M8 - Mitchelstown to Fermoy

dowlingm

In fairness, I think the relief road will be fine once the main Dublin-Cork traffic is removed. At that point an 80km limit in both directions would likely be appropriate. I'm from the locality and it sure as hell beats the old ways of getting from N8 to N72 or the Glanworth road.

larryone

You mean N72 or N73??

trellheim

I drove the entire thing twice at the weekend, back and forth Dublin->Trabolgan

The comment about people going straight through Mitchelstown is valid ... however I took the roundabouts .... it's absolutely fine.

I wasn't too hassled about coming onto N road again, because you know you're going to pick up Motorway very shortly

and from Cullahill to M7/N8 junction is only about < 20 mins

larryone

Hi trellheim,

Did you go through when it was heavilly conjested?
When traffic is light enough, all is well and good, but Durrow can be troublesome under heavy conditions, and Abbeyleix in particular is a nightmare in heavy traffic.

As for the roundabouts on the Michelstown relief road, yea it's alright, but it's still not great.
I have often found the centre of the town is a faster route - in both light and heavy traffic conditions. The existance of climbing lanes on the relief road does make life a little easier.
Sometimes when I'm driving through Michelstown, I make note of vehicles (usually trucks) that are heading around to see if I see them again on the motorway. If I ever stop for fuel or something, then I tend to pass the same trucks on the motorway, otherwise I dont see them again...

dowlingm

Doh... N73...

(in fairness I usually call it the Kildorrery road because nobody would know where the hell the N73 is)

BluntGuy

Could somebody send me a link to the examiner article mentioned above?

D'Peoples Voice

Furet wrote:

Must admit I never had to wait many times times for cattle to cross at milking time at that spot, 24seconds into your video.
With the motorway we'll never have to stop for cattle crossing:D

emfifty

just thought i would throw my name in on this post as there are 2 posts currently running on the M8 scheme....

Amtmann

A fatality on the N8 yesterday just where the relief road meets the older N8 south of Mitchelstown. A 26 year old woman was killed. This section of the N8 seems wide and straight, but is obviously a serious blackspot, as the four roadside headstones all within 100 metres of each other clearly indicate. I thought we were getting away lightly in terms of death on the N8 between Mitchelstown and Fermoy this year, but sadly I thought wrong.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0426/rta.html

bill_ashmount

I came across one today just before the roundabout that leads to Mitchelstown. 2 cars in absolute bits, Guards had the area cordoned off, no sign of the car occupants, I assume they had been taken away in an ambulance. Not sure if there was any fatalities yet. This was at 7.30 am. The area had been cleared by 11.30 when I drove back.

BluntGuy

A complete tragedy...

There isn't really much you can say.

Amtmann

bill_ashmount wrote: »

I came across one today just before the roundabout that leads to Mitchelstown. 2 cars in absolute bits, Guards had the area cordoned off, no sign of the car occupants, I assume they had been taken away in an ambulance. Not sure if there was any fatalities yet. This was at 7.30 am. The area had been cleared by 11.30 when I drove back.

I wonder if that was a new crash, or the remnants of the fatal one from last night. I don't understand why that area is such a black spot. It is so wide and straight; if you look you can see embankments which indicate a substantial realignment took place here in the 70s or early 80s. Yet, like I said, there are at least four headstones there. And the relief road has seen its fair share of accidents too. I just hope there are no more...the M8 will open in four or five weeks. All in all though, I'd say the bit between Mitchelstown and Fermoy is by far the worst section of old/current N8 in terms of fatal accidents.

Amtmann

A few photos. Still very much on track for opening on 25 May.

The new overbridge concrete barrier style - no bulge on the carriageway to accomodate the bridge supports:


Three kilometres south of junction 13:


Same position, looking north:


About 2.5 km south of junction 13:


Same position, looking south:


ADS:


More ADS:


The wearing course:

BluntGuy

Hmmm... the second last picture. That's a curious ADS...

It's seems to be half-way inbetween the standard ADS fork signage and the mini-ADS fork signage.

Anyway, excellent photos Furet as usual, and well on track for a few weeks time.

Nice to see the road won't wobble all over the place - like C-M - under bridges. The style they've picked is somewhat presentable.

In fact, the photos seem to mirror the C-C scheme more than the C-M scheme, and that is by no means a bad thing.

Amtmann

BluntGuy wrote: »

Hmmm... the second last picture. That's a curious ADS...

It's seems to be half-way inbetween the standard ADS fork signage and the mini-ADS fork signage.

It's the only one that looks like that from what I've seen as only one destination (Mitchelstown itself) is signed for junction 13 south.

Nice to see the road won't wobble all over the place - like C-M - under bridges. The style they've picked is somewhat presentable.

In fact, the photos seem to mirror the C-C scheme more than the C-M scheme, and that is by no means a bad thing.

The surface seems to be excellent - smooth with good percolation. Water won't sit on it in wet weather. There are quite a few 'kinks' in the alignment, so it won't be as straight as C-C, but it will certainly be superior to C-M. Also, they seem to have planted a forest along parts of it - lots and lots of trees have been set.

BluntGuy

Furet wrote: »

There are quite a few 'kinks' in the alignment, so it won't be as straight as C-C, but it will certainly be superior to C-M. Also, they seem to have planted a forest along parts of it - lots and lots of trees have been set.

Yeah... I noticed the bends... it won't be as nice as C-C, but certainly it should be a pleasant drive.

Also, I'm hoping the landscaping will be excellent... it certainly seems to be heading that way.

Celtic Warrior

Nice Pictures furet! looking well the finished road

FIRE

Great pics Furet.

Have a few cheap flights booked up and down to Cork, so wont get to enjoy this road until June 1st.

Will be looking forward to it.

May even get to do a video on the way up.

BluntGuy

For me, this is probably the most exciting stretch of road to open this year. For some reason, it feels like a major turning point. The moment our motorway network begins to turn into something respectable. I don't quite know why.

Once this opens, it'll be possible to make the journey from Cork-Dublin, only coming off motorway (or HQDC) for a 20km. We are getting closer to that fabled day when we'll finally be able to go the whole 250 kilometers without stopping.

Of course, on that fabled day, we will also realise that's 250 kmwithout a SINGLE service area. But that's a different thread...

Let's just be excited about this opening. I know I certainly am.

L1011

BluntGuy wrote: »

Of course, on that fabled day, we will also realise that's 250 kmwithout a SINGLE service area. But that's a different thread...

Esso at Kill Cork->Dublin and Esso, Applegreen, Topaz, Esso in the other direction... :P

Sure, they're all within a few miles of one end of it...

Amtmann

Today I've been riding my MSA and landscaping hobby horses over on politics.ie of all places! A small amount of hostility to MSAs and a bit of sneering at the new motorways over there oddly enough.

BluntGuy

What an awful thread, full of unintelligible rubbish (apart from when you came in and started to deliver a few facts Furet ).

None-the-less, it's interesting to see people's views. Who knew a thread on the subject could become so lively, so quickly.

L1011

Ah, I see the standard delusion that all motorways across the world bar Ireland are up to the spec of the high-spec bits of the UK network has hit there too.

I challenge anyone who claims our network is below spec to drive in Belgium for a day...

Their time machines are excellent, a Jet station north of Swords?? Shell being involved in looking for a site? Has 1999 failed to happen there yet?

Carawaystick

FIRE wrote: »

Great pics Furet.

Have a few cheap flights booked up and down to Cork, so wont get to enjoy this road until June 1st.

Will be looking forward to it.

May even get to do a video on the way up.

I was flying down this time last year and you could see the road/route under construction almost the entire way. On a clear day you should see the road from the left side of the plane.

As for high spec motorways, compare the M1 in Armagh with the M1 in Louth....

Or the A1 and A602 in Rhineland-Palatinate compared to the Motorways here. ( derestricted sections)

Or the A31 between Metz and Nancy in France. very poor surface, narrow hard to drive on.

Or the A10 from Ventimiglia towards Genoa. the only motorway I've driven where the mainline has a 60 kmh speed limit as the bends are so bad.

BluntGuy

MYOB wrote: »

Ah, I see the standard delusion that all motorways across the world bar Ireland are up to the spec of the high-spec bits of the UK network has hit there too.

Unfortunately yes. But it's less to do with roads or safety than simply finding something else to have a go about. I sensed that no more than four or five posters actually knew what they were talking about.

Choice quote:

In response to the thread title about the lack of motorway service areas:

Maybe because Ireland doesn't have any real motorways?

I'm pretty sure that in the UK you cant build a motorway without sufficient motor stops for vehicles. But in the UK the motorways stretch for hundreds of miles.

In Ireland our motorways stretch about 30 miles, so its hardly worth it.

Take the Motorway from Athlone to Dublin, Part Dual carriageway, and part motorway.

The whole thing should be motorway with motorway services and truck stops.

But then why dont we have real motorways spanning the country?

It's a pity, because this demonstrates that despite the fact there are roads opening left, right and centre, people don't know what's going on. Clearly something is wrong.

Anyway, I don't want to de-rail this thread. Back to the M8!

Amtmann

BluntGuy wrote: »

It's a pity, because this demonstrates that despite the fact there are roads opening left, right and centre, people don't know what's going on. Clearly something is wrong.

Anyway, I don't want to de-rail this thread. Back to the M8!

I think that's where my National Motorway Afforestation Project would make a difference - shiny new infrastructure, and great new forests to carry us through the new century in style. Sorry, had to pitch it.

Now, back to the M8.

BluntGuy

Furet wrote: »

I think that's where my National Motorway Afforestation Project would make a difference - shiny new infrastructure, and great new forests to carry us through the new century in style.

An excellent idea, but one the NRA won't be taking up any time soon unfortunately. A pity - we could create very stylish, attractive looking motorways...

But I'm not putting my faith in an organisation that has about as much panache as a dustbin lid. The rancid state of the M8 verges pretty much tells us all we need to know about the NRA's landscaping priorities.

That said, I do hope that in the future they do something about this. It's such a missed oppurtunity... Foresting the edge of motorways as part of a broader aforestation programme would provide excellent visual screening (better than those hideous wooden fences which stand out so badly it's almost embarrassing) as well as many other environmental benefits.

BluntGuy

Btw, I forgot to mention this...

Does anybody know the progress of the Fermoy Bypass tie-in? Is it completed yet?

Amtmann

BluntGuy wrote: »

Btw, I forgot to mention this...

Does anybody know the progress of the Fermoy Bypass tie-in? Is it completed yet?

From what I saw on Sunday, it has yet to receive the wearing course. They should have the entire mainline (bar the Fermoy Bypass tie-in) and junction 12 and 13 sliproads finished by Friday this week. I'd expect the surfacing, lining and studding of the tie-in to be done by Wednesday or Thursday next week. That leaves minor landscaping to do, signage at the junction roundabouts to do, and (hopefully) phones to do. They could probably open the road sooner than the 25th if they wanted to.

BluntGuy

Something tells me we won't be seeing any phones on this scheme...

But I'm more than happy to be proven wrong.