M17/M18 - Gort to Tuam [open to traffic]

WallyGUFC · 26-10-2017 10:42AM

i_steal_sheep wrote: »

Travelling from Roscommon town to Galway Westside daily. Usual commute was upwards of 1h 20 with traffic on a bad day etc. It is now 1hr 45 AT BEST. Traffic is ridiculous since new stretch of the motorway opened. At 7:20 traffic is back as far as the Roscommon Exit / N63 in Loughgeorge and it is bumper to bumper all the way to Tuam Road / Bothar na dTreabh junction. Most mornings I'm just sitting in traffic at Rockmount which was never the case. I'm guessing it's people who are hopping off the motorway at Oranmore exit and coming across the Airport road and using the rat runs to get to Briarhill/Parkmore quicker. Traffic constantly having to come to a halt to let ratrun traffic merge?

Claregalway in the evenings is better but far worse in the mornings. I live on one of the rat-run roads that turn onto the Tuam Road but have to go against the traffic to get to Oranmore every morning. It's properly dangerous driving down it now.

i_steal_sheep · 26-10-2017 10:43AM

demanufactured wrote: »

It's a bollocks.... I travel the M6 Athlone to Galway every morning, since the M17/18 opened traffic has become a joke.... Left the house at 6:50 this morning, got to ballybrit at 8:15... Pure balls.

Feeling your pain! You're not the only one

what_traffic · 26-10-2017 12:13PM

i_steal_sheep wrote: »

I'm guessing it's people who are hopping off the motorway at Oranmore exit and coming across the Airport road and using the rat runs to get to Briarhill/Parkmore quicker. Traffic constantly having to come to a halt to let ratrun traffic merge?

What rat runs are the rats using around Briarhill/Parkmore?

ELCAT2009 · 26-10-2017 12:32PM

Benbecul97 wrote: »

So, it's now open 4 weeks, whats' the story with the morning and evening commutes? Any patterns emerging?

Personally speaking my pattern is pretty much set now. I travel from north of tuam into galway each day and have tried the old road, new roads, back roads!
Prior to motorway opening i used to (reluctantly) take back roads around clare galway in the morning and evening and normal commute time was 55mins to an hour each way.
What i am finding now is that i can take the old road through claregalway (not the back road) and it could take me anywhere between 55mins and an hour and 10mins...no guarantee from day to day. If i leave home at the same time and take the motorway i am in between about 43 and 50mins.
In the evening i am home in 38-40mins..incredible!
Overall its 11km longer each way so 110km a week but to be honest weighing it up i feel for my sanity, not sitting in traffic, less wear and tear on my car and significantly reduced risk of traveling on motorway versus back roads, its worth the extra few euro a week. For me it is a Godsend!
I feel sorry for all those coming from athlone direction etc that now have increased traffic to deal with on their approach. Fact is they are not alone and this is not all because of the m17/18. In reality is there i s more traffic than every coming into Galway from all directions. The N59 and the N84 prove that. Less available accommodation for students and workers mean more people than ever are commuting into the city.
Unless you are hitting Galway before 730am in the morning, you have to expect to hit traffic. Until such time as the outer ring road is built with direct links to Parkmore / Ballybrit, im afraid the city will just choke and people will avoid the city when ever possible and take jobs in Limerick / Athlone etc where they can:(

demanufactured · 26-10-2017 12:39PM

tobdom wrote: »

What would have been your average journey time before the new roads opened?

40-45 min

demanufactured · 26-10-2017 12:41PM

m17 wrote: »

You need to be at the coolough roundabout before 7.30,the m17/m18 is brilliant Limerick to tuam 70mins,gort to tuam 29mins,rathmorrissy to tuam 13mins,tuam to dublin airport 1hr 50 mins

So basically fuc.k everyone else!?

Mint Sauce · 26-10-2017 12:43PM

Drove from Gort to Sligo on it yesterday, using google maps. Since not on Google maps, its was obviously trying to me an alternative route the whole way along the M18/17/Tuam By Pass. Think the original arrival time was 15-20 minutes later than what it eventually took me if thats any guide to journey saving time.

Oddly the under construction route has been on 'Here Maps' for some time, so probably expect that to change soon.

The road its self, found grand to drive on, and the Bat Bridge, well wow.

demanufactured · 26-10-2017 12:56PM

m17 wrote: »

You need to be at the coolough roundabout before 7.30,the m17/m18 is brilliant Limerick to tuam 70mins,gort to tuam 29mins,rathmorrissy to tuam 13mins,tuam to dublin airport 1hr 50 mins

I didn't before.... If I left my home in athlone at 7am I'd be in work before 7:45

Fozzie Bear · 26-10-2017 12:56PM

Mint Sauce wrote: »

Since not on Google maps......

Seen one of those cars with the 360 camera rigs on the roof driving the new motorway last Monday, so its just a matter of time now until its updated on Google Earth.

tobdom · 26-10-2017 12:59PM

demanufactured wrote: »

So basically fuc.k everyone else!?

No, I believe he's saying the road is working brilliantly for the purpose for which it was built, it's a fantastic piece of infrasructure. It was never meant to aid Galway's traffic problems, so there's no point in blaming the new road.

Sure, it's contributing to the Galway traffic problems due to the change in commuters routing/usage, but the root cause of the problem is the lack of action being taken by the council/government/NTA (for years & years) on fixing the traffic issues in & around Galway city.

Most all other commuters feel your pain & frustration.

ELCAT2009 · 26-10-2017 01:07PM

Fozzie Bear wrote: »

Seen one of those cars with the 360 camera rigs on the roof driving the new motorway last Monday, so its just a matter of time now until its updated on Google Earth.

I wonder is that the same one i saw on the old Dublin road in galway near merlin park on Monday also i think. it was a blue / navy van with English plates and a load of white equipment on the roof. It said "Apple maps" on it

marno21 · 26-10-2017 01:11PM

More roads are not going to solve the issue at hand, there is an obscene volume of single occupant cars approaching a handful of destinations in Galway, mainly within a 90 minute window in the morning and a 90 minute window in the evening. No amount of motorways or bypasses will solve that.

What the new motorway, and in future the new N6 ring road will do is guaranteed long distance journeys and improve safety and reliability of the national road network along with removing large volumes of vehicles from uinsuitable roads.

If half the people commuting under 10km in Galway bought a bike or walked their kids to school a lot of the traffic would solve itself. Without the need for any grandiose road schemes

Mint Sauce · 26-10-2017 01:12PM

ELCAT2009 wrote: »

I wonder is that the same one i saw on the old Dublin road in galway near merlin park on Monday also i think. it was a blue / navy van with English plates and a load of white equipment on the roof. It said "Apple maps" on it

Seen that my self yesterday as well, cant remember where. Didn't catch the plates though.

dinneenp · 26-10-2017 01:41PM

I'm living in Lackagh, near Claregalway and drive to Parkmore Business Park East. For the past while the traffic has been crazy just after Claregalway, backed up about 100 meters after Claregalway heading towards town. I believe this is as there's heavy traffic coming off M17/18 the roundabout at airport, taking a back road and coming out on the N17.

Currently it's adding on 10 minutes at least.....frustrating to say the least.

what_traffic · 26-10-2017 01:52PM

marno21 wrote: »

More roads are not going to solve the issue at hand, there is an obscene volume of single occupant cars approaching a handful of destinations in Galway, mainly within a 90 minute window in the morning and a 90 minute window in the evening. No amount of motorways or bypasses will solve that.
.
..
If half the people commuting under 10km in Galway bought a bike or walked their kids to school a lot of the traffic would solve itself. Without the need for any grandiose road schemes

Agree - it is obscene.
The trouble is for those under 10km ALL that space they free up by walking,cycling or taking the bus is been consumed by the rural commuters + very poor walking, cycling and bus facilities in the City.

Galway Citys car traffic problems are in the main caused by non-Galway City car drivers. They need to get non-Galway City car drivers onto buses from the rural towns. 1 Coach will take 50-60 single occupant cars off the road.
IDA Parkmore West/East is a classic example of been hostile to Pedestrians and Cyclists. Why do they have to use the ONE roundabout that all the cars use to exit and entrance the estates? Why do they have to mix with all those cars? Why not a direct route for them through the racecourse. Cheap as the couple of loads of gravel chips required to put in such access.

chrismon · 26-10-2017 04:53PM

From Athlone this morning it took 40 minutes to hit traffic, I was 45 minutes in traffic trying to get to Mervue.
Being in traffic longer than the rest of my journey is insane.
I can get to Dublin airport quicker.

m17 · 26-10-2017 05:20PM

The m17 at bauilpuil looking towards tuam 02/02/16

26/10/17

Ath trasna · 27-10-2017 12:00AM

what_traffic wrote: »

Agree - it is obscene.
The trouble is for those under 10km ALL that space they free up by walking,cycling or taking the bus is been consumed by the rural commuters + very poor walking, cycling and bus facilities in the City.

Galway Citys car traffic problems are in the main caused by non-Galway City car drivers. They need to get non-Galway City car drivers onto buses from the rural towns. 1 Coach will take 50-60 single occupant cars off the road.
IDA Parkmore West/East is a classic example of been hostile to Pedestrians and Cyclists. Why do they have to use the ONE roundabout that all the cars use to exit and entrance the estates? Why do they have to mix with all those cars? Why not a direct route for them through the racecourse. Cheap as the couple of loads of gravel chips required to put in such access.

Its a waste of time talking about people walking kids to school or cycling to work/school, its not going to happen.The weather in this country is so erratic that you couldn't possibly send kids out in it, also due to the amount of terrible drivers in this country its not safe for kids to cross the road, people are too busy on their phones, eating their breakfast or doing their make up while stuck in traffic to realise they are blocking pedestrian crossings, traffic light crossings etc.
As for people getting buses from rural towns, that's a non runner as well with the current system, was in Clarinbridge a few weeks back dropping my daughter to the bus at 8:00am the bus passed by without stopping, it was full so 10-12 people, mainly students were left waiting for the next bus or ringing parents/family to try and get to work/college on time. Because of this lack of reliability my kids have often had to get earlier buses just to be sure they are in on time for exams etc.

irishgeo · 27-10-2017 05:21AM

If takes this long for mapping companies to update maps
What's going to happen when we get automated cars.map updates will need to be a lot quicker.

If a road changes to a 1 way street a map 6 moths out of date is going to cause issues.

kippy · 27-10-2017 06:57AM

irishgeo wrote: »

If takes this long for mapping companies to update maps
What's going to happen when we get automated cars.map updates will need to be a lot quicker.

If a road changes to a 1 way street a map 6 moths out of date is going to cause issues.

Google maps is essentially a Free application. Expecting fast updates is a bit much.
Not sure how the automated cars will work but assume there will be some disclaimer there or better maps once theres a payment associated with it.

Fozzie Bear · 27-10-2017 07:33AM

ELCAT2009 wrote: »

I wonder is that the same one i saw on the old Dublin road in galway near merlin park on Monday also i think. it was a blue / navy van with English plates and a load of white equipment on the roof. It said "Apple maps" on it

No, not the same one I saw, my one was a black estate car.

m17 · 27-10-2017 08:03AM

The m18 at parknacuappuil 11/02/17

just before opening 27/09/17

red bull · 27-10-2017 08:42AM

Fozzie Bear wrote: »

No, not the same one I saw, my one was a black estate car.

Thats the Valeo car

what_traffic · 27-10-2017 10:13AM

Ath trasna wrote: »

As for people getting buses from rural towns, that's a non runner as well with the current system, was in Clarinbridge a few weeks back dropping my daughter to the bus at 8:00am the bus passed by without stopping, it was full so 10-12 people, mainly students were left waiting for the next bus or ringing parents/family to try and get to work/college on time. Because of this lack of reliability my kids have often had to get earlier buses just to be sure they are in on time for exams etc.

This is a very good example and is exactly what needs to be addressed.

terrarev · 27-10-2017 11:19AM

I agree with the people who say public transport needs a big focus to fix the issues in Galway, at the moment it's practically non existent in any kind of useful way.

A bug bear of mine is the train service from commuter towns outside Galway. The price just does not encourage people to leave the car behind.

A return trip for one person from Oranmore is nearly 9€ for a 10min journey and from Athenry it's nearly €12 for 20mins. It's doing nothing to encourage people to leave the car behind, especially if there's more than one person going in. The train is a great option for people if it's priced right as it's a reliable quick way straight to the city centre. A better pricing structure would go a long way to encourage people going into the city centre to leave their car behind.

The bus a lot of the time is as bad as the car because it ends up stuck in traffic with everyone else.

m17 · 27-10-2017 12:50PM

RATHMORRISSY 16/04/16

02/09/17

munchkin_utd · 27-10-2017 12:50PM

A rail ticket from Athenry to Galway under the tax saver scheme costs €827, which if you use it 48 weeks of the year is €17.20 per week, or €3.40 per day, or €1.70 each way, which is far less than the €12 walk up return fare.

terrarev · 27-10-2017 02:13PM

Which is a fine option if you work in the city centre and can take the train nearly every day for 48weeks a year and I've no doubt many people use that option. For anybody else trying to get into the city centre your only option is the walk-up fare. The problem with that kind of one off fare is that it creates the mindset that public transport isn't a realistic option so people don't even consider it.

There are loads of half empty trains travelling from Athlone to Galway outside of peak hours. Why not make fares more realistic and try to encourage people onto the train? I just can't see the reason for a €12 return fare from Athenry to Galway

m17 · 27-10-2017 02:45PM

M18 gort 10/09/17

27/10/17

carlfleming · 28-10-2017 01:14PM

kippy wrote: »

Google maps is essentially a Free application. Expecting fast updates is a bit much.
Not sure how the automated cars will work but assume there will be some disclaimer there or better maps once theres a payment associated with it.

I’ve done a number of journeys in the Athenry - Oranmore - Tuam vicinity in the past couple of days, and have found the Waze navigation app to be pretty good for timings and routings using the new motorway. The geometries are pretty good, so journey times are accurate enough. However, the voice instructions are inaccurate. e.g. M6 westbound - when it’s navigating you for Tuam, it neglects to say take the exit and keep right (for the roundabout). It just says in x hundred meters keep right while you’re still on the M6 mainline.

M17/M18 - Gort to Tuam [open to traffic]

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