N72 Mallow to Fermoy / N73 Mallow to Mitchelstown

cjpm

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/nra-no-upgrade-for-road-that-claimed-10-lives-110072.html

NRA: No upgrade for road that claimed 10 lives

By Sean O’Riordan
Wednesday, January 20, 2010


THE National Roads Authority is refusing to provide money for the upgrade of a dangerous road in Co Cork which has claimed the lives of 10 people in recent years.


The authority itself identified the Mallow to Castletownroche section of the N72 as a priority project as far back as 1998.

It then reiterated that in a report published in 2006.

The national secondary route features a number of bends in that area which a senior council engineer described as "very dangerous".

A local woman was the latest person to lose her life on the road after her car was in collision with a truck last October.

Senior executive engineer, Aidan Weir, said he was "very disappointed" with news that the NRA wouldn’t fund realignment works that have been estimated at €35 million.

The road is one of the main arteries between Cork and Kerry and 3,000 vehicles use it every day, 11% of which are lorries.

On hearing the news, a number of county councillors expressed their anger.

Cllr Tom Barry (FG) claimed NRA officials were totally out of touch, especially as so many deaths had occurred on the 10km stretch.

"The NRA needs to get up off their posteriors in Dublin 4 and travel south to north Cork and see the appalling condition of the road. The people responsible for this reply are wasting valuable public service time and offering poor value for money," he said.

Cllr Barry said the state of the road was also hindering regional development and claimed the NRA was "completely out of touch".

Cllr Noel O’Connor (FG) said there was "a serious health and safety issue" on the road and major money was needed to rectify that.

Cllr Ronan Sheehan (Lab) said it was time councillors sought a meeting with TDs in the region to get them to exert pressure on the Government and the NRA to release the necessary funding.

"This is a serious issue. I think it’s the worst national secondary road in Ireland. It’s also ridiculous for the Government to call Mallow a hub town when it is served by such a road," Mr Sheehan added.

Cllr Frank O’Flynn (FF) agreed with him and added that N73 linking Mitchelstown to Mallow was also a disgrace. "The economic development of Fermoy, Mallow and Mitchelstown also depend on these roads. We should seek a deputation with the NRA," Mr O’Flynn said.

His FF colleague, Cllr Dan Joe Fitzgerald, said he was very disappointed the roads authority wouldn’t release funding.

"People travelling it (the N72) are entitled to a safer road," he said.

Councillors are to write to the NRA seeking a meeting to discuss the issue.

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Wednesday, January 20, 2010

BluntGuy

The N72 was re-aligned recently in one stretch, but it's still overall a terrible road. The N73 is appaling throughout.

But no amount of campaigning and whinging is going to make these schemes happen any time soon.

invincibleirish

Its similar in profile to the N71, with reasonably high AADTs, some improved sections, lots of awful sections all of which are connecting small-medium sized county & commuter towns and have zero chance of getting improvement works done to it.

Chris_533976

3000 AADT, sorry but theres a LOT that needs to be done before this gets touched. Hate to say it, but some decent traffic management at the dangerous bends will have to do.

€34 million wont be granted when Longford got culled for much less than that.

twincamman

I DONT THINK THESE ROADS CAN PUT UP WITH MUCH MORE,THE COUNCIL ARE ALMOST EVERYDAY FILLING HOLES ON THESE ROADS

charlemont

the locals should blame themselves when they vote fianna fail..its a safety hazard , an appalling road , its a hinderance to development,,

Danno

If they could buldoze out the hedgerows and have hard margins along the N73 it would be alot better.

fresca

there's definately the smell of an election in the air...

from http://www.radiokerry.ie/news/

19 Mar 2010Deputy Sheahan to meet NRA next week about state of N72

A Kerry and Cork TD will meet with the National Roads Authority next week in a bid to secure funding for the N72.
The road, which passes through both counties, has been neglected and under-funded according to Kerry Fine Gael TD Tom Sheahan and Cork Labour TD Sean Sherlock.
Both Deputies are focusing on stretches of the road between Killarney and Mitchelstown and Killarney and Fermoy which they say are vital tourist routes.
Deputy Tom Sheahan says Barraduff village is also in urgent need of attention.

celticbest

I travelled from Mitchelstown to Killarney in both directions over the weekend and I have to say the road is a absolute disgrace, yes it may have a lot of twist & turns on it but what makes it worse is the surface, it is probably one of the worst national routes in the country, I found that the stretches that have a lot of twists & turn in a short distance or were the road narrows had an even worse surface in most cases than the already poor surface on the straighter parts of the road.

How a major tourist town like Killarney hasn't yet got a descent National road surface to it is beyond me, I can only imagine what the foreigners say when they get back home about this 100km stretch of third world road on which they had to travel in Ireland......

I don't think motorway / Dual Carriageway is required but the road should be straightened out at the really twisty sections & a 2+1 should be put in place for 1km about every 10km to allow slower moving traffic to be overtaken.

Tech3

Chris_533976 wrote: »

3000 AADT, sorry but theres a LOT that needs to be done before this gets touched. Hate to say it, but some decent traffic management at the dangerous bends will have to do.

€34 million wont be granted when Longford got culled for much less than that.

While this is a true statement I think the NRA need to prioritise some of these road links. The AADT is there probably pre M8. If this were a better standard of road in place then I'm sure it will jump in traffic numbers given the access to Dublin via the M8.

Edit: Realignment for a few km is what I'm saying it wouldn't be the whole stretch.

Amtmann

Agreed with the above. It can't always be about AADT. Though these two routes are fairly strategic, safety is a critical issue too and cannot be neglected.

BluntGuy

tech2 wrote: »

Realignment for a few km is what I'm saying it wouldn't be the whole stretch.

Both roads are absolute garbage pretty much throughout, so which stretch would you prioritise to be re-aligned?

Amtmann

BluntGuy wrote: »

Both roads are absolute garbage pretty much throughout, so which stretch would you prioritise to be re-aligned?

In pure fantasy terms, one new route replacing both the current N73 and N72 between Mallow and M8 Junction 14 (Fermoy North), with the N73 itself being removed from the N-road system and the new road being called the N72.

beagga

Lads I have to travel to Mallow from Thurles tomorrow evening.
I usually go via mitchelstown n73 but I could continue on the m8 to fermoy and go via the n72. there is only approx 10km in the difference (small amount of it motorway). Now I know the n73 isn't a good road having travelled it many times before but I dont what the n72 is like.
Is it worth the extra few km or should I just continue as I usually do on the n73?

Amtmann

beagga wrote: »

Lads I have to travel to Mallow from Thurles tomorrow evening.
I usually go via mitchelstown n73 but I could continue on the m8 to fermoy and go via the n72. there is only approx 10km in the difference (small amount of it motorway). Now I know the n73 isn't a good road having travelled it many times before but I dont what the n72 is like.
Is it worth the extra few km or should I just continue as I usually do on the n73?

I posed this question only last week here. The N73 appears to shade the N72 in terms of being the better route, but not by much.

beagga

Furet wrote: »

I posed this question only last week here. The N73 appears to shade the N72 in terms of being the better route, but not by much.

Thanks Furet, I'll have a read of that.

Tech3

BluntGuy wrote: »

Both roads are absolute garbage pretty much throughout, so which stretch would you prioritise to be re-aligned?

Yep they are a disgrace up there with the N56 and N84 as the countries worst national secondaries. I'm just being realistic the whole route will never be upgraded on either as there is several other primary roads needing upgrades but if they could realign some sections of just one of them it would make a big difference. Which section I don't know as every bit of it is shocking.

Amtmann

tech2 wrote: »

Yep they are a disgrace up there with the N56 and N84 as the countries worst national secondaries. I'm just being realistic the whole route will never be upgraded on either as there is several other primary roads needing upgrades but if they could realign some sections of just one of them it would make a big difference. Which section I don't know as every bit of it is shocking.

In terms of the N73 you'd be looking at removing the worst bends principally between Oliver's Cross (where the N73 diverges from the N72) to Kildorrery. There are many there to choose from. From Kildorrery to Mitchelstown is at least pretty straight, though it is narrow and dippy. The main focus, given the dearth of funding, should therefore be to identify and remove the worst bends in my opinion.

corktina

Furet wrote: »

In pure fantasy terms, one new route replacing both the current N73 and N72 between Mallow and M8 Junction 14 (Fermoy North), with the N73 itself being removed from the N-road system and the new road being called the N72.

The N72 being the Killarney to Rosslare Ferryport route (arguably) Fermoy North just wont do.

Amtmann

corktina wrote: »

The N72 being the Killarney to Rosslare Ferryport route (arguably) Fermoy North just wont do.

Agreed in general, but I was specifically talking about the stretches within the Mallow - Fermoy - Mitchelstown triangle. I recently drove from Tallow to Fermoy on the N72 and was actually aghast at how narrow the road was.

-Corkie-

Furet wrote: »

Agreed in general, but I was specifically talking about the stretches within the Mallow - Fermoy - Mitchelstown triangle. I recently drove from Tallow to Fermoy on the N72 and was actually aghast at how narrow the road was.

Why not Build a new road coming from Mallow to say Rathcormack and let this serve as M20 also????. It would take the Limerick traffic to the M8 and also the Mallow-Dublin traffic. Would that be Viable?????

corktina

a big mountain in the way.....

Amtmann

SARASON wrote: »

Why not Build a new road coming from Mallow to say Rathcormack and let this serve as M20 also????. It would take the Limerick traffic to the M8 and also the Mallow-Dublin traffic. Would that be Viable?????

Well the North Ring Road will link Blarney (and the M20) to Glanmire (and the M8). An additional link from the M20 to the M8 just a little further north might be unnecessary duplication. Any replacement route for the N72/N73 needs to be pretty closely aligned with those two roads in order to allow Mallow, Killarney etc. to fall into the M8 catchment area for northeast-bound traffic, I would have thought. I could be wrong though.

-Corkie-

Furet wrote: »

Well the North Ring Road will link Blarney (and the M20) to Glanmire (and the M8). An additional link from the M20 to the M8 just a little further north might be unnecessary duplication. Any replacement route for the N72/N73 needs to be pretty closely aligned with those two roads in order to allow Mallow, Killarney etc. to fall into the M8 catchment area for northeast-bound traffic, I would have thought. I could be wrong though.

True. I forgot about the new ring road....

ForiegnNational

Four teenagers die in Co Kerry collision

Wednesday, 25 August 2010 12:36

A fourth teenager has died following a single-vehicle crash in Co Kerry this morning.
The collision happened at 7.10am on the Killarney to Mallow road on the N72 at Carrigeen.
Five people, who are all believed to be in their teens, were travelling in the car.
It is not yet known what caused the car to crash.
Two males and a female were pronounced dead at the scene.
Another male teenager died after he was taken to Kerry General Hospital in Tralee.
The other teenage boy is said to be critical but stable.
The driver of the car, who was 17, is among the dead. His brother, who had celebrated his 15th birthday in recent days, also died. The deceased girl was 15.
All of the teenagers were from Killarney.
The scene is sealed off for a forensic examination and is expected to remain closed for some hours.
Diversions are in place and motorists are advised to avoid the area.

KevR

The article in the OP of this thread said 10 people were killed on this road in recent years. Now it's 14

corktina

A tragedy but in the wrong thread. Perhaps a Mod will move it?

My sympathy goes to all those involved

twincamman

girl killed at the weekend on killarney mallow road

AugustusMinimus

Had to drive between Fermoy and Mallow today for the first time in years.

Couldn't believe the state of the road between Castletownroche and Mallow. Billions being spent elsewhere and not a penny spent on this bit of road.

corktina

when 25 years ago I arrived in this country, I started a job which entailed using that road and I remarked to the guy training me on the land taken to improve the road and said what a great road it would be once the improvements were finished. His reply was to the effect of "not in my lifetime" and sure enough, nothing has happened (except some of the land being poinched back again here and there).

That road has to be the worst N road in Ireland (main tourist route from the Ferry at Rosslare to Killarney don't forget) closely followed by it's neighbour , the deadly N73. Both these roads would have benefitted hugely had the M20 being built, but now need major expenditure to make them safe.

twincamman

the n73 has has some upgrades in last few weeks.still dangerous tho !!