M6/4 Motorway Galway to Dublin (for discussing completed sections)

dubhthach

KevR wrote: »

At least we'll be gaurenteed a higher average speed on this stretch. Gone are the days of getting stuck behind a truck or a tractor doing 60kmh and not being able to overtake for ages.

Whenever I go down to Galway I tend to get stuck behind some auld fella/wan doing 60 in their clapped out old fiesta. Usually there's a queue of 5-6cars where no one can overtake them. So just been able to overtake safely on motorway will make a huge difference

KevR

Some videos of the opening ceremony over in Infrastructure:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055353322&page=33

Carawaystick

veryangryman wrote: »

Some of the junction names on this road are pretty darn stupid

1. Exit for Clonmacnoise Eastbound is ridiculous. Much quicker journey if you get off at Birr Exit and follow that road.

2. Moate Junctions needs to be changed to Moate East and West

3. The Westbound Moate East Exit is signposted as the R420 instead on N80.

4. Since Athlone Bypass not been declared a Motorway, the Exit numbers from 13 onward need to be changed to 9 onward. Optimism/Idealism will not make the bypass into a Motorway but thats covered in another thread or 3...

5. Rochfortbridge Exit Westbound should be signposted Mullingar. As should Kinnegad Eastbound Exit.

In general, the exit signs are not consistent with the quickest journey for the drivers. They have lazily been copied on both sides, wasting peoples time with an extra 10-20 miles to travel.

I didn't think Motorway junctions here had names, just some number.

The Rochfortbridge junction doesn't need to deal with Mullingar traffic, they would have stayed on the M4 or turned off on the N52 at Tyrrellspass.

mackerski

I have now added the Athlone-Ballinasloe section of M6 to OpenStreetMap.

steyr fan

Maybe I am a bit slow or behind the times, and maybe this has already beed ranted to death - but why on earth did they NOT extend this section to the west of B allinasloe, and relieve my flippin headache, which will only get worse now I fear until the Ballinasloe - Galway opens????????

aaaaaaaaaaaagggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

mackerski

steyr fan wrote: »

Maybe I am a bit slow or behind the times, and maybe this has already beed ranted to death - but why on earth did they NOT extend this section to the west of B allinasloe, and relieve my flippin headache, which will only get worse now I fear until the Ballinasloe - Galway opens????????

Because there's a river in the way and they haven't finished building the road to cross it.

Berti Vogts

mackerski wrote: »

Because there's a river in the way and they haven't finished building the road to cross it.

Bridge over the suck is fairly well advanced.

Edit.....there's more info on this in infrastructure in the Ballinasloe - Galway M6 thread.

Chris_533976

Athlone - Ballinasloe and Ballinasloe - Galway were originally supposed to start at the same time (and thereby finish around the same time). Due to delays (probably incompetance), the latter started about a year after the one thats just opened.

BrianD

I was travelling along the M4/M6 route to Tullamore yesterday. One thing I am curious about is Junction 1 on the M6. This appears to the point that M6 joins the M4. Surely this is not classed as a junction. It's a junction off the M4 but it's not a junction off the M6 as it technically ends there?

Richard

Carawaystick wrote: »

I didn't think Motorway junctions here had names, just some number.

The Rochfortbridge junction doesn't need to deal with Mullingar traffic, they would have stayed on the M4 or turned off on the N52 at Tyrrellspass.

Is that the modern equivalent of "You wouldn't start from here"?

What if the driver is there, and then decides to go to Mullingar? Signs are needed!

Carawaystick

Richard wrote: »

Is that the modern equivalent of "You wouldn't start from here"?

What if the driver is there, and then decides to go to Mullingar? Signs are needed!

Going westbound, Mullingar is signed at the previous exit M4 and the next exit, the N52. Going eastbound Mullingar is signed at the previous exit N52.

Mullingar is also signed in Rochefortbridge if you go through the village.

but there's no need for signs there as if you are approaching the junction on the M6, you would have passed signs for Mullingar already. If you missed the junction, go a bit slower and pay more attention......

kaizersoze

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Athlone - Ballinasloe and Ballinasloe - Galway were originally supposed to start at the same time (and thereby finish around the same time). Due to delays (probably incompetance), the latter started about a year after the one thats just opened.

Started around the same time actually. The delays were mainly due to objections and hold ups by land owners.

darkman2

Good pictures of the new motorway on this site

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=40307058&posted=1#post40307058


A yuky "dual carriageway" ahead sign for the Athlone Bypass and end of motorway chop sticks I notice:rolleyes:

BluntGuy

darkman2 wrote: »

A yuky "dual carriageway" ahead sign for the Athlone Bypass and end of motorway chop sticks I notice:rolleyes:

The NRA intend to remove them if and when the Athlone Bypass gets redesignated, so they were probably only shoved up as an afterthought.

They do nicely highlight the ridiculousness of having an unnecessary piece of DC in the middle of a motorway though.

Chris_533976

On one of those pics I see M6 chopsticks at the very bottom of the sliproad. FFS.

Zoney

End of motorway signs just off the mainline too. Makes it look somewhat miraculous the proper signing going on here at the N20/M20 - hoping the other redesignations are getting the same treatment (M2 looks fine so far from what I've seen apart from the double M2 thing on the route confirmation).

Wild Bill

The Motorway "chopsticks" usually appear on Irish motorways at the end of the on-ramp and are clearly visible on the mainline. This doesn't happen in the UK. "FFS". Is there some LAW about this? Why does it matter? Also I note the Athlone-Ballinasloe section has metal median barriers rather than the jersey type. But the (East) Ballinasloe to Galway will have the extruded concrete sort. So this is a section to be treasured:):pac:

Chris_533976

Cos the motorway officially starts from the top of the sliproad (where it leaves the roundabout) as the slip road is inescapable and thus has to legally be a motorway. Putting it at the bottom of the slip road is absolutely nonsensical.

Its a minor thing in the great scheme of things (getting the road open is the priority) but its annoying that it cant be done right when its really easy to do it right.

mackerski

Wild Bill wrote: »

The Motorway "chopsticks" usually appear on Irish motorways at the end of the on-ramp and are clearly visible on the mainline.

They don't usually appear here. There is a general arbitrariness about where they are displayed, and the Kilbeggan-Athlone M6 was the first section to place them right on the mainline. That scheme also reduced the size of the signs by a drastic amount.

And as has been said already, it's important because those signs are designed to tell prohibited traffic not to proceed, so they have to be placed at the start of the inescapable zone.

Carawaystick

the M11 has them this way too

the original M11, at Bray that is

Wild Bill

I'm sure I've seen them other than on the M6 (where they are like that from Kinnegad to Ballinasloe, through several different schemes). On the M8 I think between Mitchlestown and Culahill. On the M9 Carlow bypass??

As for the M11, while I don't see chopsticks on the mainline the "countdown" markers seem to be placed randomly; sometimes starting 300m from the start of the exit lane; sometimes starting 300m from the gore; sometimes not evenly spaced.

And regarding the N11 Newtown bypass I remember writing to Wicklow County Council 15 years ago explaining this; but they remain where they were put when the road opened.

Zoney

Regardless of where they have been placed like this, it is plain stupid and incorrect, and it would be rather good if it were rectified. The existing motorway signs are in many cases a symptom of the complete lack of professionalism that pervades so many areas in this country.

icdg

Carawaystick wrote: »

the M11 has them this way too

the original M11, at Bray that is

The M11's ones are even wierder, in that the motorway number is above the chopsticks rather than right of it. There's a few odd examples of that elsewhere but the M11 is the only motorway I know where they are all like that.

The "chopsticks with motorway number" sign is NOT a route confirmation sign like some people seem to think. In fact, its not a directional sign at all. It is a regulatory sign that means "Start of Motorway Regulations" and means that motorway regulations apply from that point. Thus it should always be placed at the point that non-motorway traffic needs to divert off - usually at the top of a slip road. In some places the council/NRA has the sign in the correct position (the upgraded M50 for example, they are right at the demerge point, check out J7 for excellent examples of this). Other councils are hopeless at this and several M4 and M7 signs (Kildare, I'm looking at you - and you wrote the rulebook!) are at the bottom of sliproads.

Why is this important? Well, in the event, say, an L-driver was prosecuted for being on a motorway (has it ever happened), a credible defence might be that they did not pass a sign indicating the start of motorway regulations, or, by the time they did, it was too late to safely turn back.

Wild Bill

They are rarely at the start of the sliproad anywhere in Ireland! Even where they aren't out on the mainline they tend to be halfway down (or up in the case of end-of signs) the sliproads.

KevR

Was out around Junction 19 (the N18 Junction) this morning and got a few pictures. Some good progress here since my last visit. Some concrete barrier has been installed both sides of the junction. The N18 overbridge is a lot nearer completion, as are the 2 roundabouts for the dumbell junction. Signage poles installed at the junction and those plastic tubes for streetlighting columns have been installed also. There is a stop and go in place at the moment on the N18 to facilitate the tie in of the existing N18 to the new overbridge.

Click thumbnails for full size images.


First 3 are looking East from N18





N18 Overbridge



Looking West under the N18 Overbridge



Junction 19 Roundabout (Note the Aer Arann plane going in to land at Galway Airport in the first picture)






VMS on the Eastbound on-ramp for the M6 from J19. Not sure where the new bridge is..



Stop & Go on the N18



Will post in Infrastructure also.

ohnoigotsick

Drove the athlone/ballinasloe section for the first time on the weekend , anyone else not impressed with the amount patches that exist on a brand new road ?

Mailman

any ideas as to when the next stretch of motorway on the M6 will open?

ohnoigotsick

offical date is 4th of jan 2010

KevR

ohnoigotsick wrote: »

Drove the athlone/ballinasloe section for the first time on the weekend , anyone else not impressed with the amount patches that exist on a brand new road ?

I'm not sure what you mean. Some patches of asphalt are a different shade (colour-wise) but it's not uneven or bumpy in my opinion.

Mailman wrote: »

any ideas as to when the next stretch of motorway on the M6 will open?

Spring next year I would guess.

ohnoigotsick

KevR wrote: »

I'm not sure what you mean. Some patches of asphalt are a different shade (colour-wise) but it's not uneven or bumpy in my opinion.

something i noticed when driving both directions , it is as if there were mini potholes on the road which were filled in prior to opening