Two new overbridges are planned on the N5 Swinford bypass to replace lethal at grade junctions. I assume at least one of these will be a GSJ but the article isn't clear on that.
Surely both would have to be GSJs, that could allow for the closure of up to 9 road junctions with the N5?
That would be the ideal solution. Fingers crossed TII can find the cash!
Just quoting Pete here as I have some more information on the plan for GSJs on the Swinford bypass to replace the existing dangerous T junctions.
Basically the long term plan is to close 8 junctions on the entire 6km bypass and replace them with 2 GSJs as below. This plan could take 5 years to complete but it's an impressive solution. It has been discussed at CEO level in TII so hopefully it will remain a priority.
EDIT: Adding the final recommendation of the safety report too as that is what the above map is based on.
The Swinford bypass upgrade needs its own thread, like the N17 - Claremorris / Knock bypass. Can't be trying to find that image in this thread for the next couple of years.
Agreed! Maybe one of the mods could pull the relevant posts into a new thread?
Done.
Another fatal accident on this stretch of the N5. Hopefully this will help to push TII to provide funding for the grade separated junctions discussed above. At the moment the safety report is just gathering dust.
The Mayo coroner is putting the dangerous junctions on the Swinford bypass in the spotlight again. At the moment the safety plan detailed upthread is just gathering dust.
Latest from the council is that works at the R320 junction have been approved by TII and design and planning are to get underway. They also say construction will start in Q1 2024 but I don't see how that could be possible.
I assume they are grade separating the junction like what was done recently in Claremorris.
Now RTE is highlighting the dangerous junctions in Swinford, which is good to see. The piece quotes Mayo Co Co as saying that construction of a safety scheme will start next year, but I don't know what scheme that is. There has been no planning application that I am aware of.
The coroner won't let this go, fair play to him. This time he made remarks at the inquest for Ronan Keating's brother, who also died on the Swinford bypass.
Latest from Mayo County Council:
"Feasibility and options report for N5/R320 junction scheme approved by TII. Proceed to design and planning phases with construction in Q1 2024."
It's very hard to see how they can complete design and planning in less than 6 months, but here's hoping.
If design was well advanced and planning was done through a Part 8 it could progress quickly but tender will take at least 6 months to appoint a contractor. Q4 2024 might be possible for construction, more likely 2025.
Just seeing this thread now. I was wondering what the latest was on that stretch of road. Looks like a clever design solution to get all those junctions closed.
Glad to see that no roundabouts are proposed as well.
Is the R320 junction the source of most of the accidents I wonder?
At least half of them, although the R375 junction can be just as dodgy.
It's a shame that it took a some brain-dead "singer" and his tragic dead brother to actually get this done....that's the real tragedy.
Sadly sometimes it takes a certain number of tragedies before action is taken and we could see a few more before the work is done. So the sooner they get it done the better.
Your first sentence would have sufficed - the brain capacity (or lack of) of a singer (unknown to me) is somewhat superfluous.
That was a bit much.
A piece on recent discussions between the council's roads design office and local Councillors.
I'm not sure what is meant by "“We cannot wait for long-term solutions,” he said. “We also have to look at short-term solutions.” I presume that the preliminary design with the overbridge and connector roads already discussed on this thread is what they want to do?
https://www.con-telegraph.ie/2023/11/22/hard-decisions-will-have-to-be-taken-to-address-safety-on-n5-mayo-bypass/
I had to read that article several times to understand it.
It appears they've taken the safety report discussed upthread on board, and they want funding next year to move to the next stage, which is a more detailed appraisal of what can be done re overbridges, closing roads, etc.
This will take years to get through planning so in the short term there is a separate, cheaper project to improve the R320 junction. I'm not sure what that project entails but it's minor enough as it doesn't require planning permission. That is supposed to go to construction in Q1 2024.
Difficult to see what they can achieve with short term measures given the amount of side roads coming onto the N5 around there. Until right hand turns are removed its a big challenge.
Hopefully there are some effective measures that aren't very obvious. Will it mean traffic calming and speed reductions I wonder?
It appears the short term measure at the R320 junction is a right turn lane. I'm not sure what the council means by going to 'construction' in 2024 as I assume the lane would just be road markings.
I'm also not sure how much good it would do as the N26 junction has a RTL and it's still dangerous.
Interesting piece on the number of accidents on the N5 between 2016 and 2022 and where they happened.
The Swinford to Ballaghaderreen section is clearly the safest, as you would expect as the main junctions have overbridges!
It's strong evidence that overbridges are the solution for the Swinford bypass too.
Yep. Once we get the under-capacity stretches upgraded, I can see future upgrades on the quieter National Roads being single carriageways with direct entrances eliminated and grade separation of busier or more dangerous junctions.
Grade separation on SCs is not considered safe anymore - at least not when done using overbridges. Lulls drivers in to thinking that the road is "basically a motorway" and driving like it is.
Roundabouts and left in/left out junctions with a barrier or island median are more likely, unless terrain suits an underbridge.
When I say "grade separation" I only mean the sort of LILO compact GSJs used on Type 2 DCs. Roundabouts are also good. Merge lanes would be inappropriate for this kind of road, because as you say, they can fool the driver into thinking they're on a divided road, not a two-way single carriageway.
A big win for Irish roads would be removing all the direct entrances..
The information that we have is that two bridges are planned which would suggest left only movements at junctions. If it is as per the image DumbBrunette posted above, it would be an enormous improvement on that section.
The design report for upgrading the R320 junction on the Swinford bypass is going to TII in the next month or two, according to the council. There's also an allocation of 300k this year from TII for the same junction and 30k for minor safety works on the bypass.
Good news. Whats the expected timescale from now until construction, assuming approval?
