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M18 - Gort to Crusheen

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    #1052
    Tech3
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,010 ✭✭✭Tech3


    Picture of the plaque

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    R460 overbridge at 2:30, getting ready for the opening

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    More shots from a few more overpasses

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    Finally a few photos from the Crusheen interchange, the slips are much more better than the ones designed on the M18 Ennis bypass.

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    Bye Bye, Gort!! :cool:


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    #1053
    mackerski
    Registered Users Posts: 2,276 ✭✭✭mackerski


    OK, here's your map as far north as Crusheen. Who wants to send my more GPS tracklogs? Also, at the Crusheen end, is that a bridge over the motorway or a tunnel under?

    Thanks for the data!


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    #1054
    Nath
    Registered Users Posts: 89 ✭✭Nath


    Thanks for the great pictures tech2, we might see you on the 9 O'Clock news tonight beside Dempsey!!

    Thanks to you and all the other major contributors to this thread (glineli, Chris, Sponge, Furet, et al), it's been very informative and enjoyable to read.

    Great to see this section complete, bypassing one of the worst sections of road for getting stuck behind slow moving traffic.

    Hopefully the M17/M18 to Tuam will start soon and be completed ahead of schedule also. At least we'll have some benefit from the so called Celtic Tiger in the West.


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    #1055
    Tech3
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,010 ✭✭✭Tech3


    god_dos wrote: »
    Does anyone know if it actually opened? Leaving work in Limerick in 20 mins and want to take in the new views all the way to Gort, even though I'm only going to Crusheen.

    It opened northbound at the Crusheen junction around 10 past. It was later for Southbound traffic for some odd reason. I was actually the 6th car on the motorway wohoo!


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    #1056
    gally74
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,997 ✭✭✭gally74


    Great thanks to all swell , 70 odd pages of good info debate


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    #1057
    Tech3
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,010 ✭✭✭Tech3


    Nath wrote: »
    Thanks for the great pictures tech2, we might see you on the 9 O'Clock news tonight beside Dempsey!!

    I'm could be on it somewhere. Was walking on the hard should and a guy was out filming it as I walked past. Also caught the news camera on the overbridge as well when driving on it for the first time.

    Can I just say the locals are absolutely delighted this is open. Everyone I met today was all smiles and cheers. Got a lift back to the rahwilladoon overbridge as well thank godness or I would have been absolutely exhausted!


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    #1058
    god_dos
    Registered Users Posts: 100 ✭✭god_dos


    mackerski wrote: »
    OK, here's your map as far north as Crusheen. Who wants to send my more GPS tracklogs? Also, at the Crusheen end, is that a bridge over the motorway or a tunnel under?

    Thanks for the data!

    No bother. Data sent from Crusheen To Gort and back to the original M18.
    Hope it helps.
    Oh and its an overpass at Crusheen.


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    #1059
    mackerski
    Registered Users Posts: 2,276 ✭✭✭mackerski


    god_dos wrote: »
    No bother. Data sent from Crusheen To Gort and back to the original M18.
    Hope it helps.
    Oh and its an overpass at Crusheen.

    Now mapped to completion. Anybody driving the unmapped slip roads, traces please!


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    #1060
    Chris_5339762
    Registered Users Posts: 5,849 ✭✭✭Chris_5339762


    Need pics of that MOTORWAY ENDS AHEAD sign at Gort :D Seems to be a bit of an odd one!


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    #1061
    Tech3
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,010 ✭✭✭Tech3


    Chris_5339762 wrote: »
    Need pics of that MOTORWAY ENDS AHEAD sign at Gort :D Seems to be a bit of an odd one!

    Sorry yeah I saw 2 of those. One of them is in my photos from afar on the R460 overbridge. Well the other one I decided not to take a photo as I was whizzing 120km/hr past it. It's much larger and the colour is dark blue background!

    Edit: untitled.jpg

    Btw the sign is not up on that cantilever at the end of the scheme. It would have been funny if was for the field beside it getting off at Gort!!


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    #1062
    mackerski
    Registered Users Posts: 2,276 ✭✭✭mackerski


    mackerski wrote: »
    Now mapped to completion. Anybody driving the unmapped slip roads, traces please!

    Oh, and please drive a full 360 around any missing roundabouts. I can see already that I'm missing one at Gort.


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    #1063
    Konata
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,164 ✭✭✭Konata


    Got to Gort around 2.00pm - raging! Got to stare wistfully at the road in the distance before embarking on the bumpy trek through Gort :(


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    #1064
    god_dos
    Registered Users Posts: 100 ✭✭god_dos


    tech2 wrote: »
    It opened northbound at the Crusheen junction around 10 past. It was later for Southbound traffic for some odd reason. I was actually the 6th car on the motorway wohoo!

    Cheers. Was on it earlier there.
    Fair play, 6th car on the new motorway.:)


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    #1065
    VR6
    Registered Users Posts: 106 ✭✭VR6


    Hello all.

    Great to see another new motorway in Ireland from my viewpoint as an Irishman in the UK. But why oh why OH WHY do we always have to screw things up somewhere along the line !!! Those motorway signs are absolutely shocking ! Hundreds of millions of euros were spent designing and building this roadway and obviously only pennies were spent on those dreadful substandard motorway signs. They would not be readable from more than about 50 yards !!!

    It beggars belief - are the NRA not supposed to set and maintain standards ?

    Does nobody else reckon this is a shoddy piece of work ?


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    #1066
    Tech3
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,010 ✭✭✭Tech3


    €200m stretch of M18 opens at Gort

    A 22km stretch of motorway between Galway and Limerick has been opened by Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey.

    The €200m section of road bypasses the town of Gort and shortens travel times between Galway and Ennis, as well as cutting the journey to Shannon Airport by 20 minutes in off-peak times.

    An estimated 8,000 vehicles will be taken out of Gort on a daily basis and diverted onto the new road

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    link

    Thats cheap journalism right there for you. That sign is from the M18 Ennis bypass! A video report here


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    #1067
    Chris_5339762
    Registered Users Posts: 5,849 ✭✭✭Chris_5339762


    What a **** report. They spent more time listening to the farming Nimbys than anything else. How about interviews with a few people from Gort saying how great it is that all the traffic is now removed?


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    #1068
    The Orb
    Registered Users Posts: 600 ✭✭✭The Orb


    Chris_5339762 wrote: »
    What a **** report. They spent more time listening to the farming Nimbys than anything else. How about interviews with a few people from Gort saying how great it is that all the traffic is now removed?


    How's your Portuguese?!


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    #1069
    Teddy455
    Closed Accounts Posts: 181 ✭✭Teddy455


    http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M18_motorway_(Ireland)


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    #1070
    cremeegg
    Registered Users Posts: 286 ✭✭cremeegg


    just drove up from limerick. pretty pleased with myself. loving the new road. was so excited!! bad driving conditions so didnt get full experience.

    the minute i got off i was yearning for the next section!! gort to tuam!!

    some people are never happy i guess... :D

    As homer J says " id give it all up for a small bit more"...

    Well Done all though.. delivered ahead of schedule...excellent

    thanks all for updates...!


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    #1071
    Chris_5339762
    Registered Users Posts: 5,849 ✭✭✭Chris_5339762


    The Orb wrote: »
    How's your Portuguese?!

    I thought they were all Brazilian :D


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    #1072
    glineli
    Registered Users Posts: 1,098 ✭✭✭glineli


    I have spent all year waiting for this and I have to say it was worth the wait. It is a great drive. Congrats to all who worked on it. Can't wait to drive it during the day tomorrow.


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    #1073
    conse
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1 ✭conse


    I'm going to dublin airport during the week from Ennis, should I go back into Gort and on to Loughrea to catch the motorway or go on to Oranmore or turn off at Ardrahan and go towards Craughwell, where would I get on the motorway if I went this way? Has anyone any ideas on which is the best route?


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    #1074
    L1011
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 67,725 Mod ✭✭✭✭L1011


    Chris_5339762 wrote: »
    I thought they were all Brazilian :D

    you might want to check what language they speak in Brazil, Chris...


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    #1075
    etchyed
    Registered Users Posts: 674 ✭✭✭etchyed


    VR6 wrote: »
    Hello all.

    Great to see another new motorway in Ireland from my viewpoint as an Irishman in the UK. But why oh why OH WHY do we always have to screw things up somewhere along the line !!! Those motorway signs are absolutely shocking ! Hundreds of millions of euros were spent designing and building this roadway and obviously only pennies were spent on those dreadful substandard motorway signs. They would not be readable from more than about 50 yards !!!

    It beggars belief - are the NRA not supposed to set and maintain standards ?

    Does nobody else reckon this is a shoddy piece of work ?

    I really don't understand this post. There are very few signs on this stretch of road, principally because there are no junctions. And there are practically no signs in tech2's photos, so I don't know what signs you're basing your post on.

    Motorway signage in Ireland in recent years has been, if anything, better than in the UK, with advance notice of junctions at 2km, 1km and 500m, along with a cantilever at the exit. Not 100% sure but to my eyes the signs actually look larger than in the UK. Occasionally there will be an additional small brown tourist sign like the one visible in tech2's post at J16. The sign saying "Motorway Ends Here" is clearly a bit ad hoc and messy but it's temporary. Definitely true that roadworks signage here is still pretty bad in general but if you're home over Christmas, keep an eye on the permanent motorway signage, It's come on a lot in recent years and I'd imagine you'll be surprised.


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    #1076
    Deedsie
    Registered Users Posts: 5,272 ✭✭✭Deedsie


    MYOB wrote: »
    you might want to check what language they speak in Brazil, Chris...

    Think he was taking the Mick in fairness.


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    #1077
    runway16
    Registered Users Posts: 304 ✭✭runway16


    Drove the new route yesterday - fantastic!

    Lovely surface, good signage, and the road was spotlessly clean, with not on single scrap of grit or debris to be found anywhere (as opposed to some schemes where they sweep the crap in by the concrete median barrier)

    Great job to all concerned.


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    #1078
    Amtmann
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,093 ✭✭✭Amtmann


    I drove it today.
    • The surfacing is excellent;
    • The alignment reminded me a lot of the M7/M8 PPP scheme in terms of twistyness with occasional long straight sections;
    • There are no 4" stones along side the edge of the road. This makes the road look narrower than it really is;
    • The attenuation pond right at the Ennis Bypass tie-in (southbound) is right beside the carriageway and is a bit of a hazard in my opinion;
    • Lots of flooded areas pretty close to the carriageway can be seen.


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    #1079
    Tech3
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,010 ✭✭✭Tech3


    Anyone got travel times yet between Limerick-Galway and Limerick-Sligo?


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    #1080
    runway16
    Registered Users Posts: 304 ✭✭runway16


    tech2 wrote: »
    Anyone got travel times yet between Limerick-Galway and Limerick-Sligo?

    Not quite, but how is 30 mins from the Radisson hotel to Gort? :) and pretty much legal at that!


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    #1081
    JupiterKid
    Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 12,586 Mod ✭✭✭✭JupiterKid


    Not meaning to put a dampner of the new road opening but I've heard that there are concerns about the underlying geology along the route if the Gort to Tuam project. Apparently there are lots of underground caverns and sinkholes that, if disturbed, could cause major flooding problems...

    ..which makes me wonder if there are any such undergound caves under the new Gort-Crusheen motorway, if they were properly surveyed pre-construction and if they could pose a long- term problem in terms of road subsidence etc.?


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