M9 - Waterford motorway construction updates

road_high

fricatus wrote: »

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:

No, from what I see of Kilcullen end I think it will be next, defo. Nearly all the lining and some signin has been done now. Don't think this is the case in the south. Tie in at Kilcullen which was hardest part is almost ready. Roadbridge are far superior.
Also, lights were turned on this evening at (north of) the Castledermot junction (Prumplestown) on the new section.

road_high

fricatus wrote: »

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.

Yep, this road across has been identified as a possible "rat run" and there have been proposals to upgrade accordingly.

placard

mfitzy wrote: »

Roadbridge are far superior.

I would have agreed before driving on the WD bypass.. it's a class piece of infrastructure. Also the Carlow bypass was ahead of schedule.. wasn't it? Bam are just as good

road_high

placard wrote: »

I would have agreed before driving on the WD bypass.. it's a class piece of infrastructure. Also the Carlow bypass was ahead of schedule.. wasn't it? Bam are just as good

Well I'd say eaten bread is soon forgotten . Fair enought they were on the M9 bypass but since then I think they've taken a total nosedive in delivery of work. Look at the painstakingly slow M9 Knocktopher south section. Started Feb 2007; that's woeful imo that's it's still not open.
They have not exactly set the world ablaze with sections of the M8 AND M7 they are involved with either, though I don't know a great deal about those.

Bards

placard wrote: »

I would have agreed before driving on the WD bypass.. it's a class piece of infrastructure. Also the Carlow bypass was ahead of schedule.. wasn't it? Bam are just as good

Dragados of Spain were involved with this also a it was a joint venture

johnbk

Checked progress on road from Danesford to Mullinavat today. (No pictures) Raodbridge section from Danesford to Knocktopher looks like it has 80& of final surface down now. Crash barriers are all up around bridges. Gantry and poles are up (less the signs). So looks like a few weeks would finish this section.

From Knocktopher to Mullinavat is flying too. There is still huge activity on the section between Lukeswell and Mulinavat. All the CBM and tarmac are down so the Concrete barrier should be next, then the wear surface, signs and lines. This could still be done before Christhmas IMO.

On the question of Bam versus Roadbridge, I still think Roadbridge win for their overall efficiency. Their work never seems as 'frantic' as Bam's. What I mean could be clearly seen even this morning. For example, Raodbridge finish topsoiling along the road as they go. Bam still have diggers dotted along their whole section tidying up the verges. However on the question of the delays in the completion of the Knocktopher to Waterford section, the only reason for this is that they neglated it because of the Waterford bypass (They were spread too thinly IMO). This is epecially evident jundging on the amount of work they have done in the last three months.

road_high

johnbk wrote: »

From Knocktopher to Mullinavat is flying too. There is still huge activity on the section between Lukeswell and Mulinavat. All the CBM and tarmac are down so the Concrete barrier should be next, then the wear surface, signs and lines. This could still be done before Christhmas IMO.

I hope you're right. It would be nice to have the old N9 in the history books where it belongs before Christmas. It would also be a boost to shops and businesses in KK, Waterford and indeed Carlow before Christmas as people try the new road and would be encouraged to shop in their neighbouring town or city. Can see trade rising significantly between KK and Waterford in particular. Many KK people would sooner go to further places like Newbridge or even Dublin rather than endure that road. That's the way it has been for decades. Whereas KK people would nip over to Carlow without a second thought, Waterford is offputting thanks to the poor road. And vice versa I'm sure.

Bards

mfitzy wrote: »

I hope you're right. It would be nice to have the old N9 in the history books where it belongs before Christmas. It would also be a boost to shops and businesses in KK, Waterford and indeed Carlow before Christmas as people try the new road and would be encouraged to shop in their neighbouring town or city. Can see trade rising significantly between KK and Waterford in particular. Many KK people would sooner go to further places like Newbridge or even Dublin rather than endure that road. That's the way it has been for decades. Whereas KK people would nip over to Carlow without a second thought, Waterford is offputting thanks to the poor road. And vice versa I'm sure.

Yes, I think we are going to get a lot of synergies between towns & Cities in the S.E.

The region with almost half a million inhabitants, will begin to act like the economic engine that it should be, but has been stopped from achieving this due to woeful inadequate infrastructure

D.L.R.

Bards wrote: »

Yes, I think we are going to get a lot of synergies between towns & Cities in the S.E.

The region with almost half a million inhabitants, will begin to act like the economic engine that it should be, but has been stopped from achieving this due to woeful inadequate infrastructure

You could say that for Ireland as a whole.

Star Spangler

I walked the northbound side of the Kilcullen tie-in again last night. As always, I was amazed at how much they can do in just a couple of days. I wouldn't be surprised if they started surfacing next week already. If they maintain this pace, I don't see any reason why it won't be completed before the end of the month.

diarmaid2

Any news of the Mullinavat-Lukeswell section of Waterford-Knpcktopher scheme? The general gist seems to be that it won't be finished before Christmas. Havent seen it myself for a few week. Just wondering has anyone any updates?

placard

diarmaid2 wrote: »

Any news of the Mullinavat-Lukeswell section of Waterford-Knpcktopher scheme? The general gist seems to be that it won't be finished before Christmas. Havent seen it myself for a few week. Just wondering has anyone any updates?

Last I heard is it was on track for completion before Christmas. Early january has also been mentioned on this thread. Would be great to have it open for the holidays! Shouldn't be affected too much by the weather at this late stage.

Bodan

placard wrote: »

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

Kilcullen to Carlow - 3 weeks from now.

are you sure about that? according to the NRA website, with details of the scheme, it says it is not going to finish until the 4th Quarter in 2010.

Roryhy

Bodan wrote: »

are you sure about that? according to the NRA website, with details of the scheme, it says it is not going to finish until the 4th Quarter in 2010.

This is only weeks away, loads of signs now up at Carlow tie-in. As soon as kilcullen tie-in is finished, it's done. 1 month max.

Bodan

Roryhy wrote: »

This is only weeks away, loads of signs now up at Carlow tie-in. As soon as kilcullen tie-in is finished, it's done. 1 month max.

Thats amazing, nearly one year ahead of schedule. I wonder how they managed to get it completed so soon.

Star Spangler

Bodan wrote: »

are you sure about that? according to the NRA website, with details of the scheme, it says it is not going to finish until the 4th Quarter in 2010.

That part of the website hasn't been updated in two years. Roadbridge has every piece of machinery working at the Kilcullen tie-in. 2 or 3 weeks will finish it.

sk8board

what will happen when Knocktopher and Castledermot sections both open, but there is a 'hole' in the middle of the motorway, as the KK city part is not completed?

Will traffic come off at Knocktopher, up through the village, and into Thomastown, and Paulstown as usual?

or will they delay opening it until the KK section is finished, which (at paulstown anyway), its no-where near completion, and the feeder road from the Gowran side of Paulstown doesn't even have a foundation laid, never mind a road surface. Its months and months away.

fricatus

sk8board wrote: »

what will happen when Knocktopher and Castledermot sections both open, but there is a 'hole' in the middle of the motorway, as the KK city part is not completed?

Will traffic come off at Knocktopher, up through the village, and into Thomastown, and Paulstown as usual?

or will they delay opening it until the KK section is finished, which (at paulstown anyway), its no-where near completion, and the feeder road from the Gowran side of Paulstown doesn't even have a foundation laid, never mind a road surface. Its months and months away.

I e-mailed the project office for an update, and the plan at present is to have Waterford-Danesfort open by the end of January (despite what the newspapers said).

In the light of that (i.e. that the motorway will not terminate at Knocktopher), I would assume that they'll just route Waterford-Dublin traffic via Danesfort, Kilkenny, Paulstown and the southern end of the Carlow bypass.

I know Kilkenny is quite congested at times, but the above route is far superior to Thomastown/Gowran... and sure it'll only be for a few months anyway!

Mr Clonfadda

Yes i had heard that was going to happen as well but will it be very danderous to put a load of new cars onto a road that won't be overly familiar with the route?

I do agree it is better than the current N9 though but traffic around kilkenny at peak time will be difficult.

road_high

Nigel Sage wrote: »

Yes i had heard that was going to happen as well but will it be very danderous to put a load of new cars onto a road that won't be overly familiar with the route?

I do agree it is better than the current N9 though but traffic around kilkenny at peak time will be difficult.

It will be a short term measure so it won't be so bad. It will be bad for 6 months or so until the rest of the M9/N10 opens up and there is seemless motorway all the way.

road_high

Lot of activity on the new N10 Kilkenny link road this past few weeks. Drainage works are proceeding along the short route.

veryangryman

Lads, i was going to start another thread on this but...

What is the point of full-blown motorway Motorway (M9) any further than Kilkenny? Is this really prioritised over bypass of Claregalway/Adare/Charleville/Mallow? What a complete waste of taxpayers money. Waterford (like Sligo) is not big enough to count as an inter-urban.

And worse yet its not even tolled. So the other 95% +of the country who dont even use the road have to finance it.

Ive already given out about the M3 this way - this one is even worse. 2+2 at best is what is needed here. Again, complete waste

road_high

veryangryman wrote: »

Lads, i was going to start another thread on this but...


What is the point of full-blown motorway Motorway (M9) any further than Kilkenny? Is this really prioritised over bypass of Claregalway/Adare/Charleville/Mallow? What a complete waste of taxpayers money. Waterford (like Sligo) is not big enough to count as an inter-urban.



And worse yet its not even tolled. So the other 95% +of the country who dont even use the road have to finance it.


Ive already given out about the M3 this way - this one is even worse. 2+2 at best is what is needed here. Again, complete waste

I don't know off hand but the populations of Kildare, West Wicklow, parts of Wexford, Carlow,Laois, Kilkenny, Waterford and parts of south Tipp that will
all feed onto the M9 hardly constitute less than 5%!!


A waste; Says who? Yourself? Sligo is about one third the size of Waterford. it's quite a bit smaller than KK or Carlow and is growing at a far slower pace. Same goes for Athlone and a few others that tend to blow their importance way out of proportion.

It's the sheer low quality of the exiating N9 that is the problem. The N4 to Sligo is a far superior road in it's current format. The N9/10 as far as Kilkenny is a seriously busy road.

kwalshe

veryangryman wrote: »

Lads, i was going to start another thread on this but...

What is the point of full-blown motorway Motorway (M9) any further than Kilkenny? Is this really prioritised over bypass of Claregalway/Adare/Charleville/Mallow? What a complete waste of taxpayers money. Waterford (like Sligo) is not big enough to count as an inter-urban.

And worse yet its not even tolled. So the other 95% +of the country who dont even use the road have to finance it.

Ive already given out about the M3 this way - this one is even worse. 2+2 at best is what is needed here. Again, complete waste

ahemmmmm R & R

---

> thata way:rolleyes:

Claregalway -- pop 562
Adare -- pop 2,592
Charleville -- pop 2,984
Mallow -- pop 7,864

v's

Castledermot -- pop 887
Carlow -- pop 13,624
Kilkenny -- pop 22,179
Thomastown -- pop1,837
and finally Waterford -- pop 49,240

No go away and stop wrecking our buzz. Are you friends of that looper from Frontline last monday, maybe twin brothers?

If 49,240 is'nt inter urban then what is?

johnbk

Not sure this is the best place for this debate. It’s a bit pointless too at this stage, as the road will be complete in less than 6 months.

Anyway I agree to a certain extent with the argument that it is a waste. Motorways should have been planned more strategically and not followed existing National Primaries so closely. M11, M9, M8 and M7 were more than was needed. Maybe two would have worked better with a Rosslare-Waterford-Cork-Limerick motorway connecting them.

I really get annoyed when I think about it.
The debate should really focus on roads from here on in. For example the N24 and the N25 – one road could do!

slimjimmc

kwalshe wrote: »

ahemmmmm R & R

---

> thata way:rolleyes:

Claregalway -- pop 562
Adare -- pop 2,592
Charleville -- pop 2,984
Mallow -- pop 7,864

v's

Castledermot -- pop 887
Carlow -- pop 13,624
Kilkenny -- pop 22,179
Thomastown -- pop1,837
and finally Waterford -- pop 49,240

No go away and stop wrecking our buzz. Are you friends of that looper from Frontline last monday, maybe twin brothers?

If 49,240 is'nt inter urban then what is?

Carlow is bigger than that when you compare like with like when you look at the 2006 Census figures:

Carlow town* (13623) + Carlow Environs (7101) = 20724
Kilkenny Borough* (8661) + Kilkenny environs (13518) = 22379
Waterford City* (45748) + Waterford suburbs (3465) = 49213

*=legal town boundary

Tech3

veryangryman wrote: »

Lads, i was going to start another thread on this but...

What is the point of full-blown motorway Motorway (M9) any further than Kilkenny? Is this really prioritised over bypass of Claregalway/Adare/Charleville/Mallow? What a complete waste of taxpayers money. Waterford (like Sligo) is not big enough to count as an inter-urban.

And worse yet its not even tolled. So the other 95% +of the country who dont even use the road have to finance it.

Ive already given out about the M3 this way - this one is even worse. 2+2 at best is what is needed here. Again, complete waste

There was a big thread about it here:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055414044

johnbk

Yes, more appropriate there and keep this thread to updates.

road_high

Any news from the Kildare/Carlow guys here on the Kilcullen stretch? Haven't been over that way in a week or so and the Kilcullen tie was well on it's way.

Amtmann

Lads, you can pick up the debate on whether or not all the interurbans were necessary here on this good thread.

M9 updates only here.