M7 - Castletown to Nenagh

Amtmann · 22-12-2010 4:47pm

veryangryman wrote: »

Great day. Roads forum will never be as active again after this though

I think with M11, N25 and the M17/M18 we'll be grand for another year or two. We'll have a lull till work starts on those though.

Mc Love · 22-12-2010 4:59pm

Its great to be finally open, first chance to drive it tomorrow night

ClareVisitor · 22-12-2010 5:07pm

Great stuff, it will make the last leg of a journey from the East of England on the 27th that much easier.

IrlJidel · 22-12-2010 5:08pm

I've 'opened' the stretch on openstreetmap as well. No politicians were present at this event either ;-)

http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=52.896&lon=-7.957&zoom=11&layers=M

The path is estimated so if people can suppy gps traces, especially for all the on-off ramps at junctions that would be great.

blackwarrior · 22-12-2010 5:23pm

IrlJidel wrote: »

I've 'opened' the stretch on openstreetmap as well.
The path is estimated so if people can suppy gps traces, especially for all the on-off ramps at junctions that would be great.

Interesting.

Based on your map, how many km of motorway (M6 & M7) do you reckon passes through Offaly?

And is J23 (Moneygall) in Tipp or Offaly?

Just wondering.

testicle · 22-12-2010 5:31pm

blackwarrior wrote: »

Based on your map, how many km of motorway (M6 & M7) do you reckon passes through Offaly?

Just over 8, I make it.

blackwarrior wrote: »

And is J23 (Moneygall) in Tipp or Offaly?

Tipperary. Just about. The county boundary is the town side of the GAA pitch on one side, and the small forest to the S of the road on the other.

MidlandsM · 22-12-2010 6:42pm

Mr E wrote: »

Can't wait to give the road a spin tomorrow as far as Portlaoise.

Carefull on it tho'. I was on both the M7 and M8 today and there's lots of BLACK ICE:eek::o

Still, at least now people will get REAL value for their €1.80 headed down the M7.

tinkerbell · 22-12-2010 7:13pm

YIPPPEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ren2k7 · 22-12-2010 7:36pm

Long overdue but better late than never. I hope we'll be saying the same when the M20 opens.

Tech3 · 22-12-2010 8:09pm

Not the worst N road being bypassed but will make a journey much easier to Dublin now. I'm heading up in a week or two and it will be great to drive it. Is it the best section of M7 from Portlaoise-Limerick now? It should easily beat the bumpy M7/M8 scheme anyway.

blackwarrior · 22-12-2010 8:20pm

I drove the new section on the way home to Limerick from work tonight. To be honest? It was pitch dark, there was freezing fog and nobody was doing much more than 90kph, and rightly so.

It's a lonely stretch of road, with a pick-up in traffic only noticeable after Nenagh.

As for the 'infamous' junctions 22 & 23, the first had temporary cones as separators, but the Moneygall exit had thin looking red/white 'pins'.

As a daily commuter on the M7, it's brilliant to have it open. But I'm looking forward to testing it at 120+kph as soon as possible!

no1beemerfan · 22-12-2010 9:05pm

Just home (Roscrea) now and came on the new part. Almost instantly on coming on it you can feel an improvement on road quality from the PPP section.

Also the PPP section is not as well treated either but thats another story.

Overall its great from Borris to Roscrea but there WILL DEFINATELY be an accidient at some stage at the exits as there is only one yellow sign with the 90" angle corner on it. There are not enough warnings and someone not fully concentrating will take it too quick and even more so in bad weather.

Amtmann · 22-12-2010 9:57pm

There's a video on the RTÉ website now: http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1222/m7_motorway.html

I don't know how they make out that it opened ahead of schedule. Bigger schemes were built in less time. This section started construction in spring 2008 and took 33 months to build.

marmurr1916 · 22-12-2010 10:19pm

Furet wrote: »

There's a video on the RTÉ website now: http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1222/m7_motorway.html

I don't know how they make out that it opened ahead of schedule.

Officially, it was due to finish at the end of the year.

Of course, that's the revised opening date.

Originally all these schemes were meant to be complete by the end of 2006, not the end of 2010.

Amtmann · 23-12-2010 2:39am

Final section of M7 motorway opens

TIM O'BRIEN

THE END of a decade of motorway building between Dublin, the Border and the regional cities was marked quietly yesterday, with the opening of the €347 million Castletown to Nenagh section of the M7.

The final 36km of the motorway was to have been opened with a special ceremony near Borris-in-Ossory in Co Laois, but it was cancelled due to adverse weather.

Instead, the National Roads Authority (NRA) opened the motorway without ceremony shortly after noon, making travel on motorway or “high-quality dual carriageway” network possible between Co Clare and Newry in Co Down.

Up to 13,500 vehicles are expected to use the new section of road per day, and it is expected to take 10 minutes off the journey time between Dublin and Limerick.

The overall length of the new network is 750km, according to the Department of Transport which described it as world class. Travel times across the country have been gradually reduced over the last decade with the 100km Dublin to Limerick route now taking about two hours.

Dublin to Cork is possible in just under three hours; Dublin to Galway is just over two hours; Dublin to Waterford is under two hours while Dublin to Dundalk is one hour.

The inter-urban motorway programme was first announced by then taoiseach Bertie Ahern in November 1997, as part of the National Development Plan 2000-2007.

Mr Ahern said the cost of linking Dublin with the regional cities by motorway would be about €6 billion.

Yesterday the department said the cost of the major inter-urban routes worked out at €8 billion, although this did not include additional motorways such as the €1 billion M3 between Dublin and the Meath/Cavan border. Nor did it include motorways in the west of Ireland.

Dual carriageways or upgraded roads have also been built in sections between Limerick and Cork, Cork and Kerry, and Kerry and Waterford as well as Mullingar and Sligo.

A motorway also links the M50 to Ashbourne in Co Meath.

The section opened yesterday provides bypasses of Toomevara, Moneygall and Roscrea and the figure of €347 million includes land costs.

The road authority said it had been considered “impractical” to ask people to attend an opening ceremony yesterday when Met Éireann was advising people not to travel unless it was absolutely necessary.

A spokesman said a dedication ceremony would be held in the new year.

The opening of the road follows the settlement of a dispute which had left about 40 workers without pay since November 1st. The employees of KC Civil Engineering, a subcontractor on the project, had threatened to dig up parts of the motorway if they were not paid more than €200,000 owed to them.

The company said it had been unable to pay its workers because it had not been paid by the main contractor, Bowen Somague Joint Venture, which was in turn seeking payment of €26 million from Laois County Council.

The dispute was resolved last week following the intervention of Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/1223/1224286166286.html

knipex · 23-12-2010 9:24am

Drove it last night. Heavy freezing fog so didn't see much. The Roscrea exit is an accident waiting to happen, especially in that fog.

I drove Limerick to Drogheda and back yesterday. The M7 from the Limerick side of the toll up was a disgrace, a bloody sheet of ice. At one stage I was doing 50kph in fourth (in line of traffic driving on a dusting of snow) and just touching the accelerator made the wheels spin.

And still being passed by trucks, and cars doing 80kph+ on the snow and ice covered outside lane...

Coming back last night was even worse....

Berty · 23-12-2010 11:41am

blackwarrior wrote: »

As a daily commuter on the M7, it's brilliant to have it open. But I'm looking forward to testing it at 120+kph as soon as possible!

What's the + all about?

/heads off to ring Gasto company about you.

swoofer · 23-12-2010 11:55am

ah great, cant wait for new year and do that long awaited trip to newry.

happy happy days, I think I can bypass every town now.

gb--

Mc Love · 23-12-2010 12:08pm

knipex wrote: »

And still being passed by trucks, and cars doing 80kph+ on the snow and ice covered outside lane...

Coming back last night was even worse....

My gf said the exact same - she said it was crazy

lukejr · 23-12-2010 1:02pm

Driving this section this evening, looking forward to it, even if icy and snow covered. Will be safer than the old N7.

Will miss my excuse for a Big Mac though.

radagast · 23-12-2010 1:29pm

IrlJidel wrote: »

I've 'opened' the stretch on openstreetmap as well. No politicians were present at this event either ;-)

http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=52.896&lon=-7.957&zoom=11&layers=M

The path is estimated so if people can suppy gps traces, especially for all the on-off ramps at junctions that would be great.

once I get a round tuit, I'll do so - may be early January though - only going out when and as absolutely required what with the way the roads are!

MidlandsM · 23-12-2010 1:44pm

GBCULLEN wrote: »

happy happy days, I think I can bypass every town now.

yep, and no here to use a toilet, no services. Great planners we have.:rolleyes:

knipex · 23-12-2010 4:21pm

MidlandsM wrote: »

yep, and no here to use a toilet, no services. Great planners we have.:rolleyes:

It will be less than 2 hours to Dublin. if you cannot hold it for 2 hours or haven't the cop on to make sure you have enough fuel than you have bigger issues.

swoofer · 23-12-2010 5:25pm

your a hard poster knipex, I am sure I read elsewhere there are stops quite close to motorway, only trouble is this took so long to open I have forgotten where I saw the details!

noah

blackwarrior · 23-12-2010 7:48pm

I drove the new road for the second time this evening in twilight.

I have to say that the section between Roscrea and Moneygall looked great - the last few km goes through some really attractive country. Definitely better than the old Dunkerrin route!

Although driving slowly due to the conditions, it is brilliant to look at your watch and see how early you've reached Limerick.

corktina · 23-12-2010 8:11pm

radagast wrote: »

once I get a round tuit, I'll do so - may be early January though - only going out when and as absolutely required what with the way the roads are!

have one on me

JayeL · 23-12-2010 9:33pm

Drove from Ashbourne to Killarney today, 6hrs door-to-door (including a brief 15 minute stop in Rathcoole). The M7 was hideous until the M9 exit, after which the ploughs were out and we had a clear run to Adare; we left at midday and I reckon if we'd left it even 30 minutes later, we'd still be travelling (it's 8.20pm now).

Anyway, we travelled on the new Castletown-Nenagh section and it was, as expected, a huge help on the way. Every town we passed through had huge tailbacks, so if we had to travel via Moneygall and Toomevara, we'd be another hour the way the traffic was. The new section has a great surface and lovely views. The at-grade exits are a bit mental alright, wouldn't fancy those crazy Moneygall ramps in this weather!

Anyway, I took photos using my phone in its holder on the windscreen (hence the residue the bottom-right):

Here's the start of it i.e. just after the Borris-in-Ossory exit:

Stretch of it between exit 21 and 22:

Coming up to exit 22:

Hard to see here but this is exit 22, which is at-grade and has cones or something at it:

Approaching Moneygall exit (23):

Apologies for the poor quality, sure ye'll get the idea ;-)

MidlandsM · 23-12-2010 11:19pm

knipex wrote: »

It will be less than 2 hours to Dublin. if you cannot hold it for 2 hours or haven't the cop on to make sure you have enough fuel than you have bigger issues.

The world does not revolve round Dublin FFS.
If you drove from Limerick to Belfast using the M7 as part of the road trip, there are no online services, thats my point.
Ask any truck driver:rolleyes:

Jayuu · 23-12-2010 11:50pm

MidlandsM wrote: »

The world does not revolve round Dublin FFS.
If you drove from Limerick to Belfast using the M7 as part of the road trip, there are no online services, thats my point.
Ask any truck driver:rolleyes:

Not true. Firstly there are services on the N7 into Dublin once the motorway ends. And then you have the M1 services once you head towards Belfast.

Don't get me wrong. I think there should be services on all the motorways but you've picked a bad example.

amacachi · 24-12-2010 4:16am

Just reading through this now has anyone got diagrams or something of the junctions being criticised?

M7 - Castletown to Nenagh

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