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

A Facebook group supporting the M20 might be a good start. The more members the better.

The politicians can then see just how many people are desperate for the M20 to be done. Any NIMBY,s can also see just how much people are against their frivolous objections.

Suggestions in the media are that the M/N20 will indeed be a mix of Type 1 and Type 2 DC. That makes sense, 2+2 will suffice between Mallow and Charleville. That probably won't be part of today's announcement, will have to wait for the preferred route next year.

My other prediction was that most of the objections will die away once the preferred route is published. Right now there are lots of peopletelling others that they will be effected by the road when in actual fact, the vast majority of those are on routs which won't be used and the narrowing of the corridor will lessen impacts further. I still expect that to be the case.

From an article on todays NDP announcement in the Irish Times

While the source said the list of roads projects from the 2018 was included there would be very strong “caveats” in terms of prioritisation, and that would favour public transport over roads. 

An example cited was the “M20” between Cork and Limerick which will be described in the plan as M20/N20, in effect meaning that some of the route will not be of motorway grade and will be downgraded.

“This plan will involve a fundamental switch to public transport, which should not be a surprise to anyone as the two-to-one ratio is baked in,” said the source. 

A senior Minister from one of the bigger coalition parties agreed. “Every thing is being climate assessed. You must remember it is (Green Party leader) Eamon Ryan who is managing the Department of Transport and also the transport budget.”

Full article https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/many-road-projects-in-national-development-plan-may-never-be-completed-1.4690217

Considering that the letter M normally comes before N, having the N first in the name would imply that there will be more N than M in the route.

What a load of rubbish. Naming convention on projects would always be old part first new part of project second

You could say that about any highway anywhere. Look at North America, sections of interstate with very low volumes, but that is not the point. The principle is that cities should be connected by the highest quality roads. Same on the continent.

It's not just safety, it's a status issue as well.

This country should have motorways connecting all cities, not just spokes out of Dublin.

All that does is emphasise Dublin more and more as the most important place on the map and encourages more investment there than elsewhere.

Having a motorway between Limerick and Cork is a statement in it's own right, that these are important places that can have their economies of scale in their own right.

This needs to be done or accept that Ireland is the city state of Dublin.

Press releases seem to be calling it the M20. Would be utter insanity to build a 15 mile stretch as 2+2.

The standard any particular section of road is built to should be based on the usage on that section. The middle section of the N20 doesn't justify motorway so people shouldn't be surprised if it is not proposed as such. Just because someone wants to see motorway and somebody else agrees with them, doesn't mean that is what should happen. This thread is an awful echo chamber.

Blue is my favourite colour. ;)

More seriously, if the underlying purpose of this road is to encourage more links between Cork and Limerick and help the Cork-Limerick-Galway axis to develop as a single economic unit that can counterbalance Dublin, doesn't it make sense to maintain the same cross-section? Narrowing the M20 here and there would make it the only major new-build interurban in the state to not maintain a motorway/HQDC cross-section for the vast majority of its route.

Cork and Limerick are both expected to significantly increase in population and economic size, so presumably traffic along this route will increase significantly in years to come. Any future upgrades will be far more expensive and inconvenient than just delivering up-front. Deliberately rejecting the opportunity to deliver future-proofed infrastructure for electric zero-carbon buses, trucks, and other vehicles seems short-sighted, at best.

Nothing you have said there changes the fact that the middle section of N20 is well within the range for Type 2 DC and will remain so for a very long time. The difference in a few minutes journey time is not going to make any difference in acting as a counterbalance to Dublin. Type 2 is just as future-proofed for electric zero-carbon buses and trucks as Type 1, nice shoehorning in of buzzwords though.

A clever ploy by Ryan showing that the muppet learned something from his Party’s first disastrous period in Government 15 years ago. He spouted this €3bn figure a few months back with no backup. If the budget for roads for the entire state for the next six years is €6bn, then alleging that one project that apparantly benefits just two counties with a €3bn price tag (i.e. 50% of the budget) gets the hackles up in the other 24 counties. And sows more dissent. And creates more confusion. And allows more time for cycling bikes, playing stationmaster and sowing sorrel, purslane and other salad leaves of choice in your window boxes during a pandemic. 

I was accused earlier in this thread of giving too much credit to the power of the Greens. That intended insult was inappropriate as I hadn’t given any credit to the Greens. I had simply pointed out that they were stirring the pot and causing dissent. However having seen today’s outcome I am developing a sneaking regard for Ryan who appears to be transforming from a total fool to a successful manipulative political operator. On the initial reading it looks like he has more than outfoxed his FF and FG partners.  

This is a very important point and is often lost when the AADT numbers are quoted. I travel Limerick/Cork frequently (twice/trice weekly). I almost always use the M8/R513 or M8/R513/R514/R512 routes in preference to the N20, as do a lot of others based on the traffic on that route. The N20 could be the backbone of the 5 southern counties in Munster. It connects two major urban centres, traverses some of the richest agricultural land anywhere and has the potential to be the spine of the nervous system of this region. The attached demonstrates this. This is a time we need bit of vision, an investment in the future, the putting in place of a foundation for development and prosperity. This road could attract traffic far in excess of it current incarnation. Sadly, this is way beyond the capacity of the current political "leadership".