Ennis Bypass

jmkennedyie

Thanks for posting Chris (_533976 ). Been meaning to take a few of the M50 works for ya, but I'm rarely there in daylight (thank God). One of these days...

Amazotheamazing

All the bypass will do in the short-term is turn both Crusheen and Gort into horrible tailbacks, it'll be good for Ennis but will only shift the jam down the road.

corktina

i dont see how it will affect Crusheen or Gort...the same total traffic will be flowing through them as now....(flow perhaps isnt the best word in the case of Gort...)

Chris_533976

Well the traffic will be slowed from high to low speed at a different point, so that point there will be tailbacks.

It will be better than a jamup in Ennis tho - the trouble with Ennis is its such a 'long' town... so takes ages to get through. Although the future Gort jamup will be bad, its a smaller town with less disruption from trafficlights, and while there definately will be a jam, it wont be as painful to go through as Ennis is at the moment.

One of the biggest problems with Ennis is that there are two sets of lights within 100m of each other. Thats a nightmare as its not in sequence, so doesnt help flow AT ALL. That doesnt exist in Gort.

1huge1

Yes but wont we be bypassing Gort in a few years with the atlantic corridor
it will all be done in time

Urban Weigl

Is there a new opening date yet?

Chris_533976

Nah, mid to late January is the official line on the website.

mysterious

Well Gort is still bad enough at times. You will have faster traffic hitting the town from the Limerick side once the DC is opened. Plus there is a tight bend as you come into the town aswell a number of new housing estates.. All these are going to slow things down.

I can bet Traffic will detriorate when the Bypass opens. To really have a good whinge about it, I doubt Gort will even get bypassed within the next 5 years. Oh it will be fun.:)

Remember Monasterevin,the day the Kildare bypass opened. 5 miles both ways, and everyday after it. It just funnells into the next town.

mysterious

Well Gort is still bad enough at times. You will have faster traffic hitting the town from the Limerick side once the DC is opened. Plus there is a tight bend as you come into the town aswell and when I last passed through a number of new housing estates sprang up just off the N18.. All these are going to slow things down.

I can bet Traffic will detriorate when the Bypass opens. To really have a good whinge about it, I doubt Gort will even get bypassed within the next 5 years. Oh it will be fun.:)

Remember Monasterevin,the day the Kildare bypass opened. 5 miles both ways, and everyday after it. It just funnells into the next town. Abbeyleix and Mountrath are now getting the tailbacks.. It's obvious this sorta happens.

Amazotheamazing

corktina wrote:

i dont see how it will affect Crusheen or Gort...the same total traffic will be flowing through them as now....(flow perhaps isnt the best word in the case of Gort...)

Going through Ennnis used to filter the cars, and slow them down. The new bypass will mean cars will go from a dual carriageway at (at least) 100k an hour to a single, windy carriageway where it's just not safe to do those speeds, add on the 90 degree turn into crusheen and you'll see some tailbacks developing.

Also, I used to travel between Limerick and Galway very regularly for the last 6 years, and over that time the traffic in Gort has got very noticably heavier, from being virtually no delay, to tailbacks of 20 minutes. With cars arriving without being delayed in Ennis, I'd expect the tailbacks in Gort to be worse.

Bards

It is opened now

http://www.ennisbypass.ie/ennisbypass/www/index.asp?magpage=18&tid=4601&newstype=Current

Chris_533976

Yeah came through on the bus at about 10am and all the concrete blocks had been removed and they had construction staff doing final checks.

Good news 20 mins off the Cork - Galway trip

Chris_533976

The first phase of the €190 million Ennis bypass opened to drivers today.

The formal opening at the Dromoland Castle exit was performed by the Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen, along with the National Roads Authority and Clare County Council.

The new mainline section consists of 14km of roadway linking the Dromoland castle exit to a point just north of Barefield and south of Crusheen villages.

It is expected to cut journey times on the route from the north of Limerick city to Crusheen by up to 30 minutes.

Sections of the bypass heading westwards to Lahinch, Kilrush and Kilkee are due to be open this summer.

Construction of the Crusheen-Gort section is also due to be started later this year.

The new bypass will take 17,000 vehicles, including heavy goods vehicles out of Ennis, 27,000 from Clarecastle and 10,000 from Barefield.

First mooted 20 years ago, the bypass became a huge election issue in 2002, when it was promised by the Fianna Fáil party.

Construction eventually got under way in 2004.

However, James Breen, Independent TD for Co Clare, has concerns about the safety of the new roadway.

He says the hard shoulders are too narrow at just 8ft wide, and this will compromise safety for large vehicles like trucks and buses if they have to stop.

He has called on the National Roads Authority and the Garda Traffic inspectorate to investigate.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0126/bypass.html

Victor

http://www.transport.ie/viewitem.asp?id=8760&lang=ENG&loc=2126

Cullen opens Ennis Bypass Over 20,000 vehicles removed from streets of Ennis
Break line image
26 January 2007

Transport Minister, Martin Cullen, T.D., today (Friday, 26th January 2007) officially opened the Ennis Bypass, a major piece of infrastructure under the Government's Transport 21 programme. It is the first of nine major road projects due to be completed this year. Part of the Atlantic Road Corridor that stretches from Letterkenny to Waterford, the Bypass comprises 14kms of high quality dual carriageway on the N18 national primary road from Dromoland to a point south of Crusheen village where the Crusheen to Gort project is due to begin next year. It is expected to remove over 20,000 vehicles from the streets of Ennis every day.

The contractor on the project was Gama Strabag Construction Ltd. The engineering company responsible was Jacobs Babite Consulting Engineers.

Speaking in Ennis, Minister Cullen said: "Ireland is now one of the world's most successful economies and we need a first rate road infrastructure if it is to sustain and build on that success. This year, under the Government's investment programme for transport, Transport 21, €1.53 billion will be spent on the 2007 National Roads Programme the largest single investment in the history of the state. This funding will allow the National Roads Authority complete work on nine schemes and this Ennis Bypass, I am happy to say, is the first project to be completed this year. All in all, 673 projects are being funded under this year's allocation. This Government is committed to progressing projects that will enhance the quality of life for people and underpin our prosperity."

The Minister spoke of Ennis as a key county town that provides access to many scenic and major tourist areas in the mid west region including Kilkee, Lahinch, and the unique Karst limestone region of the Burren. "With its proximity to Shannon Airport, Ennis facilitates many visitors from both the US and Europe and today's opening will further benefit tourism to the town, the surrounding areas and many other towns in the counties of Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary which form part of the Limerick Shannon Gateway", he added.

The Minister also said that the National Spatial Strategy (NSS) identifies the upgrading of the country's national transport network as a key element in enhancing regional accessibility and more balanced regional development. He said: "The programme currently being implemented by the NRA is in line with the transport infrastructure priorities identified in the NSS. The opening of the Ennis Bypass will assist the town in fulfilling the development hub role identified for it in the NSS. Likewise a key element of the new National Development Plan 2007- 2013 launched earlier this week (on Tuesday) is about building on the substantial progress we have made over the lifetime of this Government, in developing and delivering major infrastructure projects".

Since 1997, the Government has invested over €398 million in national roads in County Clare, ranging from €20.5 million in 2000 to €65.96 million in 2006. This year, it has been allocated €26.435 million.

Other road projects underway in Clare include the N85 7kms Western Relief road that will extend southwards on the western outskirts of Ennis, crossing the N68 at Cahercalla and then turning east to cross the old N18 north of Kiladysart Cross and connect with the new N18 Bypass at Killoo. The N18 Crusheen / Gort Bypass comprises 22 kms of high quality dual carriageway. It was due to commence in 2011 but is being brought forward to 2008 under Transport 21 as part of the Atlantic Road Corridor.

At today's Bypass opening, Minister Cullen asked all road users to make a special effort to help improve safety on our roads. "As we come to the close of the first month of the new year, I would ask all drivers to take extra care on our roads. That extra effort by all of us will make our roads safer and help save lives", he said.

Mr Peter Malone, Chairman of the National Roads Authority, said: "It is great to see Ennis Bypass open to traffic. The mainline section of the Bypass is accessible to motorists three months ahead of schedule in what has been another success for the National Roads Authority. The Authority working in partnership with local authorities, continue to bring schemes in on time and on budget. Schemes such as the Ennis Bypass are important not just in a local context but nationally also. The Bypass forms part of the Atlantic Corridor, which is a core element of the Government's Transport 21 plan. The corridor will run from Donegal to Waterford and the ongoing development of this corridor will facilitate business expansion and tourism in the southeast, west and north west of Ireland."

Victor

Map of Ennis Bypass with Ennis-Gort added.

Chris_533976

Whats that map from?? Havent seen that one.

Sites for Crusheen - Gort & Gort - Athenry.

http://www.galway.ie/en/Services/RoadsTransportation/roadprojects/n18_new/index.html
http://www.galway.ie/en/Services/RoadsTransportation/RoadProjects/n18orangort/

Theres documents on those two sites

Victor

I compiled it from the two sites.

transylman

Chris_533976 wrote:

Now for a little whinge. I really do think they should have extended this scheme by a few km to bypass Crusheen, as the roads there are very narrow and its gonna be a bit dodgy ending a 100km DC and coming onto this.



And 100km traffic coming into this railway bridge is bound to cause jams.



At least Ennis (almost) has a bypass now, but rather than wait till probobly 2010 for Crusheen - Gort to start, it would have been a bit better I think to bypass Crusheen in the same scheme as Ennis, as it will cause problems in the meantime.

Very prescient prediction there Chris. If only our politicians were that forward thinking.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0315/roads.html

Chris_533976

Second time in 6 months that has happened At least they cleared it quickly, I was on the bus home at about 4, 430 and there was no evidence whatsoever of a crash.

2008 for Crusheen - Gort to start construction. Presuming a 2 1/2 year build it'll be 2010 before this bridge gets sorted

Victor

And about tiem too. Iw as thinking about it only the other day. I imagine someone was told spend there budget for the year.

http://www.aaroadwatch.ie/traffic/story.asp?id=91665

Clare - The N85 is now open to traffic from the N18 Killaloe Junction, 4kms north of Drumoland, through to the Clareabbey Roundabout
Updated: 31/12/2007 10:33:47

This will allow motorists travelling northbound on the N18 to bypass Clareabbey, benefiting anyone travelling to Ennis from the Limerick direction, particularly those making their way to Lahinch and Kilkee. In addition a new junction on the N18 with the R352 to Tulla and Killaloe opened yesterday. Motorists from Limerick should now access Ennis at Killow Junction.

Chris_533976

So they finally got it all done. My GOD they took their time with the last bit