Overcrowded Cork South Ring Road?

Typewriter

Oh yeah sorry went jazzing last night.:cool::D

Yes as confirmed also by Furet it is in fact 120km/ph but only after the first exit.

BluntGuy

They need to shove motorway restrictions on that section as soon as possible...

It wasn't safe for cyclists at 100 km/h and it certainly isn't safe at 120.

Hogzy

Council would probably use the excuse that putting motorway restrictions on such a short stretch of road would be silly and to wait for the 2 other flyovers to be developed! not my opinion but its probably what they would say.

Does anyone one know why the bandon and sarsfield flyovers werent constructed at the start?

invincibleirish

Hogzy wrote: »

Does anyone one know why the bandon and sarsfield flyovers werent constructed at the start?

AFAIK the flyovers (inc. Kinsale Rd) were originally not constructed when the SRR was being built in a piecemeal manner due to costs, fair enough i guess in the cash strapped times of the 20th Century.

In the Celtic tiger times the projects were mothballed despite being due to begin immediately after the Kinsale Flyover was built due to the Government prioritising to complete the already long promised Interurbans (like the famous M9;)) ahead of other projects, excellent politics on behalf of FF if i may so say myself.

Hogzy

God this government is great isnt it. So inefficient all you hear all the bloody time is how the government made stupid decisions that lead to money being spent in the wrong areas and not having important issues tackled firstly.

AugustusMaximus

The South Ring Road in Cork is prob the worst stretch of road in Ireland for people driving in the overtaking lane.

An absolute joke. I've had people try to race me after I've undertaken them. Seen people go absolutely mad due to me undertaking them, as if they had a right to hold up everyone else. Madness.

(And yes I know, undertaking is against the rules of the road).

BluntGuy

The SRR is a disgrace and I wouldn't have minded parts of the M9 scheme or even parts of the M8 (which I regularly use) being put on hold just to fix that horrible mess.

But again, it's hard for me to guage the importance of each scheme relative to another. ALL of the proposed schemes are important, even the sometimes contested M9.

mysterious

What they need to do, is separate mainline traffic from local traffic. This method is very popular in main cities where important routes cater for all modes of traffic.

Take example the A6 comming into Paris.

Its a normal 6 lane motorway. With a separated carriegway on the veres to cater the local traffic, weaving and closely nit junctions to get from A to B.

Having a 4 lane carrieway for the N25 then building two carriegwways on either side of the expressway, allowing all the traffic from Kinsale, Douglas, N28 and N27 to move more efficiently without overcrowding or getting into any conflict with the mainline N25 at all. There is far to many interchanges closely nit together, that I don't see any other option but to have a local D.C built to cater for the movements, that currently cloggs up to N25 right now


This would be the best solution

Go onto livemaps, and zoom in on the A6 coming into Paris, and this will be a clear example of such type road. There are very effiecient, and helps to get traffic moving much more effieciently than a really wide motorway with many lanes and many interchanges etc.

Lennoxschips

Hmm... Paris is a great deal larger than Cork.

Chris_533976

There will be Collector/Distributor lanes (effectively) between Bandon Rd and Sarsfield Rd roundabouts when they eventually do that scheme. More C/D lanes would be nice, but there really isnt space on the Douglas viaduct

BluntGuy

The Douglas viaduct is really holding back the overall efficient upgrade of this route.

But I can't think of feasible way to widen it short of building a new parallel viaduct. And where the heck are they gonna find the space to do that?

AugustusMaximus

BluntGuy wrote: »

The Douglas viaduct is really holding back the overall efficient upgrade of this route.

But I can't think of feasible way to widen it short of building a new parallel viaduct. And where the heck are they gonna find the space to do that?

Tunnel and sell off the land made available by putting the road underground.

BluntGuy

A tunnel? Now that I hadn't considered...

But how expensive would it be?

They can't do a cut and cover job as that requires the old viaduct to be removed first. They'd have to do a deep-bore job which would be incredibly expensive. Also, where would it tie in with the existing route?

It's certainly an idea... but a very difficult, and incredibly expensive one.

Colm R

BluntGuy wrote: »

A tunnel? Now that I hadn't considered...

But how expensive would it be?

They can't do a cut and cover job as that requires the old viaduct to be removed first. They'd have to do a deep-bore job which would be incredibly expensive. Also, where would it tie in with the existing route?

It's certainly an idea... but a very difficult, and incredibly expensive one.

Perhaps double decking the viaduct might be an option. Say between the Bloomfield Junction and the Kinsale Flyover side of the Douglas West Junction, have one side of the road go up a level thus allowing both sides to have ample space. I would have the side going west go on top as there is no exit here anyway.

Engineers: would it be possible to build such a project whilst keeping the existing road open except for obvious night work.

Or am I talking complete pie in the sky.

Solair

The major problem is the signalised roundabouts at Dunkettle, Wilton and Bishopstown. They really ought to have been removed years ago.

Mahon Point certainly causes chaos, there needs to be a re-examination of the traffic management on the site. The shopping centre possibly needs direct access without that right turn across the lough mahon road.

The viaduct is just a short 4-lane section and the exit lanes into Douglas are largely non-blocking and quite sensible. I don't think the viaduct is all that much of a problem.

Typewriter

Colm R wrote: »

Or am I talking complete pie in the sky.

I think you all are.:rolleyes:

All that you'd need to do is replace the top of the existing viaduct in Douglas with a new one with cantilevered hard solders then do some minor alterations to the Douglas exits to facilitate the newer width of the road.

dmeehan

could they build a parrallel viaduct on pylons, that would still leave some space for the carpark below (granted some spaces will be lost)

i dont see the need to fill in the space between the road deck and the ground, as per the existing viaduct, when it can be built "on stilts"

murphym7

I'm sorry if I go off track here a little bit. I want to go back to some of the earlier comments about tractors on the SRR. Take a close look at most of the tractors on the road these days. They are mainly builders/developers/construction companies transporting plant and building machinery around the city cheaply. They use agricultural diesel and save a fortune by using tractors instead of the trucks they are meant to use. I can see a serious accident occuring soon. Why are these builders etc... not being pulled up for misuse of the agricultural diesel?? They are not allowed use this diesel for transporting plant but can use it in plant on building sites. I'm getting frustrated looking at this abuse each day. They are certainly not dragging crops around the city!!!! Any thoughts?

Solair

Fianna Fail donations??

They are the political wing of the irish property developers collective afterall.

Typewriter

Just for people who may not have seen these already.

Hear are pictures of the propose SRR upgrades and what it is like at present.

"We are currently waiting on funding to proceed towards construction stage. The estimated time for construction of the works is approximately 2 years."

Two years to build!!! :eek: And that's only when they get the funding.

Might be a long while before we see the view from these flyovers.:rolleyes:

Sponge Bob

Senator Dan Boyle has strongly objected to funds being released because he wants more buses in Cork.

Michael Martin has not done much either, he has instead spent the last few years trying to replace the tottering drug industry as minister for employment.

It is not a priority at present shall we say :cool:

invincibleirish

Great, Do we spend money on a distinctly sub par bus service, or try and upgrade the pre Celtic Tiger sub par ring road. i'd say prioritise the SR only because Cork is such a car reliant place anyway, a few extra buses will mean relatively little given that public transport needs a radical overhaul in Cork.

But why bother, neither Buses or upgrades will come to fruition anyway for a long while yet.

Prowetod

I am a daily user of both roundabouts in question, I am often waiting 20 mins to travel 500m!!! I really hope the government wake up and get something done soon!

corktina

i would think the ideal solution would be a flyover to pass over both roundabouts and be on stilts with the existing roads left as they are beneath the new road for local traffic.....

Amtmann

The subject of Waterford's new N25 bypass and the potential for grotesque and innapropriate development along it prompted me to randomly google 'N25'.

And look what I found! http://www.n25.ie/

I suggest people look at that. It's not dated, but if even one of these monstrosities gets the go ahead, they may as well slap parking ticket vendors on the SRR, because it simply won't be a road anymore. It's actually appalling that people can be so greedy and short-sighted.

BluntGuy

Speechless...

And where the hell are the NRA? Are they just going to sit there and let this appalling, inexcusable development take place...

Hopefully the recession has prompted the developers to pull out of this ludicrous proposal.

As Furet already said, the SRR is quickly turning into an M50-style car park. Those who've experienced the dreaded "Mahon Point On-Ramp" will know the horror to which I refer. It takes about half-an-hour to traverse the best part of 300 metres, a situation that will only get worse if these idiotic ideas are made a reality.

And if my fears are correct, then this is exactly what will happen at Grannagh and the Westlink junctions on the N25 Waterford Bypass. C'mon NRA, you had the balls to reck the corrupt councillors' plans and redesignate other stretches, why not this one?

Amtmann

What makes me livid is the public transport provision for Mahon Point patrons.

Get this: it's a solitary red pole, indicating a single-decker bus stops there four times hourly at peak periods. It's in the middle of a bleak footpath, and doesn't even provide shelter from the rain. That's it. No wonder everyone drives there!

invincibleirish

BluntGuy wrote: »

And if my fears are correct, then this is exactly what will happen at Grannagh and the Westlink junctions on the N25 Waterford Bypass. C'mon NRA, you had the balls to reck the corrupt councillors' plans and redesignate other stretches, why not this one?

Speculating on my part again but im assuming when the Gov. prioritised the Interurbans above all other projects the NRA might have wanted to spend some of that money on other projects that werent Interurbans, perhaps projects like the SRR Interchanges, which got long fingered because of the commitment to the Interurban programme.

The link is Martin Cullen, and my point is if he can ensure the M9 gets built, quickly, then im sure he has enough 'sway' at the cabinet table and outside to ensure the N25 BP remains undesignated, after all i can only imagine it would be in his electoral interests to do so?

After all out of town shopping Mall & Estate placed at various junctions and greenfield sites= jobs and prosperity, Motorways bring progress?

BluntGuy

Furet wrote: »

What makes me livid is the public transport provision for Mahon Point patrons.

Get this: it's a solitary red pole, indicating a single-decker bus stops there four times hourly at peak periods. It's in the middle of a bleak footpath, and doesn't even provide shelter from the rain. That's it. No wonder everyone drives there!

Wow, so the largest shopping centre in Cork gets... that. I didn't even know Mahon had a bus link. To find out it was so substandard is not a pleasant surprise...

Truly pathetic... although four services an hour is heaven compared to the lame service Ballincollig (a service I often use when I can) receives...

But how can you not even have a bleedin' shelter? I was driving through Cahir the other day and noticed THEY HAD A NEW ONE! A town where at most 100 people use the bus everyday can get one where as a large shopping centre that serves a huge catchment cannot.

Words cannot describe some of the idiocy we encounter everyday in this country.

invincibleirish

Furet wrote: »

What makes me livid is the public transport provision for Mahon Point patrons.

Get this: it's a solitary red pole, indicating a single-decker bus stops there four times hourly at peak periods. It's in the middle of a bleak footpath, and doesn't even provide shelter from the rain. That's it. No wonder everyone drives there!

Integrated public transport Irish style. Mahon is supposed to be the endpoint for a transport corridor into the city centre in council plans emerging in recent times? Mahon also supposed to have a indoor arena stadium thing:p its been what 5 years since MP opened?