What are they doing with the N4?

Redsoxfan

Deleted User wrote: »

The inbound work is to surface a section over the bridge that somehow got "missed" first time round.

I wondered about this, was it not obvious for months now?

Deleted User wrote:

Fortunately it's only for a few days!!!

Indeed-sure is hateful to see a new section opened only to be 'coned off' again.

L1011

Westbound the closure has two things going on, some part of the road (very small) is dug up and patched - must be a leak or subsidence or something; and the stub of the old Cherbury bridge support that was fouling the barrier is gone and the barrier is being cast.

MYOB

MYOB wrote: »

Westbound the closure has two things going on, some part of the road (very small) is dug up and patched - must be a leak or subsidence or something; and the stub of the old Cherbury bridge support that was fouling the barrier is gone and the barrier is being cast.

Ah! that explains why such a long section was cordoned off!

lods

Extremely heavy volumes on the N4/Lucan Rd outbound, traffic is crawling from Palmerston all the way to the J2 Leixlip East on the M4. Take an alternative route if possible.

http://www.aaroadwatch.ie/

Complete disaster this evening. Hope they get this sorted over the next few days.:mad:

icdg

The Spa/Kew/Park/McCoy's filter lane is now taking its final shape, with signage up. They've invented a nice new sign to indicate a speed limit for the filter lane only (I'm pretty sure this one isn't in the TSM) - basically a speed limit sign with a diagonal arrow underneath it! Elsewhere, they managed to put "Hotel" in UK-style mixed case Transport Medium on the sign for the Spa Hotel - which looks quite nice really.

And the R148/R403 off slip (now J5) has its off-slip finally properly reinstated - no more last minute pull-ins!

Redsoxfan

It looks like Leixlip-Woodies will be finished in a matter of weeks, but Woodies-M50 will take a bit longer-does this mean they will keep the finished lanes closed until the Woodies-M50 stretch is finished?

jmkennedyie

Redsoxfan wrote: »

It looks like Leixlip-Woodies will be finished in a matter of weeks, but Woodies-M50 will take a bit longer-does this mean they will keep the finished lanes closed until the Woodies-M50 stretch is finished?

I expect restrictions inbound will be kept (to avoid merges) but outbound will be removed...I wouldn't be surprised if all lanes from jn3 Woodies outbound to be opened up fully in coming days.

Didn't see signage but jn 5 outbound cleaned up nicely...McCoys, Kew Park & probably Spa traffic physically can't join mainline and forced up slip to jn 5 for safety.

lods

jmkennedyie wrote: »

I expect restrictions inbound will be kept (to avoid merges) but outbound will be removed...I wouldn't be surprised if all lanes from jn3 Woodies outbound to be opened up fully in coming days.

Didn't see signage but jn 5 outbound cleaned up nicely...McCoys, Kew Park & probably Spa traffic physically can't join mainline and forced up slip to jn 5 for safety.

Were open West bound ,From woodies past the spa. Didn't notice at first . still slow ftom Liffey valley to the foxhunter. Tomorrow will be a big test.

df1985

just came through myself too.slow as said until the foxhunter but when the 3rd lane open clicked with everyone i flew out.was in 4rth all the way, big change from stoppin and startin like we had.a lot stayed in the original 2 lanes but eventually people will get used to it. big sigh of relief that its done.

murphaph

icdg wrote: »

The Spa/Kew/Park/McCoy's filter lane is now taking its final shape, with signage up. They've invented a nice new sign to indicate a speed limit for the filter lane only (I'm pretty sure this one isn't in the TSM) - basically a speed limit sign with a diagonal arrow underneath it! Elsewhere, they managed to put "Hotel" in UK-style mixed case Transport Medium on the sign for the Spa Hotel - which looks quite nice really.

And the R148/R403 off slip (now J5) has its off-slip finally properly reinstated - no more last minute pull-ins!

This actually annoys me, despite my liking Transport in kixed case a la the UK. You see the problem I have is this: If you insist on using bilingual signage then at least sign EVERYTHING bilingually and not just placenames! It would look better if it was 'HOTEL/Ostan' rather than just 'Hotel' tomt mind seeing as the rest of the sign presumably has all it's destinations signed bilingually-consistency above all else in roadsign design is important. Even badly designed signs eventually get ingrained into the collective psyche IF they are consistent.

L1011

Its starting to feel like a proper road now!

Seth Brundle

MYOB wrote: »

Its starting to feel like a proper road now!

I came around the turn at woodies at about 7:30 this evening and saw that lane 1 was open with nobody using it despite traffic being heavy-ish.
Yup - its like a proper Irish dual carriageway alright! :rolleyes:

icdg

murphaph wrote: »

This actually annoys me, despite my liking Transport in kixed case a la the UK. You see the problem I have is this: If you insist on using bilingual signage then at least sign EVERYTHING bilingually and not just placenames! It would look better if it was 'HOTEL/Ostan' rather than just 'Hotel' tomt mind seeing as the rest of the sign presumably has all it's destinations signed bilingually-consistency above all else in roadsign design is important. Even badly designed signs eventually get ingrained into the collective psyche IF they are consistent.

The sign is bilingual. Its just a brown tourism flag sign on its own. The only mistake on it is that it reads:

Ostan
Hotel

instead of

Ostan
HOTEL

Stupidly they put "Motorway Ahead" signage inside the filter road, where you can't access the M4 unless you go up the R148/R403 slip. The alternative would be to put the regulations on a gantry though, which I've never seen done.

Oh, and there is STILL no chopsticks sign for traffic going forward onto the M4. Fifteen years after the road opened. They even omitted chopsticks on the gantry for the main panel - while there are no written rules for the new gantries (lack of a TSM), I'm pretty sure there should be chopsticks there.

Redsoxfan

kbannon wrote: »

I came around the turn at woodies at about 7:30 this evening and saw that lane 1 was open with nobody using it despite traffic being heavy-ish.
Yup - its like a proper Irish dual carriageway alright! :rolleyes:

Yup, hopefully these lanes stay open now. Traffic coming off the M50 was still bad though....

P.S. don't you know that the inside lane is for advanced drivers only, hence why it is normally so quiet

Seth Brundle

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Yup, hopefully these lanes stay open now. Traffic coming off the M50 was still bad though....

I'd say that it possibly always will be busy-ish especially on Fridays because you are on a slip road rather than a dedicated lane.

Redsoxfan wrote: »

P.S. don't you know that the inside lane is for advanced drivers only, hence why it is normally so quiet

Well I advanced a lot quicker than drivers in lanes 2 & 3!

Redsoxfan

kbannon wrote: »

I'd say that it possibly always will be busy-ish especially on Fridays because you are on a slip road rather than a dedicated lane.

For sure on Fridays-I tend to avoid it if possible and go to Maynooth via the N7, or the N3. Still, if that's the only bottleneck after all is finished, we will be in good shape.

L1011

I was a bit later coming through than the average Friday, but going on my satnav, the works delayed me by a whole three minutes today - very little stopping, freeflow after Liffey Valley. Coming off the M50 to go N4 West.

MYOB

MYOB wrote: »

I was a bit later coming through than the average Friday, but going on my satnav, the works delayed me by a whole three minutes today - very little stopping, freeflow after Liffey Valley. Coming off the M50 to go N4 West.

How does that compare with last week for example?

L1011

Deleted User wrote: »

How does that compare with last week for example?

Last time I risked it on a Friday it was more like 25, 5-10 on a normal day. The Spa was the worst of the holdups by far, hence the massive impact.

oddiot

I travelled from M50 to Galway on Friday, leaving the M50 at 6:30 and came across no delay... Maybe the masses had already left earlier for the long weekend, but the third lane outbound was a welcome addition at last! The real test will be over the coming working week!

Seth Brundle

oddiot wrote: »

The real test will be over the coming working week!

Most secondary schools will be off now so traffic should be a bit lighter.

jmkennedyie

Metal barriers replaced with cones and road painted, cleaned: looks like inbound about to be widened to 4 lanes from jn 4 to just before jn 3...Newcastle to Woodies.

Judging by metal barriers the inner two lanes will not be opened under the Ballyowen footbridge ... maybe they are not finished with this now half concrete/half metal structure yet...

L1011

jmkennedyie wrote: »

Metal barriers replaced with cones and road painted, cleaned: looks like inbound about to be widened to 4 lanes from jn 4 to just before jn 3...Newcastle to Woodies.

Judging by metal barriers the inner two lanes will not be opened under the Ballyowen footbridge ... maybe they are not finished with this now half concrete/half metal structure yet...

You judged correctly, this is now in place as of this evening - should clean up the merging from Newcastle inbound in the mornings.

Outbound the delay is now back to Liffey Valley with clear running from there on out; once this is sorted we'll see if (as I suspect) the merge slips and weaving at the M50 are bad enough that it will still tail back on the M50 in the evenings.

Redsoxfan

MYOB wrote: »

Outbound the delay is now back to Liffey Valley with clear running from there on out; once this is sorted we'll see if (as I suspect) the merge slips and weaving at the M50 are bad enough that it will still tail back on the M50 in the evenings.

It seems to be worse than usual these past few days-which is odd-as the mornings are quiet enough.

The amount of 'cheating' that goes on on the slip can be annoying to watch. Plus those who skip into the hard shoulder prior to the merge onto the N4.

lord lucan

lord lucan wrote: »

Yeah,very true. And if anything the sureweld footbridge could do with replacing,the surface on it is in a bad way,it gets a lot of use from residents of mount andrew and liffey valley park.

They're up to something with this footbridge. I seen 2 guys with high-viz jackets taking a good look around it last week and over the last couple of days they've drilled a load of holes in the concrete along the top of it. They're in clusters of 4 and i haven't a clue what they're at tbh. The surface is in bits,could probably do with being replaced now.

L1011

I'd say inbound in the mornings is worse now that the third lane is open as previously most in the inner lane were going off at Newcastle - now theres a far greater amount of traffic merging in and as usual, Irish drivers don't know how to merge. Not only are they not zipmerging, far too many are trying to force in to the outer lane making it slow down too...

This raises the issue of why southern drivers cannot zipmerge. The only place on this island with explicit signs to tell you to zipmerge is the A1 in to Newry, and I've spent one time where EIGHT southern registered cars in a row would not let me (in my southern registered van) merge in despite the signs - the first northern vehicle did let me in.

jmkennedyie

jmkennedyie wrote: »

Judging by metal barriers the inner two lanes will not be opened under the Ballyowen footbridge ... maybe they are not finished with this now half concrete/half metal structure yet...

Took a few pics...whilst they have some tidying up to do, it looks like this will be a hybrid bridge long term.







Also some pics of mainline...looking East, then West in next post. Check out classic van :-)

jmkennedyie

N4 West

Looks like they made it a few centemetres short. oops!!!

jmkennedyie

Yep, gap for expansion I guess, temporarily covered by wooden board. Not too clear in the pics but bolts near pier and handrails also seem to be designed to allow for expansion / contraction in the weather.

jmkennedyie

jmkennedyie wrote: »

Yep, gap for expansion I guess, temporarily covered by wooden board. Not too clear in the pics but bolts near pier and handrails also seem to be designed to allow for expansion / contraction in the weather.

Agreed, but that gap is way too wide for such a short span!

L1011

The final gap in the median appears to have bee filled overnight; lanes were moved over left inbound.

Seth Brundle

I think it was done today. I also noticed one 'section' of the median had been demolished.
Still, there is plenty of work along the roadsides

lord lucan

Another gantry was going up this evening on the N4 eastbound beside the old entrance to the hermitage golf club. Drivers can't have any complaints that they don't know which exit to take,the amount of new signage is unreal on the N4 now:p

Seth Brundle

lord lucan wrote: »

Another gantry was going up this evening on the N4 eastbound beside the old entrance to the hermitage golf club. Drivers can't have any complaints that they don't know which exit to take,the amount of new signage is unreal on the N4 now:p

Pity that there are no signs telling drivers which lane they should be in!

lods

They could do with giving the new sections a good clean beside the median. a lot of gravel & dirt.

kbannon

kbannon wrote: »

Pity that there are no signs telling drivers which lane they should be in!

We need a few of these.

Heroditas

So even though we know the whole projetc is due to be finished by the end of August, any guesses as to when the third lane will be open eastbound? It appears to be just about finished.

Also, the slip road for the Foxhunter/Texaco etc is coming along nicely.

Seth Brundle

I would imagine that it will be open in the next week or so.
(keeps fingers crossed)

Heroditas

N4 down to one lane going westbound this evening. Looks like they're finishing putting up the concrete barrier in the median

L1011

Heroditas wrote: »

N4 down to one lane going westbound this evening. Looks like they're finishing putting up the concrete barrier in the median

As far as I can tell thats been finished since before the weekend.

Heroditas

Ah ok, I nipped off at the slip road for Liffey Valley so couldn't see exactly what was happening. The "middle lane" was the one that was open. I guess I'll find out tomorrow

df1985

theyve really cranked up the speed in the last while on the remaining section to be completed.just off the m4 at leixlip there is trucks lined up with cages for a footbridge.judging by their size im presuming theyre for the footbridge between texaco and liffey valley.also more of the big overhnging signpost things are there....dont know the technicl term for them!

the slabs of concrete they intalled at the spa forcing people up the slip lane are being installed at a rapid pace from the foxhuter back past texaco-the orange poles are on a lof of them already-great idea i think.so dangerous people coming out from texaco tryin to rejoin the road.they cant speed up in time, suprised there hasnt been a serious accident.

they were still out working tonight at half 9 on the inside lane from liffey valley down to texaco.

L1011

They've been fiddling with the Sureweld overbridge every time I've gone under in recently so I'd guess the cage is for that. Still leaves the Outer Ring Road one and the footpath on the new Newcastle overpass uncaged, if they're going to be obsessive about it!

lord lucan

MYOB wrote: »

They've been fiddling with the Sureweld overbridge every time I've gone under in recently so I'd guess the cage is for that. Still leaves the Outer Ring Road one and the footpath on the new Newcastle overpass uncaged, if they're going to be obsessive about it!

They've drilled a load of holes in the centre span section of the sureweld footbridge,looks ready for lifting. Assuming they just replace the centre span it'll look even more ridiculous than the one between woodies and newcastle road(the one in the pics on the previous page).

vektarman

I've included this on the N4 topic as it's part of the N4 upgrading, my comment is: does anybody else think that this slip road layout is a bit dangerous considering traffic from the N4 taking this slip road and heading for Celbridge is criss-crossing with traffic coming from the new left lane that heads for Leixlip especially when the Leixlip bound traffic backs up from the lights at the top of the slip road and then Celbridge bound traffic from the N4 then crosses the continuous white line and hatched area to squeeze into the left lane for Celbridge.

kida

What idiot decided there was to be no bus lane through the M50 interchange?
Already some mornings there is a build up from the lights in Palmerstown.
When a full flow of traffic is getting thru this can only get worse!!

Heroditas

They were lifting away the remaining temporary steel barriers this morning heading eastbound past Liffey Valley. Looks like the finishing touches are being put to the road going inbound.
They appear to just have to finish the roadside barriers and also the merging slip road coming up from Liffey Valley and that whole stretch from Leixlip to the M50 can be opened! Happy days.

Redsoxfan

Looks like the section from Liffey Valley inbound is set to open any day now-they had the moved the alignment again this morning to allow for painting. Not sure about Woodies to Liffey Valley.

lods

kida wrote: »

What idiot decided there was to be no bus lane through the M50 interchange?
Already some mornings there is a build up from the lights in Palmerstown.
When a full flow of traffic is getting thru this can only get worse!!

They need to get rid of the two sets of lights at Palmerstown.