M50 - road finish

whowantstwoknow

Hi,

have been recently traveling the M50 as they have opened up more of the 3 lanes etc. Now I might be jumping the gun (as they may not be complete), but what do others think of the road/tarmac finish, personally I think its pretty shoddy considering its a motorway, uneven surface, lane joints not great, weaving lanes etc. Now compare it to the upgraded lanes on say the M7, these are alot better.

Just seeing what other people think about it...

W.

Ay Cee

Slightly related. Is there a reason what the extreme left lane of the 4 lane section of the M50 has it's lines painted shorter and wider than the other lanes?

Was just wondering it this morning.

L1011

To signify its an auxillary lane for those travelling between / leaving at the next junction - the lane 'drops' at the junction so you can't continue along the mainlane in that lane. We just 'forget' to use this most other places theres a lane drop on the Irish road network - N4 at Lucan for instance.

Seth Brundle

I think the surface on the new sections of the M50 is a lot better than it was. I suppose that it could have been done better but aren't surfaces meant to be designed to a certain EU spec?
As for the leftmost lane markings, isn't that to indicate that it is for traffic moving from one junction to the next and its not a continuous lane?

quarryman

anyone know why the speed limit is still at 60kmh for the new section?

Seth Brundle

Because AFAIK its still not finished - people still working along it

colsers22

With traffic of course permitting, does anyone actually adhere to the 60kph limit? I have tried and have been blown out of it, so gave up.

milltown

whowantstwoknow wrote: »

Hi,

have been recently traveling the M50 as they have opened up more of the 3 lanes etc. Now I might be jumping the gun (as they may not be complete), but what do others think of the road/tarmac finish, personally I think its pretty shoddy considering its a motorway, uneven surface, lane joints not great, weaving lanes etc. Now compare it to the upgraded lanes on say the M7, these are alot better.

Just seeing what other people think about it...

W.

Hopefully it won't hold nearly as much water as the M7 though. That thing is fricking lethal after a good shower!

quarryman

Yep it makes sense to keep it at 60kmh if it there are people working on it but I've kept an eye out and haven't seen any.

lynchie

whowantstwoknow wrote: »

Hi,

have been recently traveling the M50 as they have opened up more of the 3 lanes etc. Now I might be jumping the gun (as they may not be complete), but what do others think of the road/tarmac finish, personally I think its pretty shoddy considering its a motorway, uneven surface, lane joints not great, weaving lanes etc. Now compare it to the upgraded lanes on say the M7, these are alot better.

Just seeing what other people think about it...

W.

On the left lane of the n4 - n7 section of M50S the cats' eyes were not laid in line with the painted lines. Cant remember if it was the hard should line or the thicker auxiliary line.

Steve

Does anyone know if they installed the land mines in the left lane to stop people using it (same as the N7).:rolleyes:

Drove the 3-lane section on Sunday and there was definitely something up with the left lane as drivers were avoiding it like the plague.

Centre and right lanes seemed OK though, lots of traffic.

barryfitz

stevec wrote: »

Does anyone know if they installed the land mines in the left lane to stop people using it (same as the N7).:rolleyes:

Drove the 3-lane section on Sunday and there was definitely something up with the left lane as drivers were avoiding it like the plague.

Centre and right lanes seemed OK though, lots of traffic.

Well said. It would seem as though some people cant see it at all. Useless knuts

Seth Brundle

quarryman wrote: »

Yep it makes sense to keep it at 60kmh if it there are people working on it but I've kept an eye out and haven't seen any.

I think there are also slow moving vehicles (tractors, etc. moving from one section to another which justifies the reduced limit.

drunkdaz

Have to agree, the surface is a disgrace. Typical of late, shoddy and rushed; seems to be the norm in Ireland at the moment for the taxpayer to get given a halfarsed job.
Its the same (though to a lesser degree) with the extension of the M4 to Kinnegad. The surface of the newer section is nowhere near as good as the original section to Kilcock. Indeed they had to patch new sections in a few months after it opened iirc.

L1011

The original M4 was one of the best surfaced roads in the country, admittedly. Only small sections before the Celbridge Interchange outbound - heaviest trafficked bit - have been patched in the 15 years its been opened. Rest is the original 1993 surface!

Gegerty

colsers22 wrote: »

With traffic of course permitting, does anyone actually adhere to the 60kph limit? I have tried and have been blown out of it, so gave up.

Blown out of it? Were you sitting in lane 2 or 3 by any chance?

I think the new surface is a disgrace. This is a brand new surface and its not like it was done on the cheap. There are sections that are far too bumpy for a 120kph speed limit.

L1011

Gegerty wrote: »

There are sections that are far too bumpy for a 120kph speed limit.

That might be because the intent is to have 100km/h limit on it once its fully opened...

Gegerty

MYOB wrote: »

That might be because the intent is to have 100km/h limit on it once its fully opened...

#

Yeah and guess where the speed cameras will be.

Bendihorse

Usually they dont put down the final layer of Tar until all works in relation to the road are fully finished. If theres still heavy machinery associated with the road works moving about on site or using the newly opened bit the last, they wont have put down the final layer of tar yet. The final layer of tar and road painting are the VERY LAST thing to go down on a road before its fully open to the public - i.e. that the contractors are about to pull off site.

whowantstwoknow

Bendihorse wrote: »

Usually they dont put down the final layer of Tar until all works in relation to the road are fully finished. If theres still heavy machinery associated with the road works moving about on site or using the newly opened bit the last, they wont have put down the final layer of tar yet. The final layer of tar and road painting are the VERY LAST thing to go down on a road before its fully open to the public - i.e. that the contractors are about to pull off site.

Thats what I would hope for, but if the lanes have the catseyes installed, wouldn't that imply the last layer of tarmac?

W.

Bendihorse

That doesn't necessarily mean its the final layer, as its the M50, there will have been a provision in the contract to get the road opened in sections as soon as they are usable, that would involve marking them out temporarily and studding them. They would be a requirement on the road as a heavy volume of traffic will be using it.

More than likely the county council/NRA will have paid the contractor within the original contract, to put down 'temporary' markings and studs in order for it open and be functional, and also premanent final road markings on completion of the job.

whosedaddy?

and what additional disruption would re-surfacing the entire 4 lanes cause?
Also there are very few heavy machines around these days.

Final layer should be the last thing BEFORE opening for full taffic flow with final speed limits in place.

I can't see it happen at this stage tbh.

cjt156

Agree, reckon this is the finished product - the limit is up to 100kmh too I think.