Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport NRA briefings

Amtmann

See here for the most recent (30 June 2010).

Topics discussed inluded:

• The tolling rates for taxis in the Port Tunnel
• The N5 Ballaghaderreen bypass
• The difference between single carriageway and Type 2 DC in terms of cost
• The M1 widening to three lanes
• The NRA's construction aspirations for 2011
• The M17/M18 PPP
• Strengthening of national secondary roads

Amtmann

Briefing for December 2010 here.

Items discussed included:

• Motorway service areas (detailed discussion)
• Salt stocks
• Signage
• Gritting
• NRA planning objections to projects to be sited near motorways
• The N11/N7 PPP
• The N24

runway16

Sweet Jesus, apart from Mr Barry of the NRA, they all sound like Rank amateurs. You would think they would inform themselves on these vital infrastructural issues.

If we can, so can they. Perhaps these committies could then discuss something of substance and Mr Barry wouldnt have to repeatedly explain what exactly the NRA's remit is and what legislation it has to work with....:rolleyes:

jd

Interesting comment Fred Barry made about service areas...

As regards service areas, it would certainly have been better if they had been developed with the motorways. The legislation is important, I am afraid, because we are completely constrained in what we can do. If there is not a statutory provision to the effect that we can do something, we cannot do it. Until the legislative change was made in 2007, the NRA had no authority and could not have developed service areas.

munchkin_utd

he was right though.

The original official policy of the Irish government (the same wise men that caused the property bubble) was that there was to be NO service areas at all online.

You would have to presume that this was due to parochial politics that business men in villages bypassed had some concerns for lost business.

I did read something that there was also a concern about anti-social behaviour possibly occuring at the service areas - i.e. online service areas are inherently evil, and 10km UN-SIGNED diversions off line to a station in a by-passed village owned by a buddy of the local FF councilor is gooooood

BTW- without local knowledge - its impossible to know from the online brown signs direction you to an offline station a ) how far offline the station is b ) where the station is, as the second you are offline there are NO MORE SIGNS!!! c ) if the station hasnt gone bust yet

Case in point - Horse and jockey exit - has this sign to guide you to the local businessmen
http://maps.google.de/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=horse+and+jockey+ireland&aq=&sll=53.410844,-1.513962&sspn=0.031515,0.093298&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Horse+and+Jockey,+County+North+Tipperary,+Ireland&ll=52.632828,-7.772012&spn=0.007267,0.063&z=15&layer=c&cbll=52.632792,-7.763752&panoid=29RkJV4sVeTtUwkKYe6iCw&cbp=12,174.79,,0,1.61
incl Petrol Symbol.
The station a couple of 100 m offline was shut though the last time I passed.
(EDIT - shut = out of buiness , not shut because of me being there late at night )

serfboard

runway16 wrote: »

Sweet Jesus, apart from Mr Barry of the NRA, they all sound like Rank amateurs. You would think they would inform themselves on these vital infrastructural issues.

If we can, so can they. Perhaps these committies could then discuss something of substance and Mr Barry wouldnt have to repeatedly explain what exactly the NRA's remit is and what legislation it has to work with....:rolleyes:

Sure they're far too busy going to funerals to bother themselves with knowing what they're talking about! And that's obviously the way we've wanted it for the past ninety years. What chance real reform?

munchkin_utd wrote: »

BTW- without local knowledge - its impossible to know from the online brown signs direction you to an offline station a ) how far offline the station is b ) where the station is, as the second you are offline there are NO MORE SIGNS!!! c ) if the station hasnt gone bust yet

d) or what the opening hours of the station are. So, even if it hasn't gone bust and you find yourself down to your last few kms, do you take a chance driving 10km offline at midnight only to find that the station closed at 11PM?