N17 Galway to Tuam dual carriageway confirmed to be M17

Chris_533976

Wont be built for a bit, but its confirmed that this WILL be officially motorway, and a motorway order has been published for it.

The NRA site is out of date -
http://www.nra.ie/RoadSchemeActivity/GalwayCountyCouncil/N17GalwaytoTuam/SchemeName,10900,en.html

Heres the official site -
http://www.galway.ie/en/Services/RoadsTransportation/RoadProjects/m17/index.htm

Galway Co Council are fantastic at giving info about road projects.

There will also be a rest area at the Rathmorrisey interchange.

This poses questions about other schemes too. The N6 (a PPP scheme) will travel through the interchange at the start of this scheme, so at least part of it should be M. But since the N6 is a PPP it will probably be M6 for that part anyway, a la M8 Fermoy bypass. Though this isnt confirmed yet.

That means things for the N18 too. It now should defiantly be M18 for part of it, as it is otherwise inescapable, leading only to the M6 and M17. That means that the N18 Oranmore-Gort scheme should be M18 at least to Kiltiernan, which is 14km down the proposed road. However, if the N6 is built as N and not M, then none of the N18 has to be M. Its all rather confusing.

This will be interesting, at least Galway Co Co are getting their fingers out regarding motorway classification. The motorway order has JUST been published, meaning that this will be new build motorway, whereas all the N6 and 18 schemes are going to construction soon, dont have a motorway order but can be reclassified.

loyatemu

I think the important question here is - Will the Sawdoctors be re-recording their song?

skelliser

it will be twenty years before any of this will be done by then the sawdoctors will be dead and ronan keating will re-record it.

DaBreno

Still no sign of the fabled Claregalway bypass.

Robbo

DaBreno wrote: »

Still no sign of the fabled Claregalway bypass.

Noel Grealish will be building that himself.

Chris_533976

This is the N17, so will be the functional Claregalway bypass, even though its substantially far away

JupiterKid

If the N17 is going to be replaced with the M17, and the N18 from Limerick will be upgraded to motorway, then where these roads meet the new M6 should be a fully free flowing interchange like a Whirlpool or a Four Level Stack.

But I can't see this happening - it will probably be a nasty three level roundabout.:rolleyes:

fricatus

What is it about Galway? Both local authorities there really seem to be good on communication and positive spin, basically "talking things up". Other local authorities, take note!

Compare the M17 site with this:
http://n9-n10kilcullen-waterford.ie/

Even the NRA's site is not as up to date as it should be, although I've just checked what I was going to complain about and now I see it's up to date!

Chris_533976

JupiterKid wrote: »

If the N17 is going to be replaced with the M17, and the N18 from Limerick will be upgraded to motorway, then where these roads meet the new M6 should be a fully free flowing interchange like a Whirlpool or a Four Level Stack.

But I can't see this happening - it will probably be a nasty three level roundabout.:rolleyes:

Good guess. Its gonna be a three level stack. ie: N6 below, N18 running directly into M17 on the top, and a roundabout on the middle layer with slips for common movements.

I'd say it'll be sufficient though, but I would prefer a freeflow interchange. Trouble is its a bit of a dodgy one tho from the money point of view. Build a massive interchange that doesnt warrent the traffic, or build a three level stack that'll be at capacity.

galwayrush

Chris_533976 wrote: »

This is the N17, so will be the functional Claregalway bypass, even though its substantially far away

Way too far away to be a practical solution to Claregalway.:mad:I can't understand why it couldn't run between the Tuam and Headford roads, or the Tuam and Monivea roads,It could have had the potential so solve a lot if traffic woes. :mad:

E92

The more Motorways the country has the better. Didn't think they would have this road built as a Motorway though, but good luck to the people of Galway.

This however shows how much our roads are neglected in Cork, only a few miles of mere Dual Carriageway on Cork-Limerick and not all of it is even HQDC(only the bit in Limerick which is a road I could never understand wasn't called a Motorway in the first place, its better than the Fermoy bypass to my mind). The Cork-Limerick road is connecting the second biggest city in the country to the third, it deserves a lot better than this. The only proper road we're going to have any time soon is the one to Dublin, there's no motorway or even Dual Carriageway planned beyond Midelton on Cork-Waterford other than the Waterford city bypass and Limerick is getting a DC all the way to Abbeyfeale now on the road to Tralee while we only got a HQDC for the Ballincollig bypass, again I'll all for them getting proper roads, they are entitled to proper roads just as much as Dublin or anywhere else in the country is, but there is no reason in the world why Cork which has more than double the population of Limerick can't shouldn't have these quality roads either.

The next thing brings me on to my old favourite, what is keeping Dempsy with the brilliant idea to reclassify HQDC's to Motorways? The legislation is there for it to happen, so what are we or more to the point what is he waiting for?

fricatus

E92 wrote: »

This however shows how much our roads are neglected in Cork...

You're kidding, right? Drive from Midleton to Ovens any day... you've got a freeway that wouldn't be out of place in LA - it's 5 lanes in either direction at one point for God's sake! You've a free river crossing too (Jack Lynch Tunnel) and the Cork-Dublin road is getting a full upgrade. The roundabouts at Bishopstown and Bandon Road (?) are due to go, just like the Kinsale Road one did.

I know the N20 is bad but do you not think you might be exaggerating just an eency weency bit?

Jeapy

skelliser wrote: »

it will be twenty years before any of this will be done by then the sawdoctors will be dead and ronan keating will re-record it.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! :eek:

D.L.R.

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Galway Co Council are fantastic at giving info about road projects.

Pity about their 'interactive map' though. No sign of Galway or Tuam on the bleedin thing, just tiny villages and no landmarks. Could've zoomed out a bit for better overview. But good to see this project moving along.

Chris_533976

E92 wrote: »

The more Motorways the country has the better. Didn't think they would have this road built as a Motorway though, but good luck to the people of Galway.

This however shows how much our roads are neglected in Cork, only a few miles of mere Dual Carriageway on Cork-Limerick and not all of it is even HQDC(only the bit in Limerick which is a road I could never understand wasn't called a Motorway in the first place, its better than the Fermoy bypass to my mind). The Cork-Limerick road is connecting the second biggest city in the country to the third, it deserves a lot better than this. The only proper road we're going to have any time soon is the one to Dublin, there's no motorway or even Dual Carriageway planned beyond Midelton on Cork-Waterford other than the Waterford city bypass and Limerick is getting a DC all the way to Abbeyfeale now on the road to Tralee while we only got a HQDC for the Ballincollig bypass, again I'll all for them getting proper roads, they are entitled to proper roads just as much as Dublin or anywhere else in the country is, but there is no reason in the world why Cork which has more than double the population of Limerick can't shouldn't have these quality roads either.

The next thing brings me on to my old favourite, what is keeping Dempsy with the brilliant idea to reclassify HQDC's to Motorways? The legislation is there for it to happen, so what are we or more to the point what is he waiting for?

The N20 is my pet hate. The Blarney - Mallow part is fine for now (other projects are more important) but Mallow - Croom needs doing far more than, say the Mitchelstown - Fermoy section of the N8.

And FWIW the Midleton - Youghal scheme will be DC (at least). No start date on that for quite a while tho.

E92

Chris_533976 wrote: »

The N20 is my pet hate. The Blarney - Mallow part is fine for now (other projects are more important) but Mallow - Croom needs doing far more than, say the Mitchelstown - Fermoy section of the N8.

And FWIW the Midleton - Youghal scheme will be DC (at least). No start date on that for quite a while tho.

That's good. Construction has at last started on the Fermoy-Mitchelstown road(it started a good few weeks ago actually), apparantly it's gonna be done in Spring 2009 which would be fantastic. By the end of 2009 there will be just the crappy road from Cullahill to Port Loaise so even if the roads haven't been changed to Motorway by then it will still be a lot fast to get to Dublin. Come 2010 it will be a straight run all the way up to Newland's Cross, and I believe that will change as well because they are meant to be getting rid of the traffic lights so there will be a proper road from the Dunkettle Interchange all the way up to the Mad sorry Red Cow roundabout, and park the car in the Luas P&R and the journey to Dublin is going to be very fast indeed. Imagine how much better it would be if we had a Motorway all the way instead of half the way and the higher speeds a Motorway allows! You could get up there in just over 2 hours(it nearly take 2 hours to get to thomond park in limerick on a good day so if that ain't progress I don't know what is!)

JupiterKid

Claregalway is a really nasty bottleneck. It's clear that some sort of interim relief road is desperately needed to bypass the village, like what was done at Kinnegad and Enfield.

transylman

fricatus wrote: »

What is it about Galway? Both local authorities there really seem to be good on communication and positive spin, basically "talking things up". Other local authorities, take note!

Compare the M17 site with this:
http://n9-n10kilcullen-waterford.ie/

Even the NRA's site is not as up to date as it should be, although I've just checked what I was going to complain about and now I see it's up to date!

Yeah, but they're completely rubbish at getting anything done. This road was supposed to have been built in 2006. They even put off building the Claregalway bypass in 2004 because they thought it wouldnt be necessary with the DC coming so soon. Fair dues to whoever takes care of putting up the information, but Galway co co in general are one of the least competent councils in Ireland.

Chris_533976

E92 wrote: »

Cullahill to Port Loaise

Thats the M7/M8 project, which has actually started I think. Its a tough one to see because its all offline, and away from either the N7 or N8.

Irish and Proud

JupiterKid wrote: »

If the N17 is going to be replaced with the M17, and the N18 from Limerick will be upgraded to motorway, then where these roads meet the new M6 should be a fully free flowing interchange like a Whirlpool or a Four Level Stack.

But I can't see this happening - it will probably be a nasty three level roundabout.:rolleyes:

It will be a three level roundabout with the N6 under and the M17/M18 over. However, four freeflow left slips will be provided, so the roundabout will only be dealing with right turning traffic. The M6 is projected to carry about 8000 pcus per day on opening, and I doubt that the M17/M18 will be carrying much more traffic. Unless the town of Athenry is to mushroom into a city, I guess that this interchange will more than suffice.

Regards!

Victor

galwayrush wrote: »

Way too far away to be a practical solution to Claregalway.:mad:I can't understand why it couldn't run between the Tuam and Headford roads, or the Tuam and Monivea roads,It could have had the potential so solve a lot if traffic woes. :mad:

Maybe because that would create huge detour for the majority of traffic?

Irish and Proud

skelliser wrote: »

it will be twenty years before any of this will be done by then the sawdoctors will be dead and ronan keating will re-record it.

I wouldn't be too pessimistic mate, the M17 will form part of the AWC which is next on the government's hit list after the interurbans. Although the interurbans are late, all remaining sections of the M7 and M9 motorways will be under construction by next year (all sections of the M6 and M8 are, at least, under construction already), and all these should be finished by the end of 2010.

Also, the N18 Gort to Crusheen and M18 Gort to Athenry (M6) will hopefully commence next year (pending how long the tendering process takes), and the latter project looks as if it will include the construction of much of the M6-M17/M18 interchange (this includes the M17/M18 overpass), so I guess that the M17 is actually high on the agenda. My guess is 2009 for construction to commence.

Regards!

Chris_533976

Q4 2008 for construction start on the N18 schemes. Archaeology is being done at the moment and I think tree/hedge clearance soon.

According to the NRA its Q4 2008 start, but you know how it is with contractors actually starting quite a while before the sod turning ceremonies.

D.L.R.

I'm somewhat surprised/confused as to why the N17/18 is getting priority over the N20. Surely more traffic/congestion on the 20 than the 17 (?)

E92

Because more people vote for Feel and Fail up there than down here, perhaps? They lost a lot of votes in Cork this time(though not a lot of seats unfortunately, actually it was just 2 of the 19 Dáil seats Cork is represented by, at least the people in my constituency had the decency to eject one of them(South Central)and along with the good people of Cork South West). Cork is neglected by the Government transport wise in general anyway.

Chris_533976

Plus the N18/17 come under the general political field of 'the Wehst' so get priority under the 'regional development and lets be nice to the Wehst' stakes.

The N20 connects Cork and Limerick and to put it bluntly, people dont moan about it as much. Theres no so much political will to get it done as there is will the stuff in the west.

Although the N18 needs doing as I've said many times, its a disgrace that its going to be finished before the N20 Mallow-Croom section (at least) is touched.

Zoney

Chris,

I do agree about the importance of the N20, but the N18 isn't really much less important.

Don't forget that the N18 not only has the N19 link to Shannon, but also serves Ennis which is rather a large town roughly the size of Navan (~24K/25K incl environs); bigger than Sligo (which has an entire "intercity" line to Dublin and the N4) and over twice the size of Mallow. Shannon in fact is not much smaller than Mallow.

So the N20 correspondingly has less intermediate traffic, and on all our national roads, end-to-end intercity traffic is limited enough. Even on the N7 and N8, the sections with mostly just intercity traffic (Nenagh BP or New Inn) see less traffic (about 10,000 AADT) than the capacity of standard two lane road. In fact the N9 between N7 and N10 junctions sees more traffic than that!

Of course, we probably should have more intercity traffic, it is likely constrained by having goat tracks serving as national roads in places.

spacetweek

loyatemu wrote: »

I think the important question here is - Will the Sawdoctors be re-recording their song?

# And I wish I was on that M17 #
# Blue signs and the median's green #
# Travellin' with my satnav on screen #

icdg

spacetweek wrote: »

# And I wish I was on that M17 #
# Blue signs and the median's green #
# Travellin' with my satnav on screen #

Yeah, except the median won't be green, its gonna be another concrete barrier job like many recent schemes.

murphaph

icdg wrote: »

Yeah, except the median won't be green, its gonna be another concrete barrier job like many recent schemes.

So "stone walls and the grass is green" can stay?

gally74

great news here,

this will be a great road for the West of ireland and open up the whole provience