M7 - Nenagh to Limerick

Jumpy

Theres a dude with a plough on the other side.

Berty

Jumpy wrote: »

Theres a dude with a plough on the other side.

What are you suggesting?

yayamark

I walked the closed section a couple of days ago and it about a 25metre section thats closed off. No workers there. Its pretty boggy there all right.

Structure looks ok but i presme they are waiting for it to settle again.

I think the rumour of the Tunnel opening in May was way off, Anyone ive talked to said it would be late summer.

I drove the tunnel about 2 weeks ago and still a lot of work to do.

Berty

FYI on the Tunnell

LCC TLO wrote:

The contractor has provided details on timescale as follows:



12 April: Southbound traffic restricted to single lane from Sixmilebridge junction to south of the Radisson to facilitate gantry installation. After c. 2 weeks the length of single lane will be reduced to start at Cratloe Castle.



20 April: Northbound traffic diverted onto single lane of new slip road under the bridge between Cratloemoyle roundabout and the existing N18.



It is likely that the duration of single lane working in each direction will be approximately 2½ months.



Regards,



Seamus Hayes



Project Liaison Officer

101sean

Someone was working on the bull and yer man when I drove it on Wednesday, thought bull was wrong way round.

mox54

the motorway is now open and i've used it a few times but now prefer to stay on the old n7 to limerick as it has fewer cars and is nicer to drive to limerick now, crazy but true, wont be using the motorway until the winter when its safer but will stick to the old road.

trap4

mox54 wrote: »

now prefer to stay on the old n7 to limerick.

Are you craaaazy?

Drove it for the first time today and thought it was a joy.... but made it all the more depressing to come to a full stop at Birdhill (on the way back) and have to drive a mile long link road

phog

trap4 wrote: »

Are you craaaazy?

Drove it for the first time today and thought it was a joy.... but made it all the more depressing to come to a full stop at Birdhill (on the way back) and have to drive a mile long link road

That's why driving on the old N7 might now be a quicker option, it might be at rush hour coming from Nenagh side anyway.

phog

Berty wrote: »

Im also slightly concerned about the BULL statue. Why is it's big b*llocks facing towards traffic and not its face.

Seems like a cruel joke played by contractors.

Nothing new in the layout of that piece of art work as it was aligned like this on the original bypass before the current upgrading to motorway.

Berty

trap4 wrote: »

Are you craaaazy?

Drove it for the first time today and thought it was a joy.... but made it all the more depressing to come to a full stop at Birdhill (on the way back) and have to drive a mile long link road

You came to a complete stop because the link road yields to traffic from the old N7 and Killaloe.

As I was driving a slow Micra I didn't find it any faster because I was doing around 75-80kph but when I get back working 120kph+ for me.(company vehicle)

AlanD

phog wrote: »

That's why driving on the old N7 might now be a quicker option, it might be at rush hour coming from Nenagh side anyway.

I agree. Don't think there is much, if any, time saving. I was behind a car going to Dublin yesterday. At birdhill I went for the M7 and the car in front went for the N7. I thought I'd leave him for dust. But no, where the M7 crosses the N7 there he was driving under the bridge. I was literally just ahead of him come Nenagh bypass time.

Both of us at the speed limit presumably.

M7 feels quicker though and you can pass everyone.

mox54

I dont want to seem like a killjoy now the motorway is open but the 1.5 mile run off at the birdhill junction is way too long for my liking so for now I'll stick to the N7 but once the full motorway is open, (if ever) it'll be a dream to get to work every day and I am grateful for it but the N7 is ok for now,:eek:

Berty

I think most of us feel the same

"MEH"

Its a bit of an anti climax because the long link road kills the enjoyment of the section of Motorway that is open. I drove to Nenagh earlier for some shopping and thought I'd use the Motorway so my OH could have a look.

She didn't seem to notice or care that the car was even moving let alone the road was open.

It takes me less time to use the back roads to get home than use the Motorway from Nenagh to Birdhill to Newport.

JupiterKid

I was in Killaloe for the past few days and drove the new section of M7. it's very well built and there are some great views along this stretch. No emergency phones yet.

Some impressive rock cuttings. The link road at Birdhill seems a good bit longer than a mile.

pinkfloyd34

just wondering why the didnt build another link road going to newport from the other side of the birdhill interchange, if im driving from newport i have to go over the m7 on a bridge then into birdhill then onto the current link road and then onto the m7, but if they had just done a link road on the other side of the current link road it would be so much handier

Berty

pinkfloyd34 wrote: »

just wondering why the didnt build another link road going to newport from the other side of the birdhill interchange, if im driving from newport i have to go over the m7 on a bridge then into birdhill then onto the current link road and then onto the m7, but if they had just done a link road on the other side of the current link road it would be so much handier

Join the club but the assessment would have been done on the potential amount of traffic using onramp/offramps and link roads. You will know yourself that the amount of traffic who would utilise it would be quite low.

It annoys me as well but there is nothing that could have been done.

Jumpy

Just cycled the unopened section.

Absolutely beautiful scenery, 16 km of nice road, about 300 metres of sunken section.
I can see this being nice when it opens, but for now its a lovely cycle.

pinkfloyd34

Berty wrote: »

Join the club but the assessment would have been done on the potential amount of traffic using onramp/offramps and link roads. You will know yourself that the amount of traffic who would utilise it would be quite low.

It annoys me as well but there is nothing that could have been done.

looking on the map of it, its very close to an existing road from newport so i dont think it would have cost that much and who knows what the population of newport and the surrounding area will be in 10/20 years, i cant see it getting smaller, i suppose it wont be too much hassle to open one at a later stage if it does need it, again there is no forward planning,
i was just thinking there is a roundabout when you get off the motorway but you only have one exit going onto the current link road so why bother with the roundabout at all

phog

pinkfloyd34 wrote: »

just wondering why the didnt build another link road going to newport from the other side of the birdhill interchange, if im driving from newport i have to go over the m7 on a bridge then into birdhill then onto the current link road and then onto the m7, but if they had just done a link road on the other side of the current link road it would be so much handier

You want a road to link to Newport, what about us city dwellers, they are closing one of the few that we have currently access to&from ther bypass :mad:

The Word Is Bor

pinkfloyd34 wrote: »

i was just thinking there is a roundabout when you get off the motorway but you only have one exit going onto the current link road so why bother with the roundabout at all

What about when the rest of the motorway opens up in 2012? Traffic from Birdhill to Limerick will get onto the motorway how?

Sierra Oscar

pinkfloyd34 wrote: »

looking on the map of it, its very close to an existing road from newport so i dont think it would have cost that much and who knows what the population of newport and the surrounding area will be in 10/20 years, i cant see it getting smaller, i suppose it wont be too much hassle to open one at a later stage if it does need it, again there is no forward planning,
i was just thinking there is a roundabout when you get off the motorway but you only have one exit going onto the current link road so why bother with the roundabout at all

They would have to upgrade the existing road linking to the motorway . . . it would be costly when everything is taken into account.

slinky2000

Drove it a few times now both directions and in my opnion is certainly quicker than the old n7, even with the link road.

The link road by my speedo is 1.2miles long from roundabout to roundabout.

Deedsie

Well, are the lads back to work today? What other areas have to be completed than the 300m at the bog? Hopefully all of these sections can be tied up before repair works on the bog commences?

dergside

Deedsie wrote: »

Well, are the lads back to work today? /QUOTE]

On the new road beside the bridge near Herberts pub this morning I spotted a tipper truck and a couple of hi-vis jackets milling about. They seem to have an access ramp for construction traffic on the N7 side of that bridge and the tipper was driving down that.

Tech3

pinkfloyd34 wrote: »

just wondering why the didnt build another link road going to newport from the other side of the birdhill interchange, if im driving from newport i have to go over the m7 on a bridge then into birdhill then onto the current link road and then onto the m7, but if they had just done a link road on the other side of the current link road it would be so much handier

I'd say if they were to build a link road the easiest would surely be linking the ballinahinch road to the interchange rather than the R504. It's very close to the interchange only 300-400 meters.

spacetweek

Deedsie wrote: »

He also mentioned that the limerick to Nenagh motorway is the most expensive road in the world at a whopping 15m per mile. Could anyone confirm or refute this claim?

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

Dont believe him. I think a 3 mile section of road in Holland through a C&C tunnel will be multiple hundreds of million.

MYOB wrote: »

The DPT cost about 200M per mile, so we can refute it in this country let alone the world!

Deedsie wrote: »

28 KM of Road plus 10K improvement works. Say 23 and a half Miles at 15M/mile

slinky2000 wrote: »

The link road by my speedo is 1.2miles long from roundabout to roundabout.

JupiterKid wrote: »

Some impressive rock cuttings. The link road at Birdhill seems a good bit longer than a mile.

mox54 wrote: »

I dont want to seem like a killjoy now the motorway is open but the 1.5 mile run off

trap4 wrote: »

but made it all the more depressing to come to a full stop at Birdhill (on the way back) and have to drive a mile long link road

Jesus guys, did Ireland re-adopt the imperial measurements while I was away??
You're giving me a headache. Kilometres, please.

Also, this:

Deedsie wrote: »

Also, i was talking to a man working on the Castletown section. October opening according to him. He also mentioned that the limerick to Nenagh motorway is the most expensive road in the world at a whopping 15m per mile. Could anyone confirm or refute this claim?

...sounds like the classic Irish tendency to exaggerate.

Deedsie

spacetweek wrote: »

Jesus guys, did Ireland re-adopt the imperial measurements while I was away??
You're giving me a headache. Kilometres, please.

Also, this:
...sounds like the classic Irish tendency to exaggerate.

The lad i was talking had a few pints on at the time of said exaggeration. I only posted it because i felt people here might be interested. Cold hard facts from here on.

The Word Is Bor

Don't you mean the guy had a few 568ml's on him?

Deedsie

http://www.nenaghguardian.ie/search-articles-detail.php?article=HPYY3L

Another article ye might find interesting.

NedNew2

spacetweek wrote: »

Jesus guys, did Ireland re-adopt the imperial measurements while I was away??
You're giving me a headache. Kilometres, please.

Agree 100%, Kilometres please!