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

Sponge Bob

Furet wrote: »

Out of curiosity, how are people finding the armco on the Athlone to Ballinasloe section of the M6?

I haven't 'found' it yet and I don't intend to

GerardKeating

Furet wrote: »

Out of curiosity, how are people finding the armco on the Athlone to Ballinasloe section of the M6?

Looks unnerving, but will reserve opinion will i use it...

biffoman

not great when drivers on the other carriageway have low spotlights you tend to get a bit of a glare.mind you the car i have is quite low to the ground.

veryangryman

Furet wrote: »

Out of curiosity, how are people finding the armco on the Athlone to Ballinasloe section of the M6?

The couple of times ive been on it, not impressed. On wet/windy evenings (and we get a few), can be dangerous to go at the limit

Tech3

veryangryman wrote: »

The couple of times ive been on it, not impressed. On wet/windy evenings (and we get a few), can be dangerous to go at the limit

Didn't Wills construct A-B? I hope to f**k they wont have armco on the M18 Gort to Crusheen scheme.

Nath

Furet wrote: »

Out of curiosity, how are people finding the armco on the Athlone to Ballinasloe section of the M6?

I don't particularly like it, and would definitely prefer a concrete barrier.

When driving in the overtaking lane it feels like the armco is much closer to the drivers side than it actually is, which is quite unnerving IMO.

Amtmann

Thanks for the replies. I moved these responses to the general M6 thread in order to avoid taking the M6 G-B thread off topic.

Some photos of the Athlone to Ballinasloe scheme in operation would be nice!

KevR

I don't mind the armco too much. I would prefer concrete though because it's safer and cheaper in the long run. I definitely prefer the armco instead of the steel wire barrier.

Sightlines are probably a bit better with the armco but it can also be argued that there could be more rubbernecking because you can fully see onto the other carriageway.

We have a nice variety of medians on the N/M4 & N/M6:

• N4 City Centre DC in Dublin with the Liffey as the median.
• N4 Heuston Station - M50 is narrow DC with a mix of steel barrier and no physical barrier.
• N4 Lucan Bypass 3+3 DC with narrow concrete median.
• M4 Leixlip - Kinnegead 2+2 wide median motorway with steel wire barrier.
• M6 Kinnegead - Athlone 2+2 narrow median motorway with concrete step.
• N6 Athlone Bypass 2+2 DC with concrete barrier (slightly different in style to the new concrete barrier we have on most new motorways) and also couple of short sections with armco
• M6 Athlone - Ballinasloe 2+2 narrow median motorway with an armco barrier. Possibly the only section of motorway in the country that has this at the moment?
• [Future] M6 Ballinasloe - Galway 2+2 motorway will be a mix of narrow median concrete barrier and wide grassy concrete median.
• N6 DC from Doughiska to Ballybrit is 2+2 wide median with steel wire barrier.
• N6 further West in Galway City is 4 lane single carriageway (no barrier).

flazio

Could someone please explain why I was 30 mins late for work today trying to get into Athlone with a clogged up by pass and no sign of any work? What's wrong with the section now?

L1011

KevR wrote: »

[*]M6 Athlone - Ballinasloe 2+2 narrow median motorway with an armco barrier. Possibly the only section of motorway in the country that has this at the moment?

Some of the M2 Ashbourne scheme is this also.

flazio

flazio wrote: »

Could someone please explain why I was 30 mins late for work today trying to get into Athlone with a clogged up by pass and no sign of any work? What's wrong with the section now?

Bridge and drainage maintenance work by the looks of it eastbound.
It was in the left lane earlier in the week now the right lane is closed.

Soon the Coosan bridge (next to B&Q) westbound will be closed to repair the carriageway where the big pothole is, all traffic being diverted off the slip and on again.

kaizersoze

Deleted User wrote: »

Bridge and drainage maintenance work by the looks of it eastbound.
It was in the left lane earlier in the week now the right lane is closed.

Soon the Coosan bridge (next to B&Q) westbound will be closed to repair the carriageway where the big pothole is, all traffic being diverted off the slip and on again.

I passed there the other day. The council had the overtaking lane coned off, heading east from the Roscommon exit, and closed and were cutting grass and hedges in the centre median.

veryangryman

Deleted User wrote: »

Bridge and drainage maintenance work by the looks of it eastbound.
It was in the left lane earlier in the week now the right lane is closed.

Soon the Coosan bridge (next to B&Q) westbound will be closed to repair the carriageway where the big pothole is, all traffic being diverted off the slip and on again.

How come they can do this kind of work on the M50 at night?

I was also very late and was even silly enough to divert at Roscommon Exit through town. BIG MISTAKE!

The bypass is a wonderful thing. I hate it when it gets messed with (even temporarily) like this. It makes me feel sad for the older generations who have not grown up with it having to navigate those narrow streets of the town

I think there is some subsidence that needs sorting out, in the left lane there is that "dip" just after crossing the bridge, a bit more than just patching is needed.

KevR

What date did Athlone-Ballinasloe open? Sometime in July wasn't it?

Just looking at traffic counts for the old N6 at Ballydangan to get an idea of usage on the motorway (there are no traffic counters on the motorway).

For all other sections of the N6, they were busier in July and August than in June. So the daily average for July on the old N6 Athlone-Ballinasloe is skewed by the motorway opening during the month. Obviously in August the average is way down.

Probably about 75% of traffic using the new motorway and 25% on the old road (rough estimate from looking at daily averages and bank holiday weekend figures).

Just had a quick look but I think there has been growth in traffic numbers on all sections of the Galway-Dublin route this year. Have heard people say that there is less cars on the road because of the recession, some people have even used it as an arguement for not building any new roads....:rolleyes:

KevR

KevR wrote: »

Just looking at traffic counts for the old N6 at Ballydangan to get an idea of usage on the motorway (there are no traffic counters on the motorway).

For all other sections of the N6, they were busier in July and August than in June. So the daily average for July on the old N6 Athlone-Ballinasloe is skewed by the motorway opening during the month. Obviously in August the average is way down.

Probably about 75% of traffic using the new motorway and 25% on the old road (rough estimate from looking at daily averages and bank holiday weekend figures).

It's actually quite surprising just how many locals along that road commute into Athlone.

antoobrien

KevR wrote: »

What date did Athlone-Ballinasloe open? Sometime in July wasn't it?

23 rd July

KevR

Deleted User wrote: »

It's actually quite surprising just how many locals along that road commute into Athlone.

And there must be a few people who blindly follow their sat nav and not look at the road signs when at the roundabout East of Ballinasloe (where you have the choice of taking the old road or taking the link road to the motorway).

KevR

Yikes! One of the drainage pits on the Westbound carriageway of Athlone - Ballinasloe is full with water and overflowing a bit into the hard shoulder. Hopefully we won't get too much more rain in the next day or two because the main carriageway could end up with a couple of inches of water at this spot.

KevR

Just passed a tractor which was being driven half in the hard shoulder and half in the left running lane. Really thick because everyone has to pull into the overtaking lane to pass him, he may as well have been entirely in the left running lane.

Anyway, would it have killed him to use the R446?!

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.