M7 - Naas/Newbridge Bypass Upgrade [Junction 9a now open]

regedit · 21-02-2021 10:37pm

Not sure if this is a recent update or stuck there for some time but the http://www.m7upgrade.com website indicating the Sallins bypass on schedule for a Feb 2021 opening

Darc19 · 21-02-2021 11:50pm

regedit wrote: »

Not sure if this is a recent update or stuck there for some time but the http://www.m7upgrade.com website indicating the Sallins bypass on schedule for a Feb 2021 opening

Video created 13th December

marno21 · 22-02-2021 4:33pm

https://kildare-nationalist.ie/2021/02/22/junction-9a-to-open-at-end-of-march/

Golden Horde · 01-03-2021 4:01pm

Took a walk on the Sallins bypass over the weekend.

The link road into Sallins has had it's top layer put down (on the new part, not on the existing road in front of Lidl), as has the section from the canal roundabout as far as the second Liffey crossing - I didn't go further but would assume it has been laid as far as the Clane road roundabout.

champchamp · 01-03-2021 7:06pm

Has the opening date been confirmed?

MYSTICA1 · 01-03-2021 7:08pm

champchamp wrote: »

Has the opening date been confirmed?

Several times .. and the dates have come and gone and it never opened!!:D:D
Latest was the end of March.

BuzzFish · 02-03-2021 8:09am

Golden Horde wrote: »

Took a walk on the Sallins bypass over the weekend.

The link road into Sallins has had it's top layer put down (on the new part, not on the existing road in front of Lidl), as has the section from the canal roundabout as far as the second Liffey crossing - I didn't go further but would assume it has been laid as far as the Clane road roundabout.

Under the osberstown road bridge has its top layer now too. Ready for lining now and works moved to landscaping. Positive signs. Work progressing at Kerry Group too, widening the lanes. Ready for new top layer.

BuzzFish · 12-03-2021 11:19am

Under the osberstown bridge done and lined. Looking very close now.

They are also completing works on the Kerry Group Roundabout integration (down to one lane a few days this week). All the signage posts are back in place after the rework and lighting being mounted on poles currently.

Is it just me or is the lane alignment under the railway bridge alignment a bit messy looking?

eusap · 12-03-2021 11:21am

is there no hard shoulder on the bypass?

jmkennedyie · 12-03-2021 11:38am

In the second pic note the new cycle/pedestrian track heading east to the old canal road. This is south of the railway bridge whereas the map circulated in a James Lawless newsletter indicates track on the north side. No big deal it seems.

As part of these works a new pedestrian/(cycle?) connection is currently being installed between Grand Canal Naas Branch and Millennium Road to enable a 5km pedestrian(cycle?) loop around Sallins using the bypass:
https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=53.2379&mlon=-6.6725#map=15/53.2379/-6.6725

(Also road-lining has reached the Clane roundabout)

riddlinrussell · 12-03-2021 12:34pm

jmkennedyie wrote: »

In the second pic note the new cycle/pedestrian track heading east to the old canal road. This is south of the railway bridge whereas the map circulated in a James Lawless newsletter indicates track on the north side. No big deal it seems.

As part of these works a new pedestrian/(cycle?) connection is currently being installed between Grand Canal Naas Branch and Millennium Road to enable a 5km pedestrian(cycle?) loop around Sallins using the bypass:
https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=53.2379&mlon=-6.6725#map=15/53.2379/-6.6725

(Also road-lining has reached the Clane roundabout)

When it opens you wouldn't be able to use the bypass itself to do a 5k loop off road, the section from Kerry group to the railway bridge will have no cycling provision (This being provided by the canal/osberstown road link and the ramps to millennium link road), and there is no cycling provision from the Clane road roundabout through Sallins to the Sallins road roundabout on the Naas ring road.

Hopefully that changes soon of course...

MYSTICA1 · 12-03-2021 1:54pm

BuzzFish wrote: »

Under the osberstown bridge done and lined. Looking very close now.

They are also completing works on the Kerry Group Roundabout integration (down to one lane a few days this week). All the signage posts are back in place after the rework and lighting being mounted on poles currently.

Is it just me or is the lane alignment under the railway bridge alignment a bit messy looking?

That alignment definitely looks very odd. I wouldn't be surprised if we (don't) see a few Garda bikes pulled in there with radar pointed back up the hill for anyone heading towards the motorway/Naas!

jmkennedyie · 13-03-2021 11:32am

riddlinrussell wrote: »

When it opens you wouldn't be able to use the bypass itself to do a 5k loop off road, the section from Kerry group to the railway bridge will have no cycling provision (This being provided by the canal/osberstown road link and the ramps to millennium link road), and there is no cycling provision from the Clane road roundabout through Sallins to the Sallins road roundabout on the Naas ring road.

Hopefully that changes soon of course...

Correct. It seems the 5km Sallins loop the J. Lawless newsletter refers to includes on-road south of the railway on the local/old canal road.

Once the through traffic is gone lots of potential for a re-do of Sallins

millb · 13-03-2021 4:13pm

eusap wrote: »

is there no hard shoulder on the bypass?

most (or all?) of it is 2 lanes.

Probably does not need a hard shoulder for the likes of selling strawberries, accessing fields, parking caravans, having a picnic etc.

Cycle & foot path separate & not allowed along Osberstown to M7 strech. It's a Motorway link & bypass with pedestrian and cycle routes.

millb · 13-03-2021 4:17pm

End of parallel cycle lane nr Obsterstown.

New path Canal to Millennium Rd (New School)

Tomrota · 13-03-2021 10:06pm

Why don’t they put down red or blue on cycle lanes like in other countries? In the Netherlands, you know the path is grey and the cyclists have right of way anywhere that’s red. So pedestrians have to be careful when walking on red patches.

What’s going to end up happen is people are going to walk en masse on these ‘cycle tracks’ because there is no difference between a cycle track and a footpath in this country besides a painted symbol of a bike it seems. And that will end up with cyclists using the road, adding to our shambles of a transport ‘network’.

champchamp · 14-03-2021 12:51pm

Any word on when it's opening, looks finished in the photos...

cantalach · 14-03-2021 3:02pm

Tomrota wrote: »

Why don’t they put down red or blue on cycle lanes like in other countries? In the Netherlands, you know the path is grey and the cyclists have right of way anywhere that’s red. So pedestrians have to be careful when walking on red patches.

What’s going to end up happen is people are going to walk en masse on these ‘cycle tracks’ because there is no difference between a cycle track and a footpath in this country besides a painted symbol of a bike it seems. And that will end up with cyclists using the road, adding to our shambles of a transport ‘network’.

I don’t disagree with your assessment of what will happen as regards peds using cycle tracks, but what you’ve said about the use of red top layer in NL is not quite correct. Red is only used in an urban context where there is potential for ambiguity, or where there is a confluence of footpaths and cycle paths. But segregated cycle paths in suburban or semi-rural contexts (which is what we’re talking about with the Sallins Bypass) are not usually coloured. People just take heed of the signs. I have family living there. Leaving aside what the Dutch do or don’t do, my understanding is that there has been a shift away from using coloured top layers because they wear very badly.

jmkennedyie · 14-03-2021 5:15pm

Yep in this scheme they are shared cycle/pedestrian ways.

This manual has interesting content on different ways of accommodating cycling in Irish road design: https://www.nationaltransport.ie/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/national_cycle_manual_1107281.pdf. Not sure if it is the latest doc.

p23 discusses shared cycle/pedestrian.

riddlinrussell · 14-03-2021 6:08pm

cantalach wrote: »

I don’t disagree with your assessment of what will happen as regards peds using cycle tracks, but what you’ve said about the use of red top layer in NL is not quite correct. Red is only used in an urban context where there is potential for ambiguity, or where there is a confluence of footpaths and cycle paths. But segregated cycle paths in suburban or semi-rural contexts (which is what we’re talking about with the Sallins Bypass) are not usually coloured. People just take heed of the signs. I have family living there. Leaving aside what the Dutch do or don’t do, my understanding is that there has been a shift away from using coloured top layers because they wear very badly.

The fundamental difference between colour layers in NL and here, is that here it's a thin layer adhered to the wearing course, in NL the coloured layer IS the wearing course. They mix it into the asphalt.

cantalach · 14-03-2021 6:13pm

riddlinrussell wrote: »

The fundamental difference between colour layers in NL and here, is that here it's a thin layer adhered to the wearing course, in NL the coloured layer IS the wearing course. They mix it into the asphalt.

Well that would certainly work better all right.

pad199207 · 16-03-2021 2:06pm

J9a to open in two weeks time

Cazale · 16-03-2021 2:08pm

pad199207 wrote:

J9a to open in two weeks time

Great news.

_Kaiser_ · 16-03-2021 2:30pm

pad199207 wrote: »

J9a to open in two weeks time

MYSTICA1 · 16-03-2021 3:41pm

However ....

Irish Motorway Info website says the following. (I have no idea how reliable or otherwise this website is!)

The long suffering new M7 junction 9A is to open at the end of March. This piece of infrastructure has been repeatedly delayed and it's fair to say at this stage that we will believe it when we see it. Recently some work had to be redone to address deficiencies. Note that the Sallins bypass will not open at that time; for now the junction will only facilitate access to north Naas.

spacetweek · 16-03-2021 11:38pm

MYSTICA1 wrote: »

However ....

Irish Motorway Info website says the following. (I have no idea how reliable or otherwise this website is!)

The long suffering new M7 junction 9A is to open at the end of March. This piece of infrastructure has been repeatedly delayed and it's fair to say at this stage that we will believe it when we see it. Recently some work had to be redone to address deficiencies. Note that the Sallins bypass will not open at that time; for now the junction will only facilitate access to north Naas.

I get my info from threads like this! And that info is in turn from press announcements. Previously it was reported here that the junction is opening shortly but the Sallins Bypass element will come some time after.

BuzzFish · 17-03-2021 7:32am

spacetweek wrote: »

I get my info from threads like this! And that info is in turn from press announcements. Previously it was reported here that the junction is opening shortly but the Sallins Bypass element will come some time after.

Junction at Kerry Group almost there now. The roundabout has been relined (with a yellow box on it, so queueing must be expected!!). All poles in place for signage. Lighting fully fitting the last couple of days. New zebra crossing added across new road just at roundabout.

Further up on the junction itself minor works completing and road sweeping in progress.

They could have it completed fully in a couple of days if they keep pace. I guess if next week is spent signing off then 2 weeks seems reasonable to.open.

WishUWereHere · 17-03-2021 7:41am

BuzzFish wrote: »

Junction at Kerry Group almost there now. The roundabout has been relined (with a yellow box on it, so queueing must be expected!!). All poles in place for signage. Lighting fully fitting the last couple of days. New zebra crossing added across new road just at roundabout.

Further up on the junction itself minor works completing and road sweeping in progress.

They could have it completed fully in a couple of days if they keep pace. I guess if next week is spent signing off then 2 weeks seems reasonable to.open.

Finally, seems to be closure. I hope they don’t forget to complete the signage on the M7. Half erected signage on a basically new project doesn’t look good.

Darc19 · 17-03-2021 8:43am

WishUWereHere wrote: »

Finally, seems to be closure. I hope they don’t forget to complete the signage on the M7. Half erected signage on a basically new project doesn’t look good.

You don't "forget" things like this.

That was left half erected on purpose as the junction was not open.

That's quite normal until a couple of days before opening. Sometimes it might be a few days after depending on what other signs are in place

Some people would find it a reason to complain about if they completed the signage beforehand

champchamp · 17-03-2021 11:55am

So March 31st is it, or is the Sallins bypass still not confirmed as opening then?

M7 - Naas/Newbridge Bypass Upgrade [Junction 9a now open]

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