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

Project website updated now with a junction for Bruree west of O'Rourke's cross Home new - N/M20 Cork to Limerick (corklimerick.ie)

If the plan is for "mobility hubs" at junctions, why have they located some junctions further from the rail line when they could be quite close?

I was referring to at Buttevant (where the junction could be moved slightly north) and Ballyhea (where the junction could be moved slightly south).

Also, surely a junction on the northern side of Charleville is required? There will still be plenty of people who would have to drive down the main street to grt on the new road heading south. Even a relief road for the town would be something.

I'm not sure that stating that junctions will be at selected locations like this is a good idea. I'm sure there'll be some kickback from certain communities who will say they will bear all the negative aspects while got getting any of the benefits. It happened last time. I know people complain about consultations but they serve a purpose, they flush out issues and allow the project team to be prepared for them. Just announcing junction locations like this will give ammo to the objectors and I'm sure the papers will be full of articles about it quoting disgruntled locals next week.

https://corklimerick.ie/february-2023-update/

The update is interesting and gives a sense of the amount of work being done. Difficult to fault the junction strategy apart from some questions around Charleville, but that was always going to be a challenge. There may be one or two junctions too many in terms of Motorway norms, but if built to motorway standard (such as they are in this country) the road should be well capable of handling the "local" traffic these suck in, always provided that these are grade separated and not those abhorrent mini trumpet junctions on the N22 and southern end of the M7. The number of junctions will also help attract traffic from all points west of the road giving it a badly needed gateway function.

The active travel strategy contains a lot of food for thought and is a constructive outcome resulting from the green noise. Hopefully that, together with the public transport elements will be enough to GreenProof the project and allow it to proceed when it gets to the business case, fund allocation and government approval stages. (Interesting to see the inclusion of the Rail Section in the update, even though this has nothing to do with the project at this stage or going forward).

I continue to be impressed by the deft way this project is being handled, especially given the challenges thrown up by a hostile and misguided minister.

If there is to only be one Charleville junction, it needs to move 1.5km further north and a link road provided going north to the R515 and south to the junction of the existing N20 and the Old Cork road there.

I'd hold back on praising the way the project is being handled until we seewhat sort of backlash there is from this latest update.

Your J8 and J9 would be much too close to each other - just 2.5km separates the location of the current Charleville junction and the one you propose to add - basically you’d be constructing a junction complex just to serve a tiny amount of extra traffic.

R515 could be accommodated by a link road on the western side, but I’d be concerned that a direct access onto the motorway would be a magnet that would draw traffic through the town centre from the Kilmallock Road, out to Smiths Lane and undo the benefits of bypassing the town in the first place. There are major plans to rework the centre of Charleville once the bypass is in place, and I suspect this will include a new routing for R515 traffic

There are seven intermediate junctions, and they’re placed about 11~12 km apart. That’s a normal ratio for a motorway.

The transport hubs at each junction are a great idea- especially as they can also serve as rest areas: something that Irish motorways are lacking. Sometimes you just need a place to park up and see to a child or take a phone call, and placing these at each junction means drivers will use them, because it doesn’t involve any real additional distance. My one concern is how these will be maintained: some locations are quite remote, and there would need to be fairly regular policing to prevent them becoming sites for anti-social behaviour or vandalism.

The problem with Charleville is it kinda needs a link road built bypassing the town to the north - and that might be a step too far in terms of getting this project sorted.

All that said when the M20 opens I don't think there'll be any traffic problems at all there anymore.

Strongly agree on how the project is being handled: really well.

On the active transport strategy they can do a little bit more yet, but I think it's still one of the best projects I've seen in that regard. For the first time a holistic approach to transport infrastructure design. Somebody is actually asking questions about the active transport route!

The current road is about 15.0 metres wide along here, including the verges; a full Type 1 Dual Carriageway (i.e. a motorway with two lanes each way) would be 25.6 metres wide, including verges, so the worst case is that maybe 10~11 metres of new road would added on your side of the old one. There is no way on earth that there would be more than two lanes each way at this point on the route.

But really, your best bet would be to get in touch with the project team - they could give you a better indication of what is being planned, and you can make suggestions. The exact placement of the new road is not finalised yet, so if there’s going to be a problem for you, now is the time to talk:

Hi can anyone tell me precisely how this will affect Banogue . I am looking at a site there and need to know the area that will be affected. The site is around the corner from the national school .

Thanks but I can’t make head nor tail of it . Is it going in behind the church .

The map in the brochure clearly shows the new road passing to the west of the village. Whether or not that is "behind" the church depends on your perspective because the church is at a T-junction.

The corridor is currently 500m wide. If your site falls within this and you apply for planning the application will not be considered for decision. the application will be deemed premature until the corridor is refined further to anywhere between 50-100m for landtake purposes. Any plaaning agent should be aware of this so dont go throwing money down the drain.

The new road will probably be raised and will go west of the current road. The stretch from Glencaum to the Bottlehill turn off will have to stay more or less as is for residents and to keep those junctions open.