N18 - Limerick Tunnel & South Ring Road Phase II

sonyair

the rosbrien slip from the m20 which gives access to the city will close from monday the 21st to facilitate the construction of the final section of median, expected opening date of 16th july all in limerick post today.
on page 2 top left
http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/digitaleditions.aspx?tab=0&pid=16d2df0b-b84b-4602-a4f3-05634de2cff3#

Tech3

Apparently there is no parking near the dock rd interchange. There is P&R facilities in Kilmurry lodge. I might just walk from my house

Zoney

What time is anyone going to this? I won't be going till this afternoon if I can fit it in.

P+R is from Kilmurry Lodge (Dublin Road), City Plaza (Tipp Road) and Limerick Racecourse (M20/Patrickswell) - seemingly Dock Road access is pedestrian only which seems a bit strange given it isn't the most accessible location except by car!

bacon&cabbage

Zoney wrote: »

What time is anyone going to this? I won't be going till this afternoon if I can fit it in.

P+R is from Kilmurry Lodge (Dublin Road), City Plaza (Tipp Road) and Limerick Racecourse (M20/Patrickswell) - seemingly Dock Road access is pedestrian only which seems a bit strange given it isn't the most accessible location except by car!

Was just there, plenty of parking at the Dock road interchange

phog

tech2 wrote: »

Apparently there is no parking near the dock rd interchange. There is P&R facilities in Kilmurry lodge. I might just walk from my house

Loads of Parking

phog

A link to a few pics I took at the open day today.

Roundabout at Castlemungret



Facing the tunnel


Approch to Tunnel


Inside the tunnel



Mid Point of the Shannon



Exit at Clare Side



Pano - from the Limerick side towards the tunnel

blindsider

16th July looking very likely for opening according to local sources.

Amtmann

When did the NRA decide this would be N18 rather than N7?

CerebralCortex

Had a walk in around it, very impressive. One question I do have is, and it may be obvious, but are there any restrictions to the heights of the vehicles permitted?

phog

CerebralCortex wrote: »

Had a walk in around it, very impressive. One question I do have is, and it may be obvious, but are there any restrictions to the heights of the vehicles permitted?

There was no obvious signs (that I saw anyway) so I take it that it has the same clearance as the bridges on the M7.

Chris_5339762

Furet wrote: »

When did the NRA decide this would be N18 rather than N7?

Not sure, but its a shame they didnt call it N7 because then it may have been M7

-Corkie-

How come its another month from opening and its all finished looking from the pics above....

WalterMitty

just saw this on news . it cost 660million for less than a kilometre! is that normal cost for a tunnel?

yuloni

This post has been deleted.

D'Peoples Voice

Furet wrote: »

When did the NRA decide this would be N18 rather than N7?

Furet - if they called the tunnel the N7,
would they not have to re-designate every sign between Dublin to Limerick to reflect the fact that Limerick would not more be the destination point for the N7 out of Dublin!
I think it makes sense for all the routes N1 up to N11 to end on a coastline ( Belfast, Derry, Ballshannon, Sligo, Galway, Limerick, Cork, Waterford and Wexford).

L1011

You left out Westport and the N10 doens't end on a coast

D'Peoples Voice

MYOB wrote: »

You left out Westport and the N10 doens't end on a coast

you what I meant!

lukejr

WalterMitty wrote: »

just saw this on news . it cost 660million for less than a kilometre! is that normal cost for a tunnel?

That price also includes nearly 10km of dual carriageway, plus junctions connecting to M20, M7 and N18 and also to the Dockroad and Coonagh.

Land purchase also made up a considerable chunk of the scheme.

The Word Is Bor

SARASON wrote: »

How come its another month from opening and its all finished looking from the pics above....

I would imagine it is down to the fire officer certifying the tunnel and it's safety procedures along with the Stage 3 Road Safety Audit. The tie-ins may not be fully completed yet not to mention all the required signage.

Also the road may be built but the paper-work necessary to certify substantial completion might not be in hand yet.

TestTransmission

Did the walk today and noticed they had speed limits posted at 30kph on the electronic signs.

Surely that won't be the limit when it is opened?Or was that just for anyone using it today.

Chris_5339762

Nah I reckon they just wanted something on the signs. In those pics above the word CONTRAFLOW was on another sign.

Looks a step up from the digital signage of the Lee Tunnel. Tho that has a habit of saying that the left lane in one bore is closed but the bollards actually close the right.

CerebralCortex

The Word Is Bor wrote: »

I would imagine it is down to the fire officer certifying the tunnel and it's safety procedures along with the Stage 3 Road Safety Audit. The tie-ins may not be fully completed yet not to mention all the required signage.

Also the road may be built but the paper-work necessary to certify substantial completion might not be in hand yet.

Well the interchange isn't finished either yet on the N18 side although most of the work now is superficial.

Amtmann

RTE news report: http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0619/limerick_av.html

mackerski

Mapped now on OpenStreetMap.

What you see is a mix of what has been surveyed (the part that was open for the open day plus the two tie-ins on the existing N18) and some extrapolation between these points. We'll adjust the mapping on opening, or sooner if anybody can donate GPS traces.

Tech3

I renamed the thread N18 over 2 months ago. I saw a ADS sign on the previous newsletter. To be honest it makes sense having it the N18.

I was very impressed after having a look at it yesterday. There is emergency phones on the stretch. Photos to be uploaded in a day or two.

corktina

of course it makes sense to be the N/M18..that way the M7/18 and 20 all end at the same point (more or less) at Limerick...it will make a huge difference to journeys along the Western Road Corridor:).

emfifty

Furet wrote: »

RTE news report: http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0619/limerick_av.html

based on this report the tunnel will open end of july. sounds about right.

(it's a fine road but one thing that always bugs me is the fitting of signs to an incorrect gantry size. same happened on the m6 kilbeggen to athlone and it looks terrible!)

Tech3

phog wrote: »

Loads of Parking

Yep there was plenty of it. I just parked on the hard shoulder of the main road towards the industrial estate.

It was a great day out especially with the weather cast over the city brought even more people out to see it. Junction 1 at Rossbrien to the off ramp at junction 2 were blocked off to pedestrians. Access was allowed for pedestrians on the westbound carriageway from there to the Tunnel and just past it. The eastbound carriageway was for security/media/live95fm (even though some decided to walk it)

The road ploughs through Bunlicky lake and then makes it's decent towards the tunnel. Footpath on both sides of the tunnel and no hard shoulder in each bore. Access doors every couple of meters to escape onto the other bore in case of emergencys. Coming out on the Clare side there was tea/coffee facilities which provided a bit of energy for the return journey.

I travelled back on the eastbound carrigeway and was just as good. Passed some ADS for J2 which I will post up eventually. Some books and caps to commemorate the event were on sale for 5 euro and the procceds went to charity. All in all a very good day of viewing one of the finest infrastructural projects ever to be carried out in this country.

Mc Love

Pics here:

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=66488297#post66488297

phog

Mc Love wrote: »

Pics here:

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=66488297#post66488297

and here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=66488771&postcount=549

and here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=66488695&postcount=30

and my full set here :cool: