M7 - Castletown to Nenagh

Chong

I strongly believe this wont be open this side of Xmas with the weather coming the end of the week, its not gonna be open on the 20th .

fresca

Furet wrote: »

Exactly. I don't know why so many people seem to assume that Fridays = road opening days.

Because most politicans are back in their constituencies on friday's.
They're in the dail on tuesdays, wednesday & thursdays.

chalky2005

Passing both the Monegal exit and then getting on to the motorway. Contractors were back on strike. They had all the exits blocks and had signs up looking for there money. Looks like they havent being paided yet. It's a great country we live.

Sponge Bob

Dempsey is on holidays from the 23rd and you can be sure it won't be opened till he comes back from holidays in January.

slinky2000

working road openings around their holidays, Nice

MidlandsM

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Dempsey is on holidays from the 23rd and you can be sure it won't be opened till he comes back from holidays in January.

yeah, but he needs more than a road opening to save his career/seat in Dail Eireann.

Robo_Mike

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1213/m7.html

Doesn't look good for an opening this side of Christmas!

Garda S Horgan

I would have expected that if this was going to be opened soon that it would be already in the NRA site or that someone would be organising it. 20th is just a week away.
One last journey through the villages and maybe some curry chips at Sal's Diner for old times sake.

Yours etc,
GSH.

rainbowdash

The contractors don't have much leverage in holding up the opening. With the Nenagh - Limerick section complete this new 3km section of motorway won't save much time for people as the remaining towns are not major bottlenecks and the old road is pretty good.

swingking

ffs. I was really hoping this would have been open soon. There is no way people are gonna support their bullsh1t protest so they can all fcuk off!!! :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

limerick_lady

rainbowdash - I assume you mean 36km?

-Corkie-

rainbowdash wrote: »

The contractors don't have much leverage in holding up the opening. With the Nenagh - Limerick section complete this new 3km section of motorway won't save much time for people as the remaining towns are not major bottlenecks and the old road is pretty good.

Is that section only 3 km in length. I thought it was longer..

Edit that must be a typo. Why dont we all email the NRA...

Tech3

If it falls into 2011 then the government failed on their promise that the MIU programme would be complete by end 2010. It would be also dissapointing that the road might not be open before Christmas one of the busiest times of the year for traffic.

Amtmann

Story on RTE:

A dispute over pay has halted work on the final section of the M7 Dublin to Limerick motorway, which was due to open by the end of the month.
Employees of KC Civil Engineering say they have not received their pay cheques for December and are protesting on site and preventing works going ahead.
A spokesman for approximately 40 protesting workers said it is believed that a dispute involving the main contractor is holding up payments.
A conciliation award for additional payments to the main contractor Bowen Somague Joint Venture reportedly in the region of €20m is being appealed by the National Roads Authority and Laois County Council.
The Castletown to Nenagh section, which links Borris-in-Ossory with Moneygall, Co Offaly, is the final 36km section of the M7.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1213/m7.html

rainbowdash

Sorry, I meant 36kM's.:o

lukejr

I drove the M7/N7 today, all the guys were out picketing on the new motorway exists, with signs demanding payment, they also have machinery parked across all exists and across the unopened motorway on the Nenagh side.

Just to note that on Sunday evening there was no protesters or machinery parked, so they must have set it up this morning.


As for the road, it does look finished, all the exists are lined and studded and the tie-in looks complete, the gates on the exists still haven't been removed yet though. The large concrete barriers have not been removed yet on either side of the motorway.

Anyone know the details of this dispute? There is very little information available on the actual issue of payment.

lukejr

Irish Times Article - TIM O'BRIEN - December 13, 2010, 18:00
Workers vow to obstruct M7 motorway

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/1213/breaking50.html

Workers on the final section of the new Dublin to Limerick motorway in Co Offaly who have not been paid since November 1st last, have vowed to prevent the motorway from opening.

The workers who earlier today blockaded entrances to site compounds along the 36-kilometre route between Borris-in-Ossory, Co Laois and Moneygall, Co Offaly said they would keep their blockade in place until their wages were paid.

They have also called on Taoiseach Brain Cowen, in whose constituency the motorway section is located, to intervene to get their wages paid before Christmas.

The workers have the support of their employer, K C Civil Engineering, a subcontractor on the €345 million project. Managing director of KC Civil Engineering Chris Wholey said his company had not been paid by the main contractor Bowen Somague Joint Ventu, which is in turn seeking payment of a conciliation award of €26 million from Laois County Council.

Mr Wholey said he had “a lot of sympathy” for the workers who were “all good men. If I had the money to pay them I would, but I haven’t been paid and the nature of the ’back to back’ contract is that if Bowen Somague do not get paid, then we do not get paid”.

Earlier this year Bowen Somague was awarded €26 million as a result of a conciliation process, based on a claim against Laois Co Council. Bowen Somague had claimed for money for additional work on the motorway scheme.

But the award is being appealed by the county council and while the process does provide for the council to pay the €26 million in advance of arbitration, the council said it requires a bond to be put in place to ensure the return of the money, should it eventually win. The council told The Irish Times it had a duty to protect the public purse.

However, a spokeswoman for Bowen Somague said the company had already put up a three percent insurance bond to ensure satisfactory completion of the motorway. She said the cost of a further bond was 100 per cent of its value, so there was no benefit in taking out a bond. She said the bond issue was something of a “red herring”.

The spokeswoman said all contractors and suppliers “have been paid up to date” for the original work, but she acknowledged some payments for the additional works had not been made, because Bowen Somague has not been paid and the ’back to back’ contracts mean for everyone to be paid the council must first pay.

She said Bowen Somague also had sympathy for the workers and added “it would be all fixed up if the council hadn’t appealed the conciliation award”.

The National Roads Authority is responsible for funding the project but authority chief executive Fred Barry said: “The Local Authority (not to mention the NRA) has no power to intervene in the commercial relationship between the Contractor and his subcontractors, and is not involved in the argument.”

Mr Barry told Local Fine Gael TD Noel Coonan: “Any subcontractor who feels he is owed money should deal with it under the terms of his contract with Bowen Somague “.

But last night Mr Wholey accused Mr Barry of “hiding behind the contract” and said the situation was unfair as it was not of his, or his workers’ making.

He said the dispute was essentially between Bowen Somague, Laois County Council and the National Roads Authority and he predicted his business may not survive if it had to endure a long arbitration process.

A spokesman for the workers who blockaded the site yesterday said they were hoping “some political clout” could be brought in just to pay the wages” even if the dispute is not solved.

He said there were about 30 employees of KC Civil Engineering as well as about 10 to 20 workers of other contractors or suppliers.

The motorway scheme is the last element of the Government’s €18billion plan to link the regional cities to the capital by 2010.

Berty

Being selfish I want the road open.

Being human I want families to have money for Christmas so I would agree with the blockade.

Godge

tech2 wrote: »

If it falls into 2011 then the government failed on their promise that the MIU programme would be complete by end 2010. It would be also dissapointing that the road might not be open before Christmas one of the busiest times of the year for traffic.

I thought the MIUs were to be completed by the end of 2006?

messi1985

this is fairly sickening, this was suppose to be open in november, cant see it opening before xmas now.. gonna be a pain for thousands driving that way over the holidays.. had said my goodbyes to moneygall and toom.. looks like a few more times ill be passing..:mad:

spacetweek

knipex wrote: »

Longest commute (time wise) I ever had was in Dublin.

I used to live in Ranelagh and by job moved to Clonee.

Leave at the wrong time and it could take 2 hours.

Of course I occasionally was faced with longer commutes, but I've had a history of moving closer to work each time.

b2dadizzle wrote: »

I can't believe this road was started in 1983. It's unbelievable. Does this happen in other countries also?

Irish people have a habit of thinking that bad or poorly organised things only happen in this country.
The A1 Autobahn in Germany was the first to be started in the 30s... and they still haven't finished it.
And as other posters pointed out, the journalist that said that the "road was started in 1983" wasn't actually correct. It was only planned to run to Portlaoise in I believe the 1994 Road Needs Study, and to Limerick in 1999.

ainiseoir

MYOB wrote: »

Just looked at my work calendar and I need to head to Kerry on Dec 1st.

Which means with my IMPECCABLE road scheme timing, this should open on Dec 2nd....

Anybody got any tips on that roundabout where the motorway from Limerick to Dublin disappears. Leads on the the N7 for Toomevara, Nenagh etc.
I had trouble negotiating it in both directions in the small hours of the morning. The signposting seems hopelessly inadequate and my Sat Nav thinks the entire motorway is open for business!
I'm due to use it in a few days time. Just follow the "D" regs I suupose.

spacetweek

Come on Gov, get it sorted. Doesn't seem like an intractable problem. Find the cash and deliver on at least one promise for a change!

It will be crappy if we have to always say "We finished a big interurban network of motorways in Ireland which was mainly built from 2005 and complete by the end of 2010, well with the exception of one bit that dragged on into the new year..."

roosterman71

I don't know why Laois Co Co are so involved in this. Only about 3km of the road is in the county.

veryangryman

I for one think its perfectly acceptable to not pay your staff after youve got what you want from them.

Sarcasm detector on overload

I have sympathy for the workers, but if it were a road i actually use, would probably be slightly less. Imagine if Moate bypass was held up by this drivel... From what i hear the old road is fine with minimal bottlenecks and a pretty low accident record - whats the time saving going to be anyway when it opens - 10 minutes maybe?

In summary, who cares how long it takes to open. Give the guys their money. They earned it (although it has to be the shoddiest motorway project in recent years in terms of time taken + quality of junctions)

Frank Black

Unlikely to open prior to Christmas though road is effectivly complete. Some pavement testing to be carried out, in the absense of which a taking over certificate cannot be issued to the Contractor. Given the current blocade on the site it's unlikley this will get sorted until the new year.

dmeehan

this is covered in thejournal.ie http://www.thejournal.ie/unpaid-workers-blockade-final-section-of-new-motorway-2010-12/

lukejr

Photo in the Irish Times today, good to get exposure in the national press:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/1214/1224285489686.html

CBYR1983

spacetweek wrote: »

Come on Gov, get it sorted. Doesn't seem like an intractable problem. Find the cash and deliver on at least one promise for a change!

It will be crappy if we have to always say "We finished a big interurban network of motorways in Ireland which was mainly built from 2005 and complete by the end of 2010, well with the exception of one bit that dragged on into the new year..."

Why should the taxpayer pay more for this road than the agreed price? Overruns? You're pulling my leg. I'd love a look at the Bowen bank accounts - probably looted by the owners.

knipex

ainiseoir wrote: »

Anybody got any tips on that roundabout where the motorway from Limerick to Dublin disappears. Leads on the the N7 for Toomevara, Nenagh etc.
I had trouble negotiating it in both directions in the small hours of the morning. The signposting seems hopelessly inadequate and my Sat Nav thinks the entire motorway is open for business!
I'm due to use it in a few days time. Just follow the "D" regs I suupose.

Drivign from Limerick to Dublin there is no roundabout on the motorway ?

I assume you mean either the roundabout after taking the offramp in Nenagh (where you just do a 360 degree, go back the way you came and follow the road) or the roundabout for the link road at Borris-in-Ossory (where it is signposted).