M17/M18 - Gort to Tuam [open to traffic]

joedomvince

Deleted User wrote: »

Just seen the comments on the video ..



:pac:

We should all report her. So dangerous.

JoeA3

J o e wrote: »

Just back from a spin from Galway City (Bothar na dTreabh / Tuam Road junction) to Tuam (Kilmore roundabout) and back, going out the new motorway and back the old N17. No traffic either way, cruising just under the limits.

Galway City to Tuam via N6/M6/M17
25 mins

Tuam to Galway City via N83 (old N17)
21 mins

So no benefit in light traffic. Should be a big saving in rush hour traffic though... will using it again Friday evening going to Donegal.

Definitely should be a significant difference in rush hour traffic. In fact I’d say the new road would be quicker on average at any time from 7am - 10pm.
Even at quiet-ish times I find the old N17 (Galway - Loughgeorge in particular) incredibly frustrating. It’s just a horrible road to drive on. Invariably there’s always some clown in front hogging the road at 50km/h with little opportunity to overtake. And the inevitable queues at Claregalway and at Monaghan’s garage (city bound).

jimmy_t

galwaybabe wrote: »

What was Clarinbridge like this eve?

empty at 6 o'clock,
however chaos in parkmore, 40 mins to get to front of estate at 5 o'clock, possibly because more people turning right, possibly because they changed the lights to deal with more traffic going through briarhill from bothar na dtreabh. I think cycling to Galway Clinic might become part of the commute....

muddle84

snowstreams wrote: »

fryup wrote: »

how long before we see donuts ?

I sure hope never.
Ive never noticed any on motorways yet.

There is some in the southbound carriageway this morning a few miles south of Tuam. 

This road is brilliant, it halfed my journey time home last night!!

muddle84

paul2013 wrote: »

Hi all Forum members,

Just after coming from a spin from Limerick to Tuam and I went home then after my shift. I'd like to point out that you need to drive the new road at night to see what I'm talking about.
Once you pass Gort exit 16 the road is wonderful but to two major exceptions, the central median barrier is too low and you continually have to flash oncoming cars on the opposite direction to dim their lights and the new N17 Tuam Bypass is an absolute disaster as their is no hard shoulder to pull into incase of a breakdown and This is what I feel the whole road is lacking and particularly in Rathmorrissey is road lighting as you will not have a clue where you are going as their is very poor road lighting in all exits from North of Gort to South of Tuam. It's very very poor.

The purpose of the median barrier is not to block the lights of oncoming traffic. Its there to stop traffic crossing the median and crashing head on into traffic in the other carriageway. The barrier is the same standard ( Britpave original design) as all the other concrete barrier in Ireland, the purpose of the height of it ( 900mm above finished road level if  my memory serves me right) is to stop HGV's and other large vehicles like buses aswell as cars and vans.

JCX BXC

Looks like a 2.7km backlog entering the coolagh roundabout from the M6 this morning.

veryangryman

JCX BXC wrote: »

Looks like a 2.7km backlog entering the coolagh roundabout from the M6 this morning.

Alot of expirimentation going on thusfar and the odd curious commuter.

Give it a month or 2 and traffic will divide. On the other hand, ClareGalway must have been handy this morn.

JCX BXC

veryangryman wrote: »

Alot of expirimentation going on thusfar and the odd curious commuter.

Give it a month or 2 and traffic will divide. On the other hand, ClareGalway must have been handy this morn.

Divide? As in go via Claret always again?

What's the point in a multi-million new road if the old road is quicker?

marno21

Claregalway & the N83 are a holy show this morning again, Claregalway back to Loughgeorge and a good queue on the N17 back from the N6 junction.. the N6 inbound towards Doughiska isn't as bad as expected, queue stops well short of J19

joeKel73

Busy coming into Galway City off the motorway this morning




Surprised to see Claregalway still looking busy....

joeKel73

Anyone know how the lane widths on the M17/M18 compare to the M6? They seem a bit tight.

JoeA3

Claregalway as bad as ever this morning I’m afraid. Back to the drawing board!

Middle Man

J o e wrote: »

Anyone know how the lane widths on the M17/M18 compare to the M6? They seem a bit tight.

The same widths - lanes on a new road always appear tighter due to the darker colour of the new surface - dark colours are always known to visually bring things closer.

SwimFin

jimmy_t wrote: »

empty at 6 o'clock,
however chaos in parkmore, 40 mins to get to front of estate at 5 o'clock, possibly because more people turning right, possibly because they changed the lights to deal with more traffic going through briarhill from bothar na dtreabh. I think cycling to Galway Clinic might become part of the commute....

Has a cycle lane ever been considered adjacent to the N6 motorway from Martin Roundabout (Galway Clinic) - Coolough Roundabout (end of M6 Motorway) - Lynch/Briarhill junction (Western Motors / Clayton Hotel)?

eezipc

JoeA3 wrote: »

Claregalway as bad as ever this morning I’m afraid. Back to the drawing board!

Of course it is. Anyone that normally comes in from Athenry/Loughrea on the motorway know that the backlog can be crazy some mornings. Anyone who was going to take the motorway from Tuam already knows this. So you can stay on the old road and get stuck in Claregalway or take the motorway and get stuck in Ballybrit.
The only benefit of the motorway really is for people to get to Limerick or Dublin quicker.

from_atozinc

eezipc wrote: »

Of course it is. Anyone that normally comes in from Athenry/Loughrea on the motorway know that the backlog can be crazy some mornings. Anyone who was going to take the motorway from Tuam already knows this. So you can stay on the old road and get stuck in Claregalway or take the motorway and get stuck in Ballybrit.
The only benefit of the motorway really is for people to get to Limerick or Dublin quicker.

I think this perfectly sums things up.

i.e this new road will not really help the commuters at all.

"The only benefit of the motorway really is for people to get to Limerick or Dublin quicker"

Benbecul97

simulacra75 wrote: »

Due to M17's diligent work over the last 2.5 years I decided to drive the new road as soon as it opened!

I live in Ennis, near the West County hotel. Headed off at 3.47pm today, got onto new motorway at Gort at 4.03pm. Drove all the way to Tuam, arriving at 4.28pm.

Arrived back in Ennis at 5.09pm. No stops.

One thing I'd say about it, they've made the width of it to bare minimum standards, IMHO. The width of the hard shoulder is "just" wide enough to take a car and no more.

Gort to Tuam in 25 mins. Ennis to Tuam 41 mins. They are serious time savings and the main benefit of this new motorway.

In the mornings, it will help some daily commuters but not all.
In the evenings, it will help more than some daily commuters but again not all.
It will take time for patterns to emerge.

Mr Velo

Possibly people that normally take the rat runs have decided to go back through Claregalway this morning to see how they fare?

The motorway has cleared out by now but the Tuam road and Claregalway is still busy.

It will take a while for traffic patterns to adjust as people get to know what to expect.

Benbecul97

JoeA3 wrote: »

I took the new road home this evening (Oranmore -> Lackagh) to try it out. It looks great - but for me, beyond this novelty try out, it's not a realistic alternative for commuting. It's nearly double the length for my route home (15km versus 30km)!

My wife said Claregalway was a breeze this evening. No traffic at all! I wonder how much of that is due to the likes of me trying out the new road for the one day - will Claregalway be back to a mess again from next week when the novelty wears off and many people realise the new road isn't really a viable alternative?

Other than occasional trips to Dublin/Limerick/Shannon, I don't think I'll be using it with any frequency - and I'm only ~5k km from Annagh Hill.

This is exactly the scenario faced by many commuters.

joeKel73

Middle Man wrote: »

The same widths - lanes on a new road always appear tighter due to the darker colour of the new surface - dark colours are always known to visually bring things closer.

That's surprising actually. It's a fairly bendy motorway too, which probably adds to it feeling tighter.

dr.fuzzenstein

joedomvince wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_yLpQrCMhY

My god lads, check this one out - Anne Cummins

Recording herself on her phone while driving
Right on the bumper of the car ahead of her while recording
She slightly crosses the solid white line in the middle of the road
Tasteless language (during the death notices too)

I'm sure the Gardai would like to pay her a visit or Crimeline to use it as an example of what not to do behind the wheel

And the worst of it - filmed in portrait mode!

Middle Man

jimmy_t wrote: »

empty at 6 o'clock,
however chaos in parkmore, 40 mins to get to front of estate at 5 o'clock, possibly because more people turning right, possibly because they changed the lights to deal with more traffic going through briarhill from bothar na dtreabh. I think cycling to Galway Clinic might become part of the commute....

This really raises questions over how fit for purpose our cities are - if people are having to go back to a frugal like existence to do their day to day business, then I think we need a radical rethink and start building new cities of higher density and have most public facilities within easy walking distance including the schools, shops and train station. Roads should really be for inter-urban and rural travel while walkways and public transport should facilitate intra-urban journeys. No more school runs and no more rail closures.

threeball

When they change the lights in Claregalway to allow for the fact that there will be less traffic coming in from/heading out to oranmore then Claregalway should free up. There's no need for those lights to change half as often now which should see the flow there on the N17 improve significantly.

eezipc

Benbecul97 wrote: »

Gort to Tuam in 25 mins. Ennis to Tuam 41 mins. They are serious time savings and the main benefit of this new motorway.

In the mornings, it will help some daily commuters but not all.
In the evenings, it will help more than some daily commuters but again not all.
It will take time for patterns to emerge.

That's amazing really. Who would have thought it possible to get from Tuam to Shannon Airport within the hour?

threeball

eezipc wrote: »

That's amazing really. Who would have thought it possible to get from Tuam to Shannon Airport within the hour?

Galway, Clare and Limerick councils need to come together now to create a counterbalance to Dublin across the 3 main cities/town. The population, road network and airport is there to offer a really strong viable alternative.

peter.teahan

I'll never understand why they don't just leave the N17 as the N17 and not rename it. It's still going to be a national primary route for drivers and vehicles that can't use the motorway.

demanufactured

d1980 wrote: »

Will be very handy should a 'speed' type scenario with keanu reeves take place and need to keep the bus over 50 throughout....

Ah yeah great movie that, The Bus That Couldn't Slow Down

ir555

Traveled from Tuam using bypass and M17/ M6 to Briarhill yesterday @ 5pm.. As a daily commuter for over 15 years have to say the motorway is a much better option. Slightly longer and more fuel, but worth it!
No traffic from Briarhill and landed at Terryland in just under 30 mins. Another 30 mins to get across Galway but to be expected.

A great addition to the west.

Surprising to see the comments from people who were under some illusion that the opening of this road would solve Galway City's traffic. The motorway will pump traffic even quicker into Galway now so if anything it will get worse, especially at Briarhill in the mornings.. Its part of a bigger solution of which the City Outer Bypass is the crucial part. For now re tweaking traffic lights in the late afternoon/ evening to get as much traffic as possible onto the motorway heading East will be the biggest benefit to the city. Lots of other benefits outside of the city - tuam to limerick etc.

One wonders why they couldn't build the outer bypass in phases. The first part to link ballybrit/ parkmore industrial estates directly to the motorway would have a massive positive effect.

Well done to all involved and thanks to M17 for all the updates over the past few years! Looking forward to your coverage of the Outer Bypass progress once it starts..

D

Reputable Rog

threeball wrote: »

Galway, Clare and Limerick councils need to come together now to create a counterbalance to Dublin across the 3 main cities/town. The population, road network and airport is there to offer a really strong viable alternative.

That is the nightmare scenario facing Cork.