M20 - Cork to Limerick [preferred route chosen; in design - phase 3]

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

I would say "quite likely" and that the final route will be similar to the 2010 version. It'll use the south "half" of the Croom bypass and then head north slightly offline from there before hitting the current M20.

PKB1 wrote: »

Does anyone know if the previous planning submission stated that using the current Croom bypass would save a lot of expense versus going off line?

Pete_Cavan wrote: »

It would be mad not to incorporate the Croom bypass into the new road. There are only two roads crossing it and but are grade separated, this makes it ideal for the new road but would serve no real purpose as an R road as it would do very little to distribute traffic.

The bypass should be upgraded, the existing junction closed (or off ramps only retained) and a new motorway GSJ built further north and a new link road on the northern side of the town.

Isambard wrote: »

the old road North of Croom* is a good straight road, I suppose it depends how willing they are to allow local traffic to run via the double bend that is Croom Bridge. From the Bridge south , the old road is closed off but it looks like it could be re-opened to link to the existing road south of Croom.

*the bypass proper is south of the junction of this road with the N20, the section north of that was a very early widening, 1980s

marno21 wrote: »

Here's what was planned in 2009, with some cavaets:

1. The entire length of grade separated Croom bypass reused (the Croom bypass from the R516 junction (as is now) to Anhid Cross is NOT grade separated).
2. A new Croom interchange where the Croom BP meets the old N20 north of Croom (including N21 Adare bypass)
3. An new link road running beside the Croom bypass from the Adare Road to the existing R516 junction which would be shut.
4. The existing N20 would be realigned to meet the R516 + new link rad at the old Croom junction and would run broadly along the existing N20 corridor south of the R516 junction, with the M20 running east along this corridor and later crossing the old N20 at Anhid Cross. The exact detail of this isn't there because of the corridor widths.

Based on the following, it's important to consider the following for 2021:

1. No Adare bypass this time.
2. Different layout of the M20/M21 junction a few km to the north
3. Where is the Croom junction best placed this time?
4. Will the link road (also known as the Croom Western Distributor Route) be included as before along the same layout? Lots of routes like this planned back in the day to open up land for development but this isn't as common anymore

KrisW1001 wrote: »

I'd prefer to the north of the river simply to avoid the cost of another bridge for that link-road.

The plan Marno posted does contain the parallel road you describe - that should be kept. Actually, now I look closer at it, it's obvious that the 2009 plan was to do pretty much what I suggested with the current Croom junction: on the plan, that bridge would not have been connected to the motorway - it was kept simply to allow the various parallel access roads to cross the main line of the motorway.

betistuc wrote: »

What are the chances of ALL road construction being suspended while the Government waits to see if the EU are going to insist on us driving on the right here. Topic was discussed on RTE Drivetime yesterday. Malta and Cyprus could also be forced as well. Just a thought!

Stark wrote: »

Wtf are you on about.

KrisW1001 wrote: »

Here's another thought: maybe you could open a new thread, and call it "Chances of Ireland driving on the right?" or something, so that people won't accidentally click on it if they want to read about how the M20 is progressing...

KrisW1001 wrote: »

I think the best they could do would be to keep the alignment of the Croom bypass, but the junctions don't make as much sense anymore once the Adare Bypass has been re-routed elsewhere.

The span of the bridge at the Ballingarry junction doesn't seem wide enough to accommodate even a 2+2 road beneath, so it would have to be removed or replaced for a motorway - I think it's the wrong place to put a motorway junction for Croom, as it would drive traffic for points East of Croom right through the centre of the village again, and we're back to the bad old days of the 1990s.

I'd make that a simple overbridge (remove the slip-roads), and have one junction off M20, roughly where the Ballyourgan overbridge is, to serve Croom. (i.e., move "Croom Junction" closer to Croom, and delete the other junctions.)