M6 - temporary closure of Ballinasloe to Athlone motorway

kaizersoze

As title.....

Monday 5th December 2011 to Friday 23rd December 2011, "To facilitate Pavement improvement Works"

http://www.roscommoncoco.ie/en/Services/Roads/Road_Closures/Temporary_Road_Closure_-_M6/Temporary_Road_Closure_–_M6.html

I alway thought there was a problem with the surface in places. In medium to heavy rain the water wouldn't drain, even on slopes. The water seemed to cling to the surface.

Sorry if posted already. I did search....honest.

loyatemu

could they not put in a contra-flow rather than directing everyone onto the old N6?

trellheim

who's paying for it !

Amtmann

The contractor who built the road, I would imagine.
What's wrong with the surface, anyway?

-Corkie-

Tremelo wrote: »

The contractor who built the road, I would imagine.
What's wrong with the surface, anyway?

AFAIK the water is not draining of the road during heavy rain. Its a terrible piece of road anyway with all those bends.

kaizersoze

loyatemu wrote: »

could they not put in a contra-flow rather than directing everyone onto the old N6?

Cost I'd say is the issue.

Not sure who'd be liable. I'm sure the work would have been
tested and signed off on by umteem engineers.

Cookie_Monster

what about the cost to the economy* due to closure rather than contra flow?

* Traffic, delays, additional CO2, wasted time etc etc

kaizersoze

Indeed but Roscommon co. co. won't have to foot the bill for those. :-)

Tech3

I thought Nenagh-Limerick would have been the first post completed scheme requiring pavement works! Its ridiculous that there is issues already with this stretch

Sponge Bob

Same contractor did Gort - Crusheen just after they finished this.

Buffman

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

what about the cost to the economy* due to closure rather than contra flow?

* Traffic, delays, additional CO2, wasted time etc etc

Yep, closing the motorway between two major cities for the 3 weeks before Christmas, somebody isn't thinking too much about the economy.

Why can't they close it for night time only and work out of hours?

Roscommon CO CO
Alternative Routes:Traffic wishing to travel west on the M6 from Junction 13 Athlone (West) to Junction 14 Ballinasloe should use the
R446 (Old N6).

I'm guessing the limit on this R road is now 80kph, and a large stretch of it is on the GOSAFE speed camera list.

kaizersoze

Buffman wrote: »

I'm guessing the limit on this R road is now 80kph, and a large stretch of it is on the GOSAFE speed camera list.

Still 100 iirc.

L1011

Did anyone object in time? The road has a barrier with specific removable-for-contraflow sections. Unless they're planning to repave the entire thing there is no need to close it.

Due to being the only recently built stretch with armco there isn't even any temporary paving needed over the gap!

road_high

This seems a bit mad...closing one of the busiest roads during the busiest period i.e. Right before Christmas.

antoobrien

MYOB wrote: »

Did anyone object in time?

If it's anything like the notice that they put up about proposed the removal of the Briarhill RAB in Galway (a sign with 10 font text inside a tunnel that nobody uses) very few people will have seen it to object.

flazio

Buffman wrote: »

Yep, closing the motorway between two major cities for the 3 weeks before Christmas, somebody isn't thinking too much about the economy.

Why can't they close it for night time only and work out of hours?

I'm guessing the limit on this R road is now 80kph, and a large stretch of it is on the GOSAFE speed camera list.

Pretty sure it's 100kph still. And as much as I appreciate your enthusiasm. I doubt Ballinasloe or Athlone can be seen as 'major cities.
Seriously though, aren't those yellow sections of barrier made for contraflow?
Although, as I see it if you do go Contraflow, you have to reduce speed to 80Kmh max, and both directions are down to one lane, this way only westbound is down to one lane and they have a 100kmh limited road to travel on while eastbound remain unaffected.

runway16

flazio wrote: »

I doubt Ballinasloe or Athlone can be seen as 'major cities.
.

Maybe not, but Dublin and Galway certainly are.

fti

How come that 28 months after the road opening there's already some work to be done ? Must have been some very good quality work indeed ! :mad:

Buffman

flazio wrote: »

And as much as I appreciate your enthusiasm. I doubt Ballinasloe or Athlone can be seen as 'major cities.

Ha, yes, I'd have to agree with you there, but I was referring to Dublin and Galway, the major cities which the motorway connects.

flazio wrote: »

Although, as I see it if you do go Contraflow, you have to reduce speed to 80Kmh max, and both directions are down to one lane, this way only westbound is down to one lane and they have a 100kmh limited road to travel on while eastbound remain unaffected.

Yep, I see where your coming from, but I still think they've taken the lazy option by closing the road. That stretch of motorway is around 19km long, and unless they are going to get hundreds of people working on it, it's not going to be all worked on at the same time. With minimal planning they should be able to only need 1 or 2 km closed at a time, even if it required removing a section of the central barrier to allow a contraflow.

L1011

fti wrote: »

How come that 28 months after the road opening there's already some work to be done ? Must have been some very good quality work indeed ! :mad:

I would hope that the final payment to the contractors was withheld.

Cookie_Monster

MYOB wrote: »

I would hope that the final payment to the contractors was withheld.

:pac:

yeah right

fti

MYOB wrote: »

I would hope that the final payment to the contractors was withheld.

I seriously doubt it...

Sponge Bob

It is due about now. The imminent retention payment is evidently what has the contractor back fixing the flooding issue.

http://www.galwaycoco.ie/en/Services/RoadsTransportation/RoadsProgramme/Roads%20Programme%202011.pdf

Its hardly like they are building any roads is it ??

The grant allocated by the National Roads Authority for the year 2011 is €70,116,530 which represents a
decrease of €108,899,000 or 60.81% on the initial 2010 allocation. The 2011 allocation divides as follows:
Improvement Works €68,340,000
Maintenance Works € 1,776,530

Athlone/Ballinasloe € 4,418,500

Tech3

Athlone businesses slam timing of motorway closure
Friday, November 25, 2011 - 04:32 PM

The Athlone Chamber of Commerce has said it is "outraged" at plans to close part of the main Dublin to Galway motorway for up to three weeks before Christmas.

Roscommon County Council has said the motorway between the Roscommon exit and Monkland will close between December 5 and 23, forcing motorists to use the old Dublin to Galway road.

It said it will be carrying out roadworks to deal with drainage issues, but the road would only be closed for three weeks in the event of bad weather.

President of Athlone Chamber of Commerce Michael O Brien told iRadio that the council really didn't put any thought into the timing of the roadworks.

Link

fti

wrote:

The Athlone Chamber of Commerce has said it is "outraged" at plans to close....

I have not been living In Ireland for long but on countless occasions I read that "City Council is outraged" or "Councillors are outraged" ...

Wouldn't be time to start acting rather than being outraged ?
Prevention is said to be better than cure, isn't it ?


(I know that in this case Athlone doesn't have such a grip on Roscommon co council ... just a recurrent thought while reading stories about outraged people ...)

Aidan1

Wouldn't the closure of part of the Motorway mean it was more likely that consumers would be less likely to travel long distances (to Dublin/Galway), and instead spend their disposable income closer to home, and thus actually be of benefit to Athlone in the run up to Christmas?

Also, 'outrage' is the emotion most likely to get a Councillor's name in the paper; 'mildly peeved', 'quite unhappy', or 'slightly put out' are much less successful.

antoobrien

Aidan1 wrote: »

Wouldn't the closure of part of the Motorway mean it was more likely that consumers would be less likely to travel long distances (to Dublin/Galway), and instead spend their disposable income closer to home, and thus actually be of benefit to Athlone in the run up to Christmas?

Might make a few from east Galway decide to brave the city traffic, which is driving them away from Galway (excuse the unintended pun).

KevR

Aidan1 wrote: »

Wouldn't the closure of part of the Motorway mean it was more likely that consumers would be less likely to travel long distances (to Dublin/Galway), and instead spend their disposable income closer to home, and thus actually be of benefit to Athlone in the run up to Christmas?

Also, 'outrage' is the emotion most likely to get a Councillor's name in the paper; 'mildly peeved', 'quite unhappy', or 'slightly put out' are much less successful.

It will be bad for Athlone. Quite a few people in East Galway (county and even the East side of Galway City) head to Athlone to shop. Nobody would blame them because Galway is such a disaster with traffic and parking.

fti

KevR wrote: »

It will be bad for Athlone.

... and for people like me, commuting between Athlone & Galway, it means a ****ty December month.

BTW, has anyone seen any sign on the side road saying "This road is going to be closed down for 3 weeks, starting next Monday. We're almost sorry." ?

sentient_6

KevR wrote: »

It will be bad for Athlone. Quite a few people in East Galway (county and even the East side of Galway City) head to Athlone to shop. Nobody would blame them because Galway is such a disaster with traffic and parking.

Why would anyone in east galway decide not to go to athlone just because the motorway is closed? If they where to make that decision then they would be morons. The old road is still in good condition, & with the speed limit still 100km & it actually being a few km's shorter, it works out much of a muchness to head that way.

antoobrien

sentient_6 wrote: »

Why would anyone in east galway decide not to go to athlone just because the motorway is closed? If they where to make that decision then they would be morons. The old road is still in good condition, & with the speed limit still 100km & it actually being a few km's shorter, it works out much of a muchness to head that way.

I take it you've never driven on the old N6 between Ballinasloe & Athlone. It's a half hour if there's any traffic. On the motorway its a half hour to Galway city.

sentient_6

antoobrien wrote: »

I take it you've never driven on the old N6 between Ballinasloe & Athlone. It's a half hour if there's any traffic. On the motorway its a half hour to Galway city.

Ya i come on here & make pretty definitive statements about a road iv never driven on. FFS!

antoobrien

sentient_6 wrote: »

Ya i come on here & make pretty definitive statements about a road iv never driven on. FFS!

wouldn't be the first or last time that's happened

paulusdu

I’m not too sure it will have that much effect or dissuade people from shopping in Athlone to be honest,. The old N6 is a pretty decent road in its own right, its only the first 3 or 4 km's out of Athlone towards Ballinasloe that can draw traffic, the rest of the road is very free flowing.
Still it seems like the original job was very rushed if it has to have major works done 28 months after opening.
Hopefully Ice Age 3 won't hit in the middle of the works

KevR

sentient_6 wrote: »

Why would anyone in east galway decide not to go to athlone just because the motorway is closed? If they where to make that decision then they would be morons. The old road is still in good condition, & with the speed limit still 100km & it actually being a few km's shorter, it works out much of a muchness to head that way.

It's a terrible road in terms of good overtaking opportunities. You will be lucky to average 80kmh if there is any sort of traffic on it. I stress the word lucky because you could average less than that. Compare that to a guaranteed 120kmh on the motorway and it's not really much of a muchness in terms of journey times or predictability in journey times.

Also, the diversion will actually make Westbound journeys 1.5km longer.
M6
M6 - R446 -M6

flazio

Athlone shouldn't be too badly affected by this, remember it's the West bound carriage thats been worked on, i.e. the road away from Athlone, so shoppers will have no problem getting to Athlone, it's getting home that will frustrate and tire.

antoobrien

flazio wrote: »

Athlone shouldn't be too badly affected by this, remember it's the West bound carriage thats been worked on, i.e. the road away from Athlone, so shoppers will have no problem getting to Athlone, it's getting home that will frustrate and tire.

Did you ever stop to consider the fact that this will make people think twice about going there? I know I won't go somewhere I will have trouble leaving.

The old Athlone to Ballinasloe road is the best section of the old route anyway, at most it'll add about five minutes to the journey west.

The only part of the route that will have any congestion will be the Athlone junction.

veryangryman

antoobrien wrote: »

I take it you've never driven on the old N6 between Ballinasloe & Athlone. It's a half hour if there's any traffic. On the motorway its a half hour to Galway city.

Exxagerate much? Are you perchance that property developer who mentioned a place in Ballymahon thats "5 minutes to Athlone Town Centre"

Your either that or a maniac driver. I live right beside Exit 13 (Athlone West) and can tell you that it takes 45 minutes (at speed limit) to get to Headford Shopping Centre.

Its people like this that give me my username....

Please no more exxageration.

antoobrien

veryangryman wrote: »

Exxagerate much? Are you perchance that property developer who mentioned a place in Ballymahon thats "5 minutes to Athlone Town Centre"

Your either that or a maniac driver. I live right beside Exit 13 (Athlone West) and can tell you that it takes 45 minutes (at speed limit) to get to Headford Shopping Centre.


Maybe I should have said at least a half hour between Ballinasloe & Athlone on the old N6, would that have been better? I've driven it often enough that's about right.

It is 30 minutes from Ballinsloe to Galway on the MW - care to dispute?

I never made a claim on how long it takes to get to the Galway Shopping Center on the Headford ROAD (I didn't know there was a shopping center in Headford village), but 15 minutes is about right - if there's no traffic about (which almost never happens in galway).

Besides people are going east not just from Ballinasloe, but from the likes of Athenry & Loughrea, to go to Athlone to shop because of the mess that is galway traffic. Are you seriously suggesting that traffic disruptions on the way to or from Athlone will not make them think twice about it?

veryangryman wrote: »

Its people like this that give me my username....

Please no more exxageration.

You give yourself the username, perchance the next time you might read the post properly before blowing your lid.

Ruben Remus

Update:

http://www.westmeathindependent.ie/news/roundup/articles/2011/12/02/4007979-athloneballinasloe-m6-closure-postponed-until-spring/

"Because of the rain and frost we've been having, and because it doesn't seem likely that these conditions will change, it was decided yesterday that we would postpone the work."

What sort of weather were they expecting! :rolleyes:

Zubeneschamali

Thank feck it's postponed, pure madness doing that work in the depths of winter if it's "weather dependent".

Chris_5339762

Methinks they got so much flak that they were told not to

fti

Deleted User wrote: »

What sort of weather were they expecting! :rolleyes:

it's truly bewildering and yet enchanting to imagine that some people were expecting warmth, sunshine & maybe heat waves in December.