N6 - Athlone Bypass Upgrade works

whyulittle

Couple of new signs put up around the Garrycastle bridge today. I wonder will be still make sense post the junction upgrade though. They were also installing new crash barriers on the slip roads.

Meanwhile the new signs that were put up before the resurfacing works started are battered and bruised looking already. Why did they put them up before that work started!

whyulittle

whyulittle wrote: »

Couple of new signs put up around the Garrycastle bridge today. I wonder will be still make sense post the junction upgrade though. They were also installing new crash barriers on the slip roads.

Meanwhile the new signs that were put up before the resurfacing works started are battered and bruised looking already. Why did they put them up before that work started!

Signmakers dream! :rolleyes:
They should have waited until these works were completed.

sentient_6

Athlone appeared to be at a standstill today, but i barely got near it to fully tell. I was coming from galway direction on the old road & when i got there i said id get on the motorway/dual carriageway to get to the far side of town. Noticed when crossing the bridge the traffic coming from galway was backed up as far as the eye could see, so i turned around to continue into town on the old galway road. Ended up turning around & going home before id even got to the turn for roscommon because that was a standstill as well. :mad:

veryangryman

sentient_6 wrote: »

Athlone appeared to be at a standstill today, but i barely got near it to fully tell. I was coming from galway direction on the old road & when i got there i said id get on the motorway/dual carriageway to get to the far side of town. Noticed when crossing the bridge the traffic coming from galway was backed up as far as the eye could see, so i turned around to continue into town on the old galway road. Ended up turning around & going home before id even got to the turn for roscommon because that was a standstill as well. :mad:

Only took 15 mins to get through. Yeah its brutal but have patience.

Also...

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER make the mistake of thinking that going through town is quicker. The queue on Grace Road is always far worse than the bypass.

The bypass is still the worlds greatest road, even with her current woes. Think of it as a foxy chick at her time of the month. She'll be back

billbond4

yeah its going to be v bad until until next week, and this friday is going to be v v bad.
Even last night there was a line of traffic from Ganlys to the T junction where Monaghans pub is @ 8pm !

Lets just hope they have the road open on time

KevR

I was out walking last night and there was a queue reaching the J10 Westbound on-ramp at 8:45pm. :eek:

veryangryman

Wonder what happened the guys with the stop/go system?

That worked a treat last week but not seen them since Friday.

Makes the right turn at Monaghans a pain in the ass.

Incidentally, that junction BADLY needs traffic lights or a roundabout even outside of the road works.

billbond4

yeah im going through town as its a lot faster as a good bit of the westbound carraigeway is down to one lane at the moment.
At least they were working on the J12 to J13 section on Saturday, its a handy section for them to do as the median barrier is already there and monksland exit wont be re-tarred.

billbond4

yip its mental that there is no round about at monaghans, im not mad about roundabouts, but it would be perfect there.
There was supposed to be traffic calming measures on the old galway road but i havent seen plans for them.

veryangryman

I wouldnt chance town on Friday. Though its a case of damned if you do, damned if you dont. Luckily for me, im going Eastbound so will miss all the horn beeping and throat kicking

billbond4

yeah its all luck of the draw on how traffic is and where your going.
having some local knowledge helps though

whyulittle

Why wait for the vegetation to overgrow your new signs, when you can just install it already covered!

billbond4

A "Controlled" burn with a few hundred gallons of petrol would sort out that vegetation in no time

Wild Bill

whyulittle wrote: »

Why wait for the vegetation to overgrow your new signs, when you can just install it already covered!

Hey! They are TREES - not just any ole vegetation. The ones on the right are fine specimens of alder and on the left birch.

All you need do is trim their little side branches up to sign level - no need to burn them.

Have you no soul? Ye are madder than those fanatics in College Green. :eek:

whyulittle

Stop/go system put in place to stem bypass delays

by Deirdre Verney

Traffic volumes are constantly being monitored as part of the Athlone bypass upgrade project, Westmeath County Council confirmed this week, and if necessary a stop/go system will be put in place at the Roscommon Road junction again this week to ease delays.

The local authority received a number of complaints last week from the public in relation to disruption and delays on Thursday and Friday last at the diversion put in place redirecting Monksland-bound drivers at the Roscommon Road junction back into Baylough.

Read full story at westmeathindependent.ie

veryangryman

whyulittle wrote: »

Read full story at westmeathindependent.ie

This doesnt need to be monitored. Without the stop/go system, anyone travelling East-West will be encouraged to go through Town-Left Bank-Batteries-Grove-Monksland as its just as quick.

The only exception to this route would be between 10pm-8am when traffic levels are negligent.

FYI for anyone going to use this stretch, there was no stop/go Monday afternoon (nightmare) but there was on Monday evening and all day Tuesday. If you want a relative guarantee to your journey time and want to avoid the stop/go, do the batteries run. For those not so local....

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=athlone+bypass,+Athlone,+Ireland&daddr=53.42809,-7.93951+to:53.42236,-7.94345+to:53.42354,-7.95279+to:Unknown+road&hl=en&sll=53.418024,-7.961655&sspn=0.016676,0.045362&geocode=FcJVLwMdN_CG_yldlFgpDElcSDEwxEEBEIJbgg%3BFXo_LwMdStqG_yl1WKQ1B0lcSDHh3J78pscAEw%3BFRgpLwMd5sqG_ykVWQxCAklcSDFBz9b8pscAEw%3BFbQtLwMdaqaG_ymJ5zEA_EhcSDGB_sf7pscAEw%3BFYYfLwMdTEeG_w&vpsrc=0&mra=dme&mrsp=4&sz=15&via=1,2,3&z=15

billbond4

veryangryman wrote: »

whyulittle wrote: »

Read full story at westmeathindependent.ie

This doesnt need to be monitored. Without the stop/go system, anyone travelling East-West will be encouraged to go through Town-Left Bank-Batteries-Grove-Monksland as its just as quick.

The only exception to this route would be between 10pm-8am when traffic levels are negligent.

FYI for anyone going to use this stretch, there was no stop/go Monday afternoon (nightmare) but there was on Monday evening and all day Tuesday. If you want a relative guarantee to your journey time and want to avoid the stop/go, do the batteries run. For those not so local....

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=athlone+bypass,+Athlone,+Ireland&daddr=53.42809,-7.93951+to:53.42236,-7.94345+to:53.42354,-7.95279+to:Unknown+road&hl=en&sll=53.418024,-7.961655&sspn=0.016676,0.045362&geocode=FcJVLwMdN_CG_yldlFgpDElcSDEwxEEBEIJbgg%3BFXo_LwMdStqG_yl1WKQ1B0lcSDHh3J78pscAEw%3BFRgpLwMd5sqG_ykVWQxCAklcSDFBz9b8pscAEw%3BFbQtLwMdaqaG_ymJ5zEA_EhcSDGB_sf7pscAEw%3BFYYfLwMdTEeG_w&vpsrc=0&mra=dme&mrsp=4&sz=15&via=1,2,3&z=15

There would be no need for Stop go system if they had Made roundabout outside Monaghans pub. It's crazy that their isnt. I must ask council about it. As it's a No brainer for one to be put there

I'm sure residents will be glad you put up those directions :-)

veryangryman

billbond4 wrote: »

veryangryman wrote: »

whyulittle wrote: »

Read full story at westmeathindependent.ie

This doesnt need to be monitored. Without the stop/go system, anyone travelling East-West will be encouraged to go through Town-Left Bank-Batteries-Grove-Monksland as its just as quick.

The only exception to this route would be between 10pm-8am when traffic levels are negligent.

FYI for anyone going to use this stretch, there was no stop/go Monday afternoon (nightmare) but there was on Monday evening and all day Tuesday. If you want a relative guarantee to your journey time and want to avoid the stop/go, do the batteries run. For those not so local....

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=athlone+bypass,+Athlone,+Ireland&daddr=53.42809,-7.93951+to:53.42236,-7.94345+to:53.42354,-7.95279+to:Unknown+road&hl=en&sll=53.418024,-7.961655&sspn=0.016676,0.045362&geocode=FcJVLwMdN_CG_yldlFgpDElcSDEwxEEBEIJbgg%3BFXo_LwMdStqG_yl1WKQ1B0lcSDHh3J78pscAEw%3BFRgpLwMd5sqG_ykVWQxCAklcSDFBz9b8pscAEw%3BFbQtLwMdaqaG_ymJ5zEA_EhcSDGB_sf7pscAEw%3BFYYfLwMdTEeG_w&vpsrc=0&mra=dme&mrsp=4&sz=15&via=1,2,3&z=15

There would be no need for Stop go system if they had Made roundabout outside Monaghans pub. It's crazy that their isnt. I must ask council about it. As it's a No brainer for one to be put there

I'm sure residents will be glad you put up those directions :-)

The works effectively end this Friday save for house keeping and traffic lights. Am I correct to say that well have TWO lanes both sides back from this weekend on?

veryangryman

veryangryman wrote: »

The works effectively end this Friday save for house keeping and traffic lights. Am I correct to say that well have TWO lanes both sides back from this weekend on?

I doubt it, the central concrete barrier still needs to be built along much of the bypass, so I would expect to see the overtaking lane to be closed at random times while work is carried out.

billbond4

They still had to put the final layer of tar on the two westbound lanes between j12 and j13 last night (only hard should done), so it will probably be tomorrow before the contra flow is lifted and traffic should move bit better.

Zubeneschamali

No contraflow this morning, but still single lane West near J13.

I imagine we'll be seeing a lot of cones and lane closures for a month or so while they sort out the central reservation.

billbond4

yeah they had j12 to j13 open on saturday, its not going to be too bad now, with just tarring near the central median to be done and the rest of the central median to be poured.

Its crazy how people couldnt get used to the contra flow, they used to slow right down for the contra flow and then potter along and at the contra flow exit slow right down again.

whyulittle

Westmeath Co Co wrote:

N6 Athlone Relief Road Update

Due to ongoing road maintenance on the N6 Athlone Relief Road the following traffic restrictions will be in place from Monday 5th September.

The westbound entry at Junction 13 will be closed from Monday 5th September until Friday the9th September 2011 and the diversion is signposted and shown on the Council website.

From Friday the 9th September 2011 all exits and entry ramps will be open. There will be rolling fast lane closures for approximately 1500m in each direction for the remainder of September to complete the central median works.

oops

http://www.westmeathcoco.ie/en/news/name,10159,en.html

whyulittle

whyulittle wrote: »

oops

http://www.westmeathcoco.ie/en/news/name,10159,en.html

As opposed to the tractor lane. :rolleyes:

veryangryman

Out of the country at the moment/ How is the road looking now? Any more works or is it smooth all round now with 2 lanes?

Zubeneschamali

Still cones out, single lanes both ways and diggers etc. working on the central median near J12.

Delays heading Westwards in the evenings, especially last Friday (and this one, I suppose).

billbond4

yeah most of the westbound carriage way is down to one lane ( for some reason, as they dont seem to be working on much of it)
So delays most evenings, fridays will be very bad, partly due to drivers slowing down to have a look at the roadworks

Eastbound isnt as bad, but still they seem to have a good bit of the road down to one lane and not working on it.
I dont see why they dont finish off a section and then move on??

antoobrien

billbond4 wrote: »

I dont see why they dont finish off a section and then move on??

They were getting a lot of stick over not keeping up with the traffic management plan (at one stage they were 4-6 weeks behind the published schedule).

What's going on right now looks like a bit of sleight of hand to make it look like they're closer to completion than they actually are.

billbond4

yeah they are being pretty snaking alright as I think there is a section completely finished yet

I suspect that rather than mess about with rolling lane closures they're decided to keep the entire lane 2 closed. Does have the advantage that works traffic remains separate and the right hand white lining and cats eyes job can be done in one hit!