Slip road unopened - Martin r'about - why?

topper75

Anybody enlighted as to why as a slip road bringing you onto Bóthar na dTreabh from the old Dublin road at the Martin roundabout is as of yet unopened? The sliproad is quite short. It is lined with cat's eyes and ready to go to my lay eye. The main scheme, which it appears to be part of, is four months open now - so the delay is puzzling.

It is not by any stretch of the imagination the key to undoing Galway city gridlock, but I don't know why they would plan and build a sliproad only to leave bollards in front of it indefinitely.

biko

RB here.

kodute

Ive been passing that roundabout about 4 times a day lately and I don't think they have the anti skid stuff put down yet. At least I haven't seen them do it anyway.

topper75

Nearly sure there was some beige-coloured gritty surface on it but I'll confirm this evening and take shots to post here. Even so - is that an honest holdup reason 4 months later?

Sponge Bob

An Taisce complained to the EU that they had built it without doing an EIS first ...which they didn't.

( probably )

KevR

topper75 wrote: »

The main scheme, which it appears to be part of, is four months open now - so the delay is puzzling.

That slip road was not part of the M6 scheme. It's a totally seperate scheme by Galway City Council as far as I know. Sort of explains why progress on the slip road is painfully slow - GCC are doing it. If the people who built the M6 were the ones building this slip road they would probably have built it in 2 or 3 days :eek:

topper75

topper75 wrote: »

Nearly sure there was some beige-coloured gritty surface on it but I'll confirm this evening and take shots to post here. Even so - is that an honest holdup reason 4 months later?

Sorry memory playing tricks on me. There is no gritty surface down. But I don't think it is intended as there are road arrows painted already.

Cannot see why they don't just pull away the cones. Mildly frustrating passing it and driving around it every morning.

topper75

Sponge Bob wrote: »

An Taisce complained to the EU that they had built it without doing an EIS first ...which they didn't.

( probably )

EIS - are they for real!? Should be quite easy now to assess how it will impact on the environment. It is fuppin' built!!!

Mrs OBumble

KevR wrote: »

If the people who built the M6 were the ones building this slip road they would probably have built it in 2 or 3 days :eek:

And they'd now be charging a yoyo each time you drive along it :-)

topper75

Bumping this thread to see if anyone can tell me why this road is still coned off?

The only purpose it serves now is as a monument to waste of Galway City Council money.

lampsie

I noticed a few weeks ago a couple of wags must have shoved the cones off the road, cause it was opened for a day or two before the cones re-appeared.

Genuinely though, I've no idea why they would build it and then leave it sit there for months (and it is defo good few months if not closing on a year, thinking it was there around the time the last bit of motorway opened which was December 09?). I can only assume its some legal/planning issue, as the surface etc all looks good to go.

KevR

It was open for a week a bit before the Galway Races. I used it a few times when it was open and I have to say it's the worst jet lane I have ever come across in my life. The merge is way too short and the angle of the merge makes it really difficult to see traffic coming up behind you on the DC. The poor design makes it a bit dangerous and I think that could well be the reason why it isn't open yet. I think all new roads have to be inspected (in terms of safetY) by the NRA and Gardai before they can open; maybe it wasn't deemed safe enough??

topper75

Thanks for the input lads.

The question now is what happens next. Is it to be left as a monument to Irish engineering folly?

Or can they somehow lengthen the merge area?

KevR

If they were really serious about making improvements to Galway traffic they would never have built a roundabout where the M6 ends. They could have built a fully free-flowing trumpet interchange without it costing a whole lot more than the roundabout and without requiring any extra land.

If a trumpet interchange was built then they could have had a third lane (an auxilary lane like on the M50) between the Galway Clinic roundabout and the M6 interchange. 2 lanes coming off the Galway Clinic roundabout + a lane gain from the slip lane coming off the Dublin Rd. Instead of a short/blind/dangerous merge which doesn't really improve traffic, we would have a long/safe aux lane which does improve traffic flow.

I honestly think they just couldn't have been bothered going to the effort of planning/implementing the above - it wouldn't have costed a lot. "Ah sure just stick in a roundabout and a short aul' jet lane and it'll be grand".

If they had done the above then they could have looked at grade-seperating the Briarhill roundabout at some stage in the future when the money is available. This would be more costly but I think it could be justified as it would improve traffic in the area a lot.

Head The Wall

KevR wrote: »

If they were really serious about making improvements to Galway traffic they would never have built a roundabout where the M6 ends. They could have built a fully free-flowing trumpet interchange without it costing a whole lot more than the roundabout and without requiring any extra land.

If a trumpet interchange was built then they could have had a third lane (an auxilary lane like on the M50) between the Galway Clinic roundabout and the M6 interchange. 2 lanes coming off the Galway Clinic roundabout + a lane gain from the slip lane coming off the Dublin Rd. Instead of a short/blind/dangerous merge which doesn't really improve traffic, we would have a long/safe aux lane which does improve traffic flow.

I honestly think they just couldn't have been bothered going to the effort of planning/implementing the above - it wouldn't have costed a lot. "Ah sure just stick in a roundabout and a short aul' jet lane and it'll be grand".

If they had done the above then they could have looked at grade-seperating the Briarhill roundabout at some stage in the future when the money is available. This would be more costly but I think it could be justified as it would improve traffic in the area a lot.

That roundabout at the end of the M6 is an absolute disaster in a tractor unit and trailer, we pretty much have to take up the two lanes to get onto it safely

cats.life

well that slip road was open when i was passing at 1.30 today, two cars were coming up it just as i was going around the rounabout.

dumb_parade

Its open alright. By the way the bollards are thrown into the grass it wouldn't suprise me if the 'trick or treaters' were up to no good over the weekend...

kippy

I had heard, but have nothing to back this up, that the reason this slip remained closed was down to a lack of planning permission or an issue with the planning permission. As such they had to reapply/apply for permission before it could be legally opened.
I'm not sure what the status is yet or if the cones gone is official or not.

The roundabout at then end of the M6 is totally unnecessary alright and could have been finished better/changed to a junction mentioned earlier on, however I believe the NRA are concentrating their efforts on a major junction out where the M17 will eventually join the M6 and where the Galway City Bypass (if it ever happens) will link in with it.

I've nothing at all to back that up and agree with previous posts on the issue.

topper75

I used it this morning. Yes it is suspicious the way the bollards were cast aside but I couldn't care less.

I didn't perceive any safety issue when I was merging with the dual carriageway.

By contrast, I merged with the Ennis bypass the other day at the Tulla flyover and that did seem dangerously short.

swe_fi

I saw it was opened this morning, I honestly thought the road cones had just blown away.

They should have like an official opening ceremony for it with Brass band, the mayor, selling t-shirts and all because it has been so eagerly awaited.

I will take the coast road tomorrow and go through Roscam just to be able to say "I was on it".

dumb_parade

swe_fi wrote: »

I saw it was opened this morning, I honestly thought the road cones had just blown away.

They should have like an official opening ceremony for it with Brass band, the mayor, selling t-shirts and all because it has been so eagerly awaited.

I will take the coast road tomorrow and go through Roscam just to be able to say "I was on it".

And add to the Roscam traffic jam.

topper75

Ye should all come down and drive on it. Because you can save anything up to 8 seconds on a journey you didn't need to make in the first place. Gotta draw satisfaction from whereever you can in life.

cats.life

saw two cars parked on it today , and one red car inbeded in the roundabout ..

dumb_parade

topper75 wrote: »

Ye should all come down and drive on it. Because you can save anything up to 8 seconds on a journey you didn't need to make in the first place. Gotta draw satisfaction from whereever you can in life.

Anyone who didnt take your advice is out of luck. Its closed again!

KevR

Really? Was open this morning when I passed by at around 8:15..

JoeA3

Yep, the council truck was there as I passed it 20 mins ago re-arranging the cones again - looks like it was never meant to be opened :pac:

topper75

Open again there yesterday when I hit the roundabout. No cones in sight.

Finally operational after 12-month idle wait?

Black_Knight

Cant wait to use it today! It better live up to the hype!

toadfly

Black_Knight wrote: »

Cant wait to use it today! It better live up to the hype!

Its so crap, not a proper slip rd off the other side. Have to stop cant just get up to speed and joing the traffic.

Black_Knight

TillyGirl wrote: »

Its so crap, not a proper slip rd off the other side. Have to stop cant just get up to speed and joing the traffic.

Jeeez, thanks for ruining it for me

soundbyte

Black_Knight wrote: »

Cant wait to use it today! It better live up to the hype!

me neither. Should we create a separate review thread and post our experiences? :pac: