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

netwhizkid

Drove the Athlone Bypass part of the M6 last night and must say it is a total disgrace. Approaching from the N55 I took a left at a roundabout signposted for Dublin and the M6, this led me down to Junction 9 which is absolutely terrible and there is a sign indicating Dublin to the left a few metres back but at the actual T junction the sign is overgrown with bushes and I realised I had missed the turn-off when I saw the Motorway underneath me as I drove over the cross over.

Anyways about half a kilometre down the road I turned around and came back up to the junction and on the exit slip road East bound either some thing hit the sign or else some of the "natives" interfered with it:mad: and as a result it is pointing right which fooled me into driving down the exit slip westbound which would have led me onto the Motorway facing the wrong way!:eek: Thankfully the "Danger you are going the Wrong way" sign stopped me in my tracks and as it was quite enough I was able to reverse back up around the corner and go turn and take the proper (poorly signed) slip road on the other side of the skip over bridge.

Then to add insult to injury shaken up after nearly driving the wrong way down a motorway I missed my turnoff at Junction 8 as it was signposted just simply as "BIRR" when it should be signed for Birr, Nenagh, Roscrea and Ferbane, by now I totally P'd off as I had to drive as far as Junction 7 outside Moate and drove back the R446 (old N6) and as Junction 7 is so far outside Moate I was on the wrong side of the Junction between the R446 and N62 and had to drive all the ways back into Athlone at 80Km/h to the Junction between the R446 and the N62.

The athlone bypass is an accident waiting to happen and as it was 2 years ago since I drove it last I forgot about the new Motorway linkup and then missed my turnoff to which was signposted Birr:mad: Junctions 8 & 9 are both dangerous and badly signed and I fear that someone will get killed at Junction 8 and had I not been quick enough to react and reverse up the slipway I could have caused an accident or got arrested for dangerous driving because some local scumbags interfered with the signs.

I will be reporting it to the NRA and Westmeath county council tommorrow.

It is very unlikely that any of the local idiots have interfered with any of the signs in that area, they have just simply fallen down!

There is also a road maintenance project in progress right now, clearing overgrowth, cleaning drains etc.. just hasn't reached that junction yet!

You have every right to complain to the local council AND NRA!, there is a delay in replacing all signeage along this section of roas at there is a pending decision on whether it is the N6 or M6 (blue or green signs).

The sooner a decision is made the better.

As a "local" I know where to go... but it is a nightmare for those unfamiliar with the route.

veryangryman

netwhizkid wrote: »

Drove the Athlone Bypass part of the M6 last night and must say it is a total disgrace. Approaching from the N55 I took a left at a roundabout signposted for Dublin and the M6, this led me down to Junction 9 which is absolutely terrible and there is a sign indicating Dublin to the left a few metres back but at the actual T junction the sign is overgrown with bushes and I realised I had missed the turn-off when I saw the Motorway underneath me as I drove over the cross over.

Anyways about half a kilometre down the road I turned around and came back up to the junction and on the exit slip road East bound either some thing hit the sign or else some of the "natives" interfered with it:mad: and as a result it is pointing right which fooled me into driving down the exit slip westbound which would have led me onto the Motorway facing the wrong way!:eek: Thankfully the "Danger you are going the Wrong way" sign stopped me in my tracks and as it was quite enough I was able to reverse back up around the corner and go turn and take the proper (poorly signed) slip road on the other side of the skip over bridge.

Then to add insult to injury shaken up after nearly driving the wrong way down a motorway I missed my turnoff at Junction 8 as it was signposted just simply as "BIRR" when it should be signed for Birr, Nenagh, Roscrea and Ferbane, by now I totally P'd off as I had to drive as far as Junction 7 outside Moate and drove back the R446 (old N6) and as Junction 7 is so far outside Moate I was on the wrong side of the Junction between the R446 and N62 and had to drive all the ways back into Athlone at 80Km/h to the Junction between the R446 and the N62.

The athlone bypass is an accident waiting to happen and as it was 2 years ago since I drove it last I forgot about the new Motorway linkup and then missed my turnoff to which was signposted Birr:mad: Junctions 8 & 9 are both dangerous and badly signed and I fear that someone will get killed at Junction 8 and had I not been quick enough to react and reverse up the slipway I could have caused an accident or got arrested for dangerous driving because some local scumbags interfered with the signs.

I will be reporting it to the NRA and Westmeath county council tommorrow.

Buy a satnav/buy a map/ask a local - there are plenty of worse signposted parts of the country (Dublin anyone?)

The fact that there is a massive Dual Carriageway would lead the ordinary motorist to have the cop that it is an inter-urban by the fact that there is no other reason to have DC in this part of the country.

Reporting to the NRA...please... :rolleyes: And as for the local scumbags comment, please have a bit of maturity. I can only assume you are old enough to know better. Apologies if i am incorrect

Sponge Bob

That is known as the Blyry or Cavan Road Junction , probably designed in the 1970s and certainly not later than the early 1980s .

I know it well. particularly the country boreen and junction immediately to the south of it that makes finding space for clear signage a major issue Had you turned right there you would have found yourself down in Mels in no time

The Roads office is in Mullingar Netwhiz .

Tech3

netwhizkid wrote: »

The athlone bypass is an accident waiting to happen and as it was 2 years ago since I drove it last I forgot about the new Motorway linkup and then missed my turnoff to which was signposted Birr:mad: Junctions 8 & 9 are both dangerous and badly signed and I fear that someone will get killed at Junction 8 and had I not been quick enough to react and reverse up the slipway I could have caused an accident or got arrested for dangerous driving because some local scumbags interfered with the signs.

Aye it's a scary bit of dual carriageway. I drove it recently and just remembered bad it actually is. In the dark it's poorly lit and the cat's eyes need to be replaced. To think some people wanted a 120km limit on this road is laughable.

Sponge Bob

I objected vehemently to anything higher than 90kph from the Roscommon Road to east of the Blyry junction , it is only 3km long but it is badly sighted , too many funny merges and demerges involving very steep climbs and drops and is very badly cambered on the east side of the shannon bridge

As 90kph is apparently not allowed I must err towards 80kph on that stretch . 100kph is too high . As for the feckin tractors

Enbee

tech2 wrote: »

Aye it's a scary bit of dual carriageway. I drove it recently and just remembered bad it actually is. In the dark it's poorly lit and the cat's eyes need to be replaced. To think some people wanted a 120km limit on this road is laughable.

When it opened weren't the large number of intersections explained away by reference to it being a relief road rather than a bypass? It's probably best to think of it as an urban motorway and I can think of few of those with high speed limits - as you say it's laughable that some people even considered it. Perhaps they haven't driven it too often?

Long term I suppose Athlone might be bypassed 'properly' by linking the two M6 sections south of the town. Was this ruled out due to the expense of building over poor terrain and the requirement for an additional Shannon bridge?

KevR

I used to use Junction 9 everyday for work. In the morning I would be heading Eastbound and got off at J9. At the top of the ramp everyone would split into 2 lanes (one for turning left and one for turning right) of their own accord (road markings don't indicate that there should be two lanes). I had to turn left and there would always be someone waiting to turn right who was badly obscuring my view of oncoming traffic. Was annoying, they should put in traffic lights or roundabouts.

Tbh, all three main junctions on the Athlone relief Rd need mini roundabouts as it can sometimes be a real pain to turn right at the end of the slip road.

BluntGuy

Had local whinging not interferred with the redesignation of this stretch, the incident in question would not have occured.

I hope it gets redesignated soon so we can have consistent, modern signage on the stretch.

Chris_533976

Parts of the Berlin southwest bypass are 60kmh. Works fine over there, an 80kmh limit for part of the Athlone bypass cant hurt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NApdIRdBgUE&feature=player_embedded

Curves that would make the N18 DC outside Limerick look like a runway.

tech2

tech2 wrote: »

Aye it's a scary bit of dual carriageway. I drove it recently and just remembered bad it actually is. In the dark it's poorly lit and the cat's eyes need to be replaced. To think some people wanted a 120km limit on this road is laughable.

Best leave it at 100kmh, dropping it to 80 will not make it any safer - just increases the potential of issuing more speeding tickets!

advise12345

I recently drove M6 Ballinasloe to Athlone and thought it was an terrible section of motorway. Everything about it made me cringe. The drainage doesnt seem to be working properly , the pavement is cat bad, the alignment is crap.. didnt like doin 120kph in the rain on it.

Most of all I hate this steel barrier thing. It doesnt feel safe and the lights blind you at night. I thought that in the UK there were systematically ripping up all the stell armco barriers and replacing them with concrete ones. As concrete can safely contain HGVs and doesnt necessitate closing lnaes and creating un due hazards when vast section of the armco have to be replaced if it is damaged in an accident

Is this what happens when D&B is let go too far without anybody shouting stop?

What to boards.ie people make of this section of the M6? I don't like it at all. The rest of the M6 is quite good.

Irish and Proud

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Parts of the Berlin southwest bypass are 60kmh. Works fine over there, an 80kmh limit for part of the Athlone bypass cant hurt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NApdIRdBgUE&feature=player_embedded

Curves that would make the N18 DC outside Limerick look like a runway.

...OMG...

...that motorway is the most dangerous thing I ever saw! :eek: There's no way on God's Earth that such a road would make the doors of a road engineering office in Ireland - some parts of that road aren't even up to the Irish Type 2 Dual standard. The M50 would look gigantic beside most parts of it.

Interestingly though, one part is very Glaswegian in style - would love to drive the M8 in Glasgow some time - I've such fond memories of it when I was 11 - it seemed so sleek compared to what we had in Ireland then - how things have changed since 1984!

Irish and Proud

advise12345 wrote: »

Most of all I hate this steel barrier thing. It doesnt feel safe and the lights blind you at night. I thought that in the UK there were systematically ripping up all the stell armco barriers and replacing them with concrete ones. As concrete can safely contain HGVs and doesnt necessitate closing lnaes and creating un due hazards when vast section of the armco have to be replaced if it is damaged in an accident

Saw the 2009 revisions for the NRA DMRB, and from my understanding, the Concrete Barrier is now compulsory for any Type 1 DC - so my guess: no more steel barriers!

Regards!

Sponge Bob

Irish and Proud wrote: »

...OMG...

...that motorway is the most dangerous thing I ever saw!

Not at all , try the Paris Peripherique for scary .... or Athlone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9BofCzc80U

Irish and Proud

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Not at all , try the Paris Peripherique for scary .... or Athlone

Was on the Peripherique in 1992 and to say the least, it was scary alright!

2 x 4 lanes of speeding traffic, no H/S, and some very short ramps (compared to the M50)! :eek:

Regards!

L1011

advise12345 wrote: »

I recently drove M6 Ballinasloe to Athlone and thought it was an terrible section of motorway. Everything about it made me cringe. The drainage doesnt seem to be working properly , the pavement is cat bad, the alignment is crap.. didnt like doin 120kph in the rain on it.

Most of all I hate this steel barrier thing. It doesnt feel safe and the lights blind you at night.

(snip)

What to boards.ie people make of this section of the M6? I don't like it at all. The rest of the M6 is quite good.

Had to drive it in pouring rain in very near darkness a few weeks back, wasn't fun at all. The road markings vanish in the wet, I had to throw my foglights on to light up enough cats eyes / studs in front of me to see where the lane was going. Rather worrying feeling of "there is four lanes of asphalt around me, and a steel barrier *SOMEWHERE*" a lot of the time.

I could see this section being refitted with a concrete barrier - being white (light grey when older) and with better reflectors they give a much better idea where you are on the road - or lit in the future.

Tech3

Irish and Proud wrote: »

Saw the 2009 revisions for the NRA DMRB, and from my understanding, the Concrete Barrier is now compulsory for any Type 1 DC - so my guess: no more steel barriers!

Regards!

Where did you find that Irish and Proud. As far as I'm aware the contractor is allowed to pick any H2 standard barrier be it armco or concrete. Well thats the answer I got from the NRA anyway.

I'm currently looking into what median is being constructed for the M18 G-C scheme.

antoobrien

advise12345 wrote: »

I recently drove M6 Ballinasloe to Athlone and thought it was an terrible section of motorway. Everything about it made me cringe. The drainage doesnt seem to be working properly , the pavement is cat bad, the alignment is crap.. didnt like doin 120kph in the rain on it.

Nobody should be doing 120 km/h, the speed limit is 100 and all the signs are green (big hint that i find).

As for the complaints that it's badly marked/difficult to drive at night, try driving some country roads people.

biffoman

the M6 Athlone to ballinasloe is 120.I think your sharp remarks are ment to be about the N6 athlone bypass 100km/h.this has still to be decided yet.My guess is it will be reclassed as m/way with reduced speed limits .by the way 120 in the pi55ing rain is crazy.

mackerski

antoobrien wrote: »

Nobody should be doing 120 km/h, the speed limit is 100 and all the signs are green (big hint that i find).

The post referred to the M6 from Ballinasloe to Athlone. It's a motorway with blue signs and a 120 limit. Furthermore, there are non-motorways with 120 limits.

FWIW I've only driven that section once and it was in the rain. It's certainly a section of road that is a less easy drive at 120 than other motorways, but it's well within the acceptable specification. Remember that roads will never be designed to permit safe driving at 120 in all cases including torrential rain, snow, ice, cross winds...

antoobrien

biffoman wrote: »

the M6 Athlone to ballinasloe is 120.I think your sharp remarks are ment to be about the N6 athlone bypass 100km/h.this has still to be decided yet.My guess is it will be reclassed as m/way with reduced speed limits .by the way 120 in the pi55ing rain is crazy.

mackerski wrote: »

The post referred to the M6 from Ballinasloe to Athlone. It's a motorway with blue signs and a 120 limit. Furthermore, there are non-motorways with 120 limits.

FWIW I've only driven that section once and it was in the rain. It's certainly a section of road that is a less easy drive at 120 than other motorways, but it's well within the acceptable specification. Remember that roads will never be designed to permit safe driving at 120 in all cases including torrential rain, snow, ice, cross winds...

Apologies, mis read the post (thought it was the bypass that was being referred to). My comments on the bypass stand , there are an awful lot of people that don't notice it's not motorway speeds.

Most of the driving i've done on this road (A-B) is at night so I don't know why most people are complaining about the visibility etc - i've no problems with this section (unlike some of the older sections where the catseyes are so dirty that you can't see them).

Irish and Proud

tech2 wrote: »

Where did you find that Irish and Proud. As far as I'm aware the contractor is allowed to pick any H2 standard barrier be it armco or concrete. Well thats the answer I got from the NRA anyway.

I'm currently looking into what median is being constructed for the M18 G-C scheme.

The NRA DMRB 2009 Amendments document can be found here:

http://www.nra.ie/RepositoryforPublicationsInfo/file,16152,en.pdf

On the first page (NRA DMRB Vol 2 - Part 2.2.8A NRA TD19 Safety Barriers), Revision 1 states the all barriers in the central reserve of Type 1 DCs and Motorways must be constructed from concrete.

Hope this helps!

biffoman

biffoman wrote: »

the M6 Athlone to ballinasloe is 120.I think your sharp remarks are ment to be about the N6 athlone bypass 100km/h.this has still to be decided yet.My guess is it will be reclassed as m/way with reduced speed limits .by the way 120 in the pi55ing rain is crazy.

The sooner the decision is made the better, at least then the signs, cats eyes and lines will be replaced/repainted - safer for all!

Amtmann

I'm still waiting for someone to youtube a decent recording of the M6 from the start of the Athlone Bypass to Ballinasloe and post it here; and I'd still like to see some photos of A-B signage and shots of the section from an overbridge with traffic running on it.

veryangryman

Oh god why oh why the cones. I thought we were over this.

What does the shannon bridge need now that wasnt done in the last works recently. Are they TRYING to keep me in Connacht or something!

As for the motorist who keeps taking the overtaking lane despite the obvious tailback in the left lane (you know who you are), Im not lettin you in so get stuffed

veryangryman

veryangryman wrote: »

Oh god why oh why the cones. I thought we were over this.

What does the shannon bridge need now that wasnt done in the last works recently. Are they TRYING to keep me in Connacht or something!

As for the motorist who keeps taking the overtaking lane despite the obvious tailback in the left lane (you know who you are), Im not lettin you in so get stuffed

It's high time Ireland adopted the "merge in turn" concept, used in Wales and Scotland.

Traffic queues in BOTH lanes, and "zip" together at the end of the two lane section and flow through the single lane section, two short queues is much safer than one long queue and one with "queue jumpers".

It's all down to driver education.

CerebralCortex

Deleted User wrote: »

It's high time Ireland adopted the "merge in turn" concept, used in Wales and Scotland.

Traffic queues in BOTH lanes, and "zip" together at the end of the two lane section and flow through the single lane section, two short queues is much safer than one long queue and one with "queue jumpers".

It's all down to driver education.

Something needs to be done at such junctions.

Carawaystick

CerebralCortex wrote: »

Something needs to be done at such junctions.

like a sign maybe?


I don't know what all the people are giving out about the N6 at Athlone about. In dry good conditions in a non-jalopy there is no reason why it's unsafe to drive at 120kmh.

Just compare to the 100kmh sections of the secondary roads nearby Athlone and see how they compare or the section of old road from Athlone to Clann na nGael's grounds.

Anyway
I think the way the M6 from Balinasloe to Athlone dealt with dry stone walling joining the motorway boundaries is done poorly. It definitely looks shoddy and probably they won't be livestock proof in the long run.