N4 - Carrick-on-Shannon to Dromod [route options published]

road_high

If the Carrick bypass could even be completed that alone is a huge win- either side of it is very high quality road (albeit single carriageway) - the N4 would be completely “new” as far as Newtownforbes

Jayuu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120974215#Comment_120974215

Yeah - had to drive through it on the Bank Holiday weekend. Even a bypass (much as I hate piecemeal approaches) would be a vast improvement to what's there at the moment.

marno21

https://www.ireland-live.ie/news/leitrim-live/1362828/2029-before-work-commences-on-carrick-bypass.html

Off to ABP in early 2025.

marno21

Latest on this project

https://carrickdromod.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/274219-ARUP-03-XX-PP-Z-000001.pdf

Project has been hacked down from 21km to 5.8km and now consists of a Type 2 dual around the town with 3 roundabouts

Weirdly the R368 junction in the middle of the scheme will feature a roundabout on the mainline with a link to the R368 with the new road crossing over the existing R368.

The remaining 16km of upgrades can wait until sufficient people get killed on the route for it to be deemed worthwhile to upgrade it.

L1011

Leitrim CC and and Roscommon CC will have the town built up beyond those roundabouts within five years; making this useless and need bypassing again.

The wide non-DC section between the end of this and the start of the Dromod bypass will be deathtraps as significant numbers of drivers will drive like its still DC, forcing their way past in to oncoming traffic.

There's already people who overtake dangerously when other drivers slow down for Aghamore.

marno21

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122004051#Comment_122004051

Remarkable now, you'll have 2 stretches of Type 2 dual carriageway, both of which have 3 roundabouts in a short stretch, with inbetween a single carriageway with a GSJ on it.

It'll be a mess that'll likely have to be revisited down the road again.

Paddico

Brutal …. but

anything is better than nothing

Shoog

The issue has always been the poor quality of the land, the Shannon and it's floodplains and the restriction placed by the path of the rail line. They are running it right along the rail corridor to avoid crossing it.

Its a nightmare since the proposed path will inevitably get bogged down in objections from the wealthy houses it will run past. I expect it to be pushed to a public enquiry before it gets built. It will be years yet.

Pete_Cavan

The days of the c.20km project are gone. Even what is proposed here will be very expensive due to the bridge across the Shannon. People should be prepared for similar on other schemes, regardless of who is MfT.

What I don't get is the inclusion of a roundabout in the middle. The link road goes under the rail line but will then have to rise sharply to get to the level of the road. The road will likely be practically the same level as the rail line, they are only about 50m apart at that point and both cross the R368 thereafter. The inclusion of a roundabout would seem more difficult than creating a LILO with one carriageway going under the new road.

I also don't think the proposed "new urban street" will see much traffic. For very few people would it be more attractive than the existing road, particularly with the signal controlled junction in the middle. It really should be extended to the new roundabout at the eastern end of the bypass allowing it to function as a northern distributor. Then the existing N4 west of there could be narrowed and right turn lanes removed, which would make the new road a more attractive alternative.

Development around the new bypass wont be an issue. The river, it's floodplains, the rail line and the new road mean there's very little developable land there. Expansion of the town will be on the northern side and this project could better facilitate that.

marno21

The days of the c.20km project are gone. Even what is proposed here will be very expensive due to the bridge across the Shannon. People should be prepared for similar on other schemes, regardless of who is MfT.

The balance 16km of this scheme would be rather cheap on a per km basis. It's mainly a safety upgrade of the 90s era WS2, some of which is grade separated.

A sane MoT would look at the facts around road safety and realise we have a particular issue with 90s era WS2, which has too many accesses and dangerous speed and overtaking along the route. Several interventions have been made or recommended recently to address these deficiencies. The number of accesses between Carrick and Dromod on this scheme was flagged in the early brochures I'm fairly sure.

Unfortunately, such an upgrade would also make the journey from Dublin to Sligo easier so it has to be immediately dismissed for the planetary destruction it would cause.

KrisW1001

The choice isn't "upgrade this 1990s road or do nothing". It's "upgrade this 1990s road, or use the money to address the safety of pre-1980s national and regional roads instead".

This road upgrade would be low priority no matter who is in charge. Only when the deathtraps have been removed from the secondary network (and there are plenty of those in the Northwest) should we consider upgrading a road that is already up to an acceptable standard.

I get it that you don't like Eamon Ryan or the Green attitude to road building, but filling this perceived gap in road quality is in no way an urgent project. No minister of any party would push this upgrade ahead of other roads in the area that are clearly substandard.

Shoog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122009772#Comment_122009772

The urban street is a sop and even a disgenious lie. Its a link road from the Leitrim road to the Dublin side of the N4, it's purpose is to relieve traffic going into a busy town centre junction. It is not what it claims to be.

spacetweek

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122021768#Comment_122021768

The urban street layout is shown on Page 5 and is clearly intended to support town development. This is a good thing as Irish towns too often use the conventional country lane network to support expansion of their urbanised areas instead of building new town roads.

Pete_Cavan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122021768#Comment_122021768

I agree that that is a stupid name but I don't think it will be an effective link to the Dublin side of the N4 unless it is extended further east. As proposed, anyone using it to go east of the town will still have to use the Castlecara road roundabout, expect now you'll be giving way to anyone coming the "old route" plus you could have to wait at traffic lights on your way there. I don't see it relieving much traffic tbh.