Athlone bypass! should it be a motorway?

Stark · 12-04-2009 1:23pm

KevR wrote: »

I don't know why the hell he wasn't at least trying to keep in more to the left side of the hard shoulder - would have at least given him an error margin against the 100kmh traffic.

Potholes in the hard shoulder?

KevR · 12-04-2009 1:25pm

Stark wrote: »

Potholes in the hard shoulder?

Crossed my mind as soon as I saw him but the hard shoulder looked fine/pothole free to me.

AugustusMaximus · 12-04-2009 1:43pm

I find some cyclists flaunt various aspects of the ROR's without a care in the world.

Suprised they weren't hogging the overtaking lane. Hell, a cyclist is legally correct to be in the overtaking lane on a DC with a 120kph limit if they are overtaking another cyclists in the driving lane.

G_R · 12-04-2009 4:23pm

the photo on the previous page posted by murphaph is proof that the main priority on all roads should be safety and its also proof that cyclists, pedestrians, tractors etc have no place on any HQDC or M-Way, even if it is legal, doesnt mean its right. Hopefully the minister will see sense and redesignate this section as soon as so that some thing similar doesnt happen here (if it hasnt already, i'm not sure, has it?). he'd wanty ta bloody hurry up tho:D

15-07-2009 2:31pm

bump!

This story still has legs on it!

BluntGuy · 15-07-2009 2:47pm

Unfortunately so...

We'll have to wait for a decision.

It's Logic vs Lobbyists I'm afraid.

veryangryman · 15-07-2009 2:49pm

Deleted User wrote: »

bump!

This story still has legs on it!

Its very simple why it didnt get mway status guys...

It wasnt local gombeenism. If it was, plenty of other roads wouldnt have been reclassified like N11 etc.

Its the SHANNON. Plain and simple. We got one proper crossing. Unless an alternative gets built (not in my lifetime) then this is the only relief road of the town. And will be used by local traffic till kingdom come.

As for people cycling,walking etc on it if its not a motorway...

Well i went by Tyrellspass recently only to spot a couple of head the balls with a pram, dog and bike going on the Motorway. I lost count of the amount of laws broke.

Long story short, people dont care for laws and safety. Reclassifying Athlone bypass will make zero difference and be an enormous waste of money on signage

Motorways are for pussies anyway

Dempsey, your alright *

Disclaimer: He's not alright, im just rubbing it into the nay-sayers!

BluntGuy · 15-07-2009 2:59pm

veryangryman wrote: »

Well i went by Tyrellspass recently only to spot a couple of head the balls with a pram, dog and bike going on the Motorway. I lost count of the amount of laws broke.

Difference is, if they're caught - they can get arrested. They are perfectly entitled to do that on the Athlone Bypass if they want atm.

Long story short, people dont care for laws and safety. Reclassifying Athlone bypass will make zero difference and be an enormous waste of money on signage

The NRA are going to replace the signage anyway. We're more likely to have actually wasted money by NOT redesignating it, as a few M6 signs and some "end-of-motorway" poles have already been erected.

KevR · 15-07-2009 3:00pm

Waste of money on signage can't be used as an argument against redesignation because the current signs are in a woeful state. It will be re-signed regardless of redesignation - I don't think blue signs are more expensive than green ones so cost can't be brought into the debate..

EDIT: BluntGuy beat me to it

mysterious · 15-07-2009 5:10pm

its not going to be made motorway

The alternative routes is not up to spec.

The town needs a third crossing.
The seual attraction to have it a motorway and **** everything out of the bag is not acceptable. Just for the sake of People travelling from Dublin to Galway.

The road is not up to spec.
It has a 100kmh speed limit
It has steep curvers before the bridge
ALot of weaving and ramps to and from the bypass over its whole lenght.
It carries a huge amount of local traffic, Up to Thirds of the traffic use it to crosss the Shannon

Putting restrictions on this bridge is not acceptable.

Ban cyclists if you want. I say run them over. it will be fine then

steve-o · 15-07-2009 6:28pm

London is somehow able to live with the shame of a 10km section of its big bypass being non-Motorway, so I'm sure Athlone can cope with it too.

G_R · 15-07-2009 8:33pm

Deleted User wrote: »

bump!

This story still has legs on it!

oh god....

its back:D

L1011 · 15-07-2009 8:34pm

mysterious wrote: »

The seual attraction to have it a motorway and **** everything out of the bag is not acceptable. Just for the sake of People travelling from Dublin to Galway.

It appears to be you with a fetish for keeping it DC. The local traffic that uses the road can still use it - except for a miniscule proportion that you are saying we should "ban anyway".

mysterious · 15-07-2009 8:52pm

MYOB wrote: »

It appears to be you with a fetish for keeping it DC. The local traffic that uses the road can still use it - except for a miniscule proportion that you are saying we should "ban anyway".

What is the miniscule.

And why should the traffic be banned off it?

:rolleyes:
Are we supposed to believe your horse****e. The alternative route is not acceptable for this route to be changed motorway.

G_R · 15-07-2009 9:00pm

mysterious wrote: »

What is the miniscule.

the proportion of tractors/L-Drivers/Slow moving vehicles that will be banned

mysterious wrote: »

And why should the traffic be banned off it?

are you not the one who said it should have 'special restrictions' even though no such road exists in this country?

mysterious wrote: »

The alternative route is not acceptable for this route to be changed motorway.

you dont seem to realise that the vast majority of road users can continue to use the road if it was designated M-Way, and the ones that might be inconvenienced shouldnt be on the bloody thing anyway - simple as that.

L1011 · 15-07-2009 9:04pm

mysterious wrote: »

What is the miniscule.

A few tractors, scooters, cyclists, pedestrians and 'chariots' that currently mostly (illegally) use the hard shoulder of it.

mysterious wrote: »

And why should the traffic be banned off it?

Safety.

mysterious wrote: »

:rolleyes:
Are we supposed to believe your horse****e. The alternative route is not acceptable for this route to be changed motorway.

Acceptable in what manner? Its an R road, open to all traffic. That is all the alternative route needs to be.

mysterious · 15-07-2009 9:10pm

MYOB wrote: »

A few tractors, scooters, cyclists, pedestrians and 'chariots' that currently mostly (illegally) use the hard shoulder of it.

Safety.

It can get special road status like the Jack lynch or Belfast ring road.
Ban cyclists and pedestrians. No issue.

Safety isnt an issue.

If this road gets restrictions, it pushes more congestion and porblems through the town. The town cant cope with the current traffic. There is only one bridge for the town. It is not acceptable to force traffic through here.

Cyclists and pedestrians are not an issue, if they are run them over.

Acceptable in what manner? Its an R road, open to all traffic. That is all the alternative route needs to be.

The R road carries more traffic now than pre bypass. The other natiional routes will have to use the towns roads, to avoid the Athlone bypass. The network through Athlone is not adequate.

If they were sufficient and adequate then the motorway could go ahead.

There is no argument here to make it motorway what so ever right now

L1011 · 15-07-2009 9:13pm

mysterious wrote: »

It can get special road status like the Jack lynch or Belfast ring road.
Ban cyclists and pedestrians. No issue.

Safety isnt an issue.

Once again, there is no such thing as special road status in Ireland! The Jack Lynch tunnel has unenforcable signage on it, that is all. The Belfast Ring Road is in the UK. The Athlone Bypass is not a toll road, it cannot have restrictions if it remains an N road.

mysterious wrote: »

If this road gets restrictions, it pushes more congestion and porblems through the town. The town cant cope with the current traffic. There is only one bridge for the town. It is not acceptable to force traffic through here.

Ten tractors a day isn't going to break the town.

mysterious wrote: »

Cyclists and pedestrians are not an issue, if they are run them over.

That there is an opportunity to run them over is a serious safety issue.

mysterious wrote: »

The R road carries more traffic now than pre bypass. The other natiional routes will have to use the towns roads, to avoid the Athlone bypass. The network through Athlone is not adequate.

If they were sufficient and adequate then the motorway could go ahead.

Why, pray tell, will the N roads have to use the town? The tiny proportion of ineligible traffic will. Thats all.

mysterious wrote: »

There is no argument here to make it motorway what so ever right now

There is, actually. You just can't see beyond the sea of green you appear to be infatuated with.

G_R · 15-07-2009 9:16pm

mysterious wrote: »

The other natiional routes will have to use the towns roads, to avoid the Athlone bypass.

no they dont. just the ones that are restricted from a motorway. most can still use it

KevR · 16-07-2009 12:18am

mysterious wrote: »

It can get special road status like the Jack lynch or Belfast ring road.
Ban cyclists and pedestrians. No issue.

Safety isnt an issue.

If this road gets restrictions, it pushes more congestion and porblems through the town. The town cant cope with the current traffic. There is only one bridge for the town. It is not acceptable to force traffic through here.

Cyclists and pedestrians are not an issue, if they are run them over.

The R road carries more traffic now than pre bypass. The other natiional routes will have to use the towns roads, to avoid the Athlone bypass. The network through Athlone is not adequate.

If they were sufficient and adequate then the motorway could go ahead.

There is no argument here to make it motorway what so ever right now

In other posts you were saying the road standard wasn't good enough for it to be a motorway, now you're only against the redesignation because of the supposed inadequate roads in the town. We're beginning to break you!

You're wrong about safety. It is a huge issue. Given the amount of motor tax I pay I should certainly hope that Minister Dempsey takes my safety into consideration when he eventually does make a decision on this. It's ok for you to disregard safety when it comes to this because you're from down Limerick direction and I doubt you use the Athlone Bypass very often.

16-07-2009 12:31am

steve-o wrote: »

London is somehow able to live with the shame of a 10km section of its big bypass being non-Motorway, so I'm sure Athlone can cope with it too.

And even with the non motorway status the dartford Bridge/tunnel ban pedestrians and bicycles.

SeanW · 16-07-2009 2:15am

Ok, just so we're clear, in the U.K. the government has the explicit option to declare any road a "special road" which is a motorway in all but name. Noone has found any legal backing for the signs in the Jack Lynch tunnel and another prohibition was mentioned, but that was under PPP toll scheme laws.

Secondly, this decision paves the way for the destruction of the N6 with in appropriate development. The only way to prevent another Mahon Point or Kew Gardens is to reclassify - and given Ireland's history with panning, this alone is reason to reclassify.
In addition to all the other points about road safety which were outlined well better above than I could have.

flazio · 16-07-2009 2:18am

Could someone explain to me how pedestrians, cyclists and tractors are more dangerous on dual carrigeways where there are two lanes and a hard shoulder going in one direction then on a N route with only one lane and an occasional Hard shoulder going in one direction?
If anything, I'd place 'average speed' cameras either side of the bypass to make sure that all drivers played their part in keeping the bypass safe for all users. The overtaking lanes are not called Fast lanes for a reason.

G_R · 16-07-2009 2:21am

flazio wrote: »

Could someone explain to me how pedestrians, cyclists and tractors are more dangerous on dual carrigeways where there are two lanes and a hard shoulder going in one direction then on a N route with only one lane and an occasional Hard shoulder going in one direction?
If anything, I'd place 'average speed' cameras either side of the bypass to make sure that all drivers played their part in keeping the bypass safe for all users. The overtaking lanes are not called Fast lanes for a reason.

They're more dangerous because cars and vans are speeding down the M6 at 120km/h (some probably going faster) and then they get to the N6 ans WHOA there's a tractor plodding along at 30 or 40. thats why its more dangerous

flazio · 16-07-2009 2:24am

dannym08 wrote: »

They're more dangerous because cars and vans are speeding down the M6 at 120km/h (some probably going faster) and then they get to the N6 ans WHOA there's a tractor plodding along at 30 or 40. thats why its more dangerous

You should only go as fast as what you see to be clear ahead, regardless of what type of road you are driving on.

mysterious · 16-07-2009 4:00am

KevR wrote: »

In other posts you were saying the road standard wasn't good enough for it to be a motorway, now you're only against the redesignation because of the supposed inadequate roads in the town. We're beginning to break you!

Your not breaking me.

The point is still posed
The road is not up to spec
The road does not need to be motorway
The alternative road is not sufficent
The existing DC is an all purpose DC
The Speed limit is 100kmh.

It is staying as it is.

Unless they can build a third crossing, then they can ask for resignation

You're wrong about safety. It is a huge issue. Given the amount of motor tax I pay I should certainly hope that Minister Dempsey takes my safety into consideration when he eventually does make a decision on this. It's ok for you to disregard safety when it comes to this because you're from down Limerick direction and I doubt you use the Athlone Bypass very often.

I have used it.
The Athlone bypass isn't a safety issue.

mysterious · 16-07-2009 4:04am

dannym08 wrote: »

They're more dangerous because cars and vans are speeding down the M6 at 120km/h (some probably going faster) and then they get to the N6 ans WHOA there's a tractor plodding along at 30 or 40. thats why its more dangerous

Thats why there is a 10kmh speed limit in place.
The steep curves, closely spacing interchanges/weaving movments and shannon crossing.

Will make any car slow down.,

Trractors isnt the issue.

The issue is people want a pretty road map. That' all. Tractors can go on motorways too.

Bards · 16-07-2009 8:07am

flazio wrote: »

Could someone explain to me how pedestrians, cyclists and tractors are more dangerous on dual carrigeways where there are two lanes and a hard shoulder going in one direction then on a N route with only one lane and an occasional Hard shoulder going in one direction?
If anything, I'd place 'average speed' cameras either side of the bypass to make sure that all drivers played their part in keeping the bypass safe for all users. The overtaking lanes are not called Fast lanes for a reason.

greater number of vehicles per road which leads to a higher density in moving traffic if all going at different speeds leads to greater speed variance which can lead to collisions.

The safest road for everyone is where all the traffic is travelling at the same speed and where there is less speed deviation

KevR · 16-07-2009 9:53am

mysterious wrote: »

I have used it.
The Athlone bypass isn't a safety issue.

My point was that you don't use it regularly so safety on the route obviously won't concern you as much as it concerns a daily user like me.

Alternative routes and road quality aside, you would be spitting blood if the M7 near Limerick only had Dual Carriageway status and your safety was being comprimised by slow moving vehicles and if pedestrians/cyclists were crossing weaving lanes when they need to continue on the mainline.

Also, if what is happening with the Waterford Bypass was happening in Limerick you would lose the plot.

So stop getting all high and mighty with us - we only want what's best for our own safety and don't want to see any development destroy the route.

lucernarian · 16-07-2009 12:42pm

I'm only going to say that anyone who feels the athlone bypass should be made a motorway with a 120kph speedlimit is an irresponsible hypocrite if they cite safety claims.

The road surface, alignment and junction layouts are all good reasons why that road shouldn't have a speed limit of 75 mph on it. It is lunacy to ask for that, and the NRA would be unable to implement 120kph on the road if it was just redesignated.

I'd love to have a poll on how many people here have driven (or even remember travelling on the road).

Btw, tractors can only use the motorway if they can reach 50kph, I assume a tractor with a 50k gearbox would count as 50kph is max speed. Also they can't have trailers with solid wheels.

Athlone bypass! should it be a motorway?

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