N5 - Westport to Turlough [open to traffic]

hondar

Westernyelp wrote: »

Really. I would have thought there was a lot of work that could safely continue on projects like this. But that's were we are I suppose.

Has to be done unfortunately.

DumbBrunette

FWIW I went to Dunnes in Castlebar today and passed by some of the works - good progress made in the short time since I last passed on St Patrick's Day.

There was even a steam roller to be seen at the future Castlebar West roundabout.

Hopefully the work will restart in a month or two and the land will be drier so they can plough through it (pun intended)

hondar wrote: »

Has to be done unfortunately.

Westernyelp

Will we see this restart on May 18th?

DumbBrunette

Question is will the construction workers be allowed to travel more than 5km to get to the site? That's not clear to me at all.

Westernyelp wrote: »

Will we see this restart on May 18th?

afatbollix

DumbBrunette wrote: »

Question is will the construction workers be allowed to travel more than 5km to get to the site? That's not clear to me at all.

You could always travel further than 5km. It was only for exercise you had to be within the 2/5km.

blackwhite

DumbBrunette wrote: »

Question is will the construction workers be allowed to travel more than 5km to get to the site? That's not clear to me at all.

5km is the limit for exercise only.

For any essential travel, there is no distance limit.

For any non-essential travel the distance is irrelevant, as non-essential travel is banned whether it is 1km or 100km.

How on earth do people still need this explained, given the rules have been in place for 5 and a half weeks at this stage (with only the exercise distance changed since then)?

DumbBrunette

My point was, the government's reopening plan does not make reference to construction work being essential work. Also there have been stories in the media of people who were travelling for work being turned back at Garda checkpoints.

blackwhite wrote: »

5km is the limit for exercise only.

For any essential travel, there is no distance limit.

For any non-essential travel the distance is irrelevant, as non-essential travel is banned whether it is 1km or 100km.

How on earth do people still need this explained, given the rules have been in place for 5 and a half weeks at this stage (with only the exercise distance changed since then)?

RedDevil55

DumbBrunette wrote: »

My point was, the government's reopening plan does not make reference to construction work being essential work. Also there have been stories in the media of people who were travelling for work being turned back at Garda checkpoints.

I'm pretty sure construction work is set to start back as part of phase 1 of the road map, i.e. 18th May.

Cookiemunster

DumbBrunette wrote: »

My point was, the government's reopening plan does not make reference to construction work being essential work. Also there have been stories in the media of people who were travelling for work being turned back at Garda checkpoints.

The governments reopening plans specifically mentions construction returning on May 18th along with DIY stores and garden centers reopening. How do expect that people in these areas could return to work if they weren't allowed to travel?

And absolutely nobody who could prove that they were travelling to their essential job was turned back. I've passed through 40-50 checkpoints in the last month without any difficulty.

Westernyelp

It'll be back on the 18th so? Anyone have the inside track?

mayo.mick

Westernyelp wrote: »

It'll be back on the 18th so? Anyone have the inside track?

I'm sure I heard it on mid west news one of the mornings, that work is restarting on the 18th.

seligehgit

mayo.mick wrote: »

I'm sure I heard it on mid west news one of the mornings, that work is restarting on the 18th.

Great news and not unexpected.

marno21

https://www.midwestradio.ie/index.php/news/38484-work-to-resume-after-18th-may-on-new-n5-westport-turlough-road

Work indeed to restart on the 18th.

No reason for it not to really.

DumbBrunette

Superb news. Total stoppage just 7 weeks, which isn't too bad for a 2-3 year job.

Also it has hardly rained since the lockdown started, so the land will have dried up massively. Hopefully this will help speed up the earthworks.

marno21 wrote: »

https://www.midwestradio.ie/index.php/news/38484-work-to-resume-after-18th-may-on-new-n5-westport-turlough-road

Work indeed to restart on the 18th.

No reason for it not to really.

irishgeo

DumbBrunette wrote: »

Superb news. Total stoppage just 7 weeks, which isn't too bad for a 2-3 year job.

Also it has hardly rained since the lockdown started, so the land will have dried up massively. Hopefully this will help speed up the earthworks.

The lad has dried up. The flooding in the fields around the beaten path has totally cleared up.

Westernyelp

irishgeo wrote:

The lad has dried up. The flooding in the fields around the beaten path has totally cleared up.

I'm sorry to hear your lad has dried up ðŸ˜

Any sign of a website launching for this project?

DumbBrunette

From the Mayo forum:

irishgeo wrote: »

Some equipment being unloaded at breaffy road crossing point this morning.

Westernyelp

Couple of diggers working away at the Pheasanthill junction today. Good to see them back

DumbBrunette

Same at lodge road junction in Westport today, see attached

Westernyelp wrote: »

Couple of diggers working away at the Pheasanthill junction today. Good to see them back

Pete_Cavan

Given 90% of the work at this stage is being done by people in individual machines, I think this should have been allowed to continue during the lockdown, same for the N22. It is very low risk work but could have saved the taxpayer a couple of hundred grand.

afatbollix

Yes it should of.

But it would of set a bad president for the government when they decided to lock down everything to keep government stuff going yet private companies had to close and stop everything.

Pete_Cavan

afatbollix wrote: »

Yes it should of.

But it would of set a bad president for the government when they decided to lock down everything to keep government stuff going yet private companies had to close and stop everything.

They could have just framed the permitted works allowed during the lockdown so that national road projects are included but only where workers are isolated in machinery. They risk of spread would have been tiny and the benefits outweigh the negatives.

hondar

The last 7 weeks weather was ideal for getting haul roads in and starting the muck shift on this job, I don't think Dr Leo knows the difference between road construction and building sites.

blackwhite

Roads projects around Dublin Port were allowed to continue throughout the lockdown, as was the north runway project in Dublin Airport.

I would imagine if TII had requested an exemption to continue the works then it would have been granted.

Westernyelp

Haul roads going in from Pheasanthill for construction of railway bridge and Lough Lannagh Bridge at the moment

DumbBrunette

Green t***ers specifically asked if N5 project could be stopped during the govt formation talks.

The arrogance of them never ceases to amaze me - 22 years of studies, appraisals and reviews all determined that the road is necessary but this shower think they know better.

They see the west as some kind of rural theme park that shouldn't be allowed to develop and clearly don't give a damn about road safety or economic development.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/contracts-signed-for-road-projects-government-formation-talks-told-1.4264212

Leonard Hofstadter

Just to follow it up, seems like the Green idiots are not letting it go. They even want to cancel projects that are already in progress - there's simply no way we can go back on that.

“The spend on roads is not well spent.” - what bloody planet are they on? You can tell they have no clue whatsoever about life outside of the M50 with comments like that. Their absolute hatred of one of the biggest inventions of personal freedom - the private motor car - is just plain for all to see. It's handy to dress it up as 'the environment' but with more and more electric cars becoming available, it's really just a hatred of the private car dominating their thinking.

How is it not good value for money to do the motorway between Cork and Limerick, or the Adare bypass, or other important projects, like this one?

At least both FG and FF are not backing down on keeping the roads programme on track.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/greens-transport-budgets-dominate-talks-with-fine-gael-and-fianna-fail-1002298.html

marno21

Does anyone ask them what buses and trucks drive on?

You know the most utilised form of transport in this country and the vehicle and provides everything need in life?

What else could you invest 120m in in Mayo to improve transport ?

It’s depressing that these people want to be involved in running the country.

Let’s cancel the N5 project and have the multinationals pull out of Mayo and we can wave our green flags while coal fired power plants fire up across Asia. Super stuff lads.

runawaybishop

marno21 wrote: »

Does anyone ask them what buses and trucks drive on?

You know the most utilised form of transport in this country and the vehicle and provides everything need in life?

What else could you invest 120m in in Mayo to improve transport ?

It’s depressing that these people want to be involved in running the country.

Let’s cancel the N5 project and have the multinationals pull out of Mayo and we can wave our green flags while coal fired power plants fire up across Asia. Super stuff lads.

You are thinking about this wrong, we can all cycle wolves across the fields to work. The green party are totally in touch with rural Ireland.

Cosmo Kramer

I think this project got off the ground with just a couple of months to spare. If it hadn't been signed and sealed before the last election it would never have happened.

Between the greens, climate change and the post Covid economy it's hard to see many more significant road projects taking place in the next decade, and who knows where we'll be after that.

The other N5 project in Roscommon may well fall on the wrong side of the cut off and not happen now, surely one of the worst stretches of national primary in the country.

irishgeo

Cosmo Kramer wrote: »

I think this project got off the ground with just a couple of months to spare. If it hadn't been signed and sealed before the last election it would never have happened.

Between the greens, climate change and the post Covid economy it's hard to see many more significant road projects taking place in the next decade, and who knows where we'll be after that.

The other N5 project in Roscommon may well fall on the wrong side of the cut off and not happen now, surely one of the worst stretches of national primary in the country.

Because it's the worst bit of road in the country it will get done. The FDI companies in the west have complaining about it for years.

DumbBrunette

Agreed, and because it's a pretty basic single carriageway, it's easier to get past the environmentalists.

The main issue the Green types seemed to have with N5 W-T is that it's a dual carriageway with grade separation, I don't think they can quite get their heads around the fact that the west does need some roads of that standard!

Also, the Roscommon scheme is the only big road scheme with planning and tenders have been issued. Both of these factors mean it is very likely to be built.

irishgeo wrote: »

Because it's the worst bit of road in the country it will get done. The FDI companies in the west have complaining about it for years.

irishgeo

DumbBrunette wrote: »

Agreed, and because it's a pretty basic single carriageway, it's easier to get past the environmentalists.

The main issue the Green types seemed to have with N5 W-T is that it's a dual carriageway with grade separation, I don't think they can quite get their heads around the fact that the west does need some roads of that standard!

Also, the Roscommon scheme is the only big road scheme with planning and tenders have been issued. Both of these factors mean it is very likely to be built.

The greens are giving out because it's money being spent in an area they don't get votes. Far better to spend money on things they get voted for. Dublin stuff.

DumbBrunette

Latest satellite imagery from Saturday 30th May showing good progress between Ballinrobe road and Milebush road in Castlebar:

DumbBrunette

The haul roads to the Lough Lannagh bridge and railway bridge that Westernyelp mentioned upthread are also clearly visible:

irishgeo

DumbBrunette wrote: »

The haul roads to the Lough Lannagh bridge and railway bridge that Westernyelp mentioned upthread are also clearly visible:

where did you find these images?

every truck in mayo must be hauling stone from roadstone.

havent seen any big volvos yet?

I hope the greens get their wish and this project is promptly canceled. I don't give a **** about the bitching of the multinationals they are only here for our low corporate tax rate if the road is so vital to them they can pay for it with their ample profits. We need to move away from cars and towards public transport.

Despite people's delusions on here Mayo will never be the next great manufacturing/technology hub. And no amount of wasted investment will reverse the global trend of people moving away from rural areas to urban centres.

Westernyelp

Deleted User wrote: »

I hope the greens get their wish and this project is promptly canceled. I don't give a **** about the bitching of the multinationals they are only here for our low corporate tax rate if the road is so vital to them they can pay for it with their ample profits. We need to move away from cars and towards public transport.

Despite people's delusions on here Mayo will never be the next great manufacturing/technology hub. And no amount of wasted investment will reverse the global trend of people moving away from rural areas to urban centres.

Anything helpful to back up your position? yo make a poor case so far.
BTW are you a fan of air travel?

Westernyelp

Westernyelp wrote: »

Anything helpful to back up your position? yo make a poor case so far.
BTW are you a fan of air travel?

Backup my position with what? The scientific evidence of climate change is real and undeniable. Ireland needs to end it's damaging relationship with the car. From now on investment should solely be in the areas of public transport and other green initiatives.

And no I'm against the majority of air travel which is unnecessary and environmentally damaging.

afatbollix

Alergan alone paid e527 million in stamp duty when it bought a company in 2017.

These companies have paid for that road many times over in recent years.

Last I checked these companies don't ship by car but by trucks. I'm sure soon enough they will be electric soon for your green requirement but the roads will still be ****e and inefficient.

afatbollix

afatbollix wrote: »

Alergan alone paid e527 million in stamp duty when it bought a company in 2017.

These companies have paid for that road many times over in recent years.

Last I checked these companies don't ship by car but by trucks. I'm sure soon enough they will be electric soon for your green requirement but the roads will still be ****e and inefficient.

So what that doesn't change the fact that they pay one of the lowest corporate tax rates in Europe. The trucks you talk about will most likely be driverless so the savings in driver wages will more than make up for taking a few minutes longer on a road.

Westernyelp

Deleted User wrote: »

Backup my position with what? The scientific evidence of climate change is real and undeniable. Ireland needs to end it's damaging relationship with the car. From now on investment should solely be in the areas of public transport and other green initiatives.

And no I'm against the majority of air travel which is unnecessary and environmentally damaging.

OK. Your username shows a certain affinity for air travel.

I would like to hear why you think this particular project is a problem in tackling climate change?

You mention a dependence on car travel. fair enough. when we see speak about ICE vehicles.

but what about electric vehicles and hydrogen etc

Goods, services and people still need to move about and these vehicles need roads to travel on. the more efficient point to point network in place,the less pollution surely.
Solutions for cities and less densely populated areas are not and cannot be the same.

You mentioned before that you don't care about the position of multinationals and there bitching etc.

This attitude will not advance your argument.

I would love to read the alternative plan that you propose

Westernyelp

Deleted User wrote: »

So what that doesn't change the fact that they pay one of the lowest corporate tax rates in Europe. The trucks you talk about will most likely be driverless so the savings in driver wages will more than make up for taking a few minutes longer on a road.

You are conflating two issues here and addressing neither.

Leonard Hofstadter

irishgeo wrote: »

The greens are giving out because it's money being spent in an area they don't get votes. Far better to spend money on things they get voted for. Dublin stuff.

With a bit of luck they'll pull out of the negotiations, we can have another election and let the grown-ups in charge for a few more years.

FG and FF are not giving way on the roads programme, no doubt with one eye on their rural voters, but nonetheless they are absolutely right (especially as not withstanding the need to sort out the troika and deal with Brexit, FG's track record on roads projects since they've been in Government is at best poor - so there's still an awful lot to get done).

The people of this country need a break and we need construction projects which generate revenue for the country and improve peoples' quality of life - which a roads project like this does.

When we have the roads built and the economy back to full steam, and the real polluters, like the US and China, take meaningful action on curbing emissions, we can worry about virtue signalling then.

In the meantime, charity begins at home. The private car is one of the best inventions man has created, it brings people such convenience and freedom - and it's not going anywhere, any time soon.

My username is taken from the name of a space ship in Iain m Banks book consider phlebas I'm a big fan of the culture series and the benevolent AI's that features it the series.

But back to the point at hand, yes you are right that cars being made electric does reduce their environmental impact somewhat it is still nowhere near as good as public transport.

I would like to see greatly improved public transport in not just between Westport and Castlebar but across the whole county. Another idea would be building fully segregated cycle lanes and a government subsidies for ebikes perhaps with father tax rebates for individuals who cycle to work.

irishgeo

Deleted User wrote: »

My username is taken from the name of a space ship in Iain m Banks book consider phlebas I'm a big fan of the culture series and the benevolent AI's that features it the series.

But back to the point at hand, yes you are right that cars being made electric does reduce their environmental impact somewhat it is still nowhere near as good as public transport.

I would like to see greatly improved public transport in not just between Westport and Castlebar but across the whole county. Another idea would be building fully segregated cycle lanes and a government subsidies for ebikes perhaps with father tax rebates for individuals who cycle to work.

If you move the cars and trucks to dual carriageway that frees up the streets of castlebar for more cycle ways and makes it safer for people to cycle, kids to cycle to school.

Electric and automated cars need good well marked roads to drive not the **** roads we have now.

irishgeo

irishgeo wrote: »

If you move the cars and trucks to dual carriageway that frees up the streets of castlebar for more cycle ways and makes it safer for people to cycle, kids to cycle to school.

Electric and automated cars need good well marked roads to drive not the **** roads we have now.

I'm no expert in logistics but could the pharma companies in Westport not move cargo at night?

On the second point not true you can build new cycle routes without taking up extra road space and even if you do take up a little extra room so what the cycle lanes should be fully protected from motor vehicles.

On your third and final point it is simple not true the roads can be kept as they are and still be well marked for autonomous transport.

BelfastVanMan

Folks... don't feed the trolls. ;-)

BelfastVanMan

BelfastVanMan wrote: »

Folks... don't feed the trolls. ;-)

And who would they be?

DrSerious3

BelfastVanMan wrote: »

Folks... don't feed the trolls. ;-)

Pointless arguing with people like that. Clueless and full of hate for rural Ireland, they hate that'its harder to control every aspect of people's lives who live there.