TII Motorway Service Areas (MSA) Progress Thread

rameire

info for your update.
Tranche 2 M9 MSA,
the major road network has been built,
the buildings and local road network has not being built.
it is still a field.

Ernest

Reuben1210 wrote: »

Well, tbh there should have been more joined -up thinking. The offline MSA's shouldn't have got commission if they were going to potentially make the online ones unviable, and more importantly, there should have been guidelines put in place to make them the same standard as online ones without the direct connection to the motorway.

That way you would have private money being directed and managed well.

There doesn't seem to be much standards for them, and hence they cut costs and come up short in some areas.

Look Out: Here Comes Another One

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/supermacs-in-fresh-bid-to-build-irelands-newest-motorway-stop-35005640.html

Chris_5339762

...and still nothing official for the entire Cork - Dublin corridor, even in Tranche 4. What is the problem?

spacetweek

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

...and still nothing official for the entire Cork - Dublin corridor, even in Tranche 4. What is the problem?

Or the entire M7. In particular the N7 Naas road has many petrol stations that are far too close to the road. These should be demolished and consolidated within a new large services area.

BoatMad

The Tranche 2 situation is nothing short of disgraceful , I pass the Gorey one regularly , if AppleGreen are successful , then a rerun of the tender processes will have to be done and followed by a fit out , thats at best 18 months from a successful judgement, even if they loose it will take 6 months to bring Gorey online.

someone in the TiI should be fired over this ,the mind boggles

ongarboy

spacetweek wrote: »

Or the entire M7.

Why is an online needed on the M7 if there is already equally accessible offline J14 Mayfield, Obama Plaza and Birdhill MSAs that fulfil all the fuel, restroom, food and drink requirements that an online would?

What is the distinct difference in these MSAs apart from the fact tax payers money isn't used and they are 10 times cheaper to build?

OldMrBrennan83

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Carawaystick

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

...and still nothing official for the entire Cork - Dublin corridor, even in Tranche 4. What is the problem?

It is bananas. There'll be a msa on the motorway from Cork to Ringaskiddy, but none on the motorway to Dublin... :rolleyes:

Chris_5339762

Patww79 wrote: »

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The problem is though....

M8 Fermoy - Too far off the motorway (about a mile)
M8 Cashel - WAY too small, chronic parking
M8 Ballacolla - Too small, seemed ok but is a victim of its own success
M7 Portlaoise - No fuel
M7 Monasterevin - Used to be great but is now too small

The official ones (eg Castlebellingham, Lusk) are much, much bigger than the private ones, every single time and are far better designed. Also, they are online.

Carawaystick

The official Nra ones are still not as well designed as the French ones which have a petrol station/shop and a separate restaurant/food court
So there are more toilets and they're nearer, rather than have to walk all through the food area to get to them from the petrol pumps
They also don't have the entry exit roads between the car parking and the shops/restaurant buildings, like the nra have

OldMrBrennan83

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Carawaystick

Patww79 wrote: »

Never understood why we didn't have them when you see loads in Europe.

I'd say it might be cos the specs for foreign motorway rest/service areas are not written in english, and so don't count...

OldMrBrennan83

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radharc

Patww79 wrote: »

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Because of Applegreen to be honest. It's not the government's fault they can't take losing.

OldMrBrennan83

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Odyssey 2005

Patww79 wrote: »

Depends on how and why it was initially awarded.

Probably something fishy there ok

radharc

Patww79 wrote: »

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How - It was awarded by public tender
Why - Topaz achieved the highest score on the tender and were awarded the franchise.

Applegreen appealed on the basis that they didn't receive full marks for a section about the thickness of footpaths. In other words, they had a team of highly paid lawyers scour the document from beginning to end to find some technicality that they could query, however frivolous it may have been.

D Trent

radharc wrote: »

How - It was awarded by public tender
Why - Topaz achieved the highest score on the tender and were awarded the franchise.

Applegreen appealed on the basis that they didn't receive full marks for a section about the thickness of footpaths. In other words, they had a team of highly paid lawyers scour the document from beginning to end to find some technicality that they could query, however frivolous it may have been.

And by Jesus am I glad Applegreen appealed.
Topaz have absolutely flooded the market. They are taking over.

And yes it may be most popular. That's because people fall for the very good Topaz marketing "15 kilometres more when you fill with Topaz"

Re.store is a rip off. Applegreen ain't perfect but I'd go there sooner than Topaz. And no my rant is not because of the greedy Denis O'Brien.

redfacedbear

What brands would Topaz have there if they win? I'm assuming if it's Applegreen we'll get Burker King/Subway/Costa like at Coynes Cross. If these places end up selling Supermac 'sangwiches' and some no-mark coffee brand under Topaz, I think I won't be making much use of them.

marno21

Applegreen have a track record of operating the M1 Lusk/Castlebellingham service areas and the M4 Enfield one.

Topaz, who knows.. Cashel M8 J8 services with 17 parking spaces?

OldMrBrennan83

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L1011

Patww79 wrote: »

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That one is a franchise rather than even operated by Couchetard I believe (not certain).

Ernest

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

The problem is though....

M8 Fermoy - Too far off the motorway (about a mile)
M8 Cashel - WAY too small, chronic parking
M8 Ballacolla - Too small, seemed ok but is a victim of its own success
M7 Portlaoise - No fuel
M7 Monasterevin - Used to be great but is now too small

The official ones (eg Castlebellingham, Lusk) are much, much bigger than the private ones, every single time and are far better designed. Also, they are online.

Ideally what is needed on the M8 is a motorway service station somewhere near Urlingford and of a similar off-line design to the excellent Applegreen ones on the M1 at Castlebellingham and Lusk.

OldMrBrennan83

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munchkin_utd

Ernest wrote: »

Ideally what is needed on the M8 is a motorway service station somewhere near Urlingford and of a similar off-line design to the excellent Applegreen ones on the M1 at Castlebellingham and Lusk.

I agree, but the policy document seems to think that the 2 existing ones at Ballacolla and Cashel could be considered to fulfil the need.
http://www.tii.ie/tii-library/strategic-planning/service-areas/NRA-Service-Area-Policy-FinalAugust2014-(2).pdf

If Cashel was upgraded to have parking for more than just their staff, then it would limit the need for anything between it and Ballacolla.

marno21

http://galwaybayfm.ie/transport-infrastructure-ireland-fire-controversial-m6-service-station/

Objection time.

munchkin_utd

munchkin_utd wrote: »

I agree, but the policy document seems to think that the 2 existing ones at Ballacolla and Cashel could be considered to fulfil the need.
http://www.tii.ie/tii-library/strategic-planning/service-areas/NRA-Service-Area-Policy-FinalAugust2014-(2).pdf

If Cashel was upgraded to have parking for more than just their staff,then it would limit the need for anything between it and Ballacolla.

The Cashel services and the station in general are very good. You can walk-in 24/7 and the McDs on-site is always open too. The surrounding roads/lanes and parking seem like they weren't at the forefront of the planning though. They're a bit of a joke actually.

The land is there for possible future development on the Cork side of the premises. It's a halting site at the moment, but using it to create more parking and a clearer entrance/exit to the station would be a major improvement and serve that stretch of the motorway very well.

spacetweek

Can you tell me where exactly that is on a map?

OldMrBrennan83

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spacetweek

Patww79 wrote: »

The Cashel Topaz?

Dunno where that is though, couldn't find it last time I drove that way and was looking for it.