M9 motorway (general thread)

mickger844posts

hi5 wrote: »

That repair work just before Knocktopher heading north is shockingly bad, you could under stand a slight lip as you enter and leave it, but surface itself is bumpy, its liken they threw it on and flattened it with a shovel:mad:

Passed through it Saturday and couldn't believe how bumpy and uneven the surface was. Whoever signed off on the finished work should be held accountable.

Trick of the Tail

Yep that surface is shocking.

But - WHAT subsidence between J7 and 9? I drive it quite often and haven't noticed any between the Kilkenny junctions; of course there's the section north of Paulstown, between J7 and 8, that's been coned off for months.

But I don't understand the need to close the motorway between 8 and 9.

A.

hi5

alinton wrote: »

Yep that surface is shocking.

But - WHAT subsidence between J7 and 9? I drive it quite often and haven't noticed any between the Kilkenny junctions; of course there's the section north of Paulstown, between J7 and 8, that's been coned off for months.

But I don't understand the need to close the motorway between 8 and 9.

A.

Could be something to do with closing off junction 8 and the difficulties with traffic traveling the full lenght of the link rd from Kilkenny to where it divides for Dublin/ Waterford, and then trying to do do u-turns when they realise they can't continue to Dublin.
You could put all the warning signs you like up, but that wouldn't make any difference:rolleyes:

road_high

hi5 wrote: »

That repair work just before Knocktopher heading north is shockingly bad, you could under stand a slight lip as you enter and leave it, but surface itself is bumpy, its liken they threw it on and flattened it with a shovel:mad:

Cringe...that prob means they will close the whole bloody thing again some point in the future to repair the repairs. Why do I have a bad feeling about the m9 quality of build (and other M-ways as well) down the road. If it's like this after 2 years...

road_high

hi5 wrote: »

Could be something to do with closing off junction 8 and the difficulties with traffic traveling the full lenght of the link rd from Kilkenny to where it divides for Dublin/ Waterford, and then trying to do do u-turns when they realise they can't continue to Dublin.
You could put all the warning signs you like up, but that wouldn't make any difference:rolleyes:

Yep, 95% of traffic would be heading for Dublin in that direction so they'd come to join the M9 and find they could only go south bound. You could put all the warnings and signs you want up but guaranteed there'd be incidents and near misses! It's a pity but from a H&S viewpoint can see where they are coming from. Now, I really hope they finish ahead of schedule and get the damn road open again as it should be.

road_high

Weird being back on the old N10 between Paulstown and KK this evening. It was very very busy.
I hope this diversion ends ahead of schedule. Could see them down the motorway working away on it. Diversion is reasonably well signed with staff at some of the exits as well.

Sully

I contacted the NRA regarding the awful newly laid surface between J10 and J11 recently by Kilkenny Local Authority. I got this response that people may be interested in;

Thank you for your recent correspondence, regarding the M9.

I should explain that these works were carried out by Kilkenny County Council which is the road authority for the area and I have, therefore, forwarded a copy of your email to the Council for attention.

However, I am advised that they are aware that there appear on the face of it to be some issues and are investigating them at present.


I hope that this is of assistance to you.

Hope it helps those travelling the road a lot and wondering, as I was, 'WTF?!'

Ronan|Raven

I need to go to Waterford this evening, can anyone advise on how long it is taking to go via the diversion lately?

Sully

Ronan|Raven wrote: »

I need to go to Waterford this evening, can anyone advise on how long it is taking to go via the diversion lately?

An extra 20mins or so, depending on traffic.

Ronan|Raven

Thanks Sully.

niloc1951

mfitzy wrote: »

Yep, 95% of traffic would be heading for Dublin in that direction so they'd come to join the M9 and find they could only go south bound. You could put all the warnings and signs you want up but guaranteed there'd be incidents and near misses! It's a pity but from a H&S viewpoint can see where they are coming from. Now, I really hope they finish ahead of schedule and get the damn road open again as it should be.

Not having traveled the M9 for several months, on Saturday afternoon as we traveled northbound we saw some electronic message boards saying the M9 was closed ahead. At the jct for KK (N10) we had a brief discussion as the whether the signs were a 'left over' from some works now finished as there was no physical indications that we should leave the motorway, no cones, no barriers, nothing.
However we divided to obey the signs but our confusion was compounded when at the top of the exit ramp the northbound entrance ramp was free of obstructions and there was no signage indicating the m'way was closed
Luckily, as it turned out, we continued to KK City and followed the diversion signs.

It appears that someone has forgotten to physically close off the m'way northbound at this jct.

BTW, Is what is being done on the M9 confirm that our motorways were in fact 'jerry built' as being discussed in another thread on this forum :mad:

Sully

niloc1951 wrote: »

Not having traveled the M9 for several months, on Saturday afternoon as we traveled northbound we saw some electronic message boards saying the M9 was closed ahead. At the jct for KK (N10) we had a brief discussion as the whether the signs were a 'left over' from some works now finished as there was no physical indications that we should leave the motorway, no cones, no barriers, nothing.
However we divided to obey the signs but our confusion was compounded when at the top of the exit ramp the northbound entrance ramp was free of obstructions and there was no signage indicating the m'way was closed
Luckily, as it turned out, we continued to KK City and followed the diversion signs.

It appears that someone has forgotten to physically close off the m'way northbound at this jct.

BTW, Is what is being done on the M9 confirm that our motorways were in fact 'jerry built' as being discussed in another thread on this forum :mad:

The signs advise you to divert at that exit as its easier to get onto the old Dublin road from that side of Kilkenny. If you go straight on, you will have no choice but to take the next exit (lots of cones, big signs and so on) into Kilkenny and then follow the diversions to get onto the Dublin Road.

The road is definitely blocked at the next exit and also at Paulstown. There is no way you can drive onto the road that they are working on, big barriers, cones etc.


As for 'jerry built' - dunno. A lot of the M9 has, and continues to have, problems since its construction.

niloc1951

Sully wrote: »

The signs advise you to divert at that exit as its easier to get onto the old Dublin road from that side of Kilkenny. If you go straight on, you will have no choice but to take the next exit (lots of cones, big signs and so on) into Kilkenny and then follow the diversions to get onto the Dublin Road.

The road is definitely blocked at the next exit and also at Paulstown. There is no way you can drive onto the road that they are working on, big barriers, cones etc.


As for 'jerry built' - dunno. A lot of the M9 has, and continues to have, problems since its construction.

If the m/way is open to Jct8 northbound would it not be quicker/shorter to stay on 'til jct8, head west to KK and then double back along the old Dublin Rd.
I don't know the traffic flows of the area very well but on the map it looks like a better option roads wise.

Sully

niloc1951 wrote: »

If the m/way is open to Jct8 northbound would it not be quicker/shorter to stay on 'til jct8, head west to KK and then double back along the old Dublin Rd.
I don't know the traffic flows of the area very well but on the map it looks like a better option roads wise.

I tried that once and I found it a nightmare traffic wise. So since then, I found it quicker heading the way the diversion suggests.

slimjimmc

niloc1951 wrote: »

BTW, Is what is being done on the M9 confirm that our motorways were in fact 'jerry built' as being discussed in another thread on this forum :mad:

The Knocktopher to Paulstown section was built by Roadbridge which are based in Limerick and owned by Limerick man Pat Mulcair.

Construction titan Pat Mulcair, 79, who owns 92% of Roadbridge, is worth €57m, and is placed at 181 on the list.

Sully

Some good news.. the road is re-opening tonight at midnight, ahead of schedule.

fricatus

The work on the new section is good quality by the way - drove it today. Much better than the hash job done on the section betwen J11 and J10.

flop

fricatus wrote: »

The work on the new section is good quality by the way - drove it today. Much better than the hash job done on the section betwen J11 and J10.

Excellent news. I so glad i dont have to use the bennetsbridge local road to bypass the kilkenny outer road

Sully

Some of you may recall Kilkenny Co. Co. hired a contractor to repair an apparent problem on the M9 between J10 and J11. It was closed for a period but on re-opening the finished surface was extremely poor. You go from a nice smooth surface to a very bumpy uneven surface which I think is a concern. Without warning, you enter this bad patch.

Anyway, I chased it up with the NRA who passed it onto Kilkenny Co. Co. sometime ago. When I got no response, I contacted Kilkenny Co. Co. directly and received this reply.

Kilkenny County Council is well aware of the unsatisfactory
finish to the remedial works carried out last year between J10 and J11
on the M9. We have made the contractor aware of this and asked for his
proposal to remedy the situation.
While the surface is unsatisfactory it does not represent a safety
hazard. We are anxious to resolve the matter without extra cost to the
taxpayer or the ratepayer so we have to be very careful to follow the
contract procedures. The original contractor did not accept that the
road as constructed did not conform to design standards--we were of the
view that there was an unacceptable flat spot at that location. We
therefore brought in a different contractor, after a tender process, to
remedy the situation in accordance with our design.
We hope to get the matter resolved both on the ground and
contractually, as soon as possible.

I have replied again to seek further clarity on the status of the repair of the surface and to express my view that I feel the road surface is a safety hazard and should have warnings on approach that the surface is uneven.

road_high

Work to add an extra merging lane with the M7 is progressing nicely. Will be a big help to safety and traffic flows once finshed. Nice and long lane as well.

Be nice if they would unrestrict the junction too i.e. allow southerly flows off the M9 to M7 south vice versa. All roads do not need to lead to Dublin and there's quite a bit of traffic to/from M9 to Newbridge/Kildare that would use this rather than cross country through the Curragh or Athgarvan.

road_high

Have to say the Traffic counts for the M9 are more than interesting http://nraextra.nra.ie/CurrentTrafficCounterData/html/M08-4.htm. They certainly compare well with the M8 for instance, and I mean on the untolled sections. No evidence to suggest 3 years later it was the white elephant many predicted.

fricatus

road_high wrote: »

Have to say the Traffic counts for the M9 are more than interesting http://nraextra.nra.ie/CurrentTrafficCounterData/html/M08-4.htm. They certainly compare well with the M8 for instance, and I mean on the untolled sections. No evidence to suggest 3 years later it was the white elephant many predicted.

Yeah, I remember the arguments at the time on this forum. I mean you'd swear they were building the motorway to fcuking Craggy Island the way some people went on.

Fact is, there are around 65,000 people in the Waterford/Tramore area, which compares well enough to the 75,000 in Galway. That's not to mention that there are some fairly big towns along the way (mainly Carlow and Kilkenny) which bolster the argument.

Nobody ever suggested not building a motorway from Dublin to Galway, because it seemed to be self-evidently necessary. However a motorway between Waterford and Dublin had to be a colossal waste of money. What a load of b0llocks - anyone making that argument had no idea of the population distribution in this country. Some people in this country really have to take the blinkers off.

Of course it probably would have made more economic sense to build a single M9-M8 to about Kilkenny or even beyond, and then split the Waterford and Cork traffic there, but that's a separate argument. A motorway link between Waterford and Dublin always made sense, and it's nice to see that vindicated!

road_high

fricatus wrote: »

Yeah, I remember the arguments at the time on this forum. I mean you'd swear they were building the motorway to fcuking Craggy Island the way some people went on.

Fact is, there are around 65,000 people in the Waterford/Tramore area, which compares well enough to the 75,000 in Galway. That's not to mention that there are some fairly big towns along the way (mainly Carlow and Kilkenny) which bolster the argument.

Nobody ever suggested not building a motorway from Dublin to Galway, because it seemed to be self-evidently necessary. However a motorway between Waterford and Dublin had to be a colossal waste of money. What a load of b0llocks - anyone making that argument had no idea of the population distribution in this country. Some people in this country really have to take the blinkers off.

Of course it probably would have made more economic sense to build a single M9-M8 to about Kilkenny or even beyond, and then split the Waterford and Cork traffic there, but that's a separate argument. A motorway link between Waterford and Dublin always made sense, and it's nice to see that vindicated!

I think people were (conveniently) taking the old atrocious N9 figures and translating them to the motorway. This was never going to be the case as it was far far worse than any other inter city N road of the day. Once the M9 opened a lot of other traffic has since transferred onto the motorway and trade has definitely increased between all the towns and cities of the region.
Example being I was talking to a truck driver in Portloaise that regularly transports between New Ross port and Laois/Kildare.
He now always uses the M9 via Waterford instead of the old R700. That's just one example. He says it's just as quick (despite being longer mileage) and the safety benefits are self explanatory.

Al Capwned

road_high wrote: »

Work to add an extra merging lane with the M7 is progressing nicely. Will be a big help to safety and traffic flows once finshed. Nice and long lane as well.

Be nice if they would unrestrict the junction too i.e. allow southerly flows off the M9 to M7 south vice versa. All roads do not need to lead to Dublin and there's quite a bit of traffic to/from M9 to Newbridge/Kildare that would use this rather than cross country through the Curragh or Athgarvan.

Couldnt agree more with your second paragraph - Kilcullen does be a nightmare at times for me heading to newbridge. So much so that the volume of traffic now going across by Sunnyhill must be considered dangerous.

road_high

Al Capwned wrote: »

Couldnt agree more with your second paragraph - Kilcullen does be a nightmare at times for me heading to newbridge. So much so that the volume of traffic now going across by Sunnyhill must be considered dangerous.

I always take the back road cross country from old n78 junction. Not the most convenient but find it quicker usually.

road_high

Sorry, wrong link here to the NRA traffic counts page;
http://nraextra.nra.ie/CurrentTrafficCounterData/index.html

Trick of the Tail

Who has responsibility for the day to day upkeep of this and other motorways? The NRA?

I ask because having driven the length of the M9 twice yesterday I was struck by the amount of debris all over the road. Bits of tyres, mostly, but I did spot a whole bumper at one point on the hard shoulder, and countless other bits and pieces, some on the verge byt a few on a carriageway.

I was driving a 4x4, but if I'd been in a small car this debris would not have been nice to hit, at night maybe when you can't see it to dodge it.

Its a mess.

I know in the UK the Highways Agency patrol the motorways looking for this type of thing, but I've never seen such a patrol here.

A

road_high

Think its the local council I remember Kildare did their part a year or two ago and it looked really obvious which part had been done post sweeping.
The M9 has a shocking amout of debris alright.

fricatus

Great to see the Gardaí pulling over a tractor on the M9 near Stonyford this morning (between J10 and J9).

Hopefully they're cracking down on this.

road_high

fricatus wrote: »

Great to see the Gardaí pulling over a tractor on the M9 near Stonyford this morning (between J10 and J9).

Hopefully they're cracking down on this.

The M9 is really bad for tractors. I know it cuts through some of the best land in Ireland but the old road is adequate for their needs. I think if they can go over 50 kmh they're allowed though.