NRA have this morning advertised for engineering consultancy to design medium to long term solution to the junction!
:):)
How does one travel through the interchange if your going from M8 south to cork city ? Doesn’t seem clear on the graphics
Just to note that this full new alignment won’t happen for ages yet. Northbound traffic will be using the new bridge in a few weeks. However, traffic will still be using the roundabout as normal. Northbound traffic will just have a sharp left turn onto the new bridge.
In order to facilitate the final new alignment, all traffic will need to cease using the roundabout. All movement to the left are easily provided for. All 270 degree movements will need to be catered for before all north - south traffic can be fed through the east most underpass of the N25. Will be interesting to see how they do this cut over.
That's the messiest piece of the whole thing for me, moving the N40 North to M8 North movement East under the existing overpass. It's the piece I really struggle to visualise in terms of traffic management.
Correct. Exiting the tunnel, 1 lane will veer slightly to the right (basically anti-clockwise around the present roundabout) and then use the west most piece of the new bridge to continue north. It means that N40 North to M8 North mainline will use the east most underpass of the N25 taken up by part of the roundabout today.
The other side (west piece of present roundabout) will facilitate a number of new movements.
In that video, two of the lanes on the new structure are M8 South. Will the other 2 be M8 north or will that be somewhere else?
Yeah that old swivel bridge was attempted to be blown up by the (I think Carrigtwohill company of the) IRA during the war of independence. But even before the railway, there was a direct route there, Dunkettle Bridge, and the swing bridge (Swivel Bridge) came in with the addition of the railway and Dunkettle Station (1845).
The alignment from Tivoli through Glanmire village would not have been the direct route to Midleton. I'd say it never was, to be honest, the route instead would have been the "Old Youghal Road" which goes through St Lukes, Dillon's Cross, Tinker's Cross, New Inn, Church Hill, Glanmire Bridge, and instead of the L2998 it cuts Eastwards towards Caherlag and down over the dry bridge in Glounthaune, to Johnstown. That old road is still there.
So the original Cork to Youghal road went through Caherlag, and a drawbridge was built over the Glashaboy River at Dunkettle at the end of the 1700's, start of the 1800's making it possible to avoid going through Glanmire to get to Youghal for the first time, and that opened up Tivoli then.
IMO, they need to add dashed lines into the roundabout to guide cars into the correct lanes on the roundabout itself.
Everyone was fine When I went through it earlier. However, it only takes one person to veer off course and potentially cause a crash.
In theory its all a 60kmh zone so people wouldn't ever be in a position where they couldn't stop of course.
In reality when I am literally the only car going 60kmh with buses, lorries and every other car passing me, god knows how it will go!!!
Crossed the new bridge today, a very nice job however there is a decent drop to get down to the new lights that I think could take a few people by surprise as they get used to the new layout. Freshly laid tarmac, rain and exuberance could see this being a bad spot for tips for a period of time as people adjust...I hope common sense will prevail for a lot or people but I think some presence from AGS for a few days could be helpful, not necessarily prosecuting (unless justified) but insuring that people slow down and take due care...
Also anyone coming down the M8S will need to stop at the white line and not over it like people normally do as it will tie the junction in knots for those of us trying to get to N24 from tunnel!
North facing camera giving a great view of the movement across the new bridge. It looks as though the traffic lights controlling the flow from the M8(S) onto the roundabout have a more generous time slice than the old ones.
It's a great example of how to do it. People are interested in big works like this, so knowing what is going on is fascinating - especially on a project of this complexity.
They had the drone out quick-smart too, two hours from flyover open to video posted.
The volume of updates are just fantastic. Video of the new alignment below. The work done since yesterday looks huge. The area now looks completely different.
New aerial photos
https://twitter.com/dunkettleint/status/1487780171553853442?s=20&t=Chnl_tiIEVWk8oaA4P31tw
I have a vague memory of the old Dunkettle/Glasboy bridge (and I'm only nearly 40). The old bridge was flat and had stone sidings to it. It was demolished and replaced with the current structure when the Glanmire bypass was done in the 1990s and when the Dunkettle Interchange roundabout was first built. Then Dunkettle - Cobh was built. I think it crossed the Glashaboy river where the northbound carriageway is now.
Before that (according to old maps) there was a Dunkettle Station and an old road or swing bridge at the same spot back in the 1800s. But those maps don't show the REALLY old alignment which went through Glanmire itself. I'd say that alignment is very very far past any living memory!
On another note, the new bridge has opened at Dunkettle, taking M8 southbound traffic over the new structure to get to the interchange roundabout.
A question for some of the more golden aged members on here.
The old movement pre-Dunkettle interchange took the Tivoli dual carriageway over the Glashaboy River on the current bridge and then off to the left and into Glounthaune.
Does anyone know how old that bridge is? If you go back far enough, assume the old method of getting to Middleton was to drive into Glanmire, cross the bridge on the right and then take the L2998 all the way to Glounthaune. Did this alignment exist in living memory?
Nice recent video showing the eventual N8 West to Glounthaune movement. This will require the demolition of the old M8 and the surfacing of the area from there to the new roundabout at the Bury’s Bridge end. If people don’t know, this is basically the old alignment of the N25 before the Dunkettle Interchange was constructed in the early 90s.
This will be the final route for M8 South to Tunnel. However the whole area will eventually be raised and levelled off.
This will also basically be tunnel to M8 North too. The difference is that this movement will go anti-clockwise around the roundabout eventually.
Ah, I thought that was the final route. To be honest, this whole project confuses me a lot, I don't think I will fully be able to visualise and understand it until it is built!
They’re a carbon copy of the existing M8S markings and it’s a temporary slip road, I’d doubt they put a massive amount of thought into it tbh
Surprised they stuck with N8 Cork on the road markings instead of City Centre, as is done on similar roads in Dublin, and given this is City Council territory now. Maybe they want to really discourage use of the N40 (just refferred to as "West") to access the city southside and centre for people coming from the M8
North facing camera on the Roundabout has now been refocused to point at the new piece of road and bridge.
Contractors have the best coverage of a road build I’ve ever seen. Updates are just fantastic.
Yep I don't understand why that particular movement wasn't done early. They must have some logic as you say. Maybe it's so easy and disconnected that they're keeping that space available as contingency for plant/machinery/supplies.
Very interesting, I had assumed they'd do it in one big bang! Thanks.
Definitely one of the most interesting transport infrastructure projects in the country in a good few years.
No work at all done on N40(N) to Tivoli (confusingly thats actually the N8 west, not the N25). That one would be so easy and would take all Glanmire traffic off the roundabout, but I wonder will they need that patch of land for temporary diversions etc?
I think there’s going to be a temporary rerouting of this movement to allow construction. I think the movement will change again when bridges, groundwork is complete.
Yep I think N25 West to Tunnel has gotta be one of the next ones ready.
It's great fun from the outside looking in at the puzzle!
So this phase is: M8 South as far as the roundabout, then M8 North from the roundabout northwards, then N25 East to M8 North (entirely) then Little Island dumbell interchange (entirely) by Q3. So with that in mind, and bearing in mind that I have no inside info, I am guessing....
N40 North (Tunnel) to N25 East (Little Island and Midleton) could be done with low enough fuss immediately after that, with the dumbell interchange in place. The N25 East (Tivoli) to N40 South (Tunnel) can be done, with that previous movement done.
The dumbell interchange in place will demand that the existing Little Island west junctions be closed, freeing up all of the space on the south of the interchange for development. With the existing Little Island junctions are gone, you can do the N25 West to Tunnel movement.
N40 North (Tunnel) to N25 West (Tivoli) can happen pretty much any time as far as I can see. That could probably happen even now? But I haven't seen any dates for it.
The N25 West to M8 North looks to me like it will be one of the last movements. It's that and the Little Island to Tivoli ones that look like the latest ones, to me.
Another little update email today. Nice aerial shot of where surfacing needs to be finished to allow M8 South traffic over the new bridge and onto the current roundabout.
Once this is complete, the old area where the M8 hit the roundabout will be used to divert traffic going north from the roundabout onto the new bridge.
This is one of the easiest traffic movement adjustments they’ll have. I think the next one is moving N25 West to Tunnel movement. I thin
A lot of the cars will probably go through Glanmire to avoid Dunkettle and end up causing even more traffic in Glanmire too. It's going to get very busy everywhere.
M8 South to Dumbell interchange slip to be open in Q3 2022. I assume this may mean a partial opening to the Dumbell for Little Island access too.
M8 southbound one lane for the next while. Thats going to be carnage at rush hour.
:):)
