N5 - Westport to Turlough [open to traffic]

Westernview

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120793079#Comment_120793079

The R309 on the Western side of Castlebar is 80km/hr all the way including the part you've highlighted. There are new speed limit sign plates erected on the old signage poles. I'm not sure about the Turlough side though, I'll update you as soon as I find out, or someone else here might.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120797060#Comment_120797060

I was in at that industrial park a week ago. The junction coming back out onto the main N59 road didn't seem great but I can't exactly remember why. I think the sight lines aren't great as the estate road slopes up to the main road (although it looks exhaggerated in the angle of that photo), which is surprising for a new junction.

Westernview

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798928#Comment_120798928

I agree. I'd imagine its a busy junction at certain times and there was plenty of room there to design in whatever was needed.

Screen capture shows junction during construction phase with a sloping approach all the way to the main road.

serfboard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798093#Comment_120798093

There doesn't seem to be any additional sloping on the new part from the old part judging from this Street View. I wonder if people are simpler travelling faster on the new part of the N59, because it is a substantial improvement on the old road which can be seen in the image.

Westernview

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120799666#Comment_120799666

The new road is higher than the old one to the left so there is an increased gradient needed. Also in order to meet current standards I think there should be a flat area for the last bit of the approach. This improves sightlines and also prevents the need to exit from a handbrake start. Im not certain about the exact requirements.

You could be right about the increased speeds though. It could be as much of a factor as what I've described.

Westernview

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120793079#Comment_120793079

The part of the R309 East of castlebar is also 80km/h between the new and old roundabouts. Was out there this evening.

mackerski

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120801736#Comment_120801736

I've updated OSM accordingly, thanks again!

pjordan

Fair few comments on here note glaringly poor design decisions which seem pretty unforgiveable or ill thought out on a project costing €220m.

The one I've started noticing pretty frequently is the lane segregation on the on/off ramps. I'd wonder who was the genius who came up with a series of bolted plastic/rubber poles to deleniate the razor edge margin between the on and off lanes for the new road intersections? Already, within a few weeks of opening, many of these have already been taken out by motorists who have misjudged their speed on the admittedly quite constrained ramps and overshot into the opposing lane. Perhaps the TII/NRA justification of these installations were on safety grounds as opposed to say a concrete divider between the lanes, but I wonder what is the plan going forward? Are Mayo county council going to allow a certain proportion of the poles to be taken out and then replace them all periodically, or more like in reality is there any plan or was any foresight given to this?

It just strikes me as shoddy design where a dinky little solution looks good on paper, but when applied practically without much though of how it will work in reality fails miserably, a bit like the shoddy work in the new leisure centre in Castlebar where the flimsy fixtures in many of the changing cubicles are already broken, and as for the genius solution of putting laminated timber back drops for the urinals.... nothing more to say...

Cookiemunster

Compact GSJs and are all over the network. Including motorways such as at Roscrea and Moneygall on the M7 and Ennis on the M18. The bollards are added to stop motorists joining the road in the wrong direction. They are more than fine for this route.

And as it is a national route, TII rather than Mayo CC are responsible for the upkeep of the road.

pjordan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120802784#Comment_120802784

So the question remains, are TII going to replace these on an ongoing basis or are they gonna wait for a whole slew of them to be taken out to replace them all together. And if a whole series of them are taken out without prompt replacement, then what actual practical purpose do they serve and is this need for constant replacement sustainable?

Just because they are in widespread use by TII on the national network doesnt make them a practical solution or a good idea. NRA/TII persisted with the "cheese grater" motorway dividers long after they had been abandoned by the rest of the EU on justifiable safety grounds, until they finally, albeit stubbornly saw sense and relented, just like their position on the motorway network not needing rest areas or service stations.

hans aus dtschl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120802914#Comment_120802914

Speaking from an N8 perspective, they'll wait until all the bollards are gone, and then they'll wait a few more years. I'll update you if I see any getting replaced.

TnxM17

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120802728#Comment_120802728

The bollards aren't being taken out by speeding traffic but by vehicles turning back which have realised they are on the wrong entry lane. I have seen it twice where cars have turned back on the slip from N84.

DumbBrunette

https://www.con-telegraph.ie/2023/07/05/bring-houses-bought-under-cpo-for-mayo-road-back-into-use/

..Mod : You need to explain the link - not just drop it without context.

Westernview

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120808281#Comment_120808281

I thought houses were bought under CPO for road projects because they had to be demolished. If they can be used again or resold why move out the original occupiers? Maybe there's a health and safety reason.

DumbBrunette

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120809881#Comment_120809881

I think that it's just a quality of life issue, living on top of heavy construction for 3 years would be hell so the homeowners are given a chance to sell up. Also the value of the house would presumably take a big knock.

plodder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120809881#Comment_120809881

It would usually be houses that are just outside the boundary so not needing to be demolished, but potentially subject to nuisance like noise both during construction and afterwards from operation. Any new occupier would be buying in full knowledge of this so there wouldn't be any compensation paid. There's certainly a perception that property values would take a knock, but in reality it might be less than expected. So, the tax payer gets the benefit of that.

6541

Observation - The road held up well with the torrential rain today.

ascophyllum

I happened to drive that road today and thought there was a lot of water holding on the eastbound lane between Westport and Islaneady. The road didn't appear to be draining to the gully on the edge (not sure if it's supposed to all the way along) and the road was holding quite a bit of water in places, especially on the inside lane. There looked to be a dry ridge of road on the very edge, e.g. it was raised at the edge so it couldn't drain off. The other westbound lane seemed to be drier and slightly more elevated in this section.

Westernview

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120815172#Comment_120815172

I thought the same on the westbound lane around Derrada a few weeks ago. Some parts very dry in contrast to other areas holding water.

mayo.mick

I see someone has already taken a sign out and gone straight through the roundabout coming from Castlebar at the Turlough roundabout.

Westernview

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120817739#Comment_120817739

Straight through the roundabout? Sounds like boy racer stuff.

mayo.mick

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120818459#Comment_120818459

They've already left their "mark" on the new road at that roundabout.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120821724#Comment_120821724

Who would repair/replace signs? TII or the Mayo Co Co?

DumbBrunette

https://www.con-telegraph.ie/2023/07/18/temporary-closure-of-new-mayo-dual-carriageway-announced/

They must have found some snags

Westernview

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120865940#Comment_120865940

Evening and night time closures only so that probably suggests minor issues.

Cosmo Kramer

Apparently it's for landscaping maintenance along the verges... surely they could just close one lane at a time for that, as happens on pretty much every other dual carriageway in the world - are they going to close the road every time they need to cut the grass?! Ridiculous stuff.

wotzgoingon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120871227#Comment_120871227

What's the big deal it will be night time when very few are on the road and the old road isn't that bad to drive on either especially at night when it will also have reduced traffic.

Cosmo Kramer

Well for one thing it's closing at 7pm, which isn't exactly nighttime in July and August.

It's supposedly for the safety of the workers, but presumably there's less interest in the safety of road users who are going to be put back on the old road - after all one of the main benefits was to take the traffic off the road for road safety reasons.

They could easily just reduce the traffic to one lane each way on the new road and protect everyone's safety. It just seems like a ridiculous reason to close an entire dual carriageway, end to end. Complete overkill.

KrisW1001

Doing work like this in live traffic instead of closing the road would mean the works would cost over twice as much and take over twice as long and of course people would complain about the cones and temporary 60 km/h limits and it all being a "waste of taxpayer's money".

So, given that someone will bitch about it either way, why not take the easier, cheaper and quicker option?

Westernview

Must be more to it than grass cutting. Possibly minor tidying up with topsoil etc. Maybe setting trees and shrubs also? Hopefully a one off in the first year of the road.

Reuben1210

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120872025#Comment_120872025

On the trees and shrubs - Have they planted a lot along the route? I hope they have!