N25 - Waterford City Bypass

Guramoogah wrote: »

This Waterford city bypass is a sick and dangerous joke. Driving from Fenor to the city and joining the Cork Road (N25) at the Butlerstown cross this morning, the volume of traffic from the Kilmeaden direction is as bad now as it was a year ago. The only way to get onto the road is take a chance - point the car and stomp on the accellerator and pray to Jesus that someone will brake to let you join. The motorists approaching Waterford from the Cork side are simply NOT USING THE BYPASS.

So its not the bypass thats dangerous, its the whatever tha old road is now called (whats its designation?) still being as bad as ever. Can't wait for the first traffic survey, if the anecdotal evidence is to be belived its empty.

Re-opened by request.

this bit caught my eye

The tower crane which serviced the construction of the pylon
could also be deemed a star performer. It stood at a hook
height of 128m, connected at 80m via triple steel ties to the
pylon. Analysis of the complex structural arrangement of the
tied crane under an array of loading conditions is unlikely to
appear in a standard textbook. The crane operator faced the
daunting task of climbing the 437 ladder steps to his cabin,
which took about 40 minutes.

Given the cranes semi-permanent nature I'd have thought a winch/pulley system would have been appriciated.

brandon_flowers wrote: »

Maybe Waterford was crying out for a bypass but it seems to me to be serious over-kill. I was the only car at the toll both at lunch time heading east or west. It might just be sheer luck that it was empty but I very much doubt it.

From passing through the area every day, it appears to me at least that Slieverue to Grannagh Junction roundabout section on the Kilkenny side does receive a decent amount of traffic, but as you say any time i've been on the toll bridge its been deserted. As you drive under the overpasses at Grannagh on the N9, the mainline towards the bridge is invariably empty while the on/off ramps do a decent amount of business.

Waterford did need a bypass, just the 1.90 toll is hard to justify on a regular basis for locals and even for Cork-Rosslare route traffic their is now a very well travelled route for truckers dodging the toll, by using the old bridge then travelling down Bilberry via the Carrickpherish road to join the bypass where it meets the outer ring road. The potential is there to increase the toll bridge figures given the large volumes heading to WIT and industrial estate areas every day but if the toll rates stay the same the status quo will continue. Even an initiative like variable pricing at off peak etc would help the situation. Between the hours of 10pm and 6am when Waterford traffic lights on the old N25 route default to green, the time saving becomes quite marginal from my experience.

Sully wrote: »

I see they have still not removed the black from the "Welcome to Waterford" sign as you come into Waterford towards the old bridge (for the life of me, I have forgotten that areas name).

.

Newrath. Its location practically within sight of the Kilkenny County Council Regional office in Newrath is probably doing the sign no favours either.

I use the bypass mostly during the night - oddly, they close the baskets so you must give the money to the attendants. Always quiet. But, I have seen heavy traffic on the road towards New Ross so I assume people are just dodging paying

The 2 times Ive gone through the toll at 830am the basket lanes were closed off with the attendants and the tag lane being the only way through.