N52 - Cloghan to Billistown [open to traffic]

cargo

Haven't seen anything on here about this minor update along the N52 east of Mullingar. (between Mullingar and Delvin)

They have nearly completed the fencing marking out the route and I see the contract is out to tender at the minute.

It'll be another few kms of a nasty but very low speed stretch sorted out.

Maps / docs
http://www.westmeathcoco.ie/en/ourservices/roadstransport/westmeathnationalroadsoffice/projects/atplanningdesign/n52cloghantobillistown/phase1-cloghantoturinrealignment/documents/

Tender
https://irl.eu-supply.com/app/rfq/publicpurchase.asp?PID=97811&HL=0&PS=1&PP=

JupiterKid

The N52 is an atrocious road - so much work is badly needed to upgrade it to an acceptable standard.

medoc

It's great to see this cross country route been upgraded bit by bit. Hopefully now that things in the country are improving that more schemes on this route can be advanced. A Birr bypass (including the N62) should be done as soon as possible. Then with some improvement from Birr to Borrisokane it would provide a good quality route from the M7 to at least Delvin. Though I know there are higher priorities at present.

cargo

i had a look around at the documents ad it looks like this is phase 1 of a project to improve the road all the way to Delvin. (there's a larger scheme called Cloghan to Billistown which is just west of Delvin.

That would mean a good road 9compared to the existing anyway!!) all the way between Mullingar and Delvin. They have been tipping away at this stretch from the Mullingar end so hopefully they will kick on wit this.

As i said the route fencing is substantially completed, you can tell the route, and the works are out to tender.

annfield1978

Tenders for Consultant role to administer and supervise scheme during construction due in on Thursday

hondar

Fox contracts from omagh have been awarded this job.they have started moving in plant.

annfield1978

Roughan O'Donovan acting as Employers Representative

marno21

Tender award for this has been published

https://irl.eu-supply.com/app/rfq/publicpurchase_frameset.asp?PID=97811&B=ETENDERS_SIMPLE&PS=2&PP=ctm/Supplier/PublicTenders

cargo

Hi all,

I was over this way in December and they are ploughing ahead with this scheme. Will be very welcome especially seeing as there was a couple of more fatalities near here recently.

cargo

Anyone got any updated details on this scheme? Earthworks were in full swing when I last passed in December. Not an easy place to stop for photos though.

while it's a small stretch every meter of this road that gets upgraded is money well spent. A heavily trafficed route for HGV's and accidents.

When is it due for completion?

D Trent

Part of N52 to close for 3 months to facilitate realignment works

http://delvinvillage.com/notice-temporary-road-closure/

roadmaster

Looking from the end of the project near Turin Church towards Mullingar

roadmaster

A few more photos of the work On the N52 outside Mullingar. The bulk of the Earthworks and drainage seans to be done. Over the next few weeks i would say sub-base and the first layers of blacktop will be layed and the Tie in at the North the only major works still to be done

cargo

Very hard to see any more works now once the road closure / diversion came into play. Thanks for the pics roadmaster. Hopefully the diversion will be finished a bit before 12th June and everything will be open by then.

roadmaster

I have heard from locals there has being some issues on site and that Foxes are looking to extend the road closure for a extra 6 weeks. Can any one confirm this?

cargo

roadmaster wrote: »

I have heard from locals there has being some issues on site and that Foxes are looking to extend the road closure for a extra 6 weeks. Can any one confirm this?

Balls............ Hope not.

roadmaster

Went by last night serious work to be done in 5 weeks, they would need to be working weekends if they want to make the 12th June . The back roads are in bits at the moment Westmeath co co have done some surface dressing to help the roads but there is artics and buses flying on these L roads I am surprised there has being no fatal accidents after what I seen last night

cargo

roadmaster wrote: »

Went by last night serious work to be done in 5 weeks, they would need to be working weekends if they want to make the 12th June . The back roads are in bits at the moment Westmeath co co have done some surface dressing to help the roads but there is artics and buses flying on these L roads I am surprised there has being no fatal accidents after what I seen last night

Went through in both directions yesterday as well. Cloughan end seems to still have plenty of heavy works going on so I imagine the rest is similar. Lot still to do.

roadmaster

cargo wrote: »

Went through in both directions yesterday as well. Cloughan end seems to still have plenty of heavy works going on so I imagine the rest is similar. Lot still to do.

Yeah very similar up at Turin and the turn for Keogh tyres. You would imagine with the the good weather they would be throwing the kitchen sink at it

roadmaster

Went by on Friday night not a smell of blacktop what ever is going on, seams to be just drainage works around. Cloughan. Really strange the pace of works that is going on. I might have to go to work that way today if I do I'll grab a photo

roadmaster

Just a update on this job, I went by this morning and drove in a good bit for a nosey peak. The good sign is they where working doing drainage by the looks of it. The Cloughan end looks like it is getting ready for surfacing where they are merging in to the existing road. There is no way in hell it will be ready in two weeks. The only thing I can see maybe happing is if they tar all night long next week they can tie in to the bad corner at keogh tyres which is about 1km away from the cloughan end and come back on the old road. They can than work on the rest of the road getting the traffic of the local roads which are at breaking point

BaronVon

Road will most likely be opened Tuesday afternoon. The 50 km/hr will remain for a few months as they finish off the ancilliary works, with stop/go's in operation fom time to time.

roadmaster

infacteh wrote: »

Road will most likely be opened Tuesday afternoon. The 50 km/hr will remain for a few months as they finish off the ancilliary works, with stop/go's in operation fom time to time.

Think you could be right I went up most of the job. They are surfacing away on the 1st km today and drainage works are being done at the Turin tie in, but there is no surface there only 804. I'd say like you say they will be working for a good while on this section when they open next week to get it to the finished product. I would also say the section that's only at capping level will not be ready until sepetember at the earliest

medoc

The road has apparently reopened. Hopefully the ongoing works don't interfere too much but it's good to not have to take the detour anymore

http://www.midlands103.com/news-centre/news-centre-136/

roadmaster

IMG_0723.JPG The N52 open Section Looking North at Cloughan

IMG_0726.JPG The tie in looking south at Turin

IMG_0725.JPG The tie in Looking North at Turin

The photos are not the best quality. So we have the first 1 km open which is great but there is still a lot of work to be done as can be seen in the open section photo. When this road is and eventually Phase two complete it will be a brilliant piece of infrastructure that will help reduce road deaths on this stretch. One thing i would be worried about is the stretch that is open could be dangerous at night as the cones are not great , only some road markings have being put down, but most important there are some areas needing edge protection. i know Safety barrier will be placed eventually but in the meantime something should be done even Kelly blocks would help but road building was in my former life so maybe you cant use them anymore.

cargo

roadmaster wrote: »

IMG_0723.JPG The N52 open Section Looking North at Cloughan

IMG_0726.JPG The tie in looking south at Turin

IMG_0725.JPG The tie in Looking North at Turin

The photos are not the best quality. So we have the first 1 km open which is great but there is still a lot of work to be done as can be seen in the open section photo. When this road is and eventually Phase two complete it will be a brilliant piece of infrastructure that will help reduce road deaths on this stretch. One thing i would be worried about is the stretch that is open could be dangerous at night as the cones are not great , only some road markings have being put down, but most important there are some areas needing edge protection. i know Safety barrier will be placed eventually but in the meantime something should be done even Kelly blocks would help but road building was in my former life so maybe you cant use them anymore.

Good assesment there roadmaster. I travel through it from the Mullingar side on Saturday evening and it's great to even have this small section open just to avoid the detour.

As mentioned above its very narrow with no verge in places as they are still working away on both sides and there's still a bit offline section been worked on but it's great just to see the improvement been made to this very busy section of N52.

roadmaster

i Drove by this project early this morning and since the diversion has re opened it feels and looks like there is a go slow there at the moment. Apart from road marking it seams the section that has opened has had no work done with no batters pulled or finishing works. The 2 km left to be opened looks to have a rough 804 finish at moment. What is the actual finish date for the project?

roadmaster

A few pics from the N52 at Turin. I would say 7/8 weeks before it is opened not including finishing works

Looking Towards Mullingar.jpg
Midway in the upopened section.jpg
Midway of the opened section.jpg
Turin Tie In.jpg

roadmaster

Just a quick update from what I saw today

The section that opened up has not being touched since. There is a lot work still to be done such as:

1.Batters to be pulled
2. Access/accomadation roads to be finished
3.Safety barriers
4.landscaping general
5. Directional signage

On the plus side the remaining offline section off about 2km has had a power of work done. All batters seam to be pulled along with acc works seem to well on the way. But most importantly they are putting what I could see from a distance the wearing course down which I would say will be complete by Friday if it is indeed the wearing course.

So I reckon under a 50kph speed limit we could see the full section from cloughan to Turin open with in two weeks and another 6 weeks to finish completely. I may be down that way Thursday if I am I will get a few pics

roadmaster

I have a few photos but the are to be too big for uploading as the system wont let me attach them. The section that is closed is fully painted now, the tie in at turin just needs to be surfaced and the tie in midway. It looks very well. A lot of accommodation works and finishing works still to be done on the opened section but they are working on it now from what i could see with the location of the machines. Maybe it could be open come this friday which would be great. Lets hope we dont have to wait long for Phase Two Turin to Williamstown

cargo

roadmaster wrote: »

Lets hope we dont have to wait long for Phase Two Turin to Williamstown

Is there a high level plan for a Phase 2 or is that just your own suggestion?

roadmaster

cargo wrote: »

Is there a Hugh level plan for a Phase 2 or is that just your own suggestion?

I just Looked at the TII website to my shock there is no mention. Last year I was certain WCC/TII held a route selection which went with a greenfield route going behind Turin church. I do deal with farmers in that area and they have told me the NRDO in mullingar have talked to them about land takes.

cargo

roadmaster wrote: »

I just Looked at the TII website to my shock there is no mention. Last year I was certain WCC/TII held a route selection which went with a greenfield route going behind Turin church. I do deal with farmers in that area and they have told me the NRDO in mullingar have talked to them about land takes.

It'd be great if they tipped away at the road it by bit.

Monaghan CoCo are doing a great job improving the N2 between Monaghan town and Emyvale. One one more bit to be done.

Also the N53 outside Dundalk has come a long way with a few small schemes

marno21

roadmaster wrote: »

I just Looked at the TII website to my shock there is no mention. Last year I was certain WCC/TII held a route selection which went with a greenfield route going behind Turin church. I do deal with farmers in that area and they have told me the NRDO in mullingar have talked to them about land takes.

These realignments aren't mentioned on the TII site as they are primarily Council managed due to their small size.

Phase II will likey progress in 2019 or so.

roadmaster

Looking North Midway.jpg

Looking towards Mullingar at the Turin Tie In.jpg

Midway Looking South.jpg

The Tie In at Turin.jpg

JupiterKid

It would be great to have a Delvin bypass with a decent junction (like a roundabout) linking the N51 and N52. The current junction in the village is very easy to miss and shoot past.

I know this is probably a long way off but on my roads wish list.

cargo

JupiterKid wrote: »

It would be great to have a Delvin bypass with a decent junction (like a roundabout) linking the N51 and N52. The current junction in the village is very easy to miss and shoot past.

I know this is probably a long way off but on my roads wish list.

Delvin doesn't bother me too much. Traffic generally flows ok through it. I'd be happy with the bad bends either side been taken out of it.

When the road is straight and the traffic approaches these bottlenecks at a faster speed then we can start whinging about these villages towns

roadmaster

yeah the traffic in general flows well through the village despite the fact that local bye laws allow drivers park there tractors, cars and garda vans anyway they feel like even if that means blocking HGV'S and other traffic. If things ever got really bad at The N51/N52 junction you could always CPO and demolish the Greyhound bar and put a roundabout in to increase flow but i would say you would be met with pitchforks for even thinking that!

roadmaster

Drove by on Friday , I didn't take any photos as nothing has really changed. A few batters have being pulled and some side roads brought to 804 level along with poles for signs erected. I am not sure the real reason for the go slow but I would have taught the contractor would want to be off site for Christmas .

roadmaster

Good news I stayed in tullamore last night and on my way home to my surprise this road has being opened under a 50kph. The contractor is working today probably because they are from Tyrone they are working U.K. Holidays . I'd say they will still be there at Christmas to fully finish. But it's a great bit of road delivered as you now avoid some of them bad sections of the N52

roadmaster

A few pictures from this recently opened stretch of vital road

roadmaster

An two more

Middle Man

Great Pictures - well done roadmaster!

Now, I have two objections to the layout at Cloghan Junction:

1. No left turning deceleration lanes - this IMO is dangerous;

2. No footpath - though there appears to be plenty of room and justification for one.

roadmaster

Middle Man wrote: »

Great Pictures - well done roadmaster!

Now, I have two objections to the layout at Cloghan Junction:

1. No left turning deceleration lanes - this IMO is dangerous;

2. No footpath - though there appears to be plenty of room and justification for one.

Yeah I agree cars will be doing 100 plus heading in to Mullingar and it's a very busy cross road.i believe there was already a tip there.

The bigger issue is how WCC let the road open without safety barriers as there some big drops on the route and nothing to stop a car going over. If anything happened at night you would not be seen till daylight

AshfieldM10

I assume the road was completed before christmas . I drove the road today and
there is still 50 kph speed signs on the road . I am pretty sure the safety barrier
is not erected

roadmaster

AshfieldM10 wrote: »

I assume the road was completed before christmas . I drove the road today and
there is still 50 kph speed signs on the road . I am pretty sure the safety barrier
is not erected

yeah it opened before Christmas, its on a bit of a go slow to finish for some reason, mainly just accommodation access roads, Fencing, one or two batters and landscaping still to be done. The fact that TII/WCC have let certain sections of the road open this long with out safety barrier has got me thinking maybe they have being penny pinching and they are not going to erect them.

discodaveirl

Drove this today and found it a great improvemwnt but alais, in typical irish fashion the governmemt have said give them 3/4k and that will do them for another few years.. Instead of saying connect the good road outside Delvin with the good road outside Mullingar.... The bit thats left is the evolution of a horse and cart track from 100s of years ago...

medoc

discodaveirl wrote: »

Drove this today and found it a great improvemwnt but alais, in typical irish fashion the governmemt have said give them 3/4k and that will do them for another few years.. Instead of saying connect the good road outside Delvin with the good road outside Mullingar.... The bit thats left is the evolution of a horse and cart track from 100s of years ago...

At least the N52 is getting much needed upgrades even if it is bit by small bit. At least Westmeath coco are doing it to a high standard. The few bits in North tip near Neenah haven’t a hard shoulder which is ridiculous, as is the Kells bypass. Maybe a redesignation to Primary in the future might speed things up.

roadmaster

discodaveirl wrote: »

Drove this today and found it a great improvemwnt but alais, in typical irish fashion the governmemt have said give them 3/4k and that will do them for another few years.. Instead of saying connect the good road outside Delvin with the good road outside Mullingar.... The bit thats left is the evolution of a horse and cart track from 100s of years ago...

In one of marnos updates there is a couple a million allocated to Turin to Ballymaghery which will finish off the Delvin to Tyrellspass section of the N52. I would imagine similar to the last section this will be for Site Clearance and fencing and then we will see contract award for main works in 2019

marno21

Westmeath County Council are ploughing ahead with advance works for Phase 2 which will be 6km in length

https://irl.eu-supply.com/app/rfq/publicpurchase_frameset.asp?PID=125033&B=ETENDERS_SIMPLE&PS=1&PP=ctm/Supplier/publictenders

roadmaster

marno21 wrote: »

Westmeath County Council are ploughing ahead with advance works for Phase 2 which will be 6km in length

https://irl.eu-supply.com/app/rfq/publicpurchase_frameset.asp?PID=125033&B=ETENDERS_SIMPLE&PS=1&PP=ctm/Supplier/publictenders

Great News, this is a very straight forward job with no complex engineering, there is several jobs like this that hopefully get the go ahead . They don't cause much and give great improvement in road safety