N13/N15 - Ballybofey/Stranorlar bypass [preferred route published; design underway]

Aontachtoir · 12-12-2018 3:05am

marno21 wrote: »

And we're off

Impressed to see the Examiner reporting on Donegal news. Truly an all-island newspaper now! :pac:

Redsoxfan · 12-12-2018 3:46am

I think that article, written by the same person who runs Donegal Daily, is selectively quoting a piece I read elsewhere last week.

I don't believe locals are agin a bypass, rather, the link road to the town, as envisaged by the preferred route, will be too long so as to discourage people coming to the town as they pass.

veryangryman · 07-01-2019 12:52pm

Redsoxfan wrote: »

I think that article, written by the same person who runs Donegal Daily, is selectively quoting a piece I read elsewhere last week.

I don't believe locals are agin a bypass, rather, the link road to the town, as envisaged by the preferred route, will be too long so as to discourage people coming to the town as they pass.

"Coming to the town as they pass". Like your either going to the town or your not. Their logic is baffling. If i want to goto LK or Derry, I'm really not interested in the intermediate towns bar the need for petrol or bladder relief.

Redsoxfan · 11-01-2019 5:01pm

veryangryman wrote:

"Coming to the town as they pass". Like your either going to the town or your not. Their logic is baffling. If i want to goto LK or Derry, I'm really not interested in the intermediate towns bar the need for petrol or bladder relief.

Indeed. I'm sure the point is to encourage passing motorists to spend a penny etc.

There's no material opposition to bypassing the town and I hope it isn't further delayed.

L1011 · 11-01-2019 5:32pm

Can anyone identify a town that was made a ghost town by a bypass? More cases of towns that people can actually shop in due to the roads not being jammed.

road_high · 12-01-2019 11:45am

marno21 wrote: »

And we're off

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/business/residents-say-200-jobs-will-be-lost-with-plans-to-bypass-donegal-town-887129.html

Is whinging a local past time in co Donegal? They’re always saying they’re neglected by central govt- then they plan to invest tens of millions in bypssses and that’s also wrong. Spend the money elsewhere if they don’t want it

Kevwoody · 12-01-2019 1:50pm

road_high wrote:

Is whinging a local past time in co Donegal? Theyâ€™re always saying theyâ€™re neglected by central govt- then they plan to invest tens of millions in bypssses and thatâ€™s also wrong. Spend the money elsewhere if they donâ€™t want it

The majority of the people in those towns want a bypass, it's a small number of people that are against it.

This isn't unique to Donegal. Every single infrastructure project in the country will have objections from people who have nothing but their own interests in mind.

Ballybofey and Stranorlar are only slightly behind the likes of Ardee, Slane and Adare in the need for a bypass.

HabibiLibnen · 12-01-2019 6:58pm

Kevwoody wrote: »

The majority of the people in those towns want a bypass, it's a small number of people that are against it.

This isn't unique to Donegal. Every single infrastructure project in the country will have objections from people who have nothing but their own interests in mind.

Ballybofey and Stranorlar are only slightly behind the likes of Ardee, Slane and Adare in the need for a bypass.

I'd add Thurles to that list. Huge lorries throttling through Parnell Street, O'Donavan Rossa Street and Liberty Square from dawn to dusk. It's always either red or orange on Google traffic.

marno21 · 12-01-2019 7:13pm

HabibiLibnen wrote: »

I'd add Thurles to that list. Huge lorries throttling through Parnell Street, O'Donavan Rossa Street and Liberty Square from dawn to dusk. It's always either red or orange on Google traffic.

TII policy at present seems to be overwhelmingly in favour of sorting the NP network first then the secondary routes, bar a few political schemes (Mallow, Moycullen).

Priority at the minute seems to be in favour of Slane, Castlebar, Mallow/Charleville/Buttevant, Adare, Macroom, Galway followed by Monaghan, Virginia, Carrick-on-Shannon, the N4 Longford towns, Wexford, Ballybofey/Stranorlar, Letterkenny, Lifford, Charlestown, Abbeyfeale, Newcastlewest, Killarney/Farranfore, the N24 Tipp towns.

Then there are a host of national secondary bottlenecks to deal with including Thurles and also Inishannon, Bandon, Clonakilty, Blessington, Portlaoise, Mountmellick, Ballinrobe, Ballyhaunis, amongst others

HabibiLibnen · 12-01-2019 7:39pm

marno21 wrote: »

TII policy at present seems to be overwhelmingly in favour of sorting the NP network first then the secondary routes, bar a few political schemes (Mallow, Moycullen).

Priority at the minute seems to be in favour of Slane, Castlebar, Mallow/Charleville/Buttevant, Adare, Macroom, Galway followed by Monaghan, Virginia, Carrick-on-Shannon, the N4 Longford towns, Wexford, Ballybofey/Stranorlar, Letterkenny, Lifford, Charlestown, Abbeyfeale, Newcastlewest, Killarney/Farranfore, the N24 Tipp towns.

Then there are a host of national secondary bottlenecks to deal with including Thurles and also Inishannon, Bandon, Clonakilty, Blessington, Portlaoise, Mountmellick, Ballinrobe, Ballyhaunis, amongst others

There's logic to that but I would put Thurles well ahead in terms of priority over the likes of Ballyhaunis or Charlestown. Purely in terms of safety, I think Thurles is so dangerous with lorries coming out onto Liberty Square and pedestrians crossing in front of them.

HabibiLibnen · 12-01-2019 7:50pm

I can't imagine there's much opposition to this bypass. There are a few local businesses who believe that every person passing their doors will somehow be enticed to stay on by forcibly making one drive through the town. Based on my experience of Ballybofey, certain retailers might consider lowering their prices if they're worried about losing trade.

Ballyshannon and Bundoran thrived when they were bypassed, allowing them to focus on what they have to offer both to locals and tourists.

Donegal town is another excellent model for Ballybofey to imitate. It's got a full bypass and yet is a thriving town with a real sense of character and identity. Could anyone seriously argue Donegal town would benefit by having N56 and N15 traffic choking the town? I highly doubt it.

Nidgeweasel · 16-01-2019 3:12pm

HabibiLibnen wrote: »

I can't imagine there's much opposition to this bypass. There are a few local businesses who believe that every person passing their doors will somehow be enticed to stay on by forcibly making one drive through the town. Based on my experience of Ballybofey, certain retailers might consider lowering their prices if they're worried about losing trade.

Ballyshannon and Bundoran thrived when they were bypassed, allowing them to focus on what they have to offer both to locals and tourists.

Donegal town is another excellent model for Ballybofey to imitate. It's got a full bypass and yet is a thriving town with a real sense of character and identity. Could anyone seriously argue Donegal town would benefit by having N56 and N15 traffic choking the town? I highly doubt it.

Disagree about Ballyshannon and Bundoran, the bypasses are great but neither town has thrived. Poor towns with little to offer.

Donegal Town on the other hand entirely supports your argument and should be the 'go to' argument against those wishing to foist the continuation of traffic through the twin towns. I can count on one hand the amount of times I've stopped in Ballybofey on the way through to another destination in the past 20 years.

BelfastVanMan · 16-01-2019 3:39pm

Nidgeweasel wrote: »

HabibiLibnen wrote: »

I can't imagine there's much opposition to this bypass. There are a few local businesses who believe that every person passing their doors will somehow be enticed to stay on by forcibly making one drive through the town. Based on my experience of Ballybofey, certain retailers might consider lowering their prices if they're worried about losing trade.

Ballyshannon and Bundoran thrived when they were bypassed, allowing them to focus on what they have to offer both to locals and tourists.

Donegal town is another excellent model for Ballybofey to imitate. It's got a full bypass and yet is a thriving town with a real sense of character and identity. Could anyone seriously argue Donegal town would benefit by having N56 and N15 traffic choking the town? I highly doubt it.

Disagree about Ballyshannon and Bundoran, the bypasses are great but neither town has thrived. Poor towns with little to offer.

Donegal Town on the other hand entirely supports your argument and should be the 'go to' argument against those wishing to foist the continuation of traffic through the twin towns. I can count on one hand the amount of times I've stopped in Ballybofey on the way through to another destination in the past 20 years.

The Rory Gallagher festival has certainly thrived since the bypass opened...

Chris_5339762 · 16-01-2019 6:10pm

Nidgeweasel wrote: »

Disagree about Ballyshannon and Bundoran, the bypasses are great but neither town has thrived. Poor towns with little to offer.

Donegal Town on the other hand entirely supports your argument and should be the 'go to' argument against those wishing to foist the continuation of traffic through the twin towns. I can count on one hand the amount of times I've stopped in Ballybofey on the way through to another destination in the past 20 years.

Abbeyleix and Durrow are two towns that thrived once the bypass appeared. Ok there is some toll dodging through them but whatever. They didn't whinge or moan about loss of trade, they celebrated the bypass publicly.

Nidgeweasel · 16-01-2019 6:38pm

BelfastVanMan wrote: »

The Rory Gallagher festival has certainly thrived since the bypass opened...

They aren't related. The RG festival was only 2/3 years in when the bypass opened and was still busy for those years.

BelfastVanMan · 16-01-2019 8:20pm

Nidgeweasel wrote: »

BelfastVanMan wrote: »

The Rory Gallagher festival has certainly thrived since the bypass opened...

They aren't related. The RG festival was only 2/3 years in when the bypass opened and was still busy for those years.

Aww, really?
Cheers, didn't realise that.
How did traffic get through the town with all the revellers on the streets?

Nidgeweasel · 17-01-2019 12:05am

BelfastVanMan wrote: »

Aww, really?
Cheers, didn't realise that.
How did traffic get through the town with all the revellers on the streets?

Slowly!

BelfastVanMan · 17-01-2019 12:40am

Nidgeweasel wrote: »

BelfastVanMan wrote: »

Aww, really?
Cheers, didn't realise that.
How did traffic get through the town with all the revellers on the streets?

Slowly!

THAT must've been some carry-on, altogether!

road_high · 17-01-2019 12:42am

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

Abbeyleix and Durrow are two towns that thrived once the bypass appeared. Ok there is some toll dodging through them but whatever. They didn't whinge or moan about loss of trade, they celebrated the bypass publicly.

They’re still very busy towns though as the N77 Kilkenny to Portlaoise road took over the old designation and is still a busy route with less severe congestion. Abbeyleix can still be a pain at certain times and bank holidays even still. I was stopped out by the fire station in a few times during the summer.

veryangryman · 22-01-2019 3:21pm

Why do these roadworks not have a planned completion date? Literally nothing seems to be done other than traffic light maintenance

marno21 · 07-02-2019 10:42pm

Public consultation on emerging preferred route in the next 2 weeks. Details at this link: http://www.donegal-ten-t.ie/pages/timelineandoutlook.php

spacetweek · 08-02-2019 9:47pm

marno21 wrote: »

Public consultation on emerging preferred route in the next 2 weeks. Details at this link: http://www.donegal-ten-t.ie/pages/timelineandoutlook.php

Have they unveiled the route yet?

marno21 · 08-02-2019 10:26pm

spacetweek wrote: »

Have they unveiled the route yet?

This will be the route unveiling, public consultation on it once it's unveiled.

ABP in 2021

veryangryman · 09-02-2019 11:47am

marno21 wrote: »

This will be the route unveiling, public consultation on it once it's unveiled.

ABP in 2021

Morons in that local anti bypass group showing their "know it all" map of it before the actual unveiling.

Its actually depressing how every local town/village group delays a bypass being built and gives ridiculous guesstimates of job losses.

Like "Oh no", that guy who gets pissed off sitting in traffic mightnt grab a scone with us next time.

MJohnston · 12-02-2019 3:14pm

The stupid thing is, Donegal is the kind of county that absolutely needs bypasses if the county is to thrive at all. It's an out of the way place, wedged into the corner of the island behind another country that Irish people may not be able to as easily access soon enough. That kind of thing absolutely devastates investment and job creation. If Letterkenny can be more quickly accessed by the rest of the country, Dublin in particular, it will reap massive benefits, and these will only help the residents of Co Donegal. Reduced brain drain of young people moving away to get jobs, improved mental health because of more opportunities for young folks near home (and this is a significant problem for Donegal), etc.

marno21 · 23-02-2019 3:21am

Emerging preferred route:

http://www.donegal-ten-t.ie/media/download_gallery/SECTION%201%20-%20%20EMERGING%20PREFERRED%20ROUTE%20CORRIDOR.pdf

2+2 mainline all the way from the N15 south of Ballybofey to the N13 to the north east of the town, with a single carriageway link road to the N15 east of Stranorlar. 1 grade seperated junction in the middle for this link road.

marno21 · 09-03-2019 12:52am

Tender out for LIDAR survey along the route corridor

https://irl.eu-supply.com/app/rfq/publicpurchase_frameset.asp?PID=143534&B=ETENDERS_SIMPLE&PS=1&PP=ctm/Supplier/publictenders

L1011 · 09-03-2019 2:56am

There really has been very little that could have changed since the original plans here - the junction designs here were the issue alone. Very odd selection of next step

marno21 · 09-03-2019 3:16am

L1011 wrote: »

There really has been very little that could have changed since the original plans here - the junction designs here were the issue alone. Very odd selection of next step

Was the last plan not a route south of the town?

GetWithIt · 10-03-2019 2:39pm

You can buy Lidar survey data off the shelf. Generally pretty current for the entire country. Is there a reason why you’d tender for someone to do a bespoke survey?

Limerick74 · 10-03-2019 7:56pm

GetWithIt wrote: »

You can buy Lidar survey data off the shelf. Generally pretty current for the entire country. Is there a reason why you’d tender for someone to do a bespoke survey?

Looks like they are acquiring ortho photography so very little extra to acquire high resolution lidar survey at same time along the routes. The lidar data available off the shelf may not be sufficient for design requirements and the extra over costs when acquiring ortho photography is probably quite reasonable.

marno21 · 21-03-2019 4:34pm

Route options for the link road from the mainline to Ballybofey have been published

http://www.donegal-ten-t.ie/media/download_gallery/Section%201%20Link%20Road%20A.pdf

http://www.donegal-ten-t.ie/media/download_gallery/Section%201%20Link%20Road%20B.pdf

http://www.donegal-ten-t.ie/media/download_gallery/Section%201%20Link%20Road%20C.pdf

http://www.donegal-ten-t.ie/media/download_gallery/Section%201%20Link%20Road%20D.pdf

ednwireland · 22-03-2019 3:45pm

wish theyd just get on with it

Donegal Storm · 16-04-2019 11:58pm

Shockingly, selecting the preferred route has been delayed once again, was due to be signed off today but now to be another public consultation to take place on the 24th to discuss the route with landowners

http://www.highlandradio.com/2019/04/16/council-defer-adoption-of-preferred-routes-on-ten-t-network/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

veryangryman · 29-07-2019 11:12am

Any update on these? Are the roadworks still ongoing? Almost no information from any souce (council, media etc)

Donegal Storm · 29-07-2019 7:23pm

veryangryman wrote: »

Any update on these? Are the roadworks still ongoing? Almost no information from any souce (council, media etc)

Short article on Highland this morning stating that the preferred routes will be selected some time this year (which of course likely means next year)

http://www.highlandradio.com/2019/07/29/full-public-display-of-final-ten-t-routes-later-this-year/

marno21 · 15-09-2019 10:44pm

Tender out for ground investigation

https://irl.eu-supply.com/ctm/Supplier/PublicPurchase/153792/0/0?returnUrl=ctm/Supplier/publictenders&b=ETENDERS_SIMPLE

Hopefully see a preferred route out soon.

Nidgeweasel · 03-12-2019 10:33pm

Any updates on this?

Donegal Storm · 03-12-2019 11:06pm

Presumably my above prediction that route selection 'later this year' actually meant next year, was accurate

marno21 · 13-12-2019 6:14pm

Preferred route to be published in January.

marno21 · 13-01-2020 7:25pm

Preferred route published. 8.3km of Type 2 dual carriageway between the N15 west of Ballybofey to the N13 nort east of Stranorlar. Also includes a link road to Ballybofey town and a new N15 link to the east of Stranorlar. As can be seen from the route map, this scheme is heavily geared towards the N13 and the N15 takes much less priority.

Route selection report and detailed drawings here: http://www.donegal-ten-t.ie/pages/documentsbrdownloads/options-selection-report.php

veryangryman · 20-02-2020 4:19pm

Thoughts on a construction start date or are there more stages to do?

marno21 · 25-05-2020 8:07pm

Tender out for watercourse surveys along the route:

https://irl.eu-supply.com/ctm/Supplier/PublicPurchase/167502/1/0

veryangryman wrote: »

Thoughts on a construction start date or are there more stages to do?

2024/5 would be a reasonable assumption.

Nidgeweasel · 27-05-2020 12:44pm

marno21 wrote: »

Tender out for watercourse surveys along the route:

https://irl.eu-supply.com/ctm/Supplier/PublicPurchase/167502/1/0

2024/5 would be a reasonable assumption.

Just the 20 years wait!