N5 - Westport to Turlough [open to traffic]

road_high

irishgeo wrote: »

Probably waiting for Brexit to be sorted.

I think we as a nation have become fiscally paranoid, constantly looking for the next big crash to avoid. If we carry on we will achieve nothing as spending on infrastructure does have risks but also massive dividends when seen through. I'm not saying we abandon the reins on the purse strings but we really ought to look more at spending to accumulate.

BelfastVanMan

road_high wrote: »

irishgeo wrote: »

Probably waiting for Brexit to be sorted.

I think we as a nation have become fiscally paranoid, constantly looking for the next big crash to avoid. If we carry on we will achieve nothing as spending on infrastructure does have risks but also massive dividends when seen through. I'm not saying we abandon the reins on the purse strings but we really ought to look more at spending to accumulate.

I agree. Especially when interest rates are pretty low, historically.

https://twitter.com/MichealLehane/status/1184055092003201025?s=20

marno21

Cabinet has signed off.

https://twitter.com/radiomidwest/status/1184072748601135104

Hopefully see some diggers soon

Oscar Bravo

MINISTER Michael Ring has confirmed this lunchtime that the Cabinet has given its approval for the construction of the N5 Westport to Turlough Road.

The road development, which will cost €241 million, involves the construction of 20.3km of dual carriageway from Westport to Turlough and a 2.5km single carriageway link to the N59 Westport to Mulranny national secondary road.

Commented Minister Ring: “I’m delighted that the Cabinet has given the green light to this vital piece of infrastructure.

“This is the single largest government investment in the history of Mayo and it will have a transformative effect on our county. Work is due to begin later this year.

xabi

The Michael Ring Road.

medoc

November election! Start signing contracts for hospital extensions, schools, relief roads etc all over the country.

seligehgit

xabi wrote: »

The Michael Ring Road.

The Westport Road.You would swear there was no need for this dual carriageway from a Castlebar viewpoint or for general traffic flow improvement.

https://twitter.com/MichaelRingFG/status/1184084927601610752?s=09

Panrich

Oscar Bravo wrote: »

MINISTER Michael Ring has confirmed this lunchtime that the Cabinet has given its approval for the construction of the N5 Westport to Turlough Road.

The road development, which will cost €241 million, involves the construction of 20.3km of dual carriageway from Westport to Turlough and a 2.5km single carriageway link to the N59 Westport to Mulranny national secondary road.

Commented Minister Ring: “I’m delighted that the Cabinet has given the green light to this vital piece of infrastructure.

“This is the single largest government investment in the history of Mayo and it will have a transformative effect on our county. Work is due to begin later this year.

I wonder if they’ll have enough money left over to put cul de sac symbols on all signage for the N26? The North of Mayo is being left to wither and die.

marno21

Panrich wrote: »

I wonder if they’ll have enough money left over to put cul de sac symbols on all signage for the N26? The North of Mayo is being left to wither and die.

Construction of a new bridge on the N26 at Cloongullane is to commence early next year

prunudo

Piece on Pat Kenny about the road now. The gist of which is him pouring cold water on spending €241m to save 5 minutes.

irishgeo

Panrich wrote: »

I wonder if they’ll have enough money left over to put cul de sac symbols on all signage for the N26? The North of Mayo is being left to wither and die.

If Michelle didn't spend so much time on the phone to her friend. Maybe she might have got something for north mayo.

prunudo

prunudo wrote: »

Piece on Pat Kenny about the road now. The gist of which is him pouring cold water on spending €241m to save 5 minutes.

Ciaran Cuffe then rang in to give his tuppence worth, god help anyone hoping the M20 (and any other contentious projects) to go ahead smoothly if the greens get anywhere near power.

UsBus

prunudo wrote: »

Piece on Pat Kenny about the road now. The gist of which is him pouring cold water on spending €241m to save 5 minutes.

A dub questions money allocated to the West of Ireland...that's a new one...

marno21

The usual suspects out in force this morning. Of course it would make perfect sense for Allergan to move their products by bicycle.

The same suspects were complicit in creating a storm in a teacup about the Metrolink to placate a few suburban car loving residents

You can't have it both ways.

yew_tree

marno21 wrote: »

The usual suspects out in force this morning. Of course it would make perfect sense for Allergan to move their products by bicycle.

The same suspects were complicit in creating a storm in a teacup about the Metrolink to placate a few suburban car loving residents

You can't have it both ways.

They talk about spreading jobs around the country and relieving congestion in Dublin...well you gotta put in the infrastructure to do that.

Also I know for a fact the American multinationals in Mayo have complained and put pressure on regarding the Mayo roads down the years....the county would collapse overnight if these well paying companies left.

Pineapple1

UsBus wrote:

A dub questions money allocated to the West of Ireland...that's a new one...

Was just about to post regarding the piece I heard on Newstalk this morning. Sorry but whoever this yoke was (he didnt sound like he was from Mayo anyways) came across as extremely sour over the amount of money we are getting to do up one of the busiest roads in our county. Has he forgotten about the Children's hospital and the eye watering amount that will come to? But its ok because its in Dublin.

irishgeo

yew_tree wrote: »

They talk about spreading jobs around the country and relieving congestion in Dublin...well you gotta put in the infrastructure to do that.

Also I know for a fact the American multinationals in Mayo have complained and put pressure on regarding the Mayo roads down the years....the county would collapse overnight if these well paying companies left.

Allergen have to add extra packing on their products because product was being damaged on bad roads.

marno21

Pineapple1 wrote: »

Was just about to post regarding the piece I heard on Newstalk this morning. Sorry but whoever this yoke was (he didnt sound like he was from Mayo anyways) came across as extremely sour over the amount of money we are getting to do up one of the busiest roads in our county. Has he forgotten about the Children's hospital and the eye watering amount that will come to? But its ok because its in Dublin.

More importantly, has he forgot his party's stonewalling of the 2 biggest sustainable transport projects (if built) in the history of the state?

prunudo

marno21 wrote: »

More importantly, has he forgot his party's stonewalling of the 2 biggest sustainable transport projects (if built) in the history of the state?

I'm conscious of derailing this with politics but their 2 most common spokespeople of Ryan and Cuffe believe in a utopia land where everyone and everything will and should be transported by bike and walking. They either choose to ignore the reality or have no understanding of how people, businesses and life in general operate outside of Dublin. I wouldn't even call it not understanding rural areas, its even the smaller urban areas outside the capital they don't get.
If their opinion is representative of the rest of the green party the so called green wave will be very short lived.

seligehgit

Has Saoirse McHugh ever tried heading into Westport after work in the evening?Many of work colleagues spend a half an hour plus in tailbacks on the Sheeaune hill.Multiply that further at weekends with the influx of tourists etc...

Has she any idea of the issues facing the multi nationals Allergan etc in terms of transportation?

Has she any idea of how God awful the current road is with the scale of traffic flow?:rolleyes:

Pete_Cavan

Great to hear that this is progressing. Has a completion date been mentioned yet? Any potential for phased opening of certain sections? (need to stop thinking about the Green Party and their idiotic opinions before I smash my head off the wall)

irishgeo

Pete_Cavan wrote: »

Great to hear that this is progressing. Has a completion date been mentioned yet? Any potential for phased opening of certain sections? (need to stop thinking about the Green Party and their idiotic opinions before I smash my head off the wall)

the bit that might be phased opening is the n59 barley hill to get rid of the bends.


Its going to be traffic nightmare for 2 years.

Its going to affect the N5 east of castlebar, breaffy road, the n5 again in west of castlebar and then the N59 and the n5 at westport.

If you think traffic is bad now.

fiload

I'm not from Mayo and have no idea of the benifits of this project but I have the common sense not to pass my opinion on it.
Transport Infrastructure Ireland amongst other departments have obviously put a lot of work and time into getting this project to this stage and prioritised it for a reason.
It really annoys me that people who also have no idea about a project and also no expertise in that area, publicly critise something as if they actually know something about it.

marno21

+ this lark of moaning about a 4 lane high being ploughed through Mayo. The Charlestown bypass is ~15m wide and has 2 lanes, and at grade junctions, and nothing to stop high speed head on collisions.

This scheme will be 16.5m wide, twice the lanes, no head on collisions. Seems a very good use of resources to me.

road_high

Great to see the N5 developed further. It’s a very important link to the west of Ireland with much of the existing route having a poor safety record. Look forward to this section and the section though Roscommon getting underway.
Ciaran Cuffe this morning is exactly why I never vote Green. Condescending, deluded and Marie Antoinette like in their eco babble. A few extra co councillors and they think they’re on course to talk down to the rest of us

Hulk Hands

Am kinda surprised this got the go ahead at this stage, have driven it plenty and it is a crap road alright but in traffic terms it pales in comparison to whats going on between Limerick and Killarney (i know Adare is due a modest bypass) or in Galway City with the insanity there. Granted those projects would be near double the cost. The M20 is another story altogether

marno21

Hulk Hands wrote: »

Am kinda surprised this got the go ahead at this stage, have driven it plenty and it is a crap road alright but in traffic terms it pales in comparison to whats going on between Limerick and Killarney (i know Adare is due a modest bypass) or in Galway City with the insanity there. Granted those projects would be near double the cost. The M20 is another story altogether

Michael Ring isn’t from any of the places you mention. It really is that simple.

Hulk Hands

marno21 wrote: »

Michael Ring isn’t from any of the places you mention. It really is that simple.

The strong FG return in Mayo that was at odds with the rest of rural Ireland paying off handsomely in the end

Neworder79

marno21 wrote: »

Michael Ring isn’t from any of the places you mention. It really is that simple.

A few points.

It's the N5, a primary route into the West region and should be looked at in context of the full route connecting to M4 to Dublin along with recent Charlestown, Ballaghaderreen - and upcoming Strokestown Roscommon section upgrades.

Bypassing a major town Castlebar who's inner relief road becomes congested daily at peak times preventing flow through and around the town.

Bypassing north Westport to join N59 schemes which are improving access to North/West Mayo tourism routes and previously very poor quality dangerous roads (given scale of project it's a shame the N59 southern bypass isn't included in the plan).

Replacing 20+KM of poor quality single lane road mostly on the busiest Castlebar-Westport section with segregated type 2 carriageway.

Castlebar to Turlough section is an on-line upgrade and scaled back from original plan to link all the way to Bohola/BallinaN26 interchange.

I spoke to engineers at one of the hearings and they were very clear the data supported type 2 dual carriageway and on-line was not possible for much of the route.

It has been in planning since the early 90s due to traffic levels and accident rates.

It's been through several road designs and revisions responding to growth.

So whatever about local political sway of having a minister, a lot of work has gone into this for 20 years before this announcement, and if it was just down to who's in office I'd imagine a former Taoiseach would have happily signed it off several years ago.