M9 - Waterford motorway construction updates

NedNew

kiwipower wrote: »

Thanks for the information. I know my plan sounds a bit round about but as this is a Friday evening Drive I need to avoid the M50 and any other heavy traffic route. Hopefully the will have it all finished for the winter months so. Think I have the lack of proper interchange between the M7 and M9 sorted. Will just call in to Kildare Village for a break and try not to lighten the wallet to much! :-p Right on Frankie2shoes I also drive an Auto with CruiseControl and like to make the most of it! Think its a Kiwi thing more than anything. My mother even drives a Auto Toyota HiAce!

I'm guessing you have the same route as I will mention, but the quickest, easiest and most direct way to get from the M7 Northbound to M9 Southbound is exit from the M7 at exit 12 (Newbridge/Curragh) - thats the exit after Kildare Village (Exit 13). Then head to Kilcullen, it only takes 7-8 minutes.

alpha2zulu

I know a few weeks ago there was quite a bit of chatter here about the daftness of M9 not appearing on any on the new signs around the Waterford City bypass. The conclusion seemed to be that as a small stretch of N9 DC exists at the start of the M9 outside Waterford, all the approach signs have no mention of M9,

However on some new signage outside the old Waterford Crystal factory near the WIT, its indicating Dublin, Limerick, Rosslare- M9 N24 N25. Really shows up what a hodge podge mess theyve made with the signage if half the new signs are saying N9 and the rest M9.:rolleyes:

road_high

alpha2zulu wrote: »

I know a few weeks ago there was quite a bit of chatter here about the daftness of M9 not appearing on any on the new signs around the Waterford City bypass. The conclusion seemed to be that as a small stretch of N9 DC exists at the start of the M9 outside Waterford, all the approach signs have no mention of M9,

However on some new signage outside the old Waterford Crystal factory near the WIT, its indicating Dublin, Limerick, Rosslare- M9 N24 N25. Really shows up what a hodge podge mess theyve made with the signage if half the new signs are saying N9 and the rest M9.:rolleyes:

I'd reckon a lot of the M9 signage around Waterford has not been full unveiled yet, as obviously, the road is not open yet and it would cause confusion to so do.
It's a pity the two are not opening in tandem but such is life, should not be too long to wait anyhow and will be a vast improvement on what is there already. In fact, there will no comparison!

BluntGuy

Having that tiny piece of DC as N9 was an absolutely ridiculous decision. Either N24 or RXXX (whatever the road into Waterford is called) would've been better. A 600 m stretch of N9 makes no sense.

rameire

just noticed on the way home they had done alot of the final layer to the tie in, for the junction.
also looks like the slip from kilcullen to new m9 southbound has been finished and will hopefully open when they move the contra flow over.
wondering if star spangler has any updates.

Chris_533976

BluntGuy wrote: »

Having that tiny piece of DC as N9 was an absolutely ridiculous decision. Either N24 or RXXX (whatever the road into Waterford is called) would've been better. A 600 m stretch of N9 makes no sense.

That entire junction multiplex makes no sense

Enbee

Chris_533976 wrote: »

That entire junction multiplex makes no sense

I still can't quite believe that it actually exists. But then I remind myself of Seamus Brennan on Questions and Answers when he admitted that yes, now that he'd bothered to look at the site (rather than the plans that people were laughing at years previously) having tram lines through the busiest intersection in the country wasn't ideal but that we could maybe put them on stilts.

Did somebody here say that the mess is down to the two schemes being designed at different times or some other absurd right hand not talking to left hand type breakdown in communication? After all, as has been pointed out here having the N24 trumpet onto a properly aligned M9 would hardly have broken the bank.

Mysterious gets a lot of stick here but viewing examples such as the above it's hard to dismiss his thesis that road engineers here still have a lot to learn!!

Star Spangler

rameire wrote: »

just noticed on the way home they had done alot of the final layer to the tie in, for the junction.
also looks like the slip from kilcullen to new m9 southbound has been finished and will hopefully open when they move the contra flow over.
wondering if star spangler has any updates.

There's not much to report from previous as Roadbridge are fairly much on schedule as posted on this thread earlier. The new contra-flow will be introduced next week. The only new issue is the possible fallout with the NRA over an early finishing bonus - i.e. Roadbridge are seeking one and the NRA are saying bonuses are a thing of the past. There is a strong possibility of a delay in opening if this dispute persists.

rameire

just a note on the below query in relation to the tie in and the necessary widening of the road.
they have, as of this morning brought in the scraping machinery, ( the one that tears up the t mac) to sort out the road, so should be fixed by the time the new contra flow is in operation

tramor wrote: »

Re. Rameire's photos. They are shortly going to move traffic onto the south bound carriageway and commence work on the northbound. After the northbound work is done does it look like the tie in will be complete or will there be a bit more to do on the southbound, necessitating moving traffic back onto the northbound carriage way. I can't see how they widen that part of the tie-in into 2 lanes+hard shoulder otherwise.

road_high

Poster on Carlow forum has a link up to a 10k Charity Run on the M9 Kilcullen-Carlow section for 7th November!! Here's hoping it opens the following week

Chris_533976

This is of course how it should have been done (or something roughly like this, on a slightly different alignment). Would have cost about the same and would have actually made sense.

nordydan

Does anyone know which has higher traffic at the moment, the N9 north of the N9/N24 interchange or the N24 west of the same location??

alpha2zulu

I remember reading in the local media 5/6 years ago when a new mini roundabout was being built at the N9/N24 junction that the traffic flow on the N24 was slightly higher than N9 traffic, thogh it was so long ago at this stage it could be reversed by now.

Mayo Exile

A poster ("Mad_Lad") over in Commuting & Transport in a thread called "Castledermot bypass - whats the latest?" is claiming that the Kilcullen to Carlow stretch of the M9 will open on 15th December. That's about 8 or 9 weeks away so.

Link: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055698536

It's post #5.

nordydan

alpha2zulu wrote: »

I remember reading in the local media 5/6 years ago when a new mini roundabout was being built at the N9/N24 junction that the traffic flow on the N24 was slightly higher than N9 traffic, thogh it was so long ago at this stage it could be reversed by now.

Grand I think maybe the long term plan for the M9 COULD BE to make it a TOTSO GSJ, with the mainline N24 running under it.

WIth the traffic volumes quoted that would make sense. The current realigned N24 is a temporary link

alpha2zulu

nordydan wrote: »

WIth the traffic volumes quoted that would make sense. The current realigned N24 is a temporary link

Also at present a pretty sizeable percentage of Waterford-Dublin traffic take the N25/N30/N11 route via New Ross and Enniscorthy given the state of the current N9 and for traffic heading to South Dublin. I'd say once the M9 in full is completed it will take quite a bit of this traffic back which should push up the figures up on the M9 route again.

road_high

Mayo Exile wrote: »

A poster ("Mad_Lad") over in Commuting & Transport in a thread called "Castledermot bypass - whats the latest?" is claiming that the Kilcullen to Carlow stretch of the M9 will open on 15th December. That's about 8 or 9 weeks away so.

Link: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055698536

It's post #5.

Hope not...there's a charity run as I said a few posts back 7th November on it. So I hope it doesn't take that long. Would be nice to have it open running into the dark, wet evenings.

Wild Bill

Mayo Exile wrote: »

A poster ("Mad_Lad") over in Commuting & Transport in a thread called "Castledermot bypass - whats the latest?" is claiming that the Kilcullen to Carlow stretch of the M9 will open on 15th December. That's about 8 or 9 weeks away so.

Link: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055698536

It's post #5.

I'd well believe it; that section is completed over long stretches.

Star Spangler

Mayo Exile wrote: »

A poster ("Mad_Lad") over in Commuting & Transport in a thread called "Castledermot bypass - whats the latest?" is claiming that the Kilcullen to Carlow stretch of the M9 will open on 15th December. That's about 8 or 9 weeks away so.

Link: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055698536

It's post #5.

He knows more than Kildare County Council so.

Wild Bill

Star Spangler wrote: »

He knows more than Kildare County Council so.

That wouldn't be difficult, surely? :cool:

Amtmann

Star Spangler wrote: »

There's not much to report from previous as Roadbridge are fairly much on schedule as posted on this thread earlier. The new contra-flow will be introduced next week. The only new issue is the possible fallout with the NRA over an early finishing bonus - i.e. Roadbridge are seeking one and the NRA are saying bonuses are a thing of the past. There is a strong possibility of a delay in opening if this dispute persists.

I'd like to know more about this. As I said upthread, I can't see why the NRA wouldn't reward Roadbridge, who have consistently shown themselves to be consummate pros in road-building.

Chris_533976

The government removed the Early Completion bonuses

csd

Furet wrote: »

I'd like to know more about this. As I said upthread, I can't see why the NRA wouldn't reward Roadbridge, who have consistently shown themselves to be consummate pros in road-building.

I would imagine any reluctance on the part of the NRA to reward Roadbridge (or anyone else for that matter) might have something to do with the €500m-a-week hole in the public finances.

/csd

L1011

Star Spangler wrote: »

He knows more than Kildare County Council so.

KCC barely know they exist at times.

road_high

I hope the 15th Dec date is not true. It should be finished quicker than that surely?
The contra-flow at Kilcullen must due for switchover one of these days?

NedNew

In the interest of seeing this road before it opens, I've decided to enter the 10k Run (or walk). The race will be starting from the Carlow/Castledermot interchange (2km south of Castledermot) and will continue 5km north on the new Motorway before turning around and returning the other side.

The slip from N9 north to the (unopened) M9 at the junction will be opened for the race, with those involved allowed to park on the motorway.

As far as I can tell (although I can't guarantee it), the general public may also be allowed to park here in order to cheer on those taking part - it could be a good opportunity for anyone interested in seeing the road before it opens.

Amtmann

csd wrote: »

I would imagine any reluctance on the part of the NRA to reward Roadbridge (or anyone else for that matter) might have something to do with the €500m-a-week hole in the public finances.

/csd

Naturally, but what I mean is that Roadbridge were clearly under the impression that it would be desirable to finish as quickly as possible. I hope they weren't misled. I just like to see good, hard work rewarded, rather than the usual situation in this country where the inept are bank-rolled.

Star Spangler

Furet wrote: »

Naturally, but what I mean is that Roadbridge were clearly under the impression that it would be desirable to finish as quickly as possible. I hope they weren't misled. I just like to see good, hard work rewarded, rather than the usual situation in this country where the inept are bank-rolled.

From what I was told it would appear that all major road schemes were reviewed in 2008 in light of the dwindling government funds. At that time, contractors were told that the only requirement on them was to complete on time and in budget. Roadbridge are fast anyhow and I presume had always intended on finishing early. It has been said that they have some work in the Middle East they need to get on to soon.

sk8board

mfitzy wrote: »

Hope not...there's a charity run as I said a few posts back 7th November on it. So I hope it doesn't take that long. Would be nice to have it open running into the dark, wet evenings.

I drive KK - Dublin a few times per week; and I can tell you that at the Priory junct, you couldn't see any road markings etc until about 3 weeks ago; now all markings, lighting, side-rails etc (the hard shoulder markings were missing for ages) are in place.

I know someone working on this road since the start a few years ago who said weeks ago that most of them would unfortunately be out of a job at the 'end of October', so the road race on Nov 7th would mean that its pretty much complete now (i.e. no more than some cosmetic work to do, and then a final sign-off before the Public are allowed onto what is technically a building site).
Passing Knocktopher and Bennettsbridge juncts yesterday you could still see a row of Volvo BM dumpers at each junct, so there must still be some heavy lifting going on on the KK-Waterford section which according to the Kilkenny People last week will open in December.

bye bye Castledermot, I hardly knew you.

AndrewMc

The top surface of the southbound carriageway at Kilcullen has been ripped up back to the start of the off-ramp as far as I could see this evening. I'm guessing they'll have the new surface finished quick enough.

Also looks like the start of works for the roundabout with the N78 at the Athy end of the link road.