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

whyulittle

whyulittle wrote: »

Feel free to move this to a more appropriate place.

I was just on the old N6 between Athlone and Moate, and noticed lots of new 100km/h speed limit signs, and not a sign of an 80mk/h one!

Common sense prevails!

L1011

Athlone to Ballinasloe has also been re-signed with R446 signs and retained 100km/h status at the same time.

dubhthach

Do the local authorities have to publish a notice in an Iris Oifigiúil if they decide to retain the speed limit at 100kph on former National routes?

I haven't driven either of the above stretches of road since the M6 has been completed

dubhthach

dubhthach wrote: »

Do the local authorities have to publish a notice in an Iris Oifigiúil if they decide to retain the speed limit at 100kph on former National routes?

I haven't driven either of the above stretches of road since the M6 has been completed

Perhaps I should have just googled before I did the above post :rolleyes:

Page 8 of An Iris Oifigiúil from 23rd of July 2010:
http://www.irisoifigiuil.ie/currentissues/Ir230710.pdf

The bylaw that it refers to:
http://www.westmeathcoco.ie/en/media/Item%209%20-%20R446%20Fardrum%20-%20Rochfortbridge%20Bye%20Laws%20Final%20Schedule%20June%202010.pdf

KevR

KevR wrote: »

The second Athenry link road (to the Derrydonnell side of the town) opened a week or two ago.

This link road has been closed off again. I'm really not sure why because it was open a few weeks ago and there is no sign of any further work happening on it.


Driving between Galway and Athenry on Sunday and there was a huge amount of 'doughnut' skid marks on the Eastbound carriageway. Joyriding scobes obviously doing this in the middle of the night because the skid marks weren't there on Saturday evening. Incredibly dangerous. :mad:

L1011

N4 outbound/M50 northbound has been modified overnight, flick arrows telling people in Lane 1 to go to Lane 2 and then a solid/dashed line combo telling people in Lane 2 attempting to get to Liffey Valley to stay in L2 until a few hundred metres beyond the merge

They did say it'd be modified by September and they were right - just!

whyulittle

Anybody noticed an increased Garda presence on the route this week?

Heading up to Dublin this morning I was passed by a marked car. (Incidentally, he went into the manned lane at the toll plaza, didn't see any money exchanged though.)

Coming back down I met a marked car, bike and MPV, they were heading east as I was heading week.

Earlier in the week I met two speed checks.

Normally I'm looking to meet one car every few days.

dubhthach

whyulittle wrote: »

Anybody noticed an increased Garda presence on the route this week?

Heading up to Dublin this morning I was passed by a marked car. (Incidentally, he went into the manned lane at the toll plaza, didn't see any money exchanged though.)

Coming back down I met a marked car, bike and MPV, they were heading east as I was heading week.

Earlier in the week I met two speed checks.

Normally I'm looking to meet one car every few days.

Revenue exercise no doubt? After all why would they be doing patrols on accident blackspots when they can shoot fish in a barrel on a motorway and provide the exchequer with cash to bail out Anglo :rolleyes:

ohnoigotsick

whyulittle wrote: »

Heading up to Dublin this morning I was passed by a marked car. (Incidentally, he went into the manned lane at the toll plaza, didn't see any money exchanged though.)

they dont pay tolls- in the by laws - just like you wouldn't expect to see an ambulance or fire engine driver route around for change to throw into a bucket - same with army and air corps too

whyulittle

What's wrong with them having tags. I was passed by an unmarked car a couple of months ago heading towards the plaza. He was clearly responding to something at high speed and lights on. He would have got through quicker with a tag going through the express lane than he would have queueing up at the one and only manned lane.

KevR

They were doing a skid test on the M6 near J19 today. Not really sure why they are doing it now, the G-B section is fully surfaced and has been open for 9 months!

KevR

There was some sort of an incident on the M6 yesterday (Sunday) evening Westbound between J17 (Athenry) and J19 (Oranmore). I couldn't really tell what happened but I don't think it was extremely serious.

I was impressed with the Fire Brigade's new 4X4s which have retractable VMS mounted on the roof. There were blue flashing lights on the VMSs which caught everyone's attention well in advance of the incident and caused everyone to slow down; when you got a bit nearer you could see that the 4X4s were in Lane 1 and the VMSs were displaying a big red 'X' to indicate that Lane 1 was closed. They also had Lane 1 coned off around the incident with small highly reflective cones.

charlemont

whyulittle wrote: »

Feel free to move this to a more appropriate place.

I was just on the old N6 between Athlone and Moate, and noticed lots of new 100km/h speed limit signs, and not a sign of an 80mk/h one!

when the existing/old route does not clash with a new toll road, its speed limit can stay at 1000km subject to county council permission..several original R roads are also 100km..

L1011

charlemont wrote: »

when the existing/old route does not clash with a new toll road, its speed limit can stay at 1000km subject to county council permission..several original R roads are also 100km..

There's nothing to prevent either the R road mirroring a tolled route being 100km/h or an R road that was never a national route being 100km/h. I'm not aware of any of the former, but the latter exist all over Cork and Louth and possibly other counties.

KevR

Does anyone use the 'Trip Card' offered by N6 Concession Ltd for the M6 toll? You get a 10% discount if you bulk purchase 20 journeys but it's not an electronic toll tag and can't be used at any other toll.

It looks like I will soon be passing through the M6 toll on almost a daily basis so I was thinking of getting an electronic tag but then I saw this Trip Card thing and now I'm not sure what to get.

A 10% discount would be nice to have and I wouldn't have to mess around with cash at the toll plaza but I think I would still have to come to a complete stop everytime I pass through (it looks like the Trip Card doesn't work on their own express lanes :rolleyes:). The top-up process for the Trip Card seems like hassle; I would still have to mess around with cash whenever I would occasionaly use other motorway tolls and I wouldn't get the M50 discount. Also, the decreased fuel effeciency from going from 120kmh to a complete stop and then back up to 120kmh would cancel out some of the 10% discount.

An electronic toll tag would automatically top itself up, I would only have to slow down instead of coming to a complete stop so I'd be saving time and a little fuel; I'd get the M50 discount; but I wouldn't get a 10% discount on the M6 and I'd be paying a €1 per month rental charge (although I can see myself using the M50 frequently enough to at least cover the €12 annual tag rental charge).

flazio

KevR wrote: »

There was some sort of an incident on the M6 yesterday (Sunday) evening Westbound between J17 (Athenry) and J19 (Oranmore). I couldn't really tell what happened but I don't think it was extremely serious.

I was impressed with the Fire Brigade's new 4X4s which have retractable VMS mounted on the roof. There were blue flashing lights on the VMSs which caught everyone's attention well in advance of the incident and caused everyone to slow down; when you got a bit nearer you could see that the 4X4s were in Lane 1 and the VMSs were displaying a big red 'X' to indicate that Lane 1 was closed. They also had Lane 1 coned off around the incident with small highly reflective cones.

All the fire stations along the motorway (Galway City, Athenry, Loughrea and Ballinasloe) have been given Jeeps with motorway incident management equipment including the signs that you mentioned above.
You can see pictures of all the fleet at:
http://www.blues-twos.com/Galway-UPDATED-8th-September-2010

antoobrien

KevR wrote: »

An electronic toll tag would automatically top itself up, I would only have to slow down instead of coming to a complete stop so I'd be saving time and a little fuel; I'd get the M50 discount; but I wouldn't get a 10% discount on the M6 and I'd be paying a €1 per month rental charge (although I can see myself using the M50 frequently enough to at least cover the €12 annual tag rental charge).

I use the tag myself because i have to use the m50 fairly regularly, so it's worth it for me (one weekend trip home per month pays for the tag). Also I (now) have 3 tolls to pass though, two of which take cash. Thats a lot of change to be messing with.

If you're using the toll reasonably frequently I'd get the tag simply for the convenience of not having worry about having the right or enough change in the car (don't do the to opening my pockets into the ashtray thing).

Nath

Drove from Dublin to Galway in the small hours last night, there is a noticeable variation in the level of road markings/reflective lighting over the length of the route.
The best section by far is Ballinasloe to Galway, there are three lines of excellent reflective lighting on the two lanes and also on the concrete barrier, which provides fantastic visibility of the road curvature ahead, it feels like driving on a runway.

Wild Bill

They all look like that when they are new. Not sure what the replacement cycle (if any) for cat's eyes is.

Chris_5339762

Plus the Ballinasloe - Galway crowd seem really proud of their excellently designed and built bit of motorway and they seem to be doing everything to keep it in top-notch condition.

Wild Bill

Yep - it is one of the best of the design & build motorway stretches.

jwcurtin

antoobrien wrote: »

I use the tag myself because i have to use the m50 fairly regularly, so it's worth it for me (one weekend trip home per month pays for the tag). Also I (now) have 3 tolls to pass though, two of which take cash. Thats a lot of change to be messing with.

If you're using the toll reasonably frequently I'd get the tag simply for the convenience of not having worry about having the right or enough change in the car (don't do the to opening my pockets into the ashtray thing).

Not completely related but i've just singed up for the E-Flow Video recognition thingy (no tag, it just reads the number plate). I'm wondering will this work in the express lane! Don't want the barrier to hit the roof!

KevR

jwcurtin wrote: »

Not completely related but i've just singed up for the E-Flow Video recognition thingy (no tag, it just reads the number plate). I'm wondering will this work in the express lane! Don't want the barrier to hit the roof!

The e-flow number plate video recognition thing only works on the M50 Westlink toll which has no barriers. It won't work on the M1, M3, M4, M6, M7, M8, Limerick Tunnel or Waterford Bypass. You will have to pay cash on all of these roads unless you have an electronic tag.

jwcurtin

KevR wrote: »

The e-flow number plate video recognition thing only works on the M50 Westlink toll which has no barriers. It won't work on the M1, M3, M4, M6, M7, M8, Limerick Tunnel or Waterford Bypass. You will have to pay cash on all of these roads unless you have an electronic tag.

Feck.

Tech3

KevR wrote: »

The e-flow number plate video recognition thing only works on the M50 Westlink toll which has no barriers. It won't work on the M1, M3, M4, M6, M7, M8, Limerick Tunnel or Waterford Bypass. You will have to pay cash on all of these roads unless you have an electronic tag.

What about the eFlow tag itself? I have one but have rarely used it. Would it work on the express lanes?

ardmacha

All the tags should work on all the express lanes.

KevR

Overtaking lane from Lucan to Maynooth coned off tonight for work (not sure exactly what). It was a bit chaotic going from 3 lanes down to 1 in a very short space.

L1011

Hedge cutting, I expect, seeing as they did a little bit towards Leixlip a few nights ago.

Wild Bill

Any day now! (The Enfield Services looking East).

996tt

Wild Bill wrote: »

Any day now! (The Enfield Services looking East).

Wild Bill, please have a bit of cop on and dont be that hero that is parked up in the EMERGENCY LANE with cars doing 70+zipping by you