M8 motorway (general thread)

Hogzy

Have to agree with Larryone,

The quickest way to go from Cork to Dublin is by car on the M8...

People are begining to realise this so are driving instead of taking the train/flying/bus. And the Christmas period might have added to the amount of traffic

Chris_533976

The Fermoy bypass never did well before because it was only a 40km stretch of motorway, approx. People coming from Dublin on **** roads would just stay on **** roads to avoid the toll.

Now that theres motorway the whole way (almost), coming off to avoid the toll is a much bigger deal. So people are just paying it.

larryone

It used to drive me mad when the bus refused to take the Fermoy bypass after its openeing.
Often it didnt stop in Fermoy because this was a direct service.

Carawaystick

Furet wrote: »

Mitchelstown, Fermoy and Cahir each have two exits. Cashel's third exit (8) is down to gombeenism and was expanded recently by private interests at no extra public cost.

Surely it's the second exit that could be considered surplus, the first and third were there due to them being the start and end of the bypass?

Earlier schemes had more junctions, like Balbriggan-3 (and a half one if you counted the Five Roads gsj which is now back on the r132)
Dunleer has loads - Ardee, Collon, Dunleer

Even the drogheda bypass has several running together - there's not even room to sign the two exits for Donore and Duleek properly, and there's a new road built that links them in parallel to the Motorway.

Kinegad has two junctions going to Galway from Dublin, the eastern one obscures the M4/M6 junction. I've heard several people who aren't eejits missed the junction.

The fact there is an auxiliary lane mitigates almost all the issues with safety, it boils down to the cost to the taxpayer vs the benefit.

Cashel's a fairly big tourist draw, compared to it's population of 3k, so there'd be more traffic than a standard town of the same population, and more need to remove it.

Nenagh's original bypass was the opposite of gombeenism- no junction with the Thurles road.

Chris_533976

True... also apart from the need to build the Suck bridge as part of the PPP scheme, why does Ballinasloe need 2 junctions?

Carawaystick

Chris_533976 wrote: »

True... also apart from the need to build the Suck bridge as part of the PPP scheme, why does Ballinasloe need 2 junctions?

Where would you have the junction? The scheme was to the Athone/Balinasloe scheme, so there needed to be a junction there, for when one scheme finished ahead of the other. And the other junction enables toll dodgers to avoid driving through the town, increasing road safety, and providing faster access to the hospital, access to the M6 fro Portumna etc. traffic eastbound, and redundancy for when the original suck bridge is closed to be repaired.

Why has Moate two junctions? or Cahir?


How much does a junction cost? if there's a bridge going in anyway, the earthworks are probably small beans.
Having two roundabouts at a junctin(either side of the mainline) instead of a single dogbone shaped one would save paving unused useless road

emfifty

Chris_533976 wrote: »

The Fermoy bypass never did well before because it was only a 40km stretch of motorway, approx. People coming from Dublin on **** roads would just stay on **** roads to avoid the toll.

Now that theres motorway the whole way (almost), coming off to avoid the toll is a much bigger deal. So people are just paying it.

.........which was the whole idea in the first place.

Amtmann

Carawaystick wrote: »

Surely it's the second exit that could be considered surplus, the first and third were there due to them being the start and end of the bypass?

Yes, that's what I meant to clarify. Exits 7 and 9 were the result of the removal of the roundabouts in 2007/2008 and could be considered the standard two exits for any town along the M8. Exit 8 is the unusual one and it was originally included as a limited access junction to placate locals concerned about a lack of business (if I remember correctly!). Hence the gombeenism comment. I agree that the auxiliary lane was a good idea and since it and exit 8's recent re-build were done at private expense, I don't have a problem with it as such.
I suspect that in the grand scheme of things, exits don't cost very much anyway. An overbridge would have had to be provided in any case, so the cost of four sliproads (or two in the case of limited access junctions) plus signage and minor realignments wouldn't be too exorbitant when one is building, say, a 40km stretch of motorway - though I'm happy to be corrected on this point. BTW, here's a factoid: According to the EIS for the Cashel to Cullahill scheme, exit 7 was originally supposed to be limited access too.

Personally I don't think two junctions at any of the towns listed is too much. I think three is, though, for a small town such as Cashel; and I'd say that six definitely is for a town like Athlone.

Amtmann

Chris_533976 wrote: »

The Fermoy bypass never did well before because it was only a 40km stretch of motorway, approx. People coming from Dublin on **** roads would just stay on **** roads to avoid the toll.

Now that theres motorway the whole way (almost), coming off to avoid the toll is a much bigger deal. So people are just paying it.

It was only 16km, Chris. I agree. You'd want to be very stingy to come off the motorway to avoid it.

Carawaystick

I guess one benefit of lots of junctions is the fact there's less disruption when the motorway is closed. I was going form Cork to Dublin when the M8 southbound was closed to re-do the surface just before the start of the Mitchelstown bypass southbound. Cork bound traffic had to get off at the previous junction (Cahir south) and use the old road. they'd have had to use the ld road the whole way from Cahir if this junc. wasn't there. Similarly, when there's crashes, many junctions mean only a short section of the old route has to deal with the extra traffic.

I wonder if the intermediate junctions on the M8 are used much? If they dropped the price would the toll co. increase their revenue, as more trafic might use it?
I'd imagine this could be done for etolling easily, there'd be no staffing issues, and less cash to handle.

Amtmann

For those who like rummaging through old documents, this is a gold mine: http://www.pleanala.ie/search/index.php?q=n8+&case_scope=all&include_reports_etc=0

marmurr1916

larryone wrote: »

It used to drive me mad when the bus refused to take the Fermoy bypass after its openeing.
Often it didnt stop in Fermoy because this was a direct service.

I wish Bus Eireann would introduce a proper direct Cork-Dublin-Cork service.

I got the 4pm bus from Dublin yesterday afternoon, we didn't get to Cork until 9.15pm!

Part of the delay was due to the driver not using the bus lanes on the way out of Dublin (even though other Bus Eireann coaches were cruising past us), part was due to the weather (freezing fog from Dublin to near Portlaoise).

However, the main reason for the slowness of the journey was that the driver didn't use the motorway much after Portlaoise.

Instead he mainly used the old route at a steady 60km/h - then stopped in Cahir for 20 minutes for no particular reason.

That's the last time I'll be using Bus Eireann unless they introduce a non-stop direct service.

Almost all coaches in the UK have on-board toilets so they don't need to stop at the likes of Urlingford!

Irish Rail have four services from Cork to Dublin priced at 10 each way (5 for children) - 20 for an adult return ticket.

This compares to Bus Eireann's web price of 11.70 (7.20 for children) for a single ticket or 19.80 for an adult return.

Unless they get their act together, they're going to lose business to Irish Rail and/or private bus companies.

larryone

I had that experience every 2/3 weeks for about a year.
Then I got a car.

NedNew2

Does any else agree that the Parking Areas on the M8 are an inherently bad idea - they bring out the worst on us - i.e. they are filthy, full of rubbish and a complete eye-sore.

What a disappointment to see the lovely scenery of Tipperary and north Cork destroyed by black bags of rubbish, papers and discarded bottles thrown along the parking areas.

While the councils responsible may clean the areas from time to time (not nearly often enough), I believe this is not the solution. I think they should be completely closed as obviously us dirty Irish cannot respect the beautiful environment.

What a terrible impression they give - a beautiful country but dirty people.

(as an aside, Waterford Crystal many years ago did a survey on peoples perceptions of their Crystal when "Made in Ireland" was written on some products and "Irish Made" on others - the response was very positive for "Made in Ireland" as potential buyers associated it with beautiful, clean, green scenery but "Irish Made" was very negative with perceptions of untidy, careless and amateur workmanship by Irish people in general.)

csd

I think in the absence of proper rest areas, these parking areas should remain. However they should have proper bins, emptied daily. Is that really so difficult to manage?

/csd

Sponge Bob

Some people see a sign that says Welcome To Tipp when they cross the border from Laois and **** me they do !

Sponge Bob

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Some people see a sign that says Welcome To Tipp when they cross the border from Laois and **** me they do !

A couple of covert cameras and large fines for fly tippers should do the trick.

BluntGuy

Saw some works being carried out along M8 Cashel-Mitchelstown today, presumably to install the new emergency phones/concrete bases (incidentally, I saw someone using one on the Fermoy Bypass - again re-inforcing their necessity/usefulness).

Also of interest is a new "(100 km/h) speed limit ahead 400m" sign after Exit 18 and a rather interesting new brown sign before J17 heading northbound with Watergrasshill marked as "Alternative Route" and an ADS on the signage for Rathcormac and Watergrasshill. 'twas a curious find, I'll have to take a snap of it.

Oh and the horrible "M8 (Toll)" signs have been removed I noticed. Thank God.

Of more interest however is what is happening along the R639, I'd say over 100/200 new poles have been put up along the route between Cahir and the N73/M8 roundabout to facilitate re-signing. I saw poles at every single junction, ADS poles at regular intervals and even poles in the villages on route to replace signage there. Some of the old "N8" signage is gone already, so I'd expect the actual re-signing work to commence very soon. I've been anxious to see this done for a while, and it's good to see that an extensive job is being done of it.

Unfortunately I saw no evidence of work being carried out on any other sections of R639, so it seems the N73 Mitchelstown Bypass is to remain "N8" for now.

When they begin re-signing I'll try and get some snaps.

csd

BluntGuy wrote: »

Also of interest is a new "(100 km/h) speed limit ahead 400m" sign after Exit 18 and a rather interesting new brown sign before J17 heading northbound with Watergrasshill marked as "Alternative Route" and an ADS on the signage for Rathcormac and Watergrasshill. 'twas a curious find, I'll have to take a snap of it.

There's a similar sign heading east just before the tolled section of the M4 giving the intermediate towns along the old N4. Useful for those wanting to avoid the toll.

I was up and down the M8 myself yesterday, and the one thing that struck me was the amount of litter. Not just at the parking bays, but on the verges of the motorway itself. It was especially evident at the start of the northern end (heading south), almost like everyone who'd stocked up on junk food in Cullahill chucked the wrappers out the window as soon as they'd finished eating/drinking. It was disgusting, and I hope the council starts cleaning it up before the tourist season starts in earnest.

/csd

BluntGuy

csd wrote: »

I was up and down the M8 myself yesterday, and the one thing that struck me was the amount of litter.

Same here, it is revolting. Cartons, cans, McDonalds, bin bags, beer bottles... the works.

And it's just a never-ending stream, it honestly makes one wonder HOW can we produce THAT much litter.

Amtmann

You'd have to wonder about the type of mindset that says it's okay to just roll down your window and chuck your rubbish out. I know it was common in the 70s and 80s, but surely we've moved on since then...

KevR

Hopefully anyone who does get caught throwing litter out their car windows will get a hefty fine...

paddy cork

went up and down to dublin from cork yesterday and the thing i noticed most was apart from the bottles and plastic was the amount of rubber off tyres ,whole retreads and big chunks ot it.out of interest,is there motorway maintainence crews operating in ireland

Hogzy

Iv seen a Motorway Maintenance van on the Tolled part of the M8 by Fermoy.

Amtmann

Google Earth update showing images of north Cork/east Limerick, including Mitchelstown. No sign of the M8 south of junction 12 (bar some archaeological digs), as the images date from late 2006. Good earthworks are shown north-east of Mitchelstown itself though (C-M scheme).

L1011

Hogzy wrote: »

Iv seen a Motorway Maintenance van on the Tolled part of the M8 by Fermoy.

They're always there, the toll company has to maintain that bit to a certain standard.


However, there were little pickers on the Cashel-Mitchelstown section today (south of Cahir) IN THE SNOW:eek: Very very impressed to see that, pity they've not been there more often since it opened.

Irish and Proud

KevR wrote: »

Hopefully anyone who does get caught throwing litter out their car windows will get a hefty fine...

...there should also be penalty points for such offences - 2 points would not look too good to an insurance company - especially if they are in addition to ones already incurred!

Regards!

L1011

People appear to be having problems adjusting to the redesignation still.

Cyclist on the Glanmire BP southbound today (jhust after the last junction). Ring Trafficwatch, Glanmire Guards call me back. "Ah sure thats not motorway, its back down to 100".

Told the Guard it was motorway and he said he'd go out after him, but I doubt he did.

Stark

The behaviour of some people on the newest sections of motorway is proof to me as well that some people used to get off on holding up lines of traffic on the old N8. You come up behind someone who seems to be doing less than 100, start to overtake, they speed up to match your speed, you accelerate and pull in, they accelerate and pull in in front of you, then slow down. You overtake them again and they repeat the process. They don't even have the "He overtook me dangerously" excuse for getting high and mighty anymore.

L1011

I've had people do the overtake, fall back, overtake thing on me for three or four goes on the M8 *without* me changing the speed on my cruise control. Generally the only way to get shift of them is pass again and plant the foot for about thirty seconds!