M7/M8 Portlaoise-Castletown-Cullahill Motorway (incl. Abbeyleix Bypass)

roosterman71

They stop in XL now. The hotel is a dive. Bus Eireann have bus stops on both sides of the main road now at the hotel, but they don't stop for the 10/15 minute break there anymore.

Danno

The problem in Abbeyleix is also made worse by some lazy locals who insist on turning right into a parking space whilst plenty of parking spaces are on the left. If they could drive into the shops they would.

roosterman71

See 2 of those neon sign things outside Borris In Ossory today. They say:
"M7 M8 Bybass Opening Soon"
"Check midlink.ie for details"
"Dublin-Limerick journey times reduced"
"Save 20 minutes"

They may not be accurate word for word, but I only seen them once and its what I remember

Toto Wolfcastle

There's one at the Cullahill exit that says the same except that it mentions Cork to Dublin and says 'save 45 minutes'.

L1011

45mins wouldn't be far off reality on a bank holiday weekend, unfortunately.

Toto Wolfcastle

True, although I doubt that I will personally save that much time.

recyclebin

That midlink website needs to be updated badly. There are no exits 20 or 2 for a start.
The correct maps are on the NRA website.

http://www.nra.ie/JunctionLayoutsProjectVideos/

GeneHunt

recyclebin wrote: »

That midlink website needs to be updated badly. There are no exits 20 or 2 for a start.
The correct maps are on the NRA website.

http://www.nra.ie/JunctionLayoutsProjectVideos/

The NRA maps aren't correct either, no toll plaza shown on the M4 or M7, but the toll plazas are on the M1 and M8...

roosterman71

recyclebin wrote: »

That midlink website needs to be updated badly. There are no exits 20 or 2 for a start.
The correct maps are on the NRA website.

http://www.nra.ie/JunctionLayoutsProjectVideos/

There's no J20 or J2 on the site because there's no J20 or J2 built. They were removed from the plans

recyclebin

Thats what i was saying roosterman. The midlink website shows junction 2 and 20 on there maps. They havn't updated the website to remove them yet they have their flashing road signs advertising midlink.ie and th new M7/M8 outside borris-in-ossory at the roundabout

-Corkie-

I see in the paper today its opening at the end of the month for definite. Thank god;) The 28 of may.

I am confused as to why didnt they put in the barrier free tolling on this road like the m50....

MJohnston

SARASON wrote: »

I see in the paper today its opening at the end of the month for definite. Thank god;) The 28 of may.

I am confused as to why didnt they put in the barrier free tolling on this road like the m50....

I'd imagine thats because it'd be completely unnecessary to do so. I've never had to wait more than 30 seconds (stupid drivers who take 5 minutes to find their change aside) at any of the M1, M8 or M4 toll plazas. Think of all the extra expense that'd be spent on hiring people to chase up unpaid barrier free tolls and to police the system, compared to 3 or 4 plaza attendants and the initial cost of the plaza. The M50 was different because of the sheer volume of traffic it had to deal with.

-Corkie-

MJohnston wrote: »

I'd imagine thats because it'd be completely unnecessary to do so. I've never had to wait more than 30 seconds (stupid drivers who take 5 minutes to find their change aside) at any of the M1, M8 or M4 toll plazas. Think of all the extra expense that'd be spent on hiring people to chase up unpaid barrier free tolls and to police the system, compared to 3 or 4 plaza attendants and the initial cost of the plaza. The M50 was different because of the sheer volume of traffic it had to deal with.

Good point mj cant wait to see what it actually shaves of the complete journey when i drive it.

lukejr

SARASON wrote: »

I see in the paper today its opening at the end of the month for definite. Thank god;) The 28 of may.

What paper was it in today, anyway have the article link or scan of article?

-Corkie-

lukejr wrote: »

What paper was it in today, anyway have the article link or scan of article?

It was in news of the world seen it at inlaws house.

piskins72

roosterman71 wrote: »

See 2 of those neon sign things outside Borris In Ossory today. They say:
"M7 M8 Bybass Opening Soon"
"Check midlink.ie for details"
"Dublin-Limerick journey times reduced"
"Save 20 minutes"

They may not be accurate word for word, but I only seen them once and its what I remember

yeah it was something along those lines alright!! any idea when the part from birdhill to Limerick is going to be open, managed to get down to Kerry in 3 hours on fri evening, no traffic!!!

GeneHunt

Jomcc wrote: »

On M7 3rd Bridge West of Split facing east & west.

I just noticed on this post dating back to 22nd Apr 2010 the location of the cats eyes, I could be wrong (the above photos look like the cats eyes are installed), so can someone confirm are the cat eyes installed on the white line beside the barrier and on the yellow line beside the hard shoulder, as a lot of new motorways have the cats eyes next the these lines. Does anyone know is there a standard to the location of cat eyes on the motorway?

Chris_5339762

I dont know if theres an official standard but its way way easier to paint the yellow line if you dont have to stop for all the cats eyes

solidwork

I always taught the extra line i.e. first the rumble strip on the yellow line followed by the cats eye, was to be a double wake up up for any one drifting left or right. But i'm probably wrong!!

Zuisse

There's neon signs at J4 Johnstown/Urlingford and at cullahill stating motorway will be closed from J4 to cullahill from May 24-28. Presumably this is for re-alignment of the motorway and as the Cullahill exit will no longer exist the motorway must be opening on May 28th

The Word Is Bor

As Chris has pointed out it is a lot easier for the liners to paint a continuous line than having to stop start for cat's eyes every 12m.

There are three different types of studs available on the market and their placement varies accordingly.

The traditional cat's eye is the most expensive (bar a flat profile led type stud) and have an inbuilt cleaning mechanism whereby as a vehicle drives over it the rubber mounting of the stud depresses into a lower housing that naturally fills with rain water and effectively 'squeegees' the stud clean. As they are cleaned by traffic action they need to be on the driving side of any line or directgly in the line itself.

The next type down is a sleigh type with a rectangular reflector which is not a self-cleaning stud. These are used in the road and on the 'off-side'.

The last type (the cheap alternative) is a stick on stud. These are generally put on the 'off-side' of any line as they are more prone to damage under traffic action. They are cheap and quick to install.

roosterman71

Road was been painted today when I passed over near Borris In Ossory, and a few miles outside in Kilcotton.

Also, gantry signs up and can be seen from the R435

cheddar

Is there just going to be one toll on the N7/N8 south of Portlaoise or are there other smaller tollbooths at any of the junctions? Will it be possible to drive up the N8 and then take the N7 towards Limerick without paying any toll?

L1011

cheddar wrote: »

Is there just going to be one toll on the N7/N8 south of Portlaoise or are there other smaller tollbooths at any of the junctions? Will it be possible to drive up the N8 and then take the N7 towards Limerick without paying any toll?

One plaza. And no, the junction does not allow for that (or for doing it at all!), you'd need to cut across country.

Rovi

cheddar wrote: »

Is there just going to be one toll on the N7/N8 south of Portlaoise or are there other smaller tollbooths at any of the junctions? Will it be possible to drive up the N8 and then take the N7 towards Limerick without paying any toll?

Just one toll plaza, west of Portlaoise, nothing on any junctions.

The M7/M8 interchange is restricted; it's laid out exactly the same as the M7/M9 interchange between Naas and Newbridge.
It's not possible to go northbound M8 to westbound M7 or vice versa.

Jayuu

Rovi wrote: »

Just one toll plaza, west of Portlaoise, nothing on any junctions.

The M7/M8 interchange is restricted; it's laid out exactly the same as the M7/M9 interchange between Naas and Newbridge.
It's not possible to go northbound M8 to westbound M7 or vice versa.

Maybe this has been discussed further back in the thread but can anybody explain the reason that the M7/M8 link wasn't made into a full junction?

I mean you see full junctions for tiny little towns along these routes and here where two major pieces of infrastructure join together we get a half junction.

It doesn't seem to make any sense. Its the same at the M7/M9 interchange.

L1011

1: The NRA doesn't seem to like proper motorway-motorway junctions
2: It'd have allowed traffic to use it toll free without building a second plaza...

D'Peoples Voice

Jayuu wrote: »

Maybe this has been discussed further back in the thread but can anybody explain the reason that the M7/M8 link wasn't made into a full junction?

They probably should have and called the road joining Limerick and Cork the N20 - just a thought:rolleyes:
oh wait they already have an N20 that joins Limerick to Cork........

Jomcc

Some photos.......

This one was taken almost 3 weeks ago on 23rd April at Portlaoise tie-in and posted in #825


These two were taken at same spot this morning...13/5




This photo is to help to answer Genehunt's query in post #918

MidlandsM

Thanks Jomcc , it's nearly there.