NRA have this morning advertised for engineering consultancy to design medium to long term solution to the junction!
:):)
The roads in the states are very very poor.
You lack confidence, like all Irish people. Not deserving. Of course an interchange like that should be built, and all junctions turned in to cloverleaf junctions a minimum.
The problem the Irish have is a lack of ambition.
Let me ask you a question - do you ever look up at night to the stars? Do you ever think about what got humanity to the moon? Imagine if we all thought like you. Do the minimum. No ambition.
Thank god for the United States.
Ha ha, are you living in the real world at all? You should've had a good long think before posting garbage like that. Do you not see a) the size(footprint/land take) of that random junction and b) the enormous cost building something of that scale would amount to? No, of course you don't.
Cork despite its growing size is still a small to medium sized city in European terms and in world and US terms would not be considered more than a large town. The new junction layout will I'm sure be more than appropriate for the traffic levels that will use it as the road designers would've designed the layout with the current and future/growing traffic levels in mind.
It’s not really reducing to one lane. The southbound M8 has two lanes. With plenty of advance notice, it will split into two free-flowing single lane links. One link will go east for Waterford and the city centre, while the other link will go south for the tunnel. I’m thinking that each link will carry a broadly similar number of vehicles so there won’t be any loss of capacity because half the number of vehicles will have half the number of lanes. The only downside is a short distance where there isn’t a second lane to allow the galactically impatient to overtake. I’m ok with that. It’s probably going to be 60-80 through the interchange anyway.
Completely agree. This is how you do a junction. All we get in Ireland (and Europe) is second rate tat. Which is why we are falling behind. Don't think or build big enough.
That looks ridiculous for what is the exit to a motorway. Bad enough them reducing it to one lane on approach for the tunnel as it is.
My mistake - (what I thought was a second lane on the CAD drawing is actually a median strip between the Northbound lane and Southbound). M8-from-City and M8-from-Dublin merge down to one single lane, and then a second lane carrying N25 traffic joins beside that one.
... so yes, you’re correct :)
Going by the drawings, the lane you have "from City" joins into the bottom lane. There's only one lane then between the two junctions you've drawn. "From N25" then has the top lane to itself in the tunnel
You can see it from the drawings if you look carefully, but here’s an unrolled version of what I think it’ll be. Note that traffic from M9 Dublin is never required to change lane (but if they want to exit at Mahon on the other side of the tunnel, they could move left here)
There is no passing or lane-changing permitted in the Tunnel, but there is a short bit where traffic that had joined from the city could move right to accommodate traffic joining from N25.
There's some plans here that show you what happens.
Traffic from Tivoli merges into the traffic from Fermoy under the flyover to create one lane, that flows straight into the right lane of the tunnel.
Traffic from Little Island merges into the traffic from Midleton to create one lane, that flows straight into the left lane of the tunnel.
Everyone should then stay in lane until they're through the tunnel
Thats what I thought and presumed (with the Little Island and Tivoli traffic merging into them before the tunnel).
But the gantries put up at Little Island West are suggesting that there will be two N25 lanes going into the tunnel, so that traffic coming from the M8 will have to merge into the tunnel stream, and from the "wrong"side of the road too - ie: into the right hand lane in the tunnel. I don't think this will work terribly well. I could be wrong, and it could just be a temporary and/or a terrible gantry though.
To this day I've never seen images or a model that show CLEARLY what the lane arrangements are on the upgrade.
So when this is finished am i correct in thinking that to keep this junction free from traffic lights then M8 and m25 traffic into the tunnel will funnel into a single lane each?
Just looking at the N25 East camera and it seems that the slip from the N25 westbound to the tunnel is closed for night works, as is the N25 westbound over the bridge.
Diverted traffic exiting the R623 onto the slip heading for the tunnel and the city is queuing behind red lights at that junction. Why are those lights not switched off, or at least have a bag over them to help traffic flow, after all, there is no traffic coming down the slip from the N25.
I have the east-facing webcam open in a window on my work computer constantly and there’s been steady work all the time. Completing the interface between the bridge and the new embankment was fairly tricky, and even though not much appeared to change day to day, there were up to 10 workers active in that very small area at times. I could also see them doing a lot of electrical work on the part of Link F visible from the north-facing camera too. I’m assuming there will be electronic signage and/or overheight vehicle detectors there.
Not sure. Progress has stalled a bit over the past few weeks.
Open in next 2 weeks so do you think?
Barriers going up on the City to Tunnel loop.
DEN TV March Update
Really interested to see if trees are to be planted. The grass embankments so far look really good. Only issue is that they’ll require regular maintenance.
I’d say all movements except N25 East to M8 North will be open by July/Aug. The embankment needs to the built for that movement. Foundations are in place but nothing more.
That movement will likely require people to continue to Dunkettle Roundabout and double back on themselves to take M8 north.
Latest update.
Lots of progress here, but a lot more to do, but you can see the shape of how things are going to pan out. Id imagine this Spring and into the early Summer, all of this bit will be done and open to traffic.
My laymans guess, this part will be open before August, sometime in July if not before.
The roads coming from the East are really coming along, the video from about 30 sec in shows how complex the series of crossovers were.
The completed bits (N8 -> East) are nicely bedding in with the grass too. Plans are for trees on all of that eventually isn't it?
He must be taking a months holidays.
DroneHawk April 2023 Update Video:
It’s been a single lane for weeks now as they are resurfacing and doing drainage works. The only change is that they have moved the traffic from the right to the left lanes. No need to even mention this. Only causing confusion with motorists expecting to see big changes and in reality not even noticing the change.
It's down to a single lane is it not? While not exactly clear in the messaging, it is only using the left lane. Likely something to do with if heading towards city from east, you're told to stay in right hand lane, then suddenly you're in left hand lane after the diverge
I don’t understand the constant messages that the driving lane has switched from the right to the left lanes going over the existing roundabout.
I wouldn’t have thought it needed to be announced at all. It’s just causing confusion. People online cannot understand what it means and are noting they cannot see any change.
Makes sense. Was only a thought when saw the barriers almost creating a segregated lane.
Looks like Link B works will restart soon, hopefully they'll do it as fast as the loop.
I think they’ll have to leave lights at the presentation location to help loop traffic merge with mainline.
The only other way to work it would be to reduce M8 South to a single lane to go under to the tunnel. Loop in left lane and M8 traffic in the right.
When that loop is finished, will they be able to allow existing m8s to tunnel/city go as far as under the existing flyover before lights are there? Or is it a case of they'll just leave the lights where they are?
:):)
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