Not much fun at the moment for locals living beside the works.
Same as the N5 around Castlebar. Probably looking for a compo payment.
Some fella bought a house near the breaffy exit of the N5 when the works had started and complained every week about the noise of the construction works and got the house CPO.
Nice little earner that.
Those issues are an unfortunate but unavoidable side effect of road projects. The residents on the eastern side of Castlebar had genuine grievances when rock blasting went on far longer than initially planned.
But the road will benefit the residents in the long term if they can stick with it. 'Cars being destroyed' and talk of 'prisons' is typical opportunistic hyperbole from county councillors. They can look after their electorate without resorting to such sensationalism.
Opportunistic hyperbole is how councillors keep their names in the local press. Nothing is ever merely a problem; everything is a catastrophe.
Just passed the works on the R368 and there is a flyover going up there for the new road.
I'm pretty sure that wasn't on the original plans, I have it in my head there was just a set of junctions there.
That road from Strokestown to Elphin is closed from next week (Sept 2nd) to the end of November.
Makes sense though, the less junctions the better and the topography there makes it an easier build than flat terrain
It might a temporary diversion while they do the works.
The new N5 will cross the R368 via an underbridge, with the junction being further along the road.
Do you have the link to those plans?
I'd like to check out a few more junctions to see if they've changed.
I got them off the ABP site.
https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/300493
Click on View associated documents and look for 03-EIAR-Volume-3-Figs-4-1-4-41
Crazy amount of local roads connecting to the new N5. Almost the exact opposite of the Charlestown and Ballaghaderreen bypasses and I don't understand why for a new offline road build.
In my view this will just lower the safety of the road.
I thought the same. It will almost be more reminiscent of the Swinford bypass than the Ballaghaderreen one.
If there is a bridge then they should use to ensure that there are no right turns on the road, having a bridge and not doing this would seem to be an opportunity lost.
I don't think it was ever a runner to build this project with lots of grade separation, the higher costs would mean the project would fail a cost benefit analysis given traffic figures are expected to be only 4k or 5k.
The Swinford bypass AADT would be roughly 8k.
Pedantic correction - the Swinford bypass AADT is 6.6K (6K for the full year of 2023). For comparison the Ballaghadereen bypass is 5K and the Frenchpark number is 6K.
Your overall point is probably right though about the low numbers not justifying the extra expense of overbridges and GSJs even though they would be safer.
The sunny weather on Friday offered a great opportunity to get a progress update on this project from satellite imagery.
The Frenchpark bypass looks like the most advanced section. Perhaps it will open ahead of the rest of the project.
Earthworks well underway between Bellanagare (bottom left) and Elphin, but they haven't started digging in what seems to be a bog east of Bellanagare.
This will be the grade separated junction with the R368 to the SE of Elphin. There will be a deep curved cutting to the east of the junction which is clearly visible.
The Strokestown roundabout is also taking on a rough shape. The tie in with the existing N5 will be on the right.
Heard that the road is ahead of schedule at the moment. Going by those images above, progress looks good alright.
Great pictures. Yes the Frenchpark sections would be the obvious choice to open early, makes sense to prioritise
What satellite imagery site did you use DB?
https://apps.sentinel-hub.com/eo-browser
From a Roscommon photographer's Facebook page. The flyover/ interchange over the R368
Not fun at all ..
The trucks are flying through villages 80km/h+ on daily basis and not some small van...but fully loaded heavy toys....the road is absolutely destroyed from Bellanagare to Elphin... Not crying out... But boy i have to clean cars weekly...the amount of dirt on the road is unreal.... I am again not complaining if its going to take the traffic away.... But its like 5 years of torture before we could see the light... The progress is there alright i cant argue....
That could be the trade off - faster truck speed leading to an earlier completion versus slow trucks finishing the job later.😉
Latest newsletter available here:
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They have started on the Scramogue tie-in section in the last week or so. Signs are up on the N5 there waring of construction traffic, but nothing major visible yet, I'd guess they are just setting up a compound their for the works for now.
New pics courtesy of Wills Bros, obviously from a month or two ago but still good.
The R368 Strokestown to Elphin road is due to reopen next week on the 10th
often stop for a top class fish n chips in Antonellis but since covid it’s rarely open early enough for me now.
Just had a takeaway from there this evening.
They should be happy that their very short term dusty cars are contributing to the safety of the general public.
Compensation. That's all they are after.
