M3 Clonee-Kells Motorway construction updates

upmeath · 26-05-2009 11:29pm

The last of the photos from the Navan-Robinstown Road and the end of my tour of 27th April.

I hope to revisit some or all of these sites in the coming days, hopefully it won't take me a month to upload them this time!
I pass the first one (Silver Tankard) every day commuting between Trim and Kells, so that shouldn't be a problem, and if weather/time constraints allow I'll fit in a ramble to the others. I know from passing the Silver Tankard one every day that both northbound and southbound carriageways appear to be fully paved at this stage, they seem to be needing little more than catseyes and markings, a lot of progress was made over the last few weeks. As for the others, I'm not too sure.
One I haven't photographed here but which I use quite often - the Trim-Navan Road overpass at Balreask - seemed ready for use by the Trim-Navan Road within days the last time I passed (about 10 days ago). A stop-and-go system has been in place in the area for months, I can't wait for the bridge to be opened, and I'll definitely look to take photographs there too if I'm in the area this week.

IIMII · 26-05-2009 11:35pm

upmeath wrote: »

Again, the labourers weren't too happy to see a young man with a camera, and the lad in the flashy jacket alerted the boys in the grey van to my presence. Undeterred, I continued to photograph them. Snap happy!

Screw them - they have no right to hassle you. Nor do you have to engage with them in any way when they come up to you. Tossers

Irish and Proud · 27-05-2009 11:27am

IIMII wrote: »

Screw them - they have no right to hassle you. Nor do you have to engage with them in any way when they come up to you. Tossers

Wonder is that anything to do with alleged bridge subsidence in the Bohermeen area?

The bridges themselves look pretty robust, but that aint any use if the ground beneath is like soup! Can anyone fill me in on whether there is subsidence problems or not - particularly in the Bohermeen area?

Many Thanks!

serfboard · 27-05-2009 3:30pm

upmeath wrote: »

... there's no plausible reason not to be able to take photos from existing roads that aren't within the boundaries of their work site.

Unless you're paranoid, or have reason to be? What is these guys problem?

Unbelievable.

And not only is there no plausible reason, there's no legal reason either. You're on a public road taking photos. No problem there.

Celtic Warrior · 27-05-2009 7:56pm

Irish and Proud wrote: »

Wonder is that anything to do with alleged bridge subsidence in the Bohermeen area?

The bridges themselves look pretty robust, but that aint any use if the ground beneath is like soup! Can anyone fill me in on whether there is subsidence problems or not - particularly in the Bohermeen area?

Many Thanks!

The Bohermeen area is a well known for its bogs there are quiet a few down around there.

However as far as I can remember the road is not running close to them.

Heard there is talk of a problem with a bridge towards Navan between Bohermeen and Tara Mines. Anyone else hear that?

L1011 · 27-05-2009 10:42pm

When I took some pics of this back a month or two ago I did it with hi-viz on and got a friendly nod from a working leaving the site in a van despite having camera gear - shiney yellow seems to open all sorts of doors!

I would think that they're worried about photographers potentially being from the hippies/protestors who live nowhere near the road and never use it groupings. Never heard of anyone being questioned on any of the less controversial schemes.

upmeath · 28-05-2009 7:15pm

Just a quick word folks, I did another tour of the northern half of the project today, a month on from the photos I posted on Tuesday, and I have a few dozen, maybe as many as 50 photos to put up. I went a little further south on today's tour because it was such a nice evening, so I managed to get about a half dozen bridges

- Greetiagh to Oristown
- N51 (Navan-Athboy Road and yes, the dual carriageway is open and it's top notch, comparable to the Waterford City ring road)
- The old Navan-Athboy Road
- Navan-Robinstown Road
- Navan-Trim Road
- Navan-Bective Road (beside Bective GAA, I think it's known as the Kilcarn Road, and there's a massive concrete structure going beneath the road here, a tunnel, possibly relating to the rail project)

There's just one catch, I'm running into Dublin tonight, so I won't get them up until tomorrow afternoon. Stay tuned!

upmeath · 29-05-2009 5:37pm

I spoke with a worker here yesterday evening, he said this stretch should be due a final layer of paving within a fortnight, it looks great.

upmeath · 29-05-2009 5:41pm

More more more

upmeath · 29-05-2009 8:08pm

This is almost it for this particular site. As you'll see, I took a good few photos of the drainage channels around the road. There are bogs south and south east of here at Bohermeen and Tullaghanstown, and a lot of excavation work has been done to alleviate any drainage problems that might arise here.

upmeath · 29-05-2009 8:19pm

These are views from the overpass, north/northwest towards Kells. You may be able to make out the church spires and towers in Kells out in the distance.

upmeath · 29-05-2009 8:25pm

That's it for this bridge. Heading further south now with the next lot.

Amtmann · 29-05-2009 8:46pm

upmeath, thanks again. Some good shots there, and I note a few mammal passes, etc.

Will you please consider uploading one or two good bright photos to the N3 wikipedia page? That needs some work, and your images will help.

CUCINA · 02-06-2009 9:43pm

View of M3 double bridge facing south, towards Dunboyne taken last month

CUCINA · 02-06-2009 9:46pm

Attachment not found.STA60619.JPG

CUCINA · 02-06-2009 10:02pm

Attachment not found.STA60613.JPGI have put up a few Photos of the M3 works near Fairyhouse and Dunboyne on the Meath forum, but I am putting up a few more here (hopefully)...

CUCINA · 02-06-2009 10:09pm

613 above shows close up of Toll bridge works at Fairyhouse, facing north, taken two weeks ago.

618 shows road-markings of old N3 right turn for Kilsaran/"Gardenworks", taken at the same time.

CUCINA · 02-06-2009 10:28pm

STA60611.JPG

STA60009.JPG

611 shows close-up of old bridge for Tolka river, beside existing toll bridge works at Fairyhouse, this bridge is also visible when driving past the site on the R147 (formally known as the N3) to or from Fairyhouse roundabout.

609 is shot taken with my back to Rathbeggan junction, towards Fairyhouse, facing south. The foreground is quite rough (especially for cycling!) but smooths out nicely on the approach to the bridge.
Both photos taken two weeks ago.
If anyone is interested in seeing more shots of this area, I have plenty more in reserve, including photos taken in the same area about a year ago, which I think makes for an interesting contrast. Just let me know and i will post them before I delete them from my camera...

CUCINA · 02-06-2009 10:54pm

STA60050.JPG

Just one more for now! This was taken about this time last year (or possibly last July) and I was standing on the old N3, just before the rh turn for Trim. This area has changed radically since then, of course. This particular section of the old N3 was still in use up until the bridge was opened some months ago, where traffic coming from Trim had to negotiate a temporary ramp alongside the new bridge to access the newer section of the N3 that opened up just over a year ago.

CUCINA · 02-06-2009 11:14pm

Just noticed that ref photo 609 in an earlier post was the wrong one! Sorry about that...will try to post the correct photo now to match the description!

upmeath · 03-06-2009 12:40am

Here are a few shots at the junction between the N51 (Navan-Athboy Road, which now follows a much better route slightly north of the old road) and the M3.

upmeath · 03-06-2009 12:43am

More shots

upmeath · 03-06-2009 12:46am

Last from this junction

upmeath · 03-06-2009 12:50am

Furet wrote: »

Will you please consider uploading one or two good bright photos to the N3 wikipedia page? That needs some work, and your images will help.

Certainly will, I'll have a look at it, although wiki-editing isn't my forté and I'd probably only make matters worse. If you're likely to be editing it, don't be afraid to use my photos, I'm not going to press charges

D.L.R. · 03-06-2009 1:24am

Is the Kells Bypass section DC or single lane?

nordydan · 03-06-2009 11:54am

Its 2+2 north of the N52, and motorway south.

I came back through Navan at the weekend, and went to take a look at the scheme. When did the N51 DC section open?
It's very impressive, same standard as Greystones southern access road or Waterford RIng Road.

upmeath · 03-06-2009 2:21pm

nordydan wrote: »

I came back through Navan at the weekend, and went to take a look at the scheme. When did the N51 DC section open?
It's very impressive, same standard as Greystones southern access road or Waterford RIng Road.

2/3 weeks ago, it was a feature in the Meath Chronicle the week after it opened. Very similar to the Waterford Ring Road. Hopefully the traffic corps don't spend as much of their time here with their hairdryers. :rolleyes:

veryangryman · 05-06-2009 10:20am

Warning: Unpopular comments on the way. Rotten eggs at the ready...

Why the hell has the M3 even been built? It hardly counts as an Inter-Urban (Navan/Kells/Cavan are hardly bustling metroplolises)

I realise that the towns as far as perhaps Navan need a decent road for commuters, but beyond that, i think that Motorway was definitely overkill. A few WS2 bypasses similar to the Cavan bypass would have been more than adequate for the remainder of long distance traffic.

Thats where the money for Interconnector/Metro North was wasted on IMO

Also, wont it feel weird paying 2 tolls on a road that doesnt lead to a city (travelling Northwest i mean).

invincibleirish · 05-06-2009 1:24pm

veryangryman wrote: »

Why the hell has the M3 even been built?

(from the Irish property awards!?!)

df1985 · 05-06-2009 4:58pm

dunshauglin and kells bottlenecks id say are the main reasons-a nightmare at times.instead of a few bypasses for these towns,id be of the opinion if you're going to do it,do it right the first time.

M3 Clonee-Kells Motorway construction updates

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