M9 - Waterford motorway construction updates

KevR

Thanks for the pictures NedNew!

Interesting that this stretch also has stick on studs beside the HS yellow line and the solid white median line, and the more traditional sunken cat's eyes along the broken white line between the 2 running lanes.

M6 Athlone-Ballinasloe is the same. I wonder if this is the new standard??

NedNew

mfitzy wrote: »

Any mention of the grand opening date at all Ned on the run?

I tried to find this out but no luck. The traffic jam in Kilcullen on the way home reminded me that it better be soon!

Regarding that sign that says the motorway finishes in 575m, I'd imagine that it should be placed on the off-ramp not on the mainline as there is another 19km of motorway (Carlow Bypass) after this point,

murphaph

KevR wrote: »

Thanks for the pictures NedNew!

Interesting that this stretch also has stick on studs beside the HS yellow line and the solid white median line, and the more traditional sunken cat's eyes along the broken white line between the 2 running lanes.

M6 Athlone-Ballinasloe is the same. I wonder if this is the new standard??

This has been the standard in the UK for a while now and it makes absolute sense. The stick on ones can tolerate a little 'drive-over' but not much (shouldn't be a problem though as no vehicles should drive over them save in an emergency) and generally provide much more reflective surface. The sunken ones are designed to be driven over and provide a much smaller reflective surface (two 'eyes') which are wiped clean with the passing over of a vehicle.

Of course, cats eyes still need periodic replacement and this has been lacking on pretty much all irish roads since the dawn of the device! We need to sort out ongoing maintenance of these roads once and for all.

rameire

Drove down to Carlow and then Back up the N9 today hoping to get onto the new M9, but couldnt gain access unfortunately.
I did gain access to the New Athy link road, between the M9 and N9, tis a nice bit of road. Pic attached from M9 end looking down to the N9.



Crossed over a few bridges over the M9, the road is totally complete, there are some areas where the lines need to be painted again.
the next are two pics about halfway between carlow and kilcullen.
the junction in the background is the Athy link road. Looking South.

Looking North.

The next is looking south from the new bridge near the Kilcullen tie in.

Looking north on the same bridge towards the Kilcullen tie in.

Looking south at the tie in.

Looking North at the Tie in.
To the Left on this picture is an access area where they are bringing the in-fill for the tie in.


There are other photos on my flickr account from today, im not going to link them all as it would be a bit mad.

Sponge Bob

On a quick scan there I see a HUGE difference in Hard Shoulder widths .

rameire

the Athy Link road to M9 North Merge in lane continues until after the bridge, this may account for what looks like a wide hard shoulder.

just looked a bit at the south bound to athy link road. does look like they have messed it up, by taking alot of the hard shoulder for the merge instead of gaining more land to the left of the road.

emfifty

on view of the picture re 'end of motorway' 575m, i still haven't figured out why the it's placed here?

darkman2

emfifty wrote: »

on view of the picture re 'end of motorway' 575m, i still haven't figured out why the it's placed here?

IMO it's an oversight. The M9 would have ended there before redesignation. Perhaps the sign was mistakingly put there as per original plans?

NedNew

darkman2 wrote: »

IMO it's an oversight. The M9 would have ended there before redesignation. Perhaps the sign was mistakingly put there as per original plans?

I'm not so sure it's a mistake caused by redesignation. If you look at Rameires second picture you can see they have done it for a second time on a different junction (which is right in the middle of the new Kilcullen-Carlow section, all of which is Motorway).

Rameires picture is of J3 (Athy) and the one I took is of J4 (Carlow North) - both have these end of motorway signs on the mainline - even though there is continuous motorway after the junction.

rameire

the one at junction 3 to athy, says 425m

road_high

1,000 posts on this Thread now!
Thanks for pics again Rameire. Can't wait for it to open. Would love to hear a planned opening date now soon

murphaph

what profile is the Athy link road? It's much wider than S2, WS2 or 2+2?

rameire

Section D Athy to R747 Link Road
The proposed Athy to R747 Link Road comprises Section D of the Scheme and
runs from the N78 on the north east side of Athy to the existing N9 between Timolin
and Ballitore, a length of 11.2 kilometres. The Link Road is designed as a 7.3
metre wide single carriageway road with hard shoulders. A 100 kph design speed
has been applied to the alignment in this section of the scheme.

linky to pdf, from page 52


From page 59
The new Link Road will have a Standard Single Carriageway (S2) cross-section
with hard shoulder and grass verges. Figure 3.67 (Volume 2) details a typical
cross-section of a Standard Single Carriageway (S2) road.

Chris_533976

Sponge Bob wrote: »

On a quick scan there I see a HUGE difference in Hard Shoulder widths .

Could that be just the slip road starting?

Edit: Could that explain the 575m sign?

Sponge Bob

Thats what it is yeah , missing dashed line. Panic over

Star Spangler

The Kilcullen tie-in is now in week 7 of the "8 to 10 week" completion target. I walked the length of the northbound tie-in yesterday morning and noted a few things.

The drainage work is practically complete. Having watched the work closely for the last year or so I've realised that drainage takes up a lot of time.

The wiring for the lighting is all in place which isn't a surprise as existing wiring is being used.

40% of the northbound carriage tie-in appears ready to take the roads base course. This is with work going on for just over a week.

Roadbridge are working Saturdays so they seem intent on finishing the project within their own timeframe (November '09). KCC have told me that the NRA and Roadbridge are in dispute over an early finishing bonus. It doesn't appear to me that Roadbridge are overly concerned!!

Zoney

Looks like they have probably put end of motorway signs at the top of the slips as is proper, but the early warning signs (as present just at the start of the slips on M20 for example, after deceleration lane) are put at the very start of the deceleration lane. Rather silly - ends up looking like the signs apply to the mainline. Hope someone gets them to change these (while they are at it they could redo motorway reg signs on much of the M7).

kwalshe

Looks like some dum dum drove up the section from the Priory up to Kilcullen tie in. Tried to ram the barrier but .... FAIL... It was a 97 Silver Civic, barrier was broken and car was too but looked more cosmetic. Could'nt get a picture as obviously would be crazy to attempt it while driving here.

Star Spangler

Sponge Bob wrote: »

On a quick scan there I see a HUGE difference in Hard Shoulder widths .

Interesting that you say that because I walked along part of the M9 (south from the tie-in) and as far as I could see there's no way anything wider than a Nissan Micra would fit on the hard-shoulder.

johnbk

I have more pictures from yesterday between Powerstown (End of Calow bypass) and just south of Paulstown. There isnt more than a few months left to do on this section. I can see the whole of the M9 open by April/May.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/40914919@N02/



Both these are of the Barrow bridge looking north

road_high

Great work John BK. Here's hoping for that early opening , considering this is one of the busiest parts of the current N10/9 between KK and Carlow town. It will be a god send to my own daily commute anyhow.

For instance this evening with the wet, dark evening I and dozens others were stuck behind some selfish "driver" in a 00 silver Yaris (hope you are reading btw :rolleyes:, learn to bloody drive....) all the way from Paulstown to KK. No oppurtunity to pass of course as the usual commuter deluge leaves KK oncoming at before 6. I can't wait to whizz past these selfish a$$$holes on the M9. Breaking at oncoming traffic.at 40 mph..I mean wtf . You are literally metres away on the other side, it's a good wide road. I just don't understand the mentality. If you are so unconfident on the roads, then stay off them or stick to backroads. Don't force the rest of us to endure your incompetence....Rant Over!!

W.B. Yeats

mfitzy wrote: »

Great work John BK. Here's hoping for that early opening , considering this is one of the busiest parts of the current N10/9 between KK and Carlow town. It will be a god send to my own daily commute anyhow.

For instance this evening with the wet, dark evening I and dozens others were stuck behind some selfish "driver" in a 00 silver Yaris (hope you are reading btw :rolleyes:, learn to bloody drive....) all the way from Paulstown to KK. No oppurtunity to pass of course as the usual commuter deluge leaves KK oncoming at before 6. I can't wait to whizz past these selfish a$$$holes on the M9. Breaking at oncoming traffic.at 40 mph..I mean wtf . You are literally metres away on the other side, it's a good wide road. I just don't understand the mentality. If you are so unconfident on the roads, then stay off them or stick to backroads. Don't force the rest of us to endure your incompetence....Rant Over!!

I was coming in the opposite direction and was stuck behind a lunatic container driver "P&O" who was trying to pass out a car and trailer and then a tractor and bailer that drove onto the motorway at Carlow
My journey home was significantly longer due to the rain and darkness. You forget the difference the winter makes:(

tramor

what was a tractor doing using the carlow bypass. I thought they were not allowed onto motorways. One of the joys of these motorways will be not coming across these vehicles.

Re. 40mph drivers you can't pass out and break for no reason. These guys must cause accidents, or at least a lot of close calls. The frustration of being behind them would knock years off your life.

Thanks all who supplied photos over the last few pages. Much appreciated!!

road_high

W.B. Yeats wrote: »

I was coming in the opposite direction and was stuck behind a lunatic container driver "P&O" who was trying to pass out a car and trailer and then a tractor and bailer that drove onto the motorway at Carlow
My journey home was significantly longer due to the rain and darkness. You forget the difference the winter makes:(

Every time now there is a queque of slow coaches coming on the M9 now. I think traffic has grown signiificantly on the M9/N9 since the bypass opened last year. I can't blame the likes of the truck driver sometimes, these people just get you so frustrated and you take risks. Such a pity the Guards do not focus on these people as well, as theyre just as, if not more dangerous than a speeding driver imo. Pure selfishness and lack of awareness/courtesy to others. Just 'cos you are not in a rush, don't assume everyone else isn't.

Bards

mfitzy wrote: »

Every time now there is a queque of slow coaches coming on the M9 now. I think traffic has grown signiificantly on the M9/N9 since the bypass opened last year. I can't blame the likes of the truck driver sometimes, these people just get you so frustrated and you take risks. Such a pity the Guards do not focus on these people as well, as theyre just as, if not more dangerous than a speeding driver imo. Pure selfishness and lack of awareness/courtesy to others. Just 'cos you are not in a rush, don't assume everyone else isn't.

any driver/vehicle that deviates from the average speed by more than 10% can cause accidents, drivers that are too slow are as dangerous as drivers that are too fast

W.B. Yeats

mfitzy wrote: »

Every time now there is a queque of slow coaches coming on the M9 now. I think traffic has grown signiificantly on the M9/N9 since the bypass opened last year. I can't blame the likes of the truck driver sometimes, these people just get you so frustrated and you take risks. Such a pity the Guards do not focus on these people as well, as theyre just as, if not more dangerous than a speeding driver imo. Pure selfishness and lack of awareness/courtesy to others. Just 'cos you are not in a rush, don't assume everyone else isn't.

It causes a mad rush to pass people when coming to the end of the bypass as well for fear that you end up stuck behind them
Ah well counting down the days til Kilcullen opens ( in my head opened for the new year) to be followed then by Carlow to Paulstown/KK

placard

W.B. Yeats wrote: »

Ah well counting down the days til Kilcullen opens ( in my head opened for the new year) to be followed then by Carlow to Paulstown/KK

Going by Previous posts on the thread it will be something like:

Kilcullen to Carlow - 3 weeks from now.

Waterford to Danesfort - January 2010 (depends on how much rework is required.)

Danesfort to Carlow - June 2010 (will probably be earlier then this.)

road_high

Am really looking forward to it opening. Will be a huge boost to Kilkenny and of course all the south east. Including Clonmel I reckon. A lot of people will be interested in taking the shorter M9/N76 and toll free to Dublin particularly.

fricatus

W.B. Yeats wrote: »

Ah well counting down the days til Kilcullen opens ( in my head opened for the new year) to be followed then by Carlow to Paulstown/KK

I would have hoped that Waterford-Danesfort would be next after Kilcullen-Carlow, considering that they're at it since early 2007!!!

Although you might well be right, the way the southernmost section is progressing... :rolleyes:

fricatus

mfitzy wrote: »

Including Clonmel I reckon. A lot of people will be interested in taking the shorter M9/N76 and toll free to Dublin particularly.

It would only take 6-7 km of road actually, just looking at it... from just north of Callan over as far as Danesfort to meet up with the M9.

Would definitely make sense.