M6 - Ballinasloe to Galway

darkman2

darkman2 wrote: »

They used the wrong shade of yellow for the hard shoulder - but I do like the brightlyness;)

As they say in fashion "it's the new yellow"
But it's much clearer in poor light!

KevR

Signage crew currently at the Loughrea Byass/M6 Link Road roundabout.

Sponge Bob

They could open the western half / loughrea link at the end of the month at this rate Loughrea and Athenry to Galway and back .

I would try that without telling anybody about it , it lets the locals get used to decent roads for a few weeks without killing any tourists with their stupidity

Geogregor

MYOB wrote: »

Key, 2.10 + 2.90 + 2 = 7 not 6!

7 Euro for 200km and crossing the whole country.
Try to do the same in France for this money. And it does include M50 toll which not every one going from Dublin to Galway uses.

emfifty

Geogregor wrote: »

7 Euro for 200km and crossing the whole country.
Try to do the same in France for this money. And it does include M50 toll which not every one going from Dublin to Galway uses.

in ireland we pay road taxes in additon to tolls. in france [as in many european countries] you don't!

Happy Monday

emfifty wrote: »

in ireland we pay road taxes in additon to tolls. in france [as in many european countries] you don't!

Don't mention the French thanking you!

L1011

emfifty wrote: »

in ireland we pay road taxes in additon to tolls. in france [as in many european countries] you don't!

We don't pay road tax, we pay motor tax.

The French have road tax on company vehicles and large vehicles, and (slightly) more expensive petrol than us.

DanielI

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/motors/2009/1118/1224259033840.html

THE FIRST of the State's new inter-urban motorways, the 194km M4/M6 route from Dublin to Galway, has been completed six months ahead of deadline and is on schedule to open before the end of the year.

The final stretch of the €427m motorway, which runs 56km from Ballinasloe to Galway, was finished in the last 10 days and notices placed in national newspapers this week announced the toll scheme on the route would go live from December 13. The road is the first of the inter-urban motorways between Dublin and regional cities, announced by former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in 1999, to be completed. Motorways between Dublin and Limerick, Cork and Waterford are scheduled to open next year.

The development of the M4/M6 brings Dublin's M50 within two hours of the outskirts of Galway city, when travelling at 100km/h.

A toll plaza close to Cappataggle village will charge €1.90 for cars to use the Galway to Ballinasloe road. This is the second toll on the Dublin to Galway route after the M4 toll at Enfield. The total cost for a car on the Dublin to Galway stretch will be €4.80.

A spokesman for the National Roads Authority confirmed construction was completed but refused to confirm a formal date for the opening, saying safety certification and a formal hand-over would take a few weeks.

Nath

Contrary to what the Irish TImes report says, it isn't fully completed yet, still work to do at the Ballinasloe end, though it looked pretty close.

antoobrien

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/round-trip-from-coast-to-coast-will-cost-nearly-836410-1946487.html

Similar article in the info, concentrating on the cost of tolls and revenue rather than the state of readiness of the road.

Interesting in both that there's no mention of an opening date with the times saying the NRA have refused to give a date.

Amtmann

The Indo article epitomises that paper's slide towards being a populist tabloid for the unthinking: "ireland's [sic] first coast-to-coast motorway, linking Dublin and Galway, will open before Christmas -- but motorists will pay almost €10 for a round-trip."

Always a cloud on every silver lining. Always the "but" with the Indo. Yes, the road is tolled. We are getting a high quality coast to coast route that will save many many lives, bypass towns and decrease journey times. But! You'll have to pay a few quid to use it. Whoop-di-fuppin-doo. By all means the toll needs to be mentioned, but the way they make it the primary focus of the article really annoys me.

KevR

My Christmas exam timetable is a bit up in the air at the moment. I'm hoping my exams will be over before the motorway opens because I want to drive it end to end on the first day.

Irish and Proud

Furet wrote: »

The Indo article epitomises that paper's slide towards being a populist tabloid for the unthinking: "ireland's [sic] first coast-to-coast motorway, linking Dublin and Galway, will open before Christmas -- but motorists will pay almost €10 for a round-trip."

Always a cloud on every silver lining. Always the "but" with the Indo. Yes, the road is tolled. We are getting a high quality coast to coast route that will save many many lives, bypass towns and decrease journey times. But! You'll have to pay a few quid to use it. Whoop-di-fuppin-doo. By all means the toll needs to be mentioned, but the way they make it the primary focus of the article really annoys me.

...yes, under €5.00 is very little to pay for a new motorway from Dublin to Galway - was in Spain and about 100km of new motorway (AP-7 South of Murcia) cost us €13.80 - bear in mind that Spain is a country that has a lower cost base than Ireland. Mind you, the VRT in this country is a total ripoff, but that's another issue really!

Regards!

GerardKeating

Nath wrote: »

Contrary to what the Irish TImes report says, it isn't fully completed yet, still work to do at the Ballinasloe end, though it looked pretty close.

I saw a bit of the road at the weekend, from the train near Athenry and i thought i saw a gap in the barrier...

Amtmann

I'd imagine the very dry September/October we had helped expedite the whole process. How is the landscaping progressing though?

Sponge Bob

From the Kaisers photoshoot last week I surmise landscaping is done on sections west of the toll plaza ( maybe further east) and needs to be finished off between Cappataggle and East Ballinasloe , 10 miles or so .

That can wait till the spring TBH because the priority is to open that road before the **** weather and **** roads kills more people !

Amtmann

^^ Agreed.

marmurr1916

Furet wrote: »

The Indo article epitomises that paper's slide towards being a populist tabloid for the unthinking: "ireland's [sic] first coast-to-coast motorway, linking Dublin and Galway, will open before Christmas -- but motorists will pay almost €10 for a round-trip."

Always a cloud on every silver lining. Always the "but" with the Indo. Yes, the road is tolled. We are getting a high quality coast to coast route that will save many many lives, bypass towns and decrease journey times. But! You'll have to pay a few quid to use it. Whoop-di-fuppin-doo. By all means the toll needs to be mentioned, but the way they make it the primary focus of the article really annoys me.

Spot on!

If you factor in the money saved on petrol by avoiding driving in congested towns/villages and time saved from not being stuck behind trucks and tractors, then €9.60 return is a bargain!

According to the report, "Contractor ICON...can charge a toll from December 13 and is racing to have the final section of the motorway finished".

No wonder they're trying to get it open before Xmas if they can charge a toll from Dec 13.

kaizersoze

GerardKeating wrote: »

I saw a bit of the road at the weekend, from the train near Athenry and i thought i saw a gap in the barrier...

There are still quiet a few gaps in the barrier, including this one.....


They were spraying the bare sections (without any grass) of the embankments with a green liquid from a big tanker using a water canon today. I presume it was something to bring the grass on but don't know what it was. This was between J14 and the Suck bridge.

There's a good bit of landscaping left to be done between J14 and the N6 crossover near Aughrim.

Between J14 & J15...
No line painting or studding done, although J14 is marked out.
No signage in place on the mainline but poles and at least one cantilever gantry went up during the week.
Pedestrian foot bridge at Moher not finished. The structure is done but banking and walkways aren't.
Lighting unfinished at both juctions.
Work on the expansion gaps on each end of the Suck bridge only started on Saturday and guard rail mesh not installed.
All Armco seems to be in place except for a few gaps here & there.

Lots to do around here in less than a month.

BluntGuy

Furet wrote: »

The Indo article epitomises that paper's slide towards being a populist tabloid for the unthinking: "ireland's [sic] first coast-to-coast motorway, linking Dublin and Galway, will open before Christmas -- but motorists will pay almost €10 for a round-trip."

Always a cloud on every silver lining. Always the "but" with the Indo. Yes, the road is tolled. We are getting a high quality coast to coast route that will save many many lives, bypass towns and decrease journey times. But! You'll have to pay a few quid to use it. Whoop-di-fuppin-doo. By all means the toll needs to be mentioned, but the way they make it the primary focus of the article really annoys me.

Exactly.

Why the newspapers continue to propagate the attitude that we're somehow being ripped off by being asked to pay to use top-quality infrastructure is beyond me.

To be honest though, it shouldn't surprise me - The Indo is a piece of trash in general, (not that The Irish Times is much better), written for ignorant people, by ignorant people. At least the majority of The Mirror readers know they're buying a piece of crap. The one million people who read The Indo probably think they're reading something half-way intelligent.

However, I do not wish to de-rail this thread, main point: under a tenner is a perfectly fair price considering fuel economy, time savings, enhanced safety etc. Why don't the papers ever do a piece comparing our toll prices to those all over Europe? Surely that would be better than trying to convince people that reasonable toll prices are too high.

Roryhy

kaizersoze wrote: »

They were spraying the bare sections (without any grass) of the embankments with a green liquid from a big tanker using a water canon today. I presume it was something to bring the grass on but don't know what it was. This was between J14 and the Suck bridge.

The process above is called Hydroseeding, i came across it while working on a golf course a while back. The green liquid is basically a mix of slurry and grass seed. It is used on land that that mightn't be able to support grass growth initially. In my experience it is very effective. Also very fast to get results.

Altreab

Roryhy wrote: »

The process above is called Hydroseeding, i came across it while working on a golf course a while back. The green liquid is basically a mix of slurry and grass seed. It is used on land that that mightn't be able to support grass growth initially. In my experience it is very effective. Also very fast to get results.

Better stay upwind of that solution
Have to say i know how kids feel waiting for Santa ....im feeling this for the opening of this motorway

With all the flooding and a potentially damaged bridge at Craughwell, what are the chances of the road being (temporatily) opened early with lane restrictions on the unfinished sections.

Is the road complete enough to take traffic.

ohnoigotsick

Deleted User wrote: »

With all the flooding and a potentially damaged bridge at Craughwell, what are the chances of the road being (temporatily) opened early with lane restrictions on the unfinished sections.

Is the road complete enough to take traffic.

talk of opening it , but its not lit and there are H&S issues with it being a building site

Sponge Bob

The government has apparently appealed for it to be opened by monday and are haggling with the contractors about it today . The all important western section if what they asked for but that bridge in Ballinasloe could also go just like the bridge in Craughwell did .

antoobrien

Sponge Bob wrote: »

The government has apparently appealed for it to be opened by monday and are haggling with the contractors about it today . The all important western section if what they asked for but that bridge in Ballinasloe could also go just like the bridge in Craughwell did .

Just listening to GBFM, heard Jimmy stating they'd asked and the answer they got is that due to the amount of heavy machinery around it wouldn't be safe to open it.

Whether they can do anything about it over the weekend is questionable.

Apparently Frank Fahy is onto the NRA about this, more information during the Keith Finnegan show

antoobrien

antoobrien wrote: »

Apparently Frank Fahy is onto the NRA about this, more information during the Keith Finnegan show

Update on GBFM: Suggestion is to have one carriageway open from Galway to Ballinasloe with 50km limit - decision expected before lunch

NRA - Parts of the road opened around Kiltulla (locals using it anyways apparently)

M6 Construction: Hoping to have road fully open by Dec 15th

KevR

Surely it will be one lane open on each carriageway, rather than just one carriageway open? Would be difficult to manage traffic at exits if it was just one carriageway..

antoobrien

antoobrien wrote: »

Update on GBFM: Suggestion is to have one carriageway open from Galway to Ballinasloe with 50km limit - decision expected before lunch

GBFM - Frank Fahy & NRA reporting road to be (temporarily) opened in stages today (presumably with restrictions outlined)

antoobrien

KevR wrote: »

Surely it will be one lane open on each carriageway, rather than just one carriageway open? Would be difficult to manage traffic at exits if it was just one carriageway..

I know, however they seem to be trying to keep everyone happy with this. It will allow the company to move equipment to the other carriage way and keep working while the road is being used.

There were suggestions to being in Gardaí from the eastern traffic corps area to help

If you can (or want to) listen to GBFM on the web www.galwaybayfm.ie, they'll be having updates constantly

Fair dues to the construction company for cooperating on this