M3 Clonee-Kells Motorway construction updates

Irish and Proud

GeneHunt wrote: »

...it's the Fairyhouse roundabout (beside Toll bridge) in the mornings which is going to be a nightmare I think, because inbound traffic from Navan wishing to avoid the toll will exit at Junction 6 (R125 Dunshaughlin) travel down R154 through Batterstown and join the R147 (old N3) at the Fairyhouse roundabout, now if this is the rat run, then the R147 from Dunshaughlin and R155 from Ratoath will build-up very badly at this roundabout.:mad:

...good point - the Dunshaughlin Bypass has no southern tie-in for the R147 (ex N3) - guess this is a deliberate ploy to force motorists through the toll! Of course, as you have pointed out, there's always the R154 instead!

Regards!

GeneHunt

Just an up-date on the M3 from (Junction 5) Pace to north of Dunshaughlin, I haven’t travelled past Navan or Kells in daylight for a while to see the progress there.

As of yesterday, Drumree is now accessible from the “Merrywell” roundabout located on the R154 (Trim road) the old T - junction is now closed.

Since earlier January work on the M3 and new link road (R125) local to Dunshaughlin has been landscaping, tree planting and in the last week or two, signs have started to pop up. Mainly the small signs (M3 Motorway ahead) on the on-ramps or end of motorway on the off-ramps, nothing on the gantries here yet. I suspect laying the top lay will have been delayed for a few weeks with the cold weather.

19 weeks to July

Gonzo

Good thing they have Junction 5 quite large, I imagine the majority of the traffic on the N3/M3 coming from Dublin will exit the M3 at the Dunboyne junction back onto the old N3 to avoid paying the toll.

Fiskar

Seen the nice new signs on the M3 indicating Navan 36 clicks, any idea what the toll prices will be for motorbikes?
Would hate to slow down cars at the toll rooting for change

rui7

Hi,

I was thinking about the positioning of the M3 toll at fairyhouse and thought it would be very easy for drivers heading for Navan/Cavan to bypass the tolls by coming off the M3 at the Dunboyne junction and using the existing N3 to travel to Dunshaughlin and then rejoining the M3 at this junction. This would also be the case for drivers heading for Dublin from Navan/Cavan. They could exit M3 at Dunshauglhin and use N3 to Dunboyne and re-join M3.

This will cause similar delays which already exist.

Has anyone looked into whether there will be mini toll barriers on the slip roads on (towards Navan/Cavan) and off(into dunshaughlin) the M3 at the Dunshaughlin junction?? This would trap rat runners wishing to bypass paying the tolls.

I've seen this kind of trap on other motorway on/off slip roads.

Rui7

Roryhy

From wikipedia- "It will be tolled at two locations, one point north of Navan and another point between Dunshaughlin and Clonee"

The first toll is on the mainline just north of Pace interchange.

The second toll is just north of Grange interchange, also on the mainline.

Very detailed map http://www.eurolink-m3.ie/project_map_detail.html

etchyed

rui7 wrote: »

Has anyone looked into whether there will be mini toll barriers on the slip roads on (towards Navan/Cavan) and off(into dunshaughlin) the M3 at the Dunshaughlin junction?? This would trap rat runners wishing to bypass paying the tolls.

I've seen this kind of trap on other motorway on/off slip roads.

Rui7

No, there won't be any toll booths on slip roads. It will be free to travel between Dunshaughlin and Navan on the M3. There will be another toll between Navan and Kells, however.

etchyed

Map of junctions and toll booths:
http://www.eurolink-m3.ie/project_map.html

This has all been discussed here at length before, but I was just lurking at the time and I don't have time atm to find the thread(s) in question.

GeneHunt

etchyed wrote: »

This has all been discussed here at length before, but I was just lurking at the time and I don't have time atm to find the thread(s) in question.

I found it on this thread! Not that I had the time! but I did ask the question back in Oct 09, so I knew where to look!!!!

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=62403475&postcount=267

and imeddyhobbs answered it....

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=62449837&postcount=273

etchyed

M3 seems to be open now westbound J4-J5

burger1979

etchyed wrote: »

M3 seems to be open now westbound J4-J5

did you travel it today? have the delays around clonee merge eased any bit? i am going to be on it this evening so will hopefully get to give a go and will report back.

etchyed

Just came home this way. No major delays at about 5:30. Westbound traffic is restricted to the auxiliary lane (which, if it's going to remain an auxiliary lane, is badly signed on the gantries). Coming from the Dunboyne roundabout (J5) eastbound traffic initially travels in the eastbound carriageway before moving over to the westbound one about halfway down to the old DC.

mackerski

The newly opened section, including the section in contraflow, is now mapped on OpenStreetMap

Stark

Hmm. should the eastbound section be designated motorway given that the alternative route along the R147 isn't ready yet?

Edit: I suppose technically motorway restrictions should be lifted on the newly redesignated section of the Clonee bypass as well but that would put it in direct conflict with the signs that are visible on the ground.

mackerski

Stark wrote: »

Hmm. should the eastbound section be designated motorway given that the alternative route along the R147 isn't ready yet?

Edit: I suppose technically motorway restrictions should be lifted on the newly redesignated section of the Clonee bypass as well but that would put it in direct conflict with the signs that are visible on the ground.

Well, we map what's on the ground, informed by official status. By both those measures, it's still a motorway.

It'll soon be moot anyway, once the bridge gets opened.

Chris_5339762

Plus OSM likes blue lines

MessyRedBlue

came out that way this evening - weird being so far from bracetown business park!!!!! U get a great view of the new Pace station when going up the slip to dunboyne.

brandodub

A good run much easier than the Bracetown way. Usual muppets still not getting in lane even at the 100m mark near Clonee new(ish) slip.:rolleyes:

PauloMN

Travelled on this today, wonder how long the contra-flow will be in operation? No benefit to the traffic at the moment eastbound anyway given the contra-flow, maybe on the way home the usual hold up from Clonee to Black Bull will have eased a bit - we'll see.

mackerski

PauloMN wrote: »

Travelled on this today, wonder how long the contra-flow will be in operation?

While I don't know the schedule, the contraflow will stay until the southbound carriageway has been tied in. A few weeks, anyway.

GeneHunt

PauloMN wrote: »

Travelled on this today, wonder how long the contra-flow will be in operation?

Heard on Dublin City FM this morning that "this layout will remain like this till the 9th April". Now I wonder will it be only the contra-flow changed on this date or will it be the contra-flow change and the over bridge opening or could it be the whole motorway opening, we'll have to wait and see!
I suspect it will only be the contra-flow change, the over bridge opening will be on a later date and the motorway opening on an even later date (June).




AA Roadwatch has Auburn roundabout to change tonight!

*N3/NAVAN RD* From 6am on Fri 19th Feb there will be a change to the layout at Auburn Avenue on N3 Navan Rd. This is a temporary arrangement to be in place until 8th March, when all right turns will be reinstated. Extreme care should be taken through the new layout.

TJJP

© TJJP

GeneHunt

© TJJP

Great photos, but can you post the date they were taken? They look like mid 2008 as the above photo is of the R125 (top left to bottom right) at Dunshaughlin which is now open since July 2009!

TJJP

5th October 2008, old, but thought they might be of interest here.

Stark

mackerski wrote: »

Well, we map what's on the ground, informed by official status. By both those measures, it's still a motorway.

It'll soon be moot anyway, once the bridge gets opened.

Came off the motorway at Junction 4 (Clonee) this morning and the motorway signs that were at the start of the redesignated section are now covered over

marmurr1916

For me, the most striking thing about those photos is the amount of low-density housing (mainly bungalows) scattered across the landscape.

And people complain about the visual impact of roads!

ardmacha

For me, the most striking thing about those photos is the amount of low-density housing (mainly bungalows) scattered across the landscape.

That's where the real Irish people live.

mackerski

Stark wrote: »

Came off the motorway at Junction 4 (Clonee) this morning and the motorway signs that were at the start of the redesignated section are now covered over

I've seen that too - not impressed. There's a legal document with the minister's signature on it that says it's a motorway - I doubt there's anything suspending it.

PauloMN

Not impressed with the new M3 arrangements. The Trim road (R154) and Ratoath junction needs a separate M3 junction rather than havng to share the Dunboyne one imo. The Dunboyne junction is too busy already.

Maybe there's further works planned but the current arrangement is no better than before it opened, and seeing as there's a toll past that junction, most of the traffic will be coming off there. 3 roundabouts to negotiate between the M3 exit and the Trim/Ratoath roads is just crap.

Stark

Too many junctions on a motorway is a bad thing. The preferred route from Trim would be the R154/R125/Dunshaughlin junction. Toll dodgers could use the old N3/R147 instead of the M3 from there.