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

eezipc

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.

Throw Mayo and possibly Roscommon into that as well. Knock Airport is only 30 mins from Tuam.

Markiemarkso

eezipc wrote: »

Throw Mayo and possibly Roscommon into that as well. Knock Airport is only 30 mins from Tuam.

Knock is 30 mins from Tuam, The airport is 45 min.

Benbecul97

peter.teahan wrote: »

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.

Its renamed the N83 so still a national primary - no change apart from the number.

veryangryman

Benbecul97 wrote: »

Its renamed the N83 so still now a national primary secondary - no change apart from the number.

FYP

Benbecul97

threeball wrote: »

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.

That would free up Claregalway but just move the traffic jam into Two Mile Ditch quicker!

Roadfan

Reputable Rog wrote: »

That is the nightmare scenario facing Cork.

Could get worse. Kerry might join them

Pete_Cavan

Has an extension of Parkmore Road to meet the M6 before the Coolagh roundabout even been talked about? The junction with the M6 would only facilitate movements to/from the east (i.e. you can't use it to turn back towards Coolagh roundabout) and would probably require slips off the motorway well back with lanes running along side to ensure an adequate distance from the roundabout.

It would make the M17 route more attractive to workers in Parkmore, taking pressure off Claregalway and relieving other junctions around Parkmore. Could be a useful stopgap measure as the city bypass will take many years to complete.

muddle84

eezipc wrote: »

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.

Wrong. I commute daily from Claremorris to Parkmore. I left work on Wednesday the 20th at 18.30 and i walked in the door at home at 20.00. Traffic was slow in Claregalway and Tuam. I left last night at the same time(18.30) and I walked in the door at home at 19.20. That motorway saved me 40 minutes! Even if I only used the Tuam bypass, Tuesday evening it toke me 25 minutes from when i hit the traffic entering Tuam until I got to the roundabout on the north side of Tuam. Yesterday evening there was no traffic queue's first of all and then it only toke me 8 minutes to get from roundabout to roundabout.

Its impossible to gauge the benefit in the mornings in the first few weeks as there is alot of people just trying the motorway for the novelty and to have a look at it. It will take a few weeks to determine what route suits people best.

JoeA3

muddle84 wrote: »

I left last night at the same time(18.30) and I walked in the door at home at 17.20.

Do you drive a DeLorean? :pac:

marno21

Pete_Cavan wrote: »

Has an extension of Parkmore Road to meet the M6 before the Coolagh roundabout even been talked about? The junction with the M6 would only facilitate movements to/from the east (i.e. you can't use it to turn back towards Coolagh roundabout) and would probably require slips off the motorway well back with lanes running along side to ensure an adequate distance from the roundabout.

It would make the M17 route more attractive to workers in Parkmore, taking pressure off Claregalway and relieving other junctions around Parkmore. Could be a useful stopgap measure as the city bypass will take many years to complete.

It's clear now that this road was built to give the greatest advantage to long distance drivers - at the expense of commuters to Parkmore and Ballybrit. Had they built it to facilitate them not only would it have been an obscene waste of money but it would've lead to unsustainable expansion and another jam.

For people transiting the area this road is a godsend

tombrown

The long awaited road opened yesterday ... but its not shown on Google Maps yet (as far as I can see). Does any road really exist if its not on Google?

veryangryman

tombrown wrote: »

The long awaited road opened yesterday ... but its not shown on Google Maps yet (as far as I can see). Does any road really exist if its not on Google?

I also feel this way.

jasper100

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.

The long and short of it is that the greater Dublin area is effectively full. This road opens up a large number of commuter towns and villages, so if the likes of a large multinational were to base themselves in places like Shannon, Ennis or Gort there is now a vastly increased catchment area to pull potential employee's from, and lots of options for employees to relocate to places beside the sea, mountains, in the cities etc. where housing options are not as crazy as Dublin.

One massive conurbation can now be developed around the Limerick - Galway axis, with airports, rail and road infrastructure largely in place.

tombrown

I am sure this has already been discussed, but 519 pages is too much for me to search What is the expected travel time from Gort to Tuam on the new road?

mrmanire

tombrown wrote: »

The long awaited road opened yesterday ... but its not shown on Google Maps yet (as far as I can see). Does any road really exist if its not on Google?

As far as I know, changes on google maps are made by users so that would account for updates for new estates and businesses etc. The addition of a motorway with complex junctions would be a much larger job considering that traffic flow direction and speed limits need to be taken into account. I often wondered if google directly updated for these larger infrastructure projects themselves but nobody here seems to have had the answer yet. 

A new roundabout was built near myself on the Tulla road in Ennis and this took a good number of weeks to be updated for on google maps.

Pete_Cavan

marno21 wrote: »

It's clear now that this road was built to give the greatest advantage to long distance drivers - at the expense of commuters to Parkmore and Ballybrit. Had they built it to facilitate them not only would it have been an obscene waste of money but it would've lead to unsustainable expansion and another jam.

For people transiting the area this road is a godsend

You seem to be responding to something that I didn't say. I was asking a question about something that could facilitate Parkmore commuters, which is now possible due to the new road opening, nothing about building the newly opened road to facilitate Parkmore commuters.

peter.teahan

ir555 wrote: »

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

Not sure you burn more fuel on the motorway when it's free flowing traffic and being in top gear etc even though it's a bit longer. Maybe try and quantify it and see.

marno21

Pete_Cavan wrote: »

You seem to be responding to something that I didn't say. I was asking a question about something that could facilitate Parkmore commuters, which is now possible due to the new road opening, nothing about building the newly opened road to facilitate Parkmore commuters.

What I was saying - apologies if I wasn't clear - is that if they were going to make life easier for Parkmore commuters - it would've been incorporated into the construction of the motorway

simulacra75

tombrown wrote: »

I am sure this has already been discussed, but 519 pages is too much for me to search What is the expected travel time from Gort to Tuam on the new road?

25mins

tombrown

So 30 mins off my trip to Donegal ... excellent

Bored sigh

There's loads of donuts appeared on the old n17 the last few weeks. Some guy selling them with coffee at the central tavern car park...

muddle84

JoeA3 wrote: »

muddle84 wrote: »

I left last night at the same time(18.30) and I walked in the door at home at 17.20.

Do you drive a DeLorean? :pac:

I meant 19.20. 

My flux capacitor is fried so I'm stuck with the Avensis!

MBSnr

^^^
This morning overtaken by a Garda car doing a good bit above the speed limit.... Lads just out to have a drive on it I think. Ok for them to speed though...

ir555

peter.teahan wrote: »

Not sure you burn more fuel on the motorway when it's free flowing traffic and being in top gear etc even though it's a bit longer. Maybe try and quantify it and see.

ball park increase of 20% fuel consumption in going from 100km/hr to 120km/hr. well discussed on the vw forums.
Given that the average speed using the old road would have been less than 80km/hr - there would be a significant difference in fuel consumption in any case.

irish_major

What's the new expected travel time between galway and gort?

Ferocious

Great to have this motorway open and would like to echo all the appreciation of the updates on this thread.

I travel from south of Ennis to Parkmore daily. I agree with the suggestion that it will benefit long distance commuters more than local traffic.

Some observations after day1. It took longer than usual to get to the M6 from Parkmore yesterday but there was an event in the Racecouse which may have contributed with more people stopping to let out the racecourse traffic so may not be related to motorway opening. Usually Gardai there even for smaller race meetings.

I’m not sure it will greatly improve the morning commute, it may just be quicker to get to a longer queue. But I have no doubt it will make the southbound evening journey predictable and consistent as well as taking 10 mins off. No more hoping there isn’t a funeral or something in Clarinbridge!

Someone made a good point on re-fueling. Options for me are go out by Carnmore or get off in Gort. Not perfect but may have to get more organized to take full advantage of the road!

Another thing I noticed, mobile signal (Vodafone) is intermittent at best on the new stretch. It was already bad on the Gort to Ennis section. As well as being able to make calls in emergencies it makes streaming spotify/podcasts difficult/impossible! First world problems...!

Benbecul97

depends where you're starting from!

westtip

tombrown wrote: »

I am sure this has already been discussed, but 519 pages is too much for me to search What is the expected travel time from Gort to Tuam on the new road?

Yes 25 minutes, AA route planner still has the old route in its system and puts the old route down as 59 minutes and routes you through all the places we need never go to again - like dear old Claregalway, Alas Claregalway for I knew you well
https://www.theaa.ie/routes/#/r/Tuam,Galway,Ireland/Gort,Ireland/

This is why the motorway was so important, certainly for those of us using it to travel long distance north south to say Shannon Airport or Limerick it is a complete game changer. For the time being Galway itself will remain logjammed until the outer bypass is built but in the meantime...
25 minutes Tuam to Gort, amazing.

muddle84

JoeA3 wrote: »

muddle84 wrote: »

I left last night at the same time(18.30) and I walked in the door at home at 17.20.

Do you drive a DeLorean? :pac:

I meant 19.20. 

My flux capacitor is fried so I'm stuck with the Avensis!

Fermi

fryup wrote: »

how long before we see donuts ?

This morning, Southbound going from Tuam.