N6 - Athlone Bypass Upgrade works

billbond4

billbond4 wrote: »

wcc have plans for up for the junctions now.they must have gotten a deal on traffic lights from somewhere.↲
http://www.westmeathcoco.ie/en/news/name,8882,en.html

That's a lot of lights, what a high maintenance solution - really the last thing we need when the country is experiencing an economic slowdown & reduced income!

Mini roundabouts are a much better solution.

billbond4

Yeah mini roundabouts would have been a better idea alright, and for some reason they are putting one at the Cove shop, where there is very little traffic, whats that about?
I think if they reduced the speed limit in the Garrycastle area to around Ericsson to 50kph it would negatate the need for traffic lights as traffic would be going slower.
The only way the garrycastle and ballymahon lights arrangement could work if they are radar sensing.
The lights at Roscommon arent too bad but again why isnt there a roundabout there? there is plenty of room for one there.
Me thinks I will be sending in a long letter to WCC..

billbond4

billbond4 wrote: »

Yeah mini roundabouts would have been a better idea alright, and for some reason they are putting one at the Cove shop, where there is very little traffic, whats that about?
I think if they reduced the speed limit in the Garrycastle area to around Ericsson to 50kph it would negatate the need for traffic lights as traffic would be going slower.
The only way the garrycastle and ballymahon lights arrangement could work if they are radar sensing.
The lights at Roscommon arent too bad but again why isnt there a roundabout there? there is plenty of room for one there.
Me thinks I will be sending in a long letter to WCC..

Same here!

whyulittle

Hey, leave the roundabout at the Cova alone! It can be a nightmare turning right down into Arcadia from there. I go left half the time to the RSC roundabout and spin around.

JupiterKid

Given that the Athlone bypass forms such a pivotal function in not just the east to west N6 but also the N55, the N61 the N62 and some Regional roads in the Midlands, would it have been prudent (and possible) to have widened it to to D3 for future traffic levels?

A good bit of traffic heading from the midlands and the South east to the Northwest and from the West to Cavan/Monaghan and Northern Ireland must use the Athlone BP as part of their journey.

L1011

D3 would need work on or replacement of the Shannon Bridge as far as I can tell. Doesn't appear to be the width for a third lane either on the median or the shoulder.

whyulittle

Westmeath Co. Co. wrote:

N6 Athlone Relief Road Update 4th March 1:00pm

Due to ongoing road maintenance on the N6 Athlone Relief Road the following traffic restrictions will be in place from Wednesday 9th March to Sunday 27th March 2011.

The N6 Athlone Relief Road will be down to one lane in each direction between junction 11 (Coosan) and junction 12 (Roscommon) from Wednesday 9th March to Sunday 27th March 2011.

The eastbound exit at junction 11 and the eastbound entry at junction 12 will also be closed during this period.

http://www.westmeathcoco.ie/en/news/name,8865,en.html

whyulittle

I just looked at the original master-plan, and this stretch was supposed to be closed, and opened again by March 10th. So they are now a whole stretch behind schedule.

whyulittle

whyulittle wrote: »

I just looked at the original master-plan, and this stretch was supposed to be closed, and opened again by March 10th. So they are now a whole stretch behind schedule.

Realistically, they have little chance of catching up with the schedule, the best we can hope for now is they now get back to a schedule of two week a section.

KevR

The railings on the J10 overbridge were being painted earlier today.

Looks good!

billbond4

yeah and it looks even worse for them as they try and catch up as they already worked nights on the first phase and are so far behind already.

billbond4

someone must have had a work with contractors over the weekend.they did a crap load of work on phase one today.final surface laid on full length between j13 and j12 and all painted.will post pic later on.nice shiny black tar!

JupiterKid

I've heard that the Athlone Bypass had problems with its surface not long after it opened to traffic. Is this true?

BTW I think the Athlone Bypass will be celebrating its 20th anniversary very soon - any week now!:D Wow - I remember when it first fully opened.

In fact, a section of the BP from the Dublin road to the N55 at the Cova opened in 1988, well before the rest of the bypass.

whyulittle

I remember being on it as a kid, during construction. There was a massive big pile of sand or gravel, in between J10 and J11.

Zubeneschamali

Road works have started moving, traffic was on the J13 to J12 East section this morning.

billbond4

Pic eastbound between j13 and j12 (taken from cusla flyover)
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/VT5gCbDa5vjqHjU8DugaxQ?feat=directlink

Photo was bit shakey as dog was pulling on leash while I was taking it

I just noticed that there is no cat eyes on the broken white line and there is no continuous white line on the outside lane

billbond4

JupiterKid wrote: »

I've heard that the Athlone Bypass had problems with its surface not long after it opened to traffic. Is this true?

BTW I think the Athlone Bypass will be celebrating its 20th anniversary very soon - any week now!:D Wow - I remember when it first fully opened.

In fact, a section of the BP from the Dublin road to the N55 at the Cova opened in 1988, well before the rest of the bypass.

Yes thats true, this will be its Third new surface in twenty years !

billbond4

Just did a drive by, the elan exit is back open and the eastbound carriageway is down to one lane. (Roscommon exit is possibly still closed)
No eastbound traffic on the westbound carriage.
Next contra flow should be in use tonight.

Zubeneschamali

Contraflow in action between J12 and J11 now. J11 Eastbound is closed.

billbond4

lets just see if they stick to the schedule and reopen the section on monday 28th of march, which still leaves them behind schedule by one phase.

billbond4

So do you think they will be ready to re-open road by Sunday???

Zubeneschamali

billbond4 wrote: »

So do you think they will be ready to re-open road by Sunday???

No.

billbond4

yeah looks very tight, id say they will be working Saturday to try and catch up again. ( it should have been finished on the 10th March)

veryangryman

billbond4 wrote: »

yeah looks very tight, id say they will be working Saturday to try and catch up again. ( it should have been finished on the 10th March)

:mad:

Joke... I was out of the country for 8 days and aside from the bits of gravel near J11, its as if they were away themselves

billbond4

Yeah they do a load of work at the start, then potter around for a week and feck on the final surface

billbond4

billbond4 wrote: »

Yeah they do a load of work at the start, then potter around for a week and feck on the final surface

That's the problem with observing this type of work from a distance.
This "pottering around" is actually the main bulk of the work, replacing drainage, repairing subsurface layers etc

A bit like looking at a swan on the water, looks like nothing is happening on the surface, but underwater the feet are going like the clappers

billbond4

They did a lot of the preparatory work in the previous month for the drainage and utility pipes ( as they are still doing along other sections of the bypass - guess this is to try and catch up to the two weeks behind they are)

But the problem is they still have to put two surfaces and paint the road and move the contra flow to next section all by Sunday.

Also Willis Bros are 25 weeks behind the New Tuam Road finish date, so they dont really instill too much confidence on sticking to dates.

billbond4

Think we should get Japanese Contractors for the rest of the bypass it would be done in a month
http://www.autoblog.com/2011/03/24/japanese-repair-quake-ravaged-road-in-just-six-days/

whyulittle

I was on it the other day on a bus, looking down over the central concrete barriers, and the bit between J13 and J12 isn't fully lined and cateye'd.

billbond4

yeah I though that was something that they forgot, but they were right not to put the lines and cateyes on edge of the outside lane, as it might confuse drivers with the two lanes merging into one lane.