N25 - Carrigtwohill to Midleton [route options published]

I don't think any sort of a junction would fit there tbh. I'd say TII think this too, hence their reluctance to tackle it. The existing situation is a bottleneck but it isn't particularly dangerous.

I don't know the AADTs, but I'd certainly say 2+2 from Midleton to the far side of Castlemartyr. Its always ridiculously busy. As for Killeagh, its only a few extra km, so extend 2+2 to the far side.

Then you might as well go to the Youghal bypass. That could then easily be updated to 2+2 (They had originally planned this).

But then you run into the Youghal Bridge. That'll eventually have to be replaced, and that would be nice and expensive to do.

The new local road will join into the Oatencake Interchange, so they're proposing either sending agri machinery back to the Lakeview via the dual carriageway from Oatencake interchange built up area (poor idea), or through Main Street built up area (worse idea). The elephant in the room is always going to be this section between Oatencake and East-of-Lakeview. So the big N25 problems aren't occurring on the stretch that's being upgraded by this scheme, other than the tailbacks at Oatencake Interchange.

Lakeview, Castlemartyr, Killeagh are the biggest N25 problems I experience. And no question Lakeview is absolutely a huge project.

But from what I can see, this scheme is primarily about getting a new junction into Ballyadam/Waterrock to develop the lands there. And that looks like poor use of public money: prioritising a road interchange as your primary transport mode to a new residential and employment area 15km from the city centre. I could be wrong, perhaps this will be the first urban area in Cork where they hit their target mode shares...but I won't hold my breath to be honest.

And even with that land development objective in mind, surely you'd get more bang-for-buck putting your distributor road a little further north, nearer to the train line, such that it serves more of the proposed urban area? In the current design, the new distributor will be pinned up against the existing dual carriageway, so only one side of it will be useful as a distributor.

Trouble is, South East of Lakeview is an old Georgian style house, Lakeview House. It needs TLC, but I don't think carving it, and the lands, up to do that will be a runner.

Flyover the roundabout, roughly following the current line of the N25, then put a new junction slightly south linking to the new Whitegate road (if that gets built) and the current N25.

And maybe continue 2+2 to Youghal while you're at it!!!

Edit: Maybe Dungarvan while the diggers are out

My theory is TII are reluctant to do anything on Castlemartyr/Killeagh until Lakeview RAB and issues west of Midleton are sorted. It seems political interference has seen money allocated to Castlemartyr/Killeagh for next year but it is still several years away from a planning application regardless.

Imo they'd be better off continuing with Carrigtwohill to Midleton for now, given it is smaller and further down the line. That €100k would move the project further forward than it will Castlemartyr/Killeagh. It's the kind of project which should be moved through planning and then see where we are in terms of funding. The cost is relatively low, it is mostly online and addresses a safety issue so it has a chance in the short/medium term.

Multi-million euro upgrade of Cork road shelved due to lack of funding

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/munster/arid-40782291.html

At least the councillors are honest about the purpose, there.

"needed to provide for the proposed development of a 5,000-house town adjacent to the N25 at Water Rock, near Midleton. "

"also vital for IDA plans for further industrial development in the Carrigtwohill area"

That was exactly my understanding of the project's purpose also. I don't think that should be funded as a national corridor project though, that's a local development project as far as I can see, right?

Even outside that, it just hasn't got TII funding this year! It's probably possible to fund this housing infrastructure via housing infrastructure funds!

Yep agreed on all points. If the job's worth doing....etc

I think there's more to this particular project than TII alone. The finished product will have significant implications for settlement and development patterns in the area. It's much more than just a safety upgrade. Money should be poured into the rail and active transport corridors up to Midleton and the new junction should be well protected so that it's developed with care.

The whole area of this project should be suitable for a master area plan, but the Cork County Development Plan doesn't include one. It's a bit chicken-and-egg, obviously, but an important land development infrastructure project like this should be working towards a master development plan, not some vague aspiration of "unlocking development potential". As you say, TII, DoH and CCC should sit down and plan it out. I hope they haven't missed the boat with the Cork County Development Plan 2022-2028.

I'd say what has happened in TII redirected the funding from this to Castlemartyr/Killeagh after they were told to reactivate the project after that FFer threw a strop. It's likely the unforeseen consequences of politicians sticking their nose in. That €100k would probably get Carrigtwohill - Midleton to ABP which would be a better use.

Carrigtwohill - Midleton is the first step in upgrading the N25 east of there. Removing the Lakeview RAB first would only make this section more dangerous. There is no chance of anything happening east of Midleton before 2026 anyway, and even then it is likely to be down the priorities list given the bachlog by then, so spending money there now achieves nothing.

Cork Chamber news release on the decision to cut funding to project https://chamber.corkchamber.ie/news/details/news-release-11-01-2022