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

The online webinar is on tonight at 7. I see the teams link is on the home page of website www.corklimerick.ie

There was a presentation video at the start that is available on the website. Then there was a Q&A session with four of the design team answering the questions, some with the use of the online mapping. A few questions about how it might be built with the bypasses going first. Other questions about Mallow relief road, tolling, CPO process, design and questions about specific areas along the project.

I'd say Mallow is the only town really being bypassed in that significant amounts of through traffic will be removed from the town, but even for Mallow that requires the relief road which could be before or after the M20. Charleville probably doesn't have much scope for pedestrianisation given a lot of the traffic from a wide area around it will still have to travel through the town to get to/from the M20.

Croom is already bypassed but the proposed junction layout for the M20 could potentially add more traffic to the town. Buttavent is also to be bypassed but as a small rural town, probably won't see much space given over to pedestrians/cyclists.

The Chairman is in place since 2008 or so when they first emerged. Must be a job for life 😂

There’s a chance he’s also the Vice Chairman, PRO and Treasurer too 😜

Retail to be banned on M20 hubs.

They must be satisfied with N20 through their village. The anti M20 lobbies will pick at different peripheral issues (compared to saving lives) to undermine the project. Very few will be honest enough to say "I don't want to sell some of my land (at a good price) to make way for the road". The road will divide communities/encourage more traffic through villages/cost too much to build/cost too much in tolls (which, strangely, will not be deducted from build costs)/will not help on journey from A to B (which are not on the route - such as Limerick to Tipperary town). That's before people get interested in the lesser spotted newt or wild flower meadow anywhere in the vicinity of the project.

The Examiner is such muck nowadays. Used to be quite a good newspaper.

How stupid.

Every other European motorway I've been on had services (fuel, restaurants , etc) ON the road. Here, we do things backwards.…

When I'm travelling on a motorway, I won't go off the motorway into the towns for services. Most other drivers the same. Sure why are the likes of Cashel, Jn 13 etc on the M7/M8 are su successful....

It's important to note that our existing motorways were designed this way in the past, that is to say, without on-line services and expecting people to go into the bypassed towns if they needed petrol or coffee. I believe Lusk was the first to change that

I say let them build the motorway without on-line services because once it's built you can always open another box of ideas

Those are rest areas you are thinking about they usually have picnic benches and unheated toilets - and that's pretty much it they are about every 20-30km on the french motorway network

If there's a place to plug an EV in/refill a car and a place to shelter from the rain while grabbing a quick coffee, even from a machine that would be enough for ~90% of drivers. You want to have your dinner then pop into Charleville or Mallow