N18 - Limerick Tunnel & South Ring Road Phase II

Tech3

black47 wrote: »

Bad news on the early opening of this section folks. Got an email form Direct route yesterday stating emphatically that there were no plans to open this section ahead of overall completion next year. Too much trouble with tie-ins and traffic management

Thats a pity but I can see them getting this section done early before the rest of it even if it does not open to traffic. Hard to tell when they will get this done as its not that long of a stretch.

Run_to_da_hills

black47 wrote: »

Bad news on the early opening of this section folks. Got an email form Direct route yesterday stating emphatically that there were no plans to open this section ahead of overall completion next year. Too much trouble with tie-ins and traffic management

Good news for the owners of the Tarbert Ferry, Im sure they are dreading the opening of this route.

clon

In todays Irish Examiner, really very informative telling us that the tunnel is to open ahead of time by Sept. 2010.The 17th Sept 2010 is the date set on the tunnel website limericktunnel.com.

http://www.examiner.ie/ireland/underwater-tunnel-highway-set-to-open-for-traffic-next-year-98040.html

L1011

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Good news for the owners of the Tarbert Ferry, Im sure they are dreading the opening of this route.

Not really. Every time I've used the Tarbert ferry it was because the option of going through Limerick was just too long. The tunnel won't make the drive to Limerick from Clare and back to north Kerry any shorter, just the city bit of it!

Chris_533976

clon wrote: »

In todays Irish Examiner, really very informative telling us that the tunnel is to open ahead of time by Sept. 2010.The 17th Sept 2010 is the date set on the tunnel website limericktunnel.com.

http://www.examiner.ie/ireland/underwater-tunnel-highway-set-to-open-for-traffic-next-year-98040.html

Fair play to the Mayor for having some fantastic facts at their disposal :rolleyes:

Mayor of Limerick Cllr Kevin Kiely, following a visit to the tunnel site, said: "Such is the rate of progress being made, there is a good chance the tunnel will be open ahead of schedule as early as September 2010."

Its been scheduled for September 2010 as early as 2006.

Zoney

Google maps shows Listowel to Ennis as 1 hr 28 mins via ferry, and 1 hr 42 via Limerick, and that's before the 120 km/h sections of M18 and M20 come into effect, nevermind the tunnel!

Obviously this example doesn't at all cover all cases (e.g. going from North Kerry to Kilkee or such) but it does illustrate that even more than at present, Tarbert Ferry will be strictly of use for local traffic only in the future.

mysterious

Surely it could open earlier than another year? It looks mostly done.

serfboard

Zoney wrote: »

Google maps shows Listowel to Ennis as 1 hr 28 mins via ferry, and 1 hr 42 via Limerick, and that's before the 120 km/h sections of M18 and M20 come into effect, nevermind the tunnel!

Obviously this example doesn't at all cover all cases (e.g. going from North Kerry to Kilkee or such) but it does illustrate that even more than at present, Tarbert Ferry will be strictly of use for local traffic only in the future.

Agreed. Having used the ferry a few times myself, when the tunnel is open their business will take a hit.

Chris_533976

mysterious wrote: »

Surely it could open earlier than another year? It looks mostly done.

There will be a lot of time due to testing and outfitting of the tunnel, then fire brigade training etc etc. I remember the Lee Tunnel being done for ages before it was opened.

Tunnels are strange beasts. I do think it'll probably open a little early, but not terribly early. The tie in at the N18 end has a load of work to do too

Carawaystick

A friend was telling me of a friend of his who worked in the M50 tunnel doing the finishing off work. There's a huge amount of health and safety checks to be done before any workers are allowed in to do any work, they were getting engineers to do labouring work as it was cheaper than qualifying up new people.

Also the fans are very temperamental to install and there's very few people worldwide to make and install them.

Then after the road is finished and ready to go, the operating staff need to be trained up and then the brigade. I understand the qualifying for these is based on a set period of time - so it can't be rushed by cramming or overtime.

The M50 tunnel was finished boring in August 04[1], while the tunnel opened in December 06[2]

The Jack Lynch tunnel took over 4 years of construction too[3]


[1] http://www.friendsoftheirishenvironment.org/paperstoday/index.php?do=paperstoday&action=view&id=5029

[2] http://www.dublinporttunnel.ie/about/

[3] http://www.corkcorp.ie/roads/infrastructuralprojects/jacklynchtunnel/

Saw the Cratloe bridge this weekend - are they going to do any work on the older bit of dual carriageway at two mile inn (?) where you can cross from one side to the other across the center?

Zoney

Deleted User wrote: »

Saw the Cratloe bridge this weekend - are they going to do any work on the older bit of dual carriageway at two mile inn (?) where you can cross from one side to the other across the center?

This will be replaced by a roundabout. See this map. The other crossover (or "switchback") was replaced a year or two ago by the roundabout for Coonagh Cross Tesco.

I'm guessing the N18 will be reclassified to end at the ring road junction, so that will mean continuous median N18/M18 dual carriageway from there to Rathmorrissey (M6) once Crusheen-Gort/Gort-Athenry are done.

pajoguy

There was macadam layed in the tunnel recently from what I have heard and the expected opening date is May though the contractors are saying september.

The N-18 will remain so as far as Drumline interchange at Shannon due to the direct access onto the dual carriageway from limerick to shannon as well as inadequate alignment.

black47

pajoguy wrote: »

There was macadam layed in the tunnel recently from what I have heard and the expected opening date is May though the contractors are saying september.

The N-18 will remain so as far as Drumline interchange at Shannon due to the direct access onto the dual carriageway from limerick to shannon as well as inadequate alignment.

May 2009 would be great. Less than a year to wait. Hopefully Gort Crusheen will also open next summer

nordydan

black47 wrote: »

May 2009 would be great

It would be, but May 2010 is probably more realistic at this stage

black47

nordydan wrote: »

It would be, but May 2010 is probably more realistic at this stage

Nice one

Tech3

If its going to be next May then its great news. There is a load of lamposts erected near the dock rd junction and Ballykeefe overbridge. Mainline is the same as of yesterday!! I think the concrete barrier has been done at the M20/M7 junction as you can see it from the M20. I'm not sure how far it stretches eastwards.

BluntGuy

What's best about the N7/M7 and M20 schemes is that they are all going to link together cohesively, which really is a first for this country.

How is that junction shaping up?

Chris_533976

Reasonably well anyway But be prepared for uproar when people suddenly notice the current M20north to Childers road will be removed. We're of course in the know in this forum but I'd hazard that 90% of Limerick doesnt realise that this access is going to disappear for good soon.

BluntGuy

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Reasonably well anyway But be prepared for uproar when people suddenly notice the current M20north to Childers road will be removed. We're of course in the know in this forum but I'd hazard that 90% of Limerick doesnt realise that this access is going to disappear for good soon.

Has the dock road received any improvements to cater for this? The junction looks woefully inadequate - a miserable dumbell.

pajoguy

BluntGuy wrote: »

What's best about the N7/M7 and M20 schemes is that they are all going to link together cohesively, which really is a first for this country.

How is that junction shaping up?

Well the idea of closing the childers road link in by the quality hotel means that this whole bringing together of these roads and no access to the city from here will mean bottlenecks on the Dooradoyle road and the Dock road and the already mad ballysimon road. I agree with the point also that 90% of people dont realise this closure will happen....... Did the Quality Hotel people know this when building? Madness!:mad::mad::mad:

Chris_533976

BluntGuy wrote: »

Has the dock road received any improvements to cater for this? The junction looks woefully inadequate - a miserable dumbell.

It got tarred, thats about it. AFAIK it jams up almost the whole way to the junction with the SRR2 as it stands, never mind when Childers gets removed.

Also a ton of people will drive to the Dock Rd junction, do a loop at it, then go back to Childers.

Tech3

BluntGuy wrote: »

Has the dock road received any improvements to cater for this? The junction looks woefully inadequate - a miserable dumbell.

The dock rd has become alot worse over the last year mainly because the city council threw up several traffic lights along the road. It's not as jammed when traffic gets to where the dock rd junction will be usually.

Zoney

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Reasonably well anyway But be prepared for uproar when people suddenly notice the current M20north to Childers road will be removed. We're of course in the know in this forum but I'd hazard that 90% of Limerick doesnt realise that this access is going to disappear for good soon.

Told a few taxi drivers but some didn't entirely believe me.

Zoney

Final surface being applied to hard shoulder & inner lane of the westbound M7 approaching Rosbrien interchange and new M7 mainline, the slip between westbound M7 and southbound M20, and the hard shoulder & inner lane of the M20 just at where the slip joins.

My guess is traffic is going to be put across this very soon to facilitate building the rest of the junction - one wonders if the access from westbound M7 to Childers Road will be closed off now rather than later (it won't be available in the final junction layout).

bacon&cabbage

Zoney wrote: »

My guess is traffic is going to be put across this very soon to facilitate building the rest of the junction - one wonders if the access from westbound M7 to Childers Road will be closed off now rather than later (it won't be available in the final junction layout).

The'll surely wait until SRR II opens. Alot of traffic still use that access especially in the morning

:eek:...there'll be war when they do eventually close access. I'm not sure that many people outside of this forum are aware of it

Zoney

Well, as I anticipated, traffic from the end of the M7 (J30) is now using the new Rossbrien Interchange's sliproad onto the M20, and citybound access from westbound M7 is now permanently unavailable (for now there are "diversion" signs for traffic to go citybound by doing a U turn across J2 Dooradoyle onto M20 northbound - but M20 north onto Childers Road will later be extinguished too).

Passed by it today - there's quite a solid flow of traffic on the slip from M7 to M20 - more like a mainline lane than a slip road - it may have been better to have the M20 from city direction as only one lane, with the M7 slip joining as the second lane. The current arrangement at the end of the slip seems permanent (proper surfacing) where the slip just merges with an existing two lanes like any other slip road onto a mainline.

Incidentally the M20 motorway restrictions sign is *after* the slip from M7 joins - hopefully a temporary situation (the restrictions will have to begin at the point where other traffic joins the M20 from Childers Road or the new N7 eastbound - also that slip is part of the M7 so there should only be an M20 route confirmation sign, not a "chopsticks" sign after the merge).

AA roadwatch link.

bacon&cabbage

Zoney wrote: »

citybound access from westbound M7 is now permanently unavailable id=102840"]link[/URL].

yes Zoney you were correct, I didn't think they would close access so quickly. The heavy machinery has already moved on to the closed section.

Nice to have even a small bit of new road open finally

ilovegermany

Hi,

Just wondering if anybody knows if there is any place to get any images/drawings of what the M7/M20 interchange is planned to look like?

Zoney

Diagram of the new layout on the Limerick Tunnel website here.