N21 Castleisland Bypass Thread

fresca

January/February Newsletter available on KCC website
http://www.kerrycoco.ie/en/allservices/roads/n21castleislandbypass/thefile,3567,en.pdf


actually, it's already a bit out of date.
the road closures mentioned have already occurred.

fresca

From http://www.kerrycoco.ie/en/allservices/roads/roadclosures/title,3670,en.html

Temporary Closing of Roads - Doolaig South Cross

Released: 15 April 2010

KERRY COUNTY COUNCIL
TEMPORARY CLOSING OF ROADS
SECTION 75 OF ROADS ACT 1993

Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to Section 75 of the Roads Act, 1993, and the Temporary Closing of Roads Regulations, 1994, Kerry County Council proposes to close to public traffic the Local Road L-6541 (in the townlands of Doolaig South, Portduff, Mullaghmarky and Ballynaboul, Castleisland) from Doolaig South Cross (at the intersection with the Local Road L-10681 to Doolaig North Lower Cross) to Ballynaboul Cross (at the junction with the Local Road L-2017)
for a period of five (5) consecutive days from Monday 10th May 2010 to Friday 14th May 2010, both dates inclusive.
The purpose of the road closure is to avoid major interface between construction plant and road users (General Public) and facilitate finishing works to the structure and road surfacing works as part of the N21 Castleisland Bypass Road Improvement Scheme.
Alternative routes will be clearly signposted and limited access will be provided to local residents.
Any person having any objection to this proposal should lodge same with the Administrative Officer, Roads & Transportation Department, Room 115, Áras an Chontae, Tralee, County Kerry not later than 4.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 20th April 2010.

Sínithe/Signed: Ger O’Brien
S.E.O. Corporate Services

Tech3

More news on the bypass looks like late 2010 opening.

Council: Bypass will divert 70% of vehicles away from town
By Donal Hickey

Wednesday, May 05, 2010



A LONG-AWAITED bypass road for Castleisland, due to be open to traffic by the end of this year, will divert about 9,000 vehicles away from Co Kerry town, each day.

The €34 million bypass will result in about 70% of the traffic that currently goes though Castleisland being taken away from the town, according to Kerry County Council.

Construction work on the 5.5km bypass, which started last May, is progressing on schedule, project manager Donal O’Shea yesterday told an on-site media briefing.

"The structural work, earth works and drainage have all been completed and the exceptionally wet weather during the winter was probably the biggest obstacle we encountered," he said.

There are 11 structures along the route, which runs through farmland on the western and northern sides of Castleisland, including bridges, culverts and underpasses.

There are three roundabouts on the road, which will have both a dual and single carriageway.

Four badger passes and two otter ledges have also been included.

The bypass will intersect existing roads linking Castleisland to Killarney, Tralee and Limerick.

Castleisland, the main route into Kerry from Dublin and Limerick, has been a notorious traffic bottleneck for decades, with long tailbacks regularly experienced, and the bypass has been a hot political issue for several years.

Paul Curry, of the National Road Authority’s Kerry design office, said 9,000 of the estimated 13,000 vehicles that currently pass through Castleisland each day will use the bypass.

"It’s obvious the town itself is going to get considerably quieter," he added.

"But, it should also be pointed out that traffic from outlying areas which has tended to stay away from Castleisland because of the congestion will start coming in again and that should be of benefit to the town."

The council acquired land from 32 landowners along the route, but no dwellings/houses had to be demolished.

link

carchaeologist

i wonder will it be easier to park in the town during the day when this bypass is finished...I thought i was going to go out of my mind this morning trying to get a spot..:mad:

Tech3

Is there much going on with the bypass lately. BAM seem to be going at a snails pace given it's only 5km of road.

carchaeologist

tech2 wrote: »

Is there much going on with the bypass lately. BAM seem to be going at a snails pace given it's only 5km of road.

Looks like full steam ahead to me,they have lots done in the last few months,if you stand on the new bridge up the Maum you can see the road is being laid out on both sides all the way in both directions,and they are starting to break into the limerick road now too.
Plus they finally put a finished surface on the Tralee road roundabout,so no more nasty humps entering and exiting!:)

fresca

carchaeologist wrote: »

Looks like full steam ahead to me,they have lots done in the last few months,if you stand on the new bridge up the Maum you can see the road is being laid out on both sides all the way in both directions,and they are starting to break into the limerick road now too.
Plus they finally put a finished surface on the Tralee road roundabout,so no more nasty humps entering and exiting!:)

I'll try do a photo update as soon as possible... but not much free time at the moment i'm afraid :eek:

Bersouth

After all the doom and gloom and will it wont it go ahead the Castleisland bypass is 6 months ahead of target and will open before year end. No doubt Jackie Healy Rae will be first to drive over new bypass......:D

fresca

Official opening schedule according to NRA is Q1, 2011.
6 months ahead would suggest early October 2010 ?

Is that the date range you expect?

Bersouth wrote: »

After all the doom and gloom and will it wont it go ahead the Castleisland bypass is 6 months ahead of target and will open before year end. No doubt Jackie Healy Rae will be first to drive over new bypass......:D

Bersouth

According to BAM they are 6 months ahead so end of 2010 looks likley, be good for people traveling, hope Castleisland are ready for post bypass....

ejmaztec

Bersouth wrote: »

After all the doom and gloom and will it wont it go ahead the Castleisland bypass is 6 months ahead of target and will open before year end. No doubt Jackie Healy Rae will be first to drive over new bypass......:D

...and claim even more travelling expenses.:P

Bersouth

Ah no Jackie will get one of the jarvey's from Killarney with their new napipes to jog along the bypas as the lead car........:pac:

ejmaztec

Bersouth wrote: »

Ah no Jackie will get one of the jarvey's from Killarney with their new napipes to jog along the bypas as the lead car........:pac:

It'll be a sight to see, with all those people following a sh1t-bag.

dh0661

ejmaztec wrote: »

It'll be a sight to see, with all those people following a sh1t-bag.

LOL

IMO the jarveys should use all of the Healy Rea's caps as nappies. And return to the previous owners to wear again --- this might help to regrow their hair. :rolleyes:

carchaeologist

This is him in 58!

Bersouth

Cometh the hour cometh the man...........:D

ejmaztec

Bersouth wrote: »

Cometh the hour cometh the man...........:D

You must be a very close relative:P

Bersouth

No but a long suffering voter from North Kerry wishing we had a Healy Rae here.... and in that 1958 hurling championship JHR scored the winning goal hence cometh the man..

ejmaztec

Bersouth wrote: »

No but a long suffering voter from North Kerry wishing we had a Healy Rae here.... and in that 1958 hurling championship JHR scored the winning goal hence cometh the man..

Unfortunately, North of Tralee, we may as well have no-one at all, because the resident TDs are completely and absolutely feckin useless.

Bersouth

ejmaztec wrote: »

Unfortunately, North of Tralee, we may as well have no-one at all, because the resident TDs are completely and absolutely feckin useless.

I am less than a 1/4 of a mile from boundary of south kerry but the difference in infrastructure is amazing, all road are repaired, grants are made available to all types of groups. There is just so much that the fierce competition betwenn the O'Donoghues's and the Healy Rae's that the people of SK are the winners.:mad:

ejmaztec

Bersouth wrote: »

I am less than a 1/4 of a mile from boundary of south kerry but the difference in infrastructure is amazing, all road are repaired, grants are made available to all types of groups. There is just so much that the fierce competition betwenn the O'Donoghues's and the Healy Rae's that the people of SK are the winners.:mad:

The TDs up here want rockets up their arses, because they seem to be dead from the neck up.

fresca

Some photos from 30 - may 2010:

n21_20100530_a:
- looking south at mainline from junction with n21 on limerick side of castleisland (daly's cold storage facillity) - note overbridge on "pound road" in background
n21_20100530_b:
- same as (a) above
n21_20100530_c:
- looking north from overbridge on pound road
n21_20100530_d:
- same as (c) above
n21_20100530_e:
- looking south from overbridge on pound road

fresca

n21_20100530_f:
- same as (e) above ... magnified
n21_20100530_g:
- looking north from roundabout on n21 tralee road


in general there has been good progress, but mostly on the northern section, i.e. between the tralee and limerick N21 roads.
there is much less progress on the tralee-farranfore southern section.

an article in the kerryman this week (article not available online) quotes the project manager as indicating that whilst good progress has been made that he could confirm that the road shall not be available for the Irish Open Gold thingy on July 28th.

Thus, we can take it that an Aug/Sep opening is more likely.

One point i would like to make is that we now have a continuous "black" line on the mainline. is this cbm?

Bersouth

Fab pictures, great to see so much progress along with new Gardab arracks Castleisland is reaping the rewards for joining up with South Kerry... long live JOD and JHR

Tech3

Great pictures, I'm wondering will the wire median be used for this scheme or will the NRA see sense and installed the concrete barrier which is used in new motorways built in this country?

fresca

i've emailed info@kerry.nrdo.ie with a query on the median.
i thought i read somewhere that it would be concrete, but i can't seem to find where that was, so we'll wait and see what the nrdo come back with.

tech2 wrote: »

Great pictures, I'm wondering will the wire median be used for this scheme or will the NRA see sense and installed the concrete barrier which is used in new motorways built in this country?

fresca

response from nrdo:

1.5m paved, with wire rope safety fencing

fresca wrote: »

i've emailed info@kerry.nrdo.ie with a query on the median.
i thought i read somewhere that it would be concrete, but i can't seem to find where that was, so we'll wait and see what the nrdo come back with.

Tech3

I wish the NRA would get rid of that wire rope, it's dangerous for any motorcyclist driving on the 2+1 scrapped schemes and the new 2+2 ones. The concrete barrier would be a much safer option and generally I hate the look of the wire rope.

Tech3

CASTLEISLAND: Bypass won't open for the Open







THE remarkable rate of progress of work on the Castleisland Bypass has, indeed, been much remarked on in recent weeks. So much so, in fact, that it has led to speculation that the Limerick Road to Tralee Road stretch would be 'Open for the Open' on a temporary basis only for the big golf tournament due to be played in Killarney from July 29 to August 1.

link

Bersouth

There is great topsoil for sale in Castleisland 0872461678

fresca

now available
http://www.kerrycoco.ie/en/allservices/roads/n21castleislandbypass/thefile,4330,en.pdf

fresca

notice of restricted speed limits on n21 & n23 in order to facilitate the construction/completion of the 3 roundabouts:
- 1 on limerick road, north of castleisland (n21)
- 1 on tralee road, west of castleisland (n21)
- 1 on farranfore road (n23)

http://www.kerrycoco.ie/en/advertsnotices/title,4354,en.html

they've given themselves a year... generous...

fresca

all,

they've started the round about interface between bypass and n21 limerick road on the north (limerick) side of castleisland.
traffic is down to one lane with a set of traffic lights.
i was stuck there for 30 mins on sat.
no room to turn and swing round by crag cave.

sorry - no pics either, didn't have the camera.

carchaeologist

How did they get the pile of gravel for the tar on the Tralee road so high! A bulldozer wouldnt go up that far i dont think.
Its not as high as it was,but it was massive a few weeks ago.

fresca

http://www.radiokerry.ie/news/

...Kerry County Council is looking for submissions from artists to commission art for the new N21 Castleisland Bypass. The €55,000 budget is ring fenced for this project alone...

fresca

details of roadart competition
http://www.kerrycoco.ie/en/allservices/roads/n21castleislandbypass/publicartworkcompetition/

ejmaztec

KCC likes throwing money around, doesn't it? €55K?:eek:

fresca

ejmaztec wrote: »

KCC likes throwing money around, doesn't it? €55K?:eek:

take a look at:
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/ireland/090903/highway-art-sculpture?page=0,0

or
http://www.millstreet.ie/blog/2010/08/05/ann-lane%E2%80%99s-photographic-journal-of-public-art

interesting that e110,000 was earmarked for road art on m7 nenagh-limerick...

i like roadart

ejmaztec

fresca wrote: »

take a look at:
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/ireland/090903/highway-art-sculpture?page=0,0

or
http://www.millstreet.ie/blog/2010/08/05/ann-lane%E2%80%99s-photographic-journal-of-public-art

interesting that e110,000 was earmarked for road art on m7 nenagh-limerick...

i like roadart

One man's roadart is another man's pile of re-constituted scrap.:P

Still, they make a change from flower-laden monuments to the dead and religious grottoes.

Tech3

Hi Guys,

Had a look at the bypass today and it's very close to completion on the Tralee-Limerick road section. It's nearly all lined and studded but the Killarney-Tralee rd section is a little behind that but the length is not that long.

I took two photos from the pound road. First one is looking north:






This one is looking south from the same overpass. The wire mesh for the median hasnt been done yet but the markings are in place for the steel poles. Also there seems to be a cycle/walking path on the verge too!!






I must walk or cycle the route before it opens!!

North Cork

Is there going to be a barrier in the middle?

Tech3

Yep the wire rope will separate the carriageways like the one on the N20 Mallow-Cork road. Wish it was the concrete barrier though.

Davidth88

Silly question been asked a million times , when is this ' due ' to open ?

BTW , the wire central barrier is hated by motor-cyclists . The concrete barrier is hated by ' greens ' ( stops wildlife apparently ).

As a car driver , I just want to see a barrier TBH

fresca

expected to open round the end of october - prior to nov 1 anyway
(according to an article in this weeks kerryman)

my vote would be for concrete median!!

Davidth88 wrote: »

Silly question been asked a million times , when is this ' due ' to open ?

BTW , the wire central barrier is hated by motor-cyclists . The concrete barrier is hated by ' greens ' ( stops wildlife apparently ).

As a car driver , I just want to see a barrier TBH

dmeehan

whose dumbass idea was it to use the wire median barrier. this will just add more cost in future years when someone* decides that the wire barriers are not "safe" and will have to spend millions retro-fitting a concrete barrier

* = politician etc.

limklad

tech2 wrote: »

Yep the wire rope will separate the carriageways like the one on the N20 Mallow-Cork road. Wish it was the concrete barrier though.

Wire rope is very dangerous to have no matter where it is placed. I do not know what the road builders/government where thinking off, most likely the cheapest way to make a road at road user safety expense. Why did the RSA not object to this is beyond me. I rather concrete barrier on this type of road otherwise, it could end up killing motorcyclist rather than bounce off. At speed the wire be like a fine piece of wire on butter. They will go though the wire in half hitting oncoming traffic on the other side and have accident on both side of the road. There is no room for error here, unlike the M20 (Rosbrien to Patrickwell) in the wide grass margin and road shoulder as between the roads where a driver or motorcyclist has a chance to recover from a swerve.

mk6705

Nice to see a dual-carraigeway in Kerry. It annoys me to see the great roads going to every neck of the country, it kind of leaves us behind down here. We might be getting somewhere access wise when the Adare to Abbeyfeale road is done, in about 100-500 years. :rolleyes:

Tech3

limklad wrote: »

Wire rope is very dangerous to have no matter where it is placed. I do not know what the road builders/government where thinking off, most likely the cheapest way to make a road at road user safety expense. Why did the RSA not object to this is beyond me. I rather concrete barrier on this type of road otherwise, it could end up killing motorcyclist rather than bounce off. At speed the wire be like a fine piece of wire on butter. They will go though the wire in half hitting oncoming traffic on the other side and have accident on both side of the road. There is no room for error here, unlike the M20 (Rosbrien to Patrickwell) in the wide grass margin and road shoulder as between the roads where a driver or motorcyclist has a chance to recover from a swerve.

Yeah it seems that the wire rope is placed in for less cost but could possibly end up costing more in terms of road safety and maintenance over a longer period. I don't understand why they could not introduce the concrete median for all dual road types. I was on the N15 around Ballyshannon/Bundoran in Donegal where there was a 2+1 section and a concrete barrier in the middle. Cant understand why it cant be implemented into the 2+2 schemes now. Even Armco would be better.

Tech3

New poles installed on the median for the wire rope to be connected soon. I havnt seen enough of the Tralee rd- Farranfore rd if someone gets a chance to look at and give an update.

mk6705

Say it from the N23 side this week and last week, the lines are painted onto that side today, they weren't last Sunday.