N7 - Newlands Cross upgrade

Idbatterim

Idbatterim wrote: »

this is looking like a joke already, not having a hard shoulder on the flyover... Could they narrow the existing lanes to fit one in?

Most flyovers don't have one. The three in Cork's south link don't AFAIK

celticbest

Idbatterim wrote: »

this is looking like a joke already, not having a hard shoulder on the flyover... Could they narrow the existing lanes to fit one in?

Deleted User wrote: »

Most flyovers don't have one. The three in Cork's south link don't AFAIK

None on the M50 West Link Bridges, or the M1 over Malahide Estuary....

It the norm not to have as the cost would not be worth it.

celticbest

celticbest wrote: »

None on the M50 West Link Bridges, or the M1 over Malahide Estuary....

It the norm not to have as the cost would not be worth it.

Yeah and shrinking lanes to fit?? That would be insanely dangerous

Idbatterim

we build a major piece of infrastructure, the width currently at newlands, is massive, how much more would it have cost? the only thing extra you need is the land, of which there is ample, and more hardcore or whatever they use and tarmac, of course a bit more labour...

I get that of course the cost will be more expensive, but I reckon it would be very small fry in the scheme of things, it should have been 4 lanes also IMO... What is expensive is, not doing it right the first time, that is the expensive bit...

Yeah and shrinking lanes to fit?? That would be insanely dangerous

the lanes on the current M50 are more narrow than normal to the best of my knowledge...

Middle Man

Idbatterim wrote: »

this is looking like a joke already, not having a hard shoulder on the flyover... Could they narrow the existing lanes to fit one in?

Is it really a big issue for approximately 1km? Breakdowns in this day and age should not be so common for a such a hard shoulder omission to be a major problem. The NCT is supposed to eradicate vehicles unfit for purpose - especially those which can't cope with a gentle incline in freeflow conditions.

Middle Man

Was on the flyover today (both ways) and I'm very impressed with the quality of the work - well done BAM! Also, plenty of signage, so little excuse for motorists not being in the correct lane.

Two relatively minor things though:

1) The signs on the approach to the Red Cow Interchange have a white background over the lanes for the R110 - however, should R110 related information not use white patching on a green background? The Naas Road is still a National Primary Route at this point;

2) The design of the gantries themselves don't seem to have any provision for future electronic lane control signals (similar to those on the M50). This will surely be needed soon given the rise in traffic volumes.

regedit

Today was good in the evening. I was at NX at around 16:15 and no problems at all. As Middle Man pointed out the quality of the object is spot on. What I dont like is the section as you are starting the 'incline' (if you can call it such) and decline where the overpass meets the previous tarmac. It's not the best and they should have fixed that to make for a smooth transition.
Further on, just before the ball at Naas, my wife (who was there at around 17:15) was telling me that there was a pile-up of at least 3 cars. It seems speed was an issue. People get tired at that time of the day and are driving on 'autopilot/ therefore tiredness coupled with speed becomes a lethal combination. Also, people here drive to close to one another

nlgbbbblth

Not so good this evening.
Didn't leave Finglas until 5.25pm.
All well until I hit J6 at 5.55pm. The flashing sign said "collision at Naas North".
A 30 minute crawl ensued.
Back in Newbridge at 6.45pm.

So there's been outbound crashes Thursday, Friday, yesterday and today. Four days in row [excluding weekends]. Not good.

ukoda

nlgbbbblth wrote: »

Not so good this evening.
Didn't leave Finglas until 5.25pm.
All well until I hit J6 at 5.55pm. The flashing sign said "collision at Naas North".
A 30 minute crawl ensued.
Back in Newbridge at 6.45pm.

So there's been outbound crashes Thursday, Friday, yesterday and today. Four days in row [excluding weekends]. Not good.

None of this is related to newlands cross....

I've been through it approx 10 times at peak since opening and it's way better with the flyover open. WAY better! I've had no issues and sailed through on each occasion

nlgbbbblth

Point taken. While the flyover is working satisfactorily, the benefits / timesaving for some of us are being eroded by the series of crashes on the N7 outbound since the former opened.

ukoda

nlgbbbblth wrote: »

Point taken. While the flyover is working satisfactorily, the benefits / timesaving for some of us are being eroded by the series of crashes on the N7 outbound since the former opened.

Fair point. But at least you don't have to deal with the lights at newlands cross AND backed up traffic from crashes, I don't believe the flyover to be the cause of these accidents

janedoe75

Actually cannot believe there was another accident on n7 this evening - happened about 10 cars in front of me at 5.05. So that's thurs, fri, monday and today. All caused by driving too fast, too close to cars in front. Madness.

regedit

ukoda wrote: »

None of this is related to newlands cross....

Can we be sure? Could it be that the continuous flow of traffic (increased from an average of 75K to 90K. Could it be that the constant stream isnt allowing the traffic to 'dilute' and is causing congestion further on (Rathcoole, Johnston and Naas).
I don't know anything about traffic management so I don't know if what I said above makes sense but having accidents every day in that strip doesn't make any other rational sense

ukoda

regedit wrote: »

Can we be sure? Could it be that the continuous flow of traffic (increased from an average of 75K to 90K. Could it be that the constant stream isnt allowing the traffic to 'dilute' and is causing congestion further on (Rathcoole, Johnston and Naas).
I don't know anything about traffic management so I don't know if what I said above makes sense but having accidents every day in that strip doesn't make any other rational sense

As I said, I personally don't believe this to be the case, but let's wait till we have comparable accident figures for a substantial period of time to compare pre and post flyover opening volumes

diomed

I drove from Newbridge to Dublin passing the two lane stretch near Naas at 16:40. Traffic was flowing smoothly although very heavy.

Just a thought. Is the two lane stretch unlit, and the three lane motorway lit?
Has the two lane bit a 120 km/hr speed limit, and the three lane a 100 km/hr speed limit (could be wrong).

regedit

diomed wrote: »

Just a thought. Is the two lane stretch unlit, and the three lane motorway lit?
Has the two lane bit a 120 km/hr speed limit, and the three lane a 100 km/hr speed limit (could be wrong).

The M7 from Naas exit onward is a wide 2 lane stretch where the speed limit is 120 km/h. The motorway is unfortunately not lit. It's lit up from Naas where it becomes N7

screamer

Crashes every day on the N7- all related to the fact that there is now no barrier to the traffic at Newlands. As I said, about 30 posts back, get used to it, it'll get worse before it gets better. Outbound anyways, the effect is WORSE than it ever was. And for the record, more crashes at Naas because more traffic hitting it at the same time, and 3 lanes go into 2. Until they upgrade the stretch from Naas to M9 junction, it is going to be a car park every night....

ukoda

screamer wrote: »

Crashes every day on the N7- all related to the fact that there is now no barrier to the traffic at Newlands. As I said, about 30 posts back, get used to it, it'll get worse before it gets better. Outbound anyways, the effect is WORSE than it ever was. And for the record, more crashes at Naas because more traffic hitting it at the same time, and 3 lanes go into 2. Until they upgrade the stretch from Naas to M9 junction, it is going to be a car park every night....

Well no, there hasn't been a crash everyday related to newlands, there's been an incident everyday alright, but only 2 crashes outbound on the Naas road, 1 crash inbound towards redcow and 4 breakdowns either in the M50 or the N7

And the accident today happened outbound at junction 3 which is a good bit BEFORE the road goes to 2 lanes

JupiterKid

I drove over the new flyover at Newlands X at the weekend and was impressed. It will make a really big difference to traffic on the N7.

The next thing that needs to be done is to widen the Naas/Newbridge bypass to D3M to the M9 junction.

janedoe75

There have been four outbound crashes - 2 at rathcoole and 2 at kill - all before where the three lanes merge into two so it's not the issue. Newlands is not to blame either. It's eejits driving too fast, too close to the car in front. Here's hoping it's just a bad run and tonight will be ok.

josip

Impossible to say without long term prior-post data whether the accident rate has been affected by the flyover. One thing seems certain and that's that volumes have gone up by at least 20%. Those increased volumes will certainly increase the possibility of an accident. Whether the lack of a 'pause' at Newlands will change driver behaviour and lead to more accidents, cannot be accurately predicted at this stage.

Idbatterim

Idbatterim wrote: »

the lanes on the current M50 are more narrow than normal to the best of my knowledge...

Yes they are but they don't shrink mid flow and then expand again

josip

josip wrote: »

Impossible to say without long term prior-post data whether the accident rate has been affected by the flyover. One thing seems certain and that's that volumes have gone up by at least 20%. Those increased volumes will certainly increase the possibility of an accident. Whether the lack of a 'pause' at Newlands will change driver behaviour and lead to more accidents, cannot be accurately predicted at this stage.

It's because idiots used to use this "Pause" to stay in the wrong lane (to enter the motorway) to the last second and pulling across three lanes. Now that there is constant traffic the fools are still trying it

diomed

At least everyone stays in the middle lane on the Newlands Cross Flyover. :rolleyes:

diomed

diomed wrote: »

At least everyone stays in the middle lane on the Newlands Cross Flyover. :rolleyes:

But surely the middle lane is the driving lane and the inner lane is for people to enter and leave the road!!!!????:p

ciarsd

diomed wrote: »

At least everyone stays in the middle lane on the Newlands Cross Flyover. :rolleyes:

When going over the flyover you should be in lane. It is this very action (or lack of!) that is causing half the drama when you get to the M50/City split at J1!

Here's the lane layouts..
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=93169797&postcount=1672

jd

Guess what?













https://twitter.com/aaroadwatch/status/537569732388741120

That has nothing to do with the flyover. That is typical Irish driver idiocy

jd

Deleted User wrote: »

That has nothing to do with the flyover. That is typical Irish driver idiocy

I agree. People won't read signs and get in lane

chicorytip

My impression is that the new outbound lanes are not only more narrow but dangerously narrow increasing the risk of colliding with adjacent vehicles.