Waterford - Tramore Road re-opened

Sully

Glad to see the road from SuperQuinn to Ballindud has re-opened. Significantly raised but a lot narrower. While its a dead straight road, its a no-overtaking area with a 45km/hr reduced speed limit (for now anyway).

I assume the no-overtaking is due to the road now being much narrower - which is a shame because that road has always been terrible for passing out and having to be stuck behind drivers who drive very slow.

Not great for bikers and joggers with no hard shoulder or footpath.

But.. why the road surface as is? Why could they not stretch the tarmac surface they put down outside SuperQuinn to Ballindud rather then the same ****ty rough surface everybody hates that brings you into Tramore? I know it will improve over time, but jesus, are Waterford City/County council planning on just using this type of surface dressing in future?

Adyx

And of course the lights along the walkway are still out. Luckily the evenings are brighter but with all the burned rubbish I need all the light I can get.

Edit: There is a cycle track to the roundabout. Does it not go further than Kingfisher?

Cabaal

No hard shoulder...great so even more lethal for cyclists then before

dayshah

At the moment that walkway parallel to the tramore rd isn't suitable for cycling, but maybe they could upgrade it further?

I tried cycle along it and it took ages (and I had a sore bum at the end too).

merlante

I hate these kind of speed limits. If you break them you break the law, if you don't you cause driver frustration, which is likely to lead to more accidents than speed alone. But all you get from the body politic, including our own councillors, who are presumably normal, well adjusted people, is the usual PC crap about lives lost due to speed, etc. I mean 45kph!

Like the 50kph as you go from the ORR onto the western link for the bypass. A perfect stretch of dual carriageway, and you have to do 60->-50->100. Why the 50? And it's not even signposted in the other direction.

Cabaal

dayshah wrote: »

At the moment that walkway parallel to the tramore rd isn't suitable for cycling, but maybe they could upgrade it further?

I tried cycle along it and it took ages (and I had a sore bum at the end too).

Would need to be upgraded alot though, won't it just get flooded very easily unless its raised?

sorrywhat

Sully wrote: »

Glad to see the road from SuperQuinn to Ballindud has re-opened. Significantly raised but a lot narrower. While its a dead straight road, its a no-overtaking area with a 45km/hr reduced speed limit (for now anyway).

Jaysus, 45km/ph. That was a 60km/ph before all the work was going on up as far as the kingfisher then it slowed down to 50 as you passed there.

45 is very slow. Thats going to cause a load of frustration on that road. I hope people dont act stupid on it, especially seen as it a no-overtaking area.

I dont really use that stretch of road anyway, but I think it would wreck the head off me trying to keep to that limit.

tonc76

The 45 km/h speed limit must be a temporary speed limit as there is no such speed limit within the regulations that govern speed limits. I'd say leaving the city it will be 50 km/h until after the Kingfisher and then increase to 60 km/h until the ORR. After the roundabout on the ORR it will increase to 80 km/h until you reach the outskirts of Tramore.

homolumo

tonc76 wrote: »

The 45 km/h speed limit must be a temporary speed limit as there is no such speed limit within the regulations that govern speed limits. I'd say leaving the city it will be 50 km/h until after the Kingfisher and then increase to 60 km/h until the ORR. After the roundabout on the ORR it will increase to 80 km/h until you reach the outskirts of Tramore.

spot on

jonnyfingers

tonc76 wrote: »

The 45 km/h speed limit must be a temporary speed limit.

Any chance the poor road surface might only be a temporary road surface, hence the odd speed limit?

They might have just opened the road now to allow traffic to use it and will resurface it in the coming weeks/months.

Dum_Dum

Cabaal wrote: »

No hard shoulder...great so even more lethal for cyclists then before

Don't worry, like the Dunmore Road they'll paint some dashed white lines in - you'll be safe then.

Sosa

dayshah wrote: »

At the moment that walkway parallel to the tramore rd isn't suitable for cycling, but maybe they could upgrade it further?

I tried cycle along it and it took ages (and I had a sore bum at the end too).

I went for a run down that way this morning to have a look.
I entered the walk way from the superquinn roundabout,i got as far as Kingfisher where they have made a pathway heading up to Cherrymount? and an exit out onto the road to crossover to kingfisher/superquinn,past that onto a trail of gravel for best part of a mile...then onto a pathway out on the road for .75m ish,brought me up to ballindud roundabout,that was not finished,soft gravel that was uneven.
I presume thay will cover that soon with tarmac.
Then you will have a handy route to walk/run/cycle without going out on the road at all.
I thought it was fine anyway

rasper

poor excuse for a road really, no cycle or footpath yet at least, didn't even improve the entrance onto the roundabout, doesn't look like that anyone was thinking of the future , hardly looks like a road that was built with the next 40 years in mind does it?

wellbutty

It would be a disgrace if the "upgrade" had no footpath/cycling lane on one side at least. 45kmh is not a legally-binding speed limit by the way.

suirfire

Hi Guys the speed limit is still 60 kms and its signposted just past Kingfinsher on the way to Tramore

At least now the "That van" cant park in behind the trees and catch us all going 8kms over the speed limit and getting a €80 fine and 2 penalty points

Mysterious&Shy

I thought that the road surface was really bumpy, anyone else think this?

honeybadger

Mysterious&Shy wrote: »

I thought that the road surface was really bumpy, anyone else think this?

haha i think they put the exact same surface that was previously on the road before the works back down again lol but give it a few months tho,,the road into tramore was as bad last year but its after improving a lot since then ,,espicaly since they put the hard shouder lines back in place ,,:)

deisebob1

I contacted my local councillor about this road yesterday after driving it and in fairness to him, he knew the answers to my questions. Most usually say they will "get back to you" and never do.

Q1: Why is there loose chippings and not tarmac on the road surface?
Ans: The works are not finished, the road has to be left with this tempory dressing for 4 months incase there is any subsidance, if there is not, then the final dressing of 6 inches of tarmac will go down, that is why the drains etc are raised above the road surface at present.

Q.2 Why is there not a proper footpath and cycleway?
Ans: The walkway has been extended from the blackrock to the ORR for pedestrians and cyclists. The road could not be widened because the bog is a preserved area and therefore they weren't allowed to install a concrete footpath. He said that a hard shoulder would be provided when the final dressing is in place.

Q. 3 What is the story with the 45kmph limit?
Ans: This is a tempory speed limit while the road surface is the way it is. The speed limit will be 60kmph between kingfisher and the ORR as one poster suggests.


Hope this info clears up any questions...

mikeym

Im sure the gardai are pleased its reopened, that stretch of road is notorious for tax disc or speed checks.

dayshah

Sosa wrote: »

I went for a run down that way this morning to have a look.
I entered the walk way from the superquinn roundabout,i got as far as Kingfisher where they have made a pathway heading up to Cherrymount? and an exit out onto the road to crossover to kingfisher/superquinn,past that onto a trail of gravel for best part of a mile...then onto a pathway out on the road for .75m ish,brought me up to ballindud roundabout,that was not finished,soft gravel that was uneven.
I presume thay will cover that soon with tarmac.
Then you will have a handy route to walk/run/cycle without going out on the road at all.
I thought it was fine anyway

I didn't try cycle there since last summer, so maybe its better now.

There were lots of little bridges along the route, so I had to get off the bike several times, and it was hard to pick up any sort of speed at all. I should maybe go out again for a look.

Cabaal

deisebob1 wrote: »

Q. 3 What is the story with the 45kmph limit?
Ans: This is a tempory speed limit while the road surface is the way it is. The speed limit will be 60kmph between kingfisher and the ORR as one poster suggests.

This makes sense tbh

homolumo

Mysterious&Shy wrote: »

I thought that the road surface was really bumpy, anyone else think this?

yeah very. felt mad driving along being so high up.

savic04

The old tramore road past avondale is also due to be refurbed with new footpaths, lighting and removal of the two bad bends on the road on the way out to the ORR.

That will certainly be a major boost to the area, in my few times driving along that road, I thought why on earth build a superb ORR by pass and then have a crap road with no footpaths, lights etc on the way from three or four busy housing estates.

but hey, at least it is being done soon

ex_infantry man

yeah its mad being up high on the tramore road it feels weird!!!

Sully

Our very own Stan Nangle has been talking about this on the Facebook group setup about the road here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=122494011094028

Finn is correct in what he says.

The City Council expect that the road may settle in places because it is built across a bog. They want to wait a couple of months to see if this happens before putting down the final asphalt overlay.

Michelle is correct about the vibrating roller compacting the fill as they put it down, but the potential problem is actually down deep in the bog itself. How will the bog react to all this extra weight on top of it?

The final surface should be much smoother because of the approach they are taking.

It's not ideal, but in the long term it will be worth it.

The asphalt overlay is due to be put down in the Autumn.

Twas in response to an explication about it (similar to the one posted here).

Its not completed. The road surface at the moment is only temporary to allow the sub base material (the stone your all driving on) to settle properly. Once this has settled then the final macadam wearing course will be laid. This will happen in 6 months time.

As for removing the ditches, the height of the new surface has been carefully calculated to be higher than the 1 in a 100 year storm flood level but the crash barriers have been installed as there will be now quite a drop at the edge.

The work is not finished, so patience. I’m just glad that the road is now open again, even with a temporary surface.

Personally, its in good enough condition to be open and lets hope it will be surfaced in the coming months. For now, drive slow and easy on the road

ex_infantry man

very long overdue and lets hope there calculations are correct about the height of the road surface and that it won,t flood as it did before.

Guramoogah

"very long overdue" is an understatement!

The state of the Waterford to Tramore road was discussed in Dáil Éireann in November 1960. They were debating the effect that the pending closure of the Waterford to Tramore Railway would have on the road, when fleets of double-decker buses were due to be used to replace the train. They didn't expect the road across the bog to be able to cope with the increased traffic. Even back in those days, the road was notorious for flooding but because part of the road was in the borough of Waterford Corporation and the rest of it was under Waterford County Council, they couldn't agree who should pay for any upgrading or maintenance.

The railway was closed fifty years ago this year (31st December 1960) and the problems relating to flooding on the Waterford to Tramore road have suffered from fifty years of neglect.

Cabaal

Guramoogah wrote: »

The railway was closed fifty years ago this year (31st December 1960) and the problems relating to flooding on the Waterford to Tramore road have suffered from fifty years of neglect.

I'm sure its been resurfaced a few times between then and now

Guramoogah

Cabaal wrote: »

I'm sure its been resurfaced a few times between then and now

No amount of resurfacing would prevent flooding.

Cabaal

Guramoogah wrote: »

No amount of resurfacing would prevent flooding.

This is true however the fact they resurfaced mean't it wasn't totaly neglected as a road,

I'm curious how many times between 1960's and now did a local politician regardless of the party make a big enough issue of the road and the need to get it sorted...perhaps as a election issue in the local elections?

Now out of those how many if elected actually did anything...again regardless of the party?

Daysha

Probably a long shot but any pictures of the completed section?