed country should have all major primary routes at or above dual carriageway standard.

Mint Sauce

pmcmahon wrote: »

Did the british government not pay for this?

CrazyRabbit wrote: »

€182 million for 10 minutes reduction in journey time? I think they're nuts. But hey, at least we're not paying for it.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0729/m1.html

Celly Smunt

irish-stew wrote: »

i should really start reading original posts

pmcmahon

pmcmahon wrote: »

i should really start reading original posts

I find it more interesting not to bother myself.. :cool:

laugh

I think we did make a contribution to these works.

genericguy

money would have been better spent finding a way to cut norn iron away from the rest of the country.

Celly Smunt

laugh wrote: »

I think we did make a contribution to these works.

please tell me it was a debt

DOC09UNAM

genericguy wrote: »

money would have been better spent finding a way to cut norn iron away from the rest of the country.

Less of it.

Mike 1972

genericguy wrote: »

money would have been better spent finding a way to cut norn iron away from the rest of the country.

Er you need to update your map from the last Ice age

Celly Smunt

Deleted User wrote: »

I find it more interesting not to bother myself.. :cool:

you're living it!!! :cool:

Mickeroo

Ireland has the highest density of roads than any other country in Europe, they'd be better off improving the ones we have than building new ones. The way it's going the country will end up being a big slab of tarmac.

Celly Smunt

Mickeroo wrote: »

Ireland has the highest density of roads than any other country in Europe, they'd be better off improving the ones we have than building new ones. The way it's going the country will end up being a big slab of tarmac.

at least it would keep the boggers out

Mike 1972

Mickeroo wrote: »

Ireland has the highest density of roads than any other country in Europe, they'd be better off improving the ones we have than building new ones. The way it's going the country will end up being a big slab of tarmac.

On the other hand one could make a case for abandoning some existing roads.......Then again in a lot of cases they seem to be doing just that

kippy

pmcmahon wrote: »

at least it would keep the boggers out

?????
What the fcuk has this got to do with the thread?
Want to get back to the days of the pale again?

Celly Smunt

kippy wrote: »

?????
What the fcuk has this got to do with the thread?
Want to get back to the days of the pale again?

nothing,i just think dublin is fair superior and feel that the rest of the population outside our perimeters should be pushed away

Paddy Samurai

Mickeroo wrote: »

Ireland has the highest density of roads than any other country in Europe, they'd be better off improving the ones we have than building new ones. The way it's going the country will end up being a big slab of tarmac.

Always thought myself that railways were the way to go,for both passengers and container traffic.I read somewere that Ireland had one of the best rail networks (good for troop movements)in europe under the british.Think our government ripped up alot of it over the years.

Mickeroo

Paddy Samurai wrote: »

Always thought myself that railways were the way to go,for both passengers and container traffic.I read somewere that Ireland had one of the best rail networks (good for troop movements)in europe under the british.Think our government ripped up alot of it over the years.

Yea, they're after turning what used to be the local stretch of railway where I live into a cycle track.

Del2005

Paddy Samurai wrote: »

Always thought myself that railways were the way to go,for both passengers and container traffic.I read somewere that Ireland had one of the best rail networks (good for troop movements)in europe under the british.Think our government ripped up alot of it over the years.

Rail is only good for movement between high density population centres. With the shambles they've made of our planning, and therefore our country side, there are very few places suitable for linking by rail.

And the ones that are they won't

Lu Tze

Paddy Samurai wrote: »

Always thought myself that railways were the way to go,for both passengers and container traffic.I read somewere that Ireland had one of the best rail networks (good for troop movements)in europe under the british.Think our government ripped up alot of it over the years.

It did around the late 1800s. It was quicker to travel from cork/kerry to dublin by train in 1908 than it is today (less accidents today i'm presuming though!)


The old rail maps of ireland are pretty impressive

Seloth

Its not only a 10 minute reduction.

The way these roads are desiged is ot reduce congestion and such.

gurramok

Whoever wrote that RTE article needs their head examined. When Newry is swamped by shoppers, its a bloody nightmare to bypass that town and its this bottleneck that has been freed up.
It maybe 10min saved at 8am on a Monday morning, but it maybe a half hour saved on a Saturday afternoon hence average of 10min.

Dravokivich

RTE... fúcking morons...

Don't just start thinking 10 mins = €182 million

There was a lot of work that had to be done for this. Anyone who's gone by the works over the last year or so would be able to explain that there was a long time spent cutting through hills for a more direct route...

kippy

Any time I've ever gone through Newry it's taken more more than 10 minutes so I think this road is a great piece of work.
At least we are seeing something for 182 million in comparison to the Billions that are getting pumped into the banks.


Its not just the time savings though as many have mentioned. Its the safety aspect as well as taking traffic off the streets of Newry.
All in all, as with the other recent road improvements in this country, a good investment.

gurramok

And a fair few people have died on the A1 road at Newry in the past. What price on saving lives?

The Davestator

So far in this thread...
Dublin is better than rest of country.
Cut N.I off Ireland.
Govt are assholes.
Trains are the best.
Green sentiments about too many roads.

I love after hours!

kippy

The Davestator wrote: »

I love after hours!

That would explain the number of retarded posts alright.

Saruman

kippy wrote: »

Any time I've ever gone through Newry it's taken more more than 10 minutes so I think this road is a great piece of work.
At least we they are seeing something for 182 million in comparison to the Billions that are getting pumped into the banks.


Its not just the time savings though as many have mentioned. Its the safety aspect as well as taking traffic off the streets of Newry.
All in all, as with the other recent road improvements in this country, a good investment.

Fixed that for you.

kippy

Saruman wrote: »

Fixed that for you.

You've obviously never been North of the border then.
WE, who used the old road will see a massive difference with the new road.

Cookie_Monster

Dravokivich wrote: »

RTE... fúcking morons...

Don't just start thinking 10 mins = €182 million

There was a lot of work that had to be done for this. Anyone who's gone by the works over the last year or so would be able to explain that there was a long time spent cutting through hills for a more direct route...

indeed, not only is it a ten min saving for every vehicle using it, saving hundred of thousand of hours a year, it also completes the link which has reduced overall time by about 90-120 mins and takes traffic out of a lot of population centres making life better for both resident and the rest of use who no longer have to be subjected to Dundalk, Drogheda, Newry etc. add in fuel savings and co2 reduction and it works out very well indeed.

As for rail, freight is non-viable in Ireland due tot he small distances and Irish Rail do their best to make the rest of it non-viable too.

Mr Benevolent

182 million seems a lot to the ordinary man on the street, but to the country overall, saving millions of man hours sitting in traffic. That's more productivity, a less stress population, fewer road accidents etc etc... only in Ireland would be as short sighted at to complain about minuscule costs like that. OH yeah, and we didn't even pay for it.

There is, of course, another reason the UK government paid for it.

Celly Smunt

Confab wrote: »

182 million seems a lot to the ordinary man on the street, but to the country overall, saving millions of man hours sitting in traffic. That's more productivity, a less stress population, fewer road accidents etc etc... only in Ireland would be as short sighted at to complain about minuscule costs like that. OH yeah, and we didn't even pay for it.

There is, of course, another reason the UK government paid for it.

also better infrastructure for logistical works which could create more jobs and attract foreign investment

Saruman

kippy wrote: »

You've obviously never been North of the border then.
WE, who used the old road will see a massive difference with the new road.

Actually I have been there plenty of times and used the road long before any Motorways were built heading North, well beyond Dublin airport that is.

mikom

CrazyRabbit wrote: »

Taoiseach Brian Cowen also attended the opening and hailed the road as a boost for the whole island.
'It brings all of us closer,' said Mr Cowen,

Don't want to be close to you ya sweaty bastard.

oppenheimer1

Its been a while since I've been up north but do they put those big signs up at the start and end of big road projects like the do here, saying who designed and built it and of course who paid for it. I quite like the idea of a sign saying Funded by the European Union, British and Irish Governments with associated logos on those roads.

VinnyTGM

Even when we don't pay for the road we complain, god forbid we built one ourselves, even repair the dirt tracks we have at the moment.

rossie1977

Mickeroo wrote: »

Ireland has the highest density of roads than any other country in Europe, they'd be better off improving the ones we have than building new ones. The way it's going the country will end up being a big slab of tarmac.

which is basically what they are doing in this case, only in ireland do you have a 5km motorway which turns into a bendy dirt track for the next 90km :mad:

ffs all eastern european countries have better roads than us

Mike 1972

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

Its been a while since I've been up north but do they put those big signs up .......

No

owenc

kippy wrote: »

?????
What the fcuk has this got to do with the thread?
Want to get back to the days of the pale again?

I don't know why people are saying people from dublin are like british people and their accent sounds english no offence but it does not sound one bit english they sound more american, never mind american they can't even say three right.

owenc

kippy wrote: »

Any time I've ever gone through Newry it's taken more more than 10 minutes so I think this road is a great piece of work.
At least we are seeing something for 182 million in comparison to the Billions that are getting pumped into the banks.


Its not just the time savings though as many have mentioned. Its the safety aspect as well as taking traffic off the streets of Newry.
All in all, as with the other recent road improvements in this country, a good investment.

Yous aren't saving anything yous didn't pay for it.

Mike 1972

owenc wrote: »

I don't know why people are saying people from dublin are like british people and their accent sounds english no offence but it does not sound one bit english they sound more american, never mind american they can't even say three right.

It depends on what part of Dublin....................

owenc

Mike 1972 wrote: »

Er you need to update your map from the last Ice age

Why did you show them that map, that dosen't matter they could build a bridge to scotland afterall its only 10 miles away, i can the lighthouse on kintyre from my house rightnow.;) Or they could pump concrete along the north channel.

owenc

Mike 1972 wrote: »

It depends on what part of Dublin....................

They still don't sound english.

galwayrush

At least there's something to show for the money, unlike the billions thrown after some of our zombie banks.:rolleyes:

Davei141

owenc wrote: »

They still don't sound english.

No shit.

Paparazzo

Mickeroo wrote: »

Ireland has the highest density of roads than any other country in Europe, they'd be better off improving the ones we have than building new ones. The way it's going the country will end up being a big slab of tarmac.

We have a very dispersed population too. But I don't see how having thousands of kilometers of 3rd class roads should stop us building motorways

Saruman

rossie1977 wrote: »

which is basically what they are doing in this case, only in ireland do you have a 5km motorway which turns into a bendy dirt track for the next 90km :mad:

Not quite true, even in the US you can go from freeway to single carriageway crappy roads with no overtaking for 20 or 30 miles before it becomes a freeway again.

This is pretty rare in comparison but it still exists.