M8 - Mitchelstown to Fermoy

Colm R

I feel sorry for the people of Abbeyleix, Durrow and Culahill.

Essentially, people use to hate Monasterevin, Kildare, Cashel, Fermoy etc etc. But thats largely forgotten now as the hatred simply transferred to towns not bypassed. But in peoples mind, Abbeyleix will always be known as the last bottleneck on the route.

Amtmann

Motorway on Target to Open 10 Months Ahead of Schedule
THE target date for the opening of the €70 million M8 Fermoy-Mitchelstown motorway has been set for May 25, fully ten months ahead of schedule.
Work on the 16km stretch of motorway linking the two towns began in December 2007, with an original completion target date of March 2010.
However, Cork County Council has confirmed to The Corkman that the road is now likely to open within the next few weeks.
"We have a May 25 target date for the official opening of the road and all going well we are in line to meet that deadline," said the spokesman.
"It is worth noting however that this is not as yet set in stone. There are a number of imponderables that could delay this slightly, for example the weather. However, the May 25 date would not be too far wide of the mark," he added.
The new road will link up with the existing M8 Fermoy bypass at Moorepark and run parallel to the existing N8 to the Carrigane junction approximately five miles to the north of Mitchelstown. Here it will link up with the Mitchelstown-Cashel dual carriageway, which was opened to traffic in July of last year.
Since work began on the Fermoy-Mitchelstown stretch more than 2.5 million tones of soil have been removed along the route and at one stage more than 250 people were employed on the road.
The work has seen the construction of seven road bridges and three river crossings along the 16km route.
The new road is part of an ambitious 275 km interurban motorway linking Cork to Dublin. The final piece of that jigsaw is due to fall into place next year with the opening of the Cullahill to Portlaoise dual carriageway.
It is anticipated that, when fully operational, the urban motorway link will cut journey times between Cork and Dublin by up to an hour.
News that the FermoyMitchelstown section of the road will open ahead of schedule and on budget has been warmly welcomed by locally based Cork county councillor Frank O'Flynn.
"This piece of infrastructure is vital for the economic development of the area and will make the catchment area more attractive for investors and hopefully encourage much needed investment into the region," he said.
- BILL BROWNE

http://www.corkman.ie/news/motorway-on-target-to-open-10-months-ahead-of-schedule-1731677.html

Seventy million euro - what excellent value. And only €20m more expensive than the e-voting machines.

Tech3

Furet wrote: »

http://www.corkman.ie/news/motorway-on-target-to-open-10-months-ahead-of-schedule-1731677.html

Seventy million euro - what excellent value. And only €20m more expensive than the e-voting machines.

The G-C was a rip off when you consider its only an extra 6 km for 300 million. 70 million was a bargain for a 16km motorway IMO.

The new road is part of an ambitious 275 km interurban motorway linking Cork to Dublin

What planet are they on

Amtmann

tech2 wrote: »

The G-C was a rip off when you consider its only an extra 6 km for 300 million. 70 million was a bargain for a 16km motorway

I doubt the veracity of the figure to be honest. I was under the impression 1km generally costs 10 million. Even at that, it's infinitely better value than said machines!

Tech3

Furet wrote: »

I doubt the veracity of the figure to be honest. I was under the impression 1km generally costs 10 million. Even at that, it's infinitely better value than said machines!

With the cost of construction and materials that could be even lower now(hopefully). Im really looking forward to the opening of this scheme and intend on driving the full length of the M8 after it opens.

BluntGuy

"The 275 km ambitious motorway?"

Where on Earth did they get that figure?

Amtmann

BluntGuy wrote: »

"The 275 km ambitious motorway?"

Where on Earth did they get that figure?

Well, at least they've stopped calling it "the N8 bypass".

Tech3

BluntGuy wrote: »

"The 275 km ambitious motorway?"

Where on Earth did they get that figure?

Also how is it ambitious when theres only 40km more of motorway to be done be it probably the most important part.

Chris_533976

€70m is totally wrong I reckon. Someone left out a 1 or a 2. €170m or €270m makes more sense.

Amtmann

Ahem...

I'll say no more!

L1011

Access gained in the same manner as I could have driven on the M3, I wonder... not that I'd ever do such a thing (or have a decent window mount, more accurately)

Tech3

The first boardsie to drive the M-F scheme! :pac:

How was the surface?

Chris_533976

Naughty

FIRE

Carawaystick wrote: »

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.

Sat on the left side last night but lost track of the motorway. Didnt see too much to be honest.

Furet wrote: »

Ahem...
I'll say no more!

Was there any trouble gaining access Furet?

The tie-in looks very good. Dosent seem to be too steep. Looking forward to driving it......when its open

Amtmann

FIRE wrote: »

Was there any trouble gaining access Furet?

The tie-in looks very good. Dosent seem to be too steep. Looking forward to driving it......when its open

No trouble; the gates were wide open. Seemed like a perfect tie-in to be honest. Very smooth run (though as you can see, I was going very slowly).

I noticed that they are putting reflectors up on the concrete barrier and that they've started to re-sign the old N8 as the R639 in places (RCS only). There also seems to be new signage poles erected on the Mitchelstown Relief Road, and lots of new poles around the junction 13 area, some of which are very large. Plenty of last-minute landscaping going on here too.

Opens on 25 May.

Typewriter

Might be opening Monday apparently...

http://www.peoplesrepublicofcork.com/~peoplesr/forums/showpost.php?p=2681170&postcount=211

Amtmann

green_jesus wrote: »

Might be opening Monday apparently...

http://www.peoplesrepublicofcork.com/~peoplesr/forums/showpost.php?p=2681170&postcount=211

No way. Still a bit to do.

L1011

I drove over it in to Mitchelstown on, erm... Wednesday? (I've done 2,000km and used 120 euro of diesel this week so far and I'm off to Donegal tomorrow!) and it looked pretty much complete. Hard weekends work and it might do...

I've to go to Kinsale on Tuesday so I can but hope!

Amtmann

I may as well post an update.

* The route, including the Fermoy Bypass tie-in, is entirely surfaced and is over 99% lined and studded.

* All of the on/off slips at junctions 14, 13 and 12 are done, including the application of sand/grit to the off slips.

* There's still a lot of signage to go up at the junctions.

* Major landscaping works are taking place at junction 13. It looks like a lot of trees will be planted here.

* Sound barriers are being erected along certain sections.

* There are still one or two short gaps in the concrete barrier.

* The spoil heap at the back of the army base is being landscaped.

* The entire route needs a wash and sweep.

* Emergency phones will not be installed on the route in time for the opening.

* Reflectors have been placed on the concrete barrier for the entire length of the scheme.

Essentially, the builders will be quite busy next week with the final fixings. I won't be surprised if they have to work right up until the opening ceremony on 25 May.

BluntGuy

Had a chance to properly observe the progress for myself today. And yes, as Furet says, it is pretty much ready to open, with just a few bits and bobs left.

But I'm more interested at this stage about how the old roads will be re-signed. I was delighted to see a new (I think) ADS at J12, with "N73 Mallow" on it. But apart from that, I don't see any signs that things will be changing apart from a few poles on the N8 (N73) mainline.

This is worrying. It will be an utterly confusing mess after opening day if new signage isn't erected. The road will be signed as the N73, N8 and R639 and be a complete jumble of different routes.

Clear, N73 signage is needed within the next week for the mitchelstown bypass.

Also, it was disheartening but unsurprising to see the lack of phones. Seeing the reflectors however was a complete joy and I hope to see them installed on Cashel-Mitchelstown in the future.

EDIT: Also, I noticed something rather strange with my GPS. I just got it updated, and it has the new motorway on it as "N8/E201". But when you get the J4, it becomes the "M8". This is telling stuff. Just how are these new routes mapped exactly?

Chris_533976

Badly, in general. AFAIK Navteq etc drive them.

OSM is more correct than any of them though.

bk

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Badly, in general. AFAIK Navteq etc drive them.

OSM is more correct than any of them though.

Yes, Navteq and TeleAtlas have GPS cars drive them.

Unfortunately they are forced to do this as unlike most other countries, OSI looked for an outrageous amount of money from them to access their maps.

Personally I think the OSI should be reminded that they are financed by the Irish taxpayer, as this is another example of Ireland Inc being held back by protectionist thinking.

Sponge Bob

Google are also mapping the whole country while doing streetview , every inch of road !

Amtmann

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Google are also mapping the whole country while doing streetview , every inch of road !

Really? There's no sign of that online.

Davy

Furet wrote: »

Really? There's no sign of that online.

They only started recently so it will be awhile yet

BluntGuy

This is all well and good, but it still doesn't answer why is my bloody sat-nav is wrong!

I had to pay good money to have it updated (IMO it should be free) so I expect it to be correct. Clearly they've been getting their information off the NRA website. :rolleyes:

The Fermoy Bypass is also labelled incorrectly as "N8" despite the fact it's shown as a motorway.

cjmcork

passed it today and 3 Grangemore landscaping vans were coming off the slip road at the Fermoy end, any idea when it will open???

L1011

cjmcork wrote: »

passed it today and 3 Grangemore landscaping vans were coming off the slip road at the Fermoy end, any idea when it will open???

Friday apparently.

cjmcork

cool!!!

Amtmann

Nope, Monday 25.