N40 - Cork South Ring Bandon & Sarsfield Flyovers

Amtmann

New westbound lanes are open now immediately southeast of the Bandon R'bout. Traffic seemed lighter than usual this morning. I'll be using these new lanes this evening; will try to take photos if I'm stuck in traffic.

alanucc

I went through eastbound yesterday (Sunday) afternoon and westbound traffic was at a standstill for most of the length between Bandon and Sarsfield. Hopefully it's sorted now.

Typewriter

alanucc wrote: »

I went through eastbound yesterday (Sunday) afternoon and westbound traffic was at a standstill for most of the length between Bandon and Sarsfield. Hopefully it's sorted now.

Yeah I was stuck in that. They had the three new west bound lanes coned off into one lane. Then the guards were directing the traffic coming onto the roundabout.

Somebody had the bright idea of opening the new road without any form of traffic lights inplace.

quietsailor

will the traffic coming from the Sarsfied R'about onto the Bandon road be free flowing and have priority over the roundabout traffic or will it still be signalised?

cork_south

Typewriter wrote: »

alanucc wrote: »

I went through eastbound yesterday (Sunday) afternoon and westbound traffic was at a standstill for most of the length between Bandon and Sarsfield. Hopefully it's sorted now.

Yeah I was stuck in that. They had the three new west bound lanes coned off into one lane. Then the guards were directing the traffic coming onto the roundabout.

Somebody had the bright idea of opening the new road without any form of traffic lights inplace.

Evening Echo (@CorkEveningEcho)
30/04/2012 15:15
Traffic congestion reported on the South Ring Road as temporary traffic measures are introduced. #corkecho

Amtmann

Pics attached.

neddynasty

Drove on the new section the last couple of evenings. They probably need to temporarily realign the road markings to ensure people driving in the left hand lane of the old section are directed into the left most lane of the new section. Currently cars in the left lane of the old section are directed into the middle lane of the new section. Cars in the right lane on the old section are directed into the righter most lane of the new section forcing them around the roundabout or else trying to force their way into the middle lane in order to go through the roundabout on to the B/Collig bypass.

AugustusMinimus

MrDerp wrote: »

Doubtful. If I'm not mistaken:

1. There's no plan for westbound access to the Bandon Road flyover between Sarsfield Rd and Bandon Rd. Since traffic from Sarsfield Rd will have to go through the Bandon Road roundabout to access N40 West, they're unlikely to divert over the flyover temporarily.

2. There's no plan for an exit eastbound to the Sarsfield Road flyover for traffic going East over the Bandon Rd flyover, this traffic will exit at Bandon Road and navigate the two roundabouts when everything is finished. So, again, they're unlikely to do a temporary diversion.

Ultimately, the movements (bar special restrictions at certain times) for the duration of the works are exactly the same as before. Indeed all previous movements will remain in place after the works also, but there will be new express movements when the whole thing opens:
1. Through Eastbound traffic
2. Through Westbound traffic
3. Westbound traffic can bypass Sarsfields Rd roundabout and exit for Bandon Rd roundabout
4. Eastbound traffic from the Bandon Road roundabout can join the through eastbound traffic and bypass Sarsfields Rd roundabout.

If the Sarsfields Road flyover was ready first, this would facilitate a partial opening, but not the other way around.

I still get the feeling that they'll open the Bandon flyover early. All it would really require is for cars on the mainline between Bandon and Sarsfield roundabouts to be able to access the local access roads which will run between the two roundabouts and vica versa. Could easily be done on a temporary basis.

Would clog up the Sarsfields Roundabout something awful I guess. I have to wonder though why the flyover on the Bandon roundabout is so advanced compared to the one at Sarsfields.

DerMutt

I see many of the barriers/soundproofing panels have been installed on the Bandon Road flyover. The reason that flyover is so advanced is that much of the preparatory work, including the ramp on the western side, was done as part of the Ballincollig bypass (when the flyovers were supposed to be built immediately afterwards) and, of course, the nature of the ground near the Sarsfield Road. Did they ever manage to extract the digger that sank when they were building the roundabout and bridge years ago?

MrDerp

Well that was painful!

Forgot myself and took the link (as it shall remain known ) yesterday driving back to Dublin. 1 hour and 15 minutes from joining the back of the queue for the bandon road roundabout eastbound, to getting back on the link at sarsfield road roundabout.

I fully hold my hands up and take all of the blame though. As a roads forum reader it's inexcusable to ignore all the information I had and plough on regardless. Even an exit at curraheen would have saved me 45 minutes.

Amtmann

MrDerp wrote: »

Well that was painful!

Forgot myself and took the link (as it shall remain known ) yesterday driving back to Dublin. 1 hour and 15 minutes from joining the back of the queue for the bandon road roundabout eastbound, to getting back on the link at sarsfield road roundabout.

I fully hold my hands up and take all of the blame though. As a roads forum reader it's inexcusable to ignore all the information I had and plough on regardless. Even an exit at curraheen would have saved me 45 minutes.

I was caught too

munchkin_utd

MrDerp wrote: »

Well that was painful!

Forgot myself and took the link (as it shall remain known ) yesterday driving back to Dublin. 1 hour and 15 minutes from joining the back of the queue for the bandon road roundabout eastbound, to getting back on the link at sarsfield road roundabout.

bugger, I should have posted a reminder that the small section between the roundabouts was closed eastbound.
I went through it at 9am on Saturday on the way to the airport and the diversion by Wilton barely cost me a few minutes so just assumed that everyone would have the same luck.

invinciblePRSTV

What time was it when ye were caught? I came through at around 11.45 am and traffic was slow but steady thru Btown/Wilton, ably assisted of course by the lights being switched to flashing orange.

MrDerp

invinciblePRSTV wrote: »

What time was it when ye were caught? I came through at around 11.45 am and traffic was slow but steady thru Btown/Wilton, ably assisted of course by the lights being switched to flashing orange.

Hit the back of the queue around 13.30, left sarsfield rd roundabout at about 14.45.

There was a Garda at the bottom of hawkes road trying to keep the traffic moving through Bishopstown, but no-one on the roundabout itself.

The traffic coming from the N71 was ignoring the signals, using all 3 lanes, and treating it as an unsignalled roundabout, meaning N40E -> N71S was snarled in the middle, further complicating issues.

In hindsight, I think all eastbound traffic should have been diverted via Curraheen road leaving the roundabout for the N71 traffic.

SeanW

Hi guys, I'm going back down to Cork later today and my route involves the Sarsfield RAB. Should I plan for an alternative route.

MrDerp

SeanW wrote: »

Hi guys, I'm going back down to Cork later today and my route involves the Sarsfield RAB. Should I plan for an alternative route.

I'm sure it'll be fine this evening. The issue at the weekend was a planned closure eastbound from bandon rd roundabout to sarsfield's rd roundabout

moyners

SeanW wrote: »

Hi guys, I'm going back down to Cork later today and my route involves the Sarsfield RAB. Should I plan for an alternative route.

I don't think so, the new lanes were opened Monday evening and it was back to normal this morning. It's open again between the Sarsfield road roundabout and the Bandon road roundabout. I noticed they've fixed the lane markings which were bringing you on to the wrong lanes on the roundabout coming west onto the Bandon road roundabout that someone else mentioned earlier in the week, which is good

Aidan1

As a roads forum reader it's inexcusable to ignore all the information I had and plough on regardless.

Absolutely. Off the N71 at Ballinhassig - Airport - KRR. No traffic on the Monday.

Then again, I was stuck in that section 3 separate times over the weekend, each time thinking that it can't be busy now. WRONG.

MrDerp

Aidan1 wrote: »

Absolutely. Off the N71 at Ballinhassig - Airport - KRR. No traffic on the Monday.

Then again, I was stuck in that section 3 separate times over the weekend, each time thinking that it can't be busy now. WRONG.

:pac:

It's the curse of every Irish person that we invariably think 'sure feic it, 'twill be grand'

AugustusMinimus

Had a quick drive through the roundabouts last night. Amazed at just how wide the whole project is, even if there will be a mainline with two connecting roads between both roundabouts on the outside.

DerMutt

There's a big hole with a concrete plinth in place on the eastern side of the Bandon Road RA now and they've removed some of the armco between the old road and the decommissioned stretch.

The lines and lanes on the new bit by Dunne's continue to provide great entertainment with lots of jostling for position - it's a bit like the Kinsale Road RA from Douglas with the leftmost lane almost empty for 100 metres until people start realising they need to be one lane to the left.

DerMutt

They've laid tarmac on the new stretches coming off both roundabouts heading east. The re-profiled section off the Bandon Road RA is now fully in use and the bit by St. Finbarr's? GAA ground can't be far off being opened.

There's a load of rebar after going into the hole on the eastern side of the Bandon Road RA so I'd say we'll see thing heading skyward there soon. Progress is good.

AugustusMinimus

Drove past both again this evening.

The centre section of the flyover on the Bandon Roundabout is almost complete and they've started doing both ramps on either side.

I honestly can't see why their won't be a phased opening with the Bandon flyover opening before the Sarsfields flyover. All it would require are a few temporary sliproads from the mainline to the local access roads running outside them.

neddynasty

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

I honestly can't see why their won't be a phased opening with the Bandon flyover opening before the Sarsfields flyover. All it would require are a few temporary sliproads from the mainline to the local access roads running outside them.

Agree with the phased opening comment, although I could see them opening the Bandon flyover westbound only. That would relieve traffic in & out of the Sarsfield roundabout for the considerable works that are needed there.

Amtmann

The new lanes that were paved yesterday east of the Sarsfield R'bout look like rollercoasters.

cargo

Amtmann wrote: »

The new lanes that were paved yesterday east of the Sarsfield R'bout look like rollercoasters.

Are you referring to the quality of the pavement layers or the route it takes overall?

Amtmann

The pavement seems to undulate quite a bit. The route is straight.

cargo

Amtmann wrote: »

The pavement seems to undulate quite a bit. The route is straight.

Perhaps it's not the final layout/surface and will be laid again before hte works are finished. (I've not been down there since it started so not sure of the layout in place.)

harry21

Looked like they finish pouring the foundations for the last bridge abutment on the east side of the Bandon Rd. today. Should be seeing abutments starting to rise up in the next week....

stiimpreza1984

Looking forward to when they opened be a lot less hassle with traffic, makes you think why didnt they upgrade it to an M40 and make a motorway it will be a great road once the flyovers are done, there changing all the signs now so what would stop them in just making them blue and up the limit to the 120kph lets face it the road from the tunnel all the way to Emc in Ballincollig is great maybe the funds were not available to upgrade to a motorway but what would they have needed to do? paint a continuous yellow hard shoulder line move the cats eyes to the right and eventually install the sos phones you would be at your destination even faster then and we get to call it a motorway:D the only problem I can see is the eastbound traffic at the tunnel how will the dunkettle interchange cope we all seen when the kinsale flyover was completed after awhile the tunnel traffic to build up and build up wonder when they will do that project for the dunkettle?