Underpasses in Ireland

murphaph

Following a thread on SABRE, I'm wondering can you help me compile a list of pedestrian underpasses (called subways in Britain) around Ireland. I don't believe we have many. There's one in Blackrock, Co Dublin but after that I'm all out. Any takers?

mike65

Rare as hens teeth here. Kilkenny has one -its part of the shopping complex off the high street. Commerical deliveries can be walked through to the main area under a street.

Mike.

tampopo

Wasn't there one in Ballymun, at least before the regeneration???

Under the Dart at Lansdowne Rd Station. Under the railway at Killiney, and at Greystones...clutching at straws there...

murphaph

No railway ones allowed! There appears to be an underpass under Wyckham Way at Ballaly Luas stop? can anyone confirm? There is another pair that come to mind which gets you through the M50 junctions at the N81 and N3.

They are all over Europe, I suppose we never had the money to build them and they're out of fashion nowadays with many in the UK being filled in due to anti-social behaviour.

FunkyDa

tampopo wrote:

Wasn't there one in Ballymun, at least before the regeneration???

Under the Dart at Lansdowne Rd Station. Under the railway at Killiney, and at Greystones...clutching at straws there...

IIRC, there was one at the school, on the right, on the way up into Ballymun. The big roundabout(now filled in), in the centre of Ballymun, also had pedestrian underpasses. There is one at Northside shopping centre, under the Oscar Traynor Road(this is due to be filled in as part of the Northside Town Centre development plan - a massive redevelopment).

Irjudge1

There was one on the Tolka Valley Road in Finglas West. This was filled in about five years ago by the City Council because of druggie problems.

There's one in Belfast at the Northern end of Ann Street to cross Musgrave Street.

Mushy

One in Stillorgan aswell. Across the junction from Bondi, the underpass goes towards Blackrock. In that direction. Description isnt very good.

fricatus

There's one in Blanchardstown that runs from the Snugborough Road, under the roundabout just north of the N3 bridge, then underneath the N3 itself and emerges in Blanch village. From the map it looks like it's what remains of the Old Corduff Road, from before the N3 dual carriageway was built back whenever (late '80s?).

murphaph

fricatus wrote:

There's one in Blanchardstown that runs from the Snugborough Road, under the roundabout just north of the N3 bridge, then underneath the N3 itself and emerges in Blanch village. From the map it looks like it's what remains of the Old Corduff Road, from before the N3 dual carriageway was built back whenever (late '80s?).

I know that one well but I'm not counting it as an underpass as the N3 is up on an embankment at that point and so it's more a bridge over the footpath (it is the former road btw) than an underpass. For the purposes of this exercise, let's say that the underpass must have steps/ramp down to it.

gurramok

There is/was a small one under M1( i think) between the Oak estate in Santry and Clonshaugh Ind Estate(near old Gateway factory), years since i was up that way though to see if it still exists now.

The_Bullman

Do private underpasses count?

If so there's an underpass under the N1 between the two sides of the Carrickdale Hotel

dead air

There's a pedestrian underpass at Seapoint, Balbriggan under the railway line about 250 metres south of Balbriggan train station.

ardmacha

There aren't half enough in Ireland. A classic example is Frascati road in Blackrock in Dublin. Here you have two shopping centres both with basement levels. Yet to between them you have to walk across a car park and use a pedestrian traffic light. There absolutely should have been an underpass here, even if it was only open when the shopping centres are open, that is when it is needed. The shopping centres could have maintained it.

Another example is the Belgard rd in Tallaght near the Square. Here there is traffic calming on what should be an important local distributer road as people are crossing, they should have built a piazza above the road and grade separated the pedestrian and traffic.

Prof_V

I believe there was one on Kilbarrack Road towards the fire station end - I've no idea if it's still there, though it doesn't seem to appear on maps any more.

Isn't the M1 underpass actually a bridge over the Santry River, which has a footpath along the bank? (This situation occurs in lots of other places, e.g. most of the more modern bridges on the Dodder, to say nothing of canal towpaths).

Regarding Ballymun, there seem to have been at least eight (counting the roundabout as just one), which must account for a fair chunk of the national total.

OTK

World's most unsuccessful urban design element. Watch a film called Irréversible to learn everything you need to know about underpasses.

westtip

We don't even do footpaths for pedestrians in this country why would we bother with the expense of well lit, cctv covered underpasses which people can walk, cycle and push a buggy under - I will give you an example of where one is needed at the Western end of the Athlone bypass - traffic hurtles off the by-pass when the road comes back down to single lane - there is a turn to the right into a townland called Drum - but more importantly there are two schools just off this junction a national school and secondary girls school, if there was an underpass here children could safely walk (or even cycle) or be walked to school from the houses on the other side of the main N4 (ie on the left as travelling from Athlone towards Ballinasloe/Galway), a footbridge would have been handy but not easy for buggies or bikes, a cut and cover underpass could have been put in when they built the Athlone bypass as this whole section of road was dug up to merge the new dc with the old road, but oh no - this is Ireland we just don't consider pedestrians and cyclists and then we sit back and blame them (pedestrians anc cyclists) when they get hit by cars hurtling along our shiny new roads.

Many of the new built up towns in the south of England have used underpasses for pedestrian and cycling access - vist Basingtoke and Milton Keynes for example, and yes they sometimes attract undesirable anti-social behaviour but in the main this can be dealt with by CCTV and good policing.

Victor

* Wilton Roundabout / Shopping Centre in Cork, but I think it is closed / demolished. Marked on this map http://www.corkcity.ie/maps/maps/41.html
* The Glen in Cork - near the church(?). http://www.corkcity.ie/maps/maps/12.html Not marked.
* The was four on the main roundabout in Ballymun.
* Dodder bridge at Milltown - doubles as an overflow for the river.
* Guiness Brewery under Thomas Street.

Much more interesting are 19th century fly-overs, e.g. where Carrigaline road cross over Church Road in Douglas. http://www.corkcity.ie/maps/maps/58.html

And another at Glounthaune.

mike65

I've a vague suspicion there may be one in Midleton, could well be wrong.

Mike.

mikemac

There is one under the roundabout at Ballybrit, Galway. Very close to the race track.

It's excellent too-with a seperate cycle lane

tampopo

OTK wrote:

World's most unsuccessful urban design element. Watch a film called Irréversible to learn everything you need to know about underpasses.

Yeah, I thought of that film when I saw this thread. Yer man with the FULL boner, trust the French to show something like that!!! lol.

On the N11 bypassing Kisquade, just at the Delgany exit, isn't there an overpass there? I remember it opening in the late 70's/early 80's and when it was new you could see the grilles/air shafts. Used to go down to WX most weekends to de caravan!!! Haven't been on the road much or in a while recently...

embraer170

* Wilton Roundabout / Shopping Centre in Cork, but I think it is closed / demolished. Marked on this map http://www.corkcity.ie/maps/maps/41.html

Gone indeed.

Victor

mike65 wrote:

I've a vague suspicion there may be one in Midleton, could well be wrong.

I think its a proper underbridge. Between the river and the roundabout.

Is it Mother Hubbards in Mullingar? They have a service area on the bypass, with petrol stations both sides, but the restaurant on one side.

Also, for cattle underpasses, there be hundreds of 'em.

dcr22B

Victor wrote:

I think its a proper underbridge. Between the river and the roundabout.

Is it Mother Hubbards in Mullingar? They have a service area on the bypass, with petrol stations both sides, but the restaurant on one side.

Also, for cattle underpasses, there be hundreds of 'em.

No. it's Hammill's Esso in Mullingar.

Garret

underpasses, sketch city if ya ask me, overpasses>underpasses

SeaSide

by northside shopping centre near clonshaugh where gateway was

also on the way to Cork under the N7 they are putting in at least one

Victor

tampopo wrote:

Under the railway at Killiney

Actually, this one does count as it is under both the railway and the road - for access to the beach. It is however vehicle accessible, making it another 19th century road over road.

John R

Ballybrack, beside Tesco.

John R

Victor wrote:

Actually, this one does count as it is under both the railway and the road - for access to the beach. It is however vehicle accessible, making it another 19th century road over road.

There are 2 of them close together there and a third one along the line towards Shankill.

JupiterKid

Pedestrian underpasses were all the rage here in Ireland in the 1970s (when limited finances permitted) along with other urban design failures like neighbourhood units and large, unsupervised peripheral open spaces on the edge of large housing estates. The ides of these underpasses dates back to the Radburn urban design movement of the 1920s and perhaps further still to the 1850s planning of New York's Central Park.

To my knowledge, Ballymun had a few (now gone), there were a couple along the Oscar Traynor Road and its extension, Tonlagee Road, on the Northside. There is also a pedestrian underpass under the Stillorgan Dual carriageway. Many of these have been removed because of the anti-social behaviour problems and the perceived danger of vulnerable persons being trapped in them by gangs.

Finally, there are also pedestrian underpasses of more recent vintage at the M50/N81 and M50/N3 roundabout junctions as Spawell and Blanchardstown respectively.

Victor

Under the M1, halfway between the Boyne Bridge and the N51 interchange.

popebenny16

There were eight in Ballymun I think. The longest was under the DC at Santry (scary) but there were others under Balcurris Road and Sillogue Road. Then there were four at the Roundabout as well. All long filled in. They were pedestrian (used to be nice white granite bollards to stop traffic using them).