Killaloe bypass, Shannon crossing & R494 Birdhill-Killaloe

yankinlk

Well i guess the past few days proved its still a two lane bridge and the lights arent needed 😭 😭 😭

Hibernicis

New video from Dronehawk showing the upgraded R494 and the new bridge, both looking close to completion.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3VPeu_zbp_U

Markcheese

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123102738#Comment_123102738

It was a two way bridge before it got traffic lights , and once no one tries to push it across the bridge , and there isn't a glut of pedestrians -and tourists ,then it'll be fine ,

The last few days hasn't been tourist season , and probably not many big tractors either .. 😁 ,

But I don't see a problem either it being q way for light traffic , or on the traffic lights , again for light traffic

ollaetta

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123150151#Comment_123150151

I still can't get over how good and stylish the bridge looks. Where is the standard mass concrete lump that seems to be the norm everywhere else nowadays? It's a credit to whoever designed it and the powers that be that agreed to run with it.

Hibernicis

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123166268#Comment_123166268

Agree 100% about the quality of the design. It is elegant, classical and also pays homage to the 17th/18th century bridge. I posted about the design previously in this thread, post #173:

The bridge was designed by Kit Powell-Williams who sadly passed away in September 2024. Though born in England he has a substantial body of work in Ireland. An appreciation of his life and work by his wife appears in today’s Irish Times.

https://www.irishtimes.com/obituaries/2024/10/20/kit-powell-williams-prize-winning-bridge-architect-who-made-his-mark-in-the-uk-ireland-and-beyond/

I really hope that the bridge receives an award for the quality of the design work. It's a really welcome change from the bland lumps we have grown used to.

goingmadted

I really hope the old bridge will be closed, only for pedestrians and cyclists. Would be a great addition to the area.

All this nonsense about keeping the two towns connected. First world problems eh.

It will literally be a 1 minute journey when you cross the new bridge to get to all the shops/businesses.

It boils my piss when there is uproar about these type of things.

The pubs and resturants were in uproar when the smoking ban came in but it all worked out fine didnt it.

cnocbui

I was in the village today, seemingly every second shop has a keep the bridge open poster displayed. I think we have been over this ground before.

gladerunner

 

Another local here who is very much in favour of taking the cars off the bridge and allowing for freedom of movement for walkers and bikes.

Why must we always cater for cars, even less cars means the same in terms of safety on the roads etc.

So the very few cars that refuse to use the new shiny bridge should be allowed negatively impact a great initiative.

I have a few narrow escapes when my lads were younger, especially around the library entrance.

Its such a shame that this is tarnishing the re-opening, people have no imaginations at all.

There is a local wanna be councillor too who is acting like this will being the plague to the villages

yankinlk

Allow a retort. My local cafe

dennyk

Ah now, I'm sure Bless will survive even if their customers have to spend an extra three minutes driving across the new bridge when they're heading to SuperValu…

17togo

The easiest solution to prevent a civil war would be to make it pedestrianised at certain times?! Maybe 10am to 8pm it's pedestrian only?

pigtown

https://www.clareecho.ie/killaloe-bridge-to-be-pedestrianised-on-trial-basis/

It'll be interesting to see the results of this trial

dennyk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123200080#Comment_123200080

I'm all for pedestrianisation of the old bridge, but that's definitely a better way to go about it than just closing it down the day the new bridge opens like it sounded like they were thinking about at some stage.

I'd always figured pedestrianisation would come later in the overall town development scheme, once they'd sorted out things like the new parking on the outskirts to replace the car park between the waters and better pedestrian infrastructure at either end of the bridge. The R463 junction with the bridge is a bit messy for pedestrians currently, and that won't be helped if they do shut off the traffic signal at the bridge, even with the lower traffic volumes. The R494 end is an utter disaster for pedestrians and I'm not sure if a lack of tailbacks at the roundabout waiting on the bridge lights would make that situation better or worse. They really need a proper crossing somewhere closer to the roundabout.

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123200080#Comment_123200080

Oh come on, it's not a trial, it's a fait accompli - basically as I predicted. There isn't a snowballs chance in hell of it ever being un-pedestrianised. This is just what officials do when electorates raise objections to their wishes, they pretend to listen and then just pull a stunt like this and end up with the result they wanted all along.

'We realise that a majority of you are opposed to this, but hear us out, we'll just trial this anyway, even though it's clearly not what you want - it's only temporary, promise.'

Pale Red

Has there been any other cases where a new road has resulted in the closing of the old road to traffic ?

Mrs Dempsey

Dominic's Bridge in Drogheda was previously open to motor-vehicles. It was pedestrianised when replaced by "The Bridge of Peace" in the 1970s.

Delirium

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123203397#Comment_123203397

On the Tullamore bypass, they closed the one section of the R421 (red line in image).

Traffic now goes out to the N52 and loops back to roundabout to rejoin R421.

davo2001

I thought the new bridge was meant to be opened in March, looks like it has been delayed until May. 😔

ch20

New video update posted today from Clare County council.

https://vimeo.com/1060502420

mark.oc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123208668#Comment_123208668

Yep, it's in the Champion here alright: https://clarechampion.ie/bridge-trial-a-reasonable-compromise/

Hard to see how it moved from March to May 25th, especially when it seems all but done

Former Former Former

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123252732#Comment_123252732

It is very clear from that article that the 'trial' is window dressing and the pedestrianisation is permanent.

dennyk

James Whelan of Killaloe River Cruises has warned traders could lose up to 20% of their business from unplanned visitors who would turn around and drive elsewhere if the old bridge is closed.

Not sure how he figures this; the new bridge and bypass is already going to take away the through traffic from those "unplanned visitors" anyway, regardless of what happens with the old bridge. Once it's open, anyone who's just passing through from the Birdhill direction and heading into Clare (or vice versa) is going to be using the new bridge, so that genie is already out of the bottle. The only people trying to drive across the old bridge would be locals, most likely.

mark.oc

Looks even better by night.

https://www.clare.fm/news/hopes-beauty-of-lit-up-killaloe-bridge-can-serve-as-tourist-attraction/

BestWestern

That looks super. Really pleased that they treated the river and the towns with the respect they deserve.

elperello

An added bonus is the great views from the new by-pass.

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123269140#Comment_123269140

As A local I have to laugh at that. I have walked from the village to the bridge on both sides of the river with a camera looking for a vantage point to take such a photo. I failed to find a single publicly accessible place where you can view the whole bridge from and take such a photo. The ESB workshops on the island might be one spot, were it not locked off with metal gates, barriers and 5m high walls. Another possible spot would be the river frontage of a private estate with great big metal gates sealing the place up like a fortress. Near the waterworks there is a rather weird semi flooded area where numerous small boats are and rusty sheds can be seen in aerial views, again completely inaccessible without a magic key.

I have concluded the only way to get a shot like that is by a landowner granting access to a private foreshore, using a drone, or from a boat.

I fail to see any tourism benefit based on it's aesthetics, whatsoever. The degree to which the shores of the river are sealed off from public access is quite simply astonishing.

Here is how the bridge looks from the tipperary side in the one small place you can even get a glimpse of it:

And that's using a medium telephoto.

Hibernicis

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123269140#Comment_123269140

That’s a great picture. Thank you for sharing.

Heres a video that was posted on TikTok today https://www.tiktok.com/%40f4energy1/video/7482382658077592854?_r=1&_t=ZN-8uk50ZWU6WE

dennyk

You used to be able to get around the canal side of the old marble mill complex if you were willing to squeeze past a barrier and cross a dangerously derelict bridge in front of the mill, but I think the ESB might have sealed that path off more completely of late. Certainly wouldn't be somewhere a tourist would find themselves wandering in any case, and I'm not sure you could get far enough down the southern tip of the island there to actually get a view of the bridge in any case, as it's heavily overgrown; mostly it was just a few chancers using that path to access boats illicitly moored on the canal behind the mill. There's definitely nowhere with legitimate public access that has any sort of view of the new bridge. You might be able to get a peep of it from the graveyard at Templekelly, maybe, but there's a line of tall trees that would block most of it even if you could see it over the house across the road.

mark.oc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123271646#Comment_123271646

Redeveloping the marble mill is part of the town plan. Hopefully that will be the vantage point.

ch20

https://www.clarecoco.ie/services/capital-projects/roads-and-bridges/killaloe-bypass-shannon-bridge-crossing/update/

A update for March is on the clarecoco website.