N5/N26/N58 - Castlebar-Bohola / Swinford-Mount Falcon

unit 1 · 26-02-2010 8:17pm #1

N26 shot down by abb.:(
Bad news for Mayo.

StephenM_smc · 27-02-2010 12:52pm

Got a link to more information?

Edit: Here's some info on the decision to reject the proposed N26 Foxford By-pass.

THE NATIONAL Roads Authority (NRA) and Mayo County Council have been sent back to the drawing board by An Bord Pleanála to design a “more modest” alternative to a 19km dual-carriageway bypassing Foxford.

Refusing permission for the proposed scheme, the appeals board said it would “constitute an unacceptable intrusion into the Moy river valley and its designated habitats, and would be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area”.

The board described the Moy as “a salmon angling resource of major international significance” that contributed to the economy of Co Mayo, noting that it had been designated as a special area of conservation (SAC) and was also a proposed natural heritage area (NHA).

The road scheme, which included two major bridges over the Moy and two interchanges to serve Foxford, had been designed as a dual-carriageway even though an earlier upgrade of the N26 between Ballina and Mount Falcon was a wide single-carriageway.

Referring to existing and future predicted traffic volumes, the board said: “It has not been demonstrated that the proposed road scheme . . . is justified and that a more environmentally and economically sustainable road upgrade scheme is not available.”

In deciding not to accept the planning inspector’s recommendation to grant approval subject to conditions, the board noted the inspector’s concerns about the impact of the two proposed bridge crossings on sites for over-wintering whooper swans.

“The board considered that a precautionary approach needed to be taken in this case, having regard to the predicted traffic flows on the route, and that a more modest upgrade may be acceptable which complements the important resource of the river Moy,” it noted.

This is only the thir

d time Bord Pleanála has refused planning permission for a major road scheme.

The earlier refusals were the 1km Athy inner relief route in Co Kildare, and the Ballybofey-Stranorlar bypass in Co Donegal, which was turned down last October.

In its decision on the Athy scheme, made in June 2005, the board said the proposed route “would fail both as a street and as a relief road because it would continue to bring traffic, including heavy commercial vehicles, through the town centre”.

On the Ballybofey-Stranorlar bypass – a 15km dual-carriageway – the board had concerns about road safety and environmental protection, which it felt required a complete redesign of the scheme.

IrishTimes

http://dt106ers.com/blog/2010/02/bord-pleanala-seeks-more-modest-road-for-foxford-by-pass/

unit 1 · 01-03-2010 8:52pm

Mayo advertiser freebie last week I think.

spacetweek · 02-03-2010 10:35pm

In fairness, this scheme is overspecced. It connects at its northern end to the SC Ballina-Bohola Phase 1 scheme and the SC N5. Why dual carriageway, then? And look at the settlement sizes. Nothing too big.

Back to the drawing-board, indeed.

L1011 · 03-03-2010 1:01am

Reduced DC is the basic standard for any new road schemes, thats why - WS2 has been deleted.

The N26 doesn't even need to be primary except for Ballina's ego, let alone need DC, but thats what the NRA do now. We may thank them for it in the future... or not.

unit 1 · 03-03-2010 10:40pm

spacetweek wrote: »

In fairness, this scheme is overspecced. It connects at its northern end to the SC Ballina-Bohola Phase 1 scheme and the SC N5. Why dual carriageway, then? And look at the settlement sizes. Nothing too big.

Back to the drawing-board, indeed.

Intention is to actually have a DC from Westport to where this scheme meets the N5. Sounds far fetched I know but that what living in a bannana republic entails.

Chris_5339762 · 03-03-2010 11:07pm

Absolutely no way a month of sundays should this be DC. Good grief.

unit 1 · 04-03-2010 7:52pm

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

Absolutely no way a month of sundays should this be DC. Good grief.

Maybe so but that's the plan. My source by the way was a guy working in the roads design office, granted it was about 3-4 years ago.

StephenM_smc · 05-03-2010 7:30pm

If they do re-spec the N26 for single carriageway I hope they do it to a higher standard than the existing section outside Ballina. There are a lot of local roads feeding onto it and reduces the usable area for overtaking etc. Something the lines of the Charlestown by-pass would have adequate capacity for what the N26 needs without having to connect every road that passes by.

westtip · 09-03-2010 4:07pm

Its crazy that the whole plan got as far as it did and then got knocked back by ABP, where is the joined up thinking (stupid question really we all know about lack of it), Overspecced or not the kind of dc they are talking about will take the same amount of pavement as a wide single carriagway with HS, and will be a lot safer - the road has to be upgrade so do it properly.

It's a strange one. I feel like going out and shooting those f'ing swans that have apparently been part of the reason why this has been knocked back.

unit 1 · 10-03-2010 9:32pm

Swans may have been shipped in by nefarious FFers to stymie project, only to resurrect it in time to save Dara and Bev in 2012.:mad:

user1842 · 08-08-2010 5:06pm

Hi,

Does anyone know what is happening to phase 2 of the N26. According to the NRA website, An Bord Pleanala has refused the scheme after accepting it a few years back.

This stretch of road has got to be the worst national primary road in the country. To hell or to Connaught seems to be what is happening here all over again.

For god sake build the road.

Cool Mo D · 08-08-2010 6:50pm

I think it was refused because it was a dual carriageway, and an bord pleanála felt that it was an excessively big road to build in that spot.

http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9079:end-of-road-for-ballinas-n26&catid=23:news&Itemid=46

user1842 · 08-08-2010 7:29pm

Thanks for the link.

So it took an bord pleanála two years to make that call.

That is totally ridiculous. It was my understanding that it was a 2 + 2 road which is just slightly wider that a 1 + 1 with a hard shoulder.

Just change the plans to a 1 + 1 then to make them happy, and built the road.

Its funny, im from Ballina originally and this road has been in the planning for more than 20 years. Its like the government are now purposely arresting the development of North Mayo. Why would I want to go back?

Chris_5339762 · 08-08-2010 9:08pm

Absolutely no way this needs to be DC. Single carriageway.

Nice Uncle P · 08-08-2010 10:22pm

I have an an interview recorded with Peter Sweetman, (in)famous paralegal environmentalist on this very topic recorded last week for Castlebar Community Radio. PM me and I'll email an mp3 of the interview.

Chris_5339762 · 09-08-2010 6:57pm

Is he at it AGAIN?

monument · 11-08-2010 4:53pm

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

Absolutely no way this needs to be DC. Single carriageway.

Indeed, and you'll find that at least some people in the area agree. I don't know what the NRA were at planning a dual carriageway.

dmclean1842 wrote: »

Its funny, im from Ballina originally and this road has been in the planning for more than 20 years. Its like the government are now purposely arresting the development of North Mayo. Why would I want to go back?

The story goes that the original plan for the road were so strongly objected to by people along the route that the project was stalled, but the money had to be spent in a given time and so it was diverted to Castlebar, were it was spend on the ring road and roundabouts.

Amtmann · 12-08-2010 1:59pm

Nice Uncle P wrote: »

I have an an interview recorded with Peter Sweetman, (in)famous paralegal environmentalist on this very topic recorded last week for Castlebar Community Radio. PM me and I'll email an mp3 of the interview.

Having listened to the interview, thankfully I can report that Mr Sweetman is neither eloquent nor persuasive (everything he opposes seems to be "stupid, right?").

Neworder79 · 12-08-2010 2:43pm

The current word from Mayo CoCo is that they are reviewing the whole project. Westport - Castlebar is being split into a separate project so it can advance, but a new alignment and access point onto the N5 will need to be identified for the N26, or what ever new route is chosen.

They are now looking at the project in terms of best linking the South Galway axis onto the N17 as well as East - West Castlebar/Dublin.

http://www.regdesign.com/PDF_Files/Project-Update-and-Clarification-13-05-10.pdf

westtip · 16-08-2010 4:11pm

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

Absolutely no way this needs to be DC. Single carriageway.

Precisely, Chris and hindsight is a great thing but if you take the N26 south of Ballina on the new section to just shy of Foxford, the standard 2 lane with hard shoulder is perfectly adequate for this bit of road - and would be for the remainder down to Bohola. The NRA are largely to blame for this one size fits all policy that all new national roads must be DC; in this case it is overkill - what is needed is safe seamless road with good sightlines for overtaking and safe junctions. I want to see this road built as much as anyone in our area - but actually can begin to see why ABP knocked it back. The road could have been built to this standard 20 years ago - but now we have what can only be described as a dogs breakfast situation; rather depressingly for both Ballina and Castlebar, I don't think we will see any solution for another 20 years - anyway such is the incompetence of the various parties involved, central Govt, Local Govt and agencies of the state like the NRA.

If this project at this level had been just got on with ten years ago - a link bypass to the N59 on the Sligo side of Ballina could have been built as well - but just look how long it has taken us to arrive nowhere, apart from the short stretch out of Ballina to Mount Falcon.

wild handlin · 24-09-2010 11:49pm

Apoligies folks if this has already been addressed, (if it has could someone please guide me to the thread) however I remember hearing a while ago that there was a proposal that the N26 was to be up-graded with a new road running south of Ballina where the "new" alignment ends to joining up with the N5 on the Dublin side of Swinford bypassing both there and Foxford. If memory serves me correctly this will (or would have) required building a totally new road between (Sth of) Ballina and around Foxford and onto Swinford with 2x new bridges over the River Moy.

What (if anything) has become of these plans, or am I dreaming of them?

Was there (or is there still?) a plan to build a new road from Ballina - Swinford?

L1011 · 24-09-2010 11:57pm

ABP rejected the scheme on the grounds that it was out of scale (dual carriageway). Nothing heard since.

spacetweek · 04-10-2010 5:06pm

Neworder79 wrote: »

They are now looking at the project in terms of best linking the South Galway axis onto the N17 as well as East - West Castlebar/Dublin.

I had my own ideas about how the roads could be connected up in this area.

My ideas were:
2+2 from Bohola-N17 along the N5 (assuming there will be 2+2 from Bohola to Castlebar)
SC from Bohola-N17 via Kiltamagh (assuming the N26 scheme will have gone ahead)

I thought about combining the two, but unfortunately this would make the recently built Charlestown BP obsolete, which would be a shame.

Neworder79 · 23-01-2013 3:14pm

It lives! This project went back to a strategic traffic review following ABP rejection to look at flow between towns in the region and new interface points with the N5. Mayo County Council and the NRA have published feasible route corridors under consideration for the N5/N26/N58.

Google maps of routes:
http://www.regdesign.com/?page_id=645

Chris_5339762 · 23-01-2013 8:44pm

Fair play to them, although they really are trying to cover their bases by including EVERY POSSIBLE ROUTE. While I do hope this goes ahead eventually, there are far bigger priorities.

monument · 23-01-2013 11:37pm

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

Fair play to them, although they really are trying to cover their bases by including EVERY POSSIBLE ROUTE. While I do hope this goes ahead eventually, there are far bigger priorities.

Expect a route east of Foxford.

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

While I do hope this goes ahead eventually, there are far bigger priorities.

And even with this, the N5 upgrades along this section is much lower of a priority than the N26/N58.

antoobrien · 24-01-2013 5:51pm

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

Fair play to them, although they really are trying to cover their bases by including EVERY POSSIBLE ROUTE. While I do hope this goes ahead eventually, there are far bigger priorities.

This is a lesson that was learned from the rejection of (parts of) some controversial projects that shall remain anonymous.

marno21 · 16-10-2016 2:05am

Now a "political football"

http://www.advertiser.ie/mayo/article/88013/another-game-of-political-football-breaks-out-over-n26

marno21 · 15-11-2016 4:33pm

Confirmation from TII that the scheme won't be done this side of 2025

http://www.mayonews.ie/news/28946-n26-upgrade-dead-in-the-water-claims-councillor

newtown13 · 29-12-2016 7:58pm

Very disappointing considering the length of time this has been discussed and the traffic volumes on the road. It also appears that the revised plan doesnt include a bypass of either Foxford nor Swinford aside from an western bypass of foxford for the castlebar route.

marno21 · 29-12-2016 9:27pm

newtown13 wrote: »

Very disappointing considering the length of time this has been discussed and the traffic volumes on the road. It also appears that the revised plan doesnt include a bypass of either Foxford nor Swinford aside from an western bypass of foxford for the castlebar route.

Far, far bigger priorities elsewhere. Mayo is getting the N5 Westport DC & the N5 upgraded through Roscommon, along with the N59 Westport-Mulranny and N26 Cloongullane bridge replacement. That'll do for now.

monument · 29-12-2016 10:11pm

newtown13 wrote: »

Very disappointing considering the length of time this has been discussed and the traffic volumes on the road. It also appears that the revised plan doesnt include a bypass of either Foxford nor Swinford aside from an western bypass of foxford for the castlebar route.

Yes, that's correct, the road is still overly focused on connecting Ballina and Castlebar. It was worse before but still mainly focused on commuter traffic within Mayo.

marno21 wrote: »

Far, far bigger priorities elsewhere. Mayo is getting the N5 Westport DC & the N5 upgraded through Roscommon, along with the N59 Westport-Mulranny and N26 Cloongullane bridge replacement. That'll do for now.

The N5 Castlebar-Westport DC is overkill of the highest order.

The N26 Cloongullane is part of this thread topic but is fairly basic and needs to be done regardless of a wider project.

Middle Man · 30-12-2016 12:36am

monument wrote: »

Yes, that's correct, the road is still overly focused on connecting Ballina and Castlebar. It was worse before but still mainly focused on commuter traffic within Mayo.

The N5 Castlebar-Westport DC is overkill of the highest order.

The N26 Cloongullane is part of this thread topic but is fairly basic and needs to be done regardless of a wider project.

Get real mate - do some research would you! - with an AADT level of 9000+ PCUs, a type 2 dual carriageway is well justified. Sure one can argue that all the investment in cycling infrastructure is way over the top. If the traffic levels between Castlebar and Westport were higher by a reasonable margin, a motorway would be required.

monument · 30-12-2016 1:34am

Middle Man wrote: »

Get real mate - do some research would you! - with an AADT level of 9000+ PCUs, a type 2 dual carriageway is well justified. Sure one can argue that all the investment in cycling infrastructure is way over the top. If the traffic levels between Castlebar and Westport were higher by a reasonable margin, a motorway would be required.

Research you say...

As for cycling: Nobody has mentioned cycling on this thread -- please go stalk somebody else.

L1011 · 30-12-2016 1:52am

D2AP is a significantly higher standard of road than a Type 2 DC. Not sure what impact that has on expected capacity.

monument · 30-12-2016 2:15am

L1011 wrote: »

D2AP is a significantly higher standard of road than a Type 2 DC. Not sure what impact that has on expected capacity.

Point is that it is well within the range for a WS2 or equivalent design.

Dual is overkill except maybe for a week or two a year (which is hardly the bases for choosing the road design type).

And for the record: I've talked to more than a few people in Mayo who think DC is overkill -- admittedly for different reasons.

L1011 · 30-12-2016 10:27am

WS2 is a deleted standard, though. We don't build WS2 roads anymore, as T2DCs effectively cost the same and are significantly safer.

monument · 30-12-2016 2:11pm

L1011 wrote: »

WS2 is a deleted standard, though. We don't build WS2 roads anymore, as T2DCs effectively cost the same and are significantly safer.

But they are still using WS2+1 in the UK?

The NRA/TII aren't really the best bunch to trust on cost effectiveness.

L1011 · 30-12-2016 2:22pm

monument wrote: »

But they are still using WS2+1 in the UK?

The NRA/TII aren't really the best bunch to trust on cost effectiveness.

2+1 roads are also lethal; so anywhere using them isn't worth comparing to.

WS2 roads result in insanely high closing speed head-ons as people get lulled in to a false sense of security. Overbridges and seperated junctions make it even worse

Every 2+1 here has serious incidents at junctions or at the end of the 2 lane sections - high speed sideswipes turn in to spins, for one.

monument · 30-12-2016 2:41pm

L1011 wrote: »

2+1 roads are also lethal; so anywhere using them isn't worth comparing to.

WS2 roads result in insanely high closing speed head-ons as people get lulled in to a false sense of security. Overbridges and seperated junctions make it even worse

Every 2+1 here has serious incidents at junctions or at the end of the 2 lane sections - high speed sideswipes turn in to spins, for one.

On the safety of 2+1, the international research shows otherwise. The problem in Ireland seems to be design -- an unwillingness to accept design is key and to admit or fix mistakes.

L1011 · 30-12-2016 3:11pm

monument wrote: »

On the safety of 2+1, the international research shows otherwise. The problem in Ireland seems to be design -- an unwillingness to accept design is key and to admit or fix mistakes.

Internationally, they are generally used at traffic levels that we wouldn't even imagine having anything better than a T3SC on. Very low single figure thousands in Scandinavia, for instance.

T2DC is the same price, effectively, as WS2 and significantly future proofed as well as far safer - there is no sane argument for WS2 anymore.

2+1/T3DC is proven unsafe with the traffic levels we wanted to use it for. If you try throw millions more at attempting to design it safe, you have reached the point where T2DC is the same cost...

monument · 30-12-2016 3:45pm

L1011 wrote: »

Internationally, they are generally used at traffic levels that we wouldn't even imagine having anything better than a T3SC on. Very low single figure thousands in Scandinavia, for instance.

T2DC is the same price, effectively, as WS2 and significantly future proofed as well as far safer - there is no sane argument for WS2 anymore.

2+1/T3DC is proven unsafe with the traffic levels we wanted to use it for. If you try throw millions more at attempting to design it safe, you have reached the point where T2DC is the same cost...

Would love to see the evidence on this and why the NRA could not present said evidence to ABP for the first design of the N26 route which was rejected at planning.

And the UK seems to be still using 2+1 for what we are using a type of DC.

marno21 · 30-12-2016 3:51pm

The N24 pilot 2+1 is so dangerous at the junctions that the locals want it ripped up. The 2+1 on the N20 is a joke considering the traffic levels.

For non motorway busy roads these days these are the relevant standards

T2DC: 4x 3.5m lanes, 0.5m hard strips, 1.5m central reservation = 16.5m

as opposed to

WS2: 2x 5.0m lanes, 2.5m hard shoulders = 15m

For the sake of 1.5m we get 2 extra lanes, no bad overtaking and no head on collisions. Great idea.

user1842 · 21-06-2018 3:44pm

Any update on the progress of the N26 upgrade. It was mentioned in the National Development Plan 2018—2027:

In addition, there are sensitive areas where their environmental and tourism value mean that major new alignments are neither feasible nor appropriate.
On those routes, there will be targeted improvements to address bottlenecks and enhance safety, for example, the N59 in Mayo on the Wild Atlantic Way and the N26 linking Ballina to the N5.

marno21 · 21-06-2018 3:53pm

user1842 wrote: »

Any update on the progress of the N26 upgrade. It was mentioned in the National Development Plan 2018—2027:

In addition, there are sensitive areas where their environmental and tourism value mean that major new alignments are neither feasible nor appropriate.
On those routes, there will be targeted improvements to address bottlenecks and enhance safety, for example, the N59 in Mayo on the Wild Atlantic Way and the N26 linking Ballina to the N5.

At the minute, the only plan is the upgrade of Cloongullane Bridge. The rest of the N26 is suspended.

user1842 · 21-06-2018 3:57pm

marno21 wrote: »

At the minute, the only plan is the upgrade of Cloongullane Bridge. The rest of the N26 is suspended.

That's depressing

marno21 · 28-09-2018 1:31am

Confirmation from TII (officially) that no work will take place on the N26 for at least 10 years, apart from the planned realignment at Cloongullane bridge

https://www.con-telegraph.ie/news/roundup/articles/2018/09/27/4162598-dismay-over-n26-ten-years-revelation/

user1842 · 28-09-2018 8:15am

For God sake, it will never get done.

Knock2 · 28-09-2018 2:17pm

Can somebody please answer the following questions ad I don’t want any political point scoring blaming ff or fg ect
Why is this upgrade taking so long it has been talked about for 30 years now?
How has the Westport Castlebar road leaped fringed the n26?
Is it the minster or somebody in tii that decides what roads get da go ahead?
When or how can we get facts ie..da road will start construction on Jan 01 2023 ad there is a build period of 2 years so it will be open in 2025 as an example?
Has the route got planning is all gud to go?
Why has every government for the last 30 years not completed the route?
How can this project be speeded up ie..does Leo or Michael kno this road requires an upgrade ad why won’t they do anything about it?

newtown13 · 28-09-2018 10:14pm

Unfortunately, this road isnt going to be built.
Instead, they have opted to upgrade the existing N26. Cloongullane bridge will be the next project.

After that, a possible upgrade of the road to castlebar with a bypass on the western side of Foxford. This road has more traffic than the road to swinford

N5/N26/N58 - Castlebar-Bohola / Swinford-Mount Falcon

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