Non-Official, Offline Motorway Services in Ireland

L1011

That site has been partially pre-prepped by its owners and signed as "for sale for MSA" for ages, its visible heading Eastbound IIRC

The junction isn't suitable AT ALL.

Rodin

MYOB wrote: »

The M8 has vague signage at both ends which is referring to Urlingford (Kavanaghs/Applegreen), the south end of Cashel (Mother Hubbards and Tesco for fuel) and Mitchelstown (cluster of stations there) at both ends of it, but nothing more specific beyond that.... that appears to be all we're likely to get on other roads.

What is vague about the signing to Urlingford?

L1011

Rodin wrote: »

What is vague about the signing to Urlingford?

There isn't anything, read my post properly please.

The vague signage is the MSA signage that has km distances that don't actually apply to anywhere specific,

Amtmann

Hardly a surprise, but the M8 J8 Topaz/McDonalds service station will be 24hr when it opens. Must snap a few shots soon. It's two-story by the way.

etchyed

Tremelo wrote: »

Hardly a surprise, but the M8 J8 Topaz/McDonalds service station will be 24hr when it opens. Must snap a few shots soon. It's two-story by the way.

Any word yet on whether this will be signed like the official service stations?

Amtmann

It won't be. But it will be VERY visible from the M8, seen as how it's right on top of it. Advance non-descript brown fuel signage is present about 1km before the exit though.

L1011

Indo had renders of the Moneygall one today, its going to be BIG by the looks of things, SuperStop MSA sized.

Amtmann

Images of the M8 development on the way... (photobucket is down, so this will be clumsy)

Amtmann

Another one...

Amtmann

No. 3...

Amtmann

Last one..

L1011

Topaz seem to be breaking away from their Statoil-constrained architectural (Assuming that is a Topaz Owned&Operated), their other recent larger stations have not only been, well, smaller (Kill and Dublin Port come to mind), they've effectively been standard Statoil O&O designs.

Anyone bothered to pull up the planning file? As far as I know "Ard Services Ltd" is Topaz's shell firm for operating its O&O stations.

L1011

I'm bored, its O&O, the parent firm applied for the planning.

http://www.southtippcoco.ie/eplan41/FileRefDetails.aspx?file_number=FS7209&LASiteID=0

Its a far better design, architecturally, than their earlier ones.

jkwasere

There's a Topaz-McDonald's setup about three minutes off J22 M7. Just follow the N62 towards Roscrea, and it's at the first roundabout.

I hear there will be new services at Birdhill and Moneygall?:

http://www.irishexaminer.ie/ireland/100-castleisland-jobs-under-threat-151710.html

(read the whole article)

munchkin_utd

MYOB wrote: »

Indo had renders of the Moneygall one today, its going to be BIG by the looks of things, SuperStop MSA sized.

the paper has no image online but the architects do!



heres a BIG version of that image too:
http://www.quinnarchitects.ie/commercial/sg_moneygall_content/gallery/bigbox/Aerial_-_FINAL_1600x1111.jpg

from http://www.quinnarchitects.ie/commercial/moneygall.php

munchkin_utd

travelled the length of the M3 and M4 over the weekend.

Noticed that the small brown signs to direct you to the nearest offline petrol station (& fishing & god knows what other stuff the area has) are now supersized, at least the petrol symbol is.

In June 2005 the NRA said they would be errecting "appropriate signage to alert motorists" to offline services.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0615/roads.html

are these signs finally this signage promised 6 years ago, and do the signs continue to the pertrol station, or is it still the case that once off line you are dumped onto the regional road network and left COMPLETELY clueless as to where the afore promised refuelling stops actually might be found ?

L1011

Generally you're dropped and left to fend for yourself. Although they are *generally* put up either where the station has already been pimping itself for ages or is visible from the junction.

The architechts render has it smaller than the one in the Indo!

munchkin_utd

MYOB wrote: »

Generally you're dropped and left to fend for yourself. Although they are *generally* put up either where the station has already been pimping itself for ages or is visible from the junction.

The architechts render has it smaller than the one in the Indo!

maybe the indo had the full site plans included.
McDonagh of supermacs was on rte radio at the weekend and he mentioned that the food plaza/ pumps/ mini market is only the first phase.

They have also plans for a meetings/ business centre and all going well eventually a hotel on the site, but all that depending on how the first phase goes.

He also said that he (aka supermacs) has other full service rest areas planned for the other major inter urbans. Has anyone more detail on what they have in the pipeline?

DecQ

Looking at the image and comparing it to the on/off ramps at Moneygall as it stands, is McDonagh going to buy the extra land needed to configure the motorway entrance /exit as in the image or is it up to the council to do it. There's a fair bit of extra acreage taken up by this.

marmurr1916

munchkin_utd wrote: »

maybe the indo had the full site plans included.
McDonagh of supermacs was on rte radio at the weekend and he mentioned that the food plaza/ pumps/ mini market is only the first phase.

They have also plans for a meetings/ business centre and all going well eventually a hotel on the site, but all that depending on how the first phase goes.

He also said that he (aka supermacs) has other full service rest areas planned for the other major inter urbans. Has anyone more detail on what they have in the pipeline?

Nope. Hopefully Supermacs will go ahead and build a decent network so that we get MSAs roughly every 40 to 50km.

L1011

topaz opens may 18th according to banners

Amtmann

The McDonalds/Topaz service area off M8 J8 is doing very well so far. They should have built it bigger though. It's very congested and parking is dire.

veryangryman

Do my eyes deceive me or is there a station right by the Monasterevin westbound slips?

So D-L and D-C traffic now have Rathcoole, Monasterevin and Portlaoise. Limerick fans will have Roscrea and Moneygall. One more good station (perhaps online) between Port and Cork should be enough i think

L1011

There is, with quite probably illegally placed signage on the mainline...

L1011

^^ opens on Friday and is a Texaco w/Supermacs apparently.

veryangryman

MYOB wrote: »

^^ opens on Friday and is a Texaco w/Supermacs apparently.

Least the quality of the food is increasing. Supermacs is quite muck but beats McDs and BK anyday for a quick fillup of the arteries...

G_R

Service station and Supermacs Restaurant. Open Friday 17th June.

Coming from Dublin:
Take exit 14, go immediately left on the roundabout and the station is on the immediate left.

Coming from Cork/Limerick direction:
Again, exit 14, go around the roundabout, third exit. Cross the bridge, straight through the roundabout, second exit. Service Station on the immediate left.

Haven't been in yet as it isn't open as of the time of posting, so not too sure on the exact specifics, so I'll update when I get to go in to it.

However, I think:

14 Petrol/Diesel Pumps
4 Lorry fueling pumps
4 e-chargers (with room for a number more when this kind of car takes off)
Loads of Parking
Shop with Deli and seating
Supermacs restaurant.

There is 2 directional signs Southbound, and I only saw I Northbound (but I'm guessing they will be adding a second)

munchkin_utd

A wee bit more in the monastereven station

The franchises include Supermacs (open from 11am to 11pm), Insomnia and Spar Express. The Junction 14 Mayfield Food Service Counter opens from 6am-9pm and will provide the option of a traditional deli or a carvery service.

At a cost of E7 million, the new station has a 24-hour Texaco fuel stop, 24-hour toilets with shower facilities, ATM service, charging points for electric cars, car wash facility, 170 car parking spaces, 25 truck spaces and five bus parking spaces.

http://www.leinsterleader.ie/news/business/75_jobs_boost_1_2772526

A lot more parking than the one at Cashel then so

Has anyone had the pleasure of visiting in person? Any photos?

G_R

munchkin_utd wrote: »

A wee bit more in the monastereven station


http://www.leinsterleader.ie/news/business/75_jobs_boost_1_2772526

A lot more parking than the one at Cashel then so

Has anyone had the pleasure of visiting in person? Any photos?

I'll be taking a spin down that direction next week. If no one has posted pictures by then I'll snap a few and throw em up.

Colm R

Was there last Friday on opening day.

It was busy enough, and there were a few teething problems with cash registers. This itself would not put me off.


Good points.

Loads of parking.
There is going to be a play ground which will be covered.
Two options for food - Spar Deli and Supermacs and a coffee shop.

Bad Points

It would be nice if there was a separate building to take payments for fuel. Going in to Spar is awkward if its busy. This will cause delays with queues at the pumps. I would point out that if people are going to get food, they will need to go out and move the car anyway. So I'd doubt they would loose customers.

For the size of the car parks, the indoor area is pretty small. You may find when its busy that you will get your food, but will need to return to your car to eat it.

JupiterKid

Is the Supermacs a drive-thru outlet? At least it's something for the M7 for now.

Colm R

JupiterKid wrote: »

Is the Supermacs a drive-thru outlet? At least it's something for the M7 for now.

no. Its inside as part of a foodcourt.

veryangryman

Very good facility. Stopped by last week on route back from Cork.

Easy getting in/out, supermacs was delish and the facilities (toilets included) kept very clean. I know its new but a promising start

Limerick Rebel

This is a fantastic addition to the M7. I heard one of the owners on the radio last week and I believe that it was all built with private money. They spent somewhere in the region of €7 million on it. Fair play to them and I wish them every success with it.
I used it 3 times this week. I love the fact that they offer free WI-FI and the food and coffee are decent too.

jkwasere

Was there on Thursday. It's a good addition to the M7. Free wi-fi was handy, although it was quite small inside. I was surpurised to see NRA erected brown signs saying 'Services' .

niloc1951

Did anyone notice which of the three different parking areas car-caravan outfits and motor caravans are directed to :rolleyes:

L1011

jkwasere wrote: »

Was there on Thursday. It's a good addition to the M7. Free wi-fi was handy, although it was quite small inside. I was surpurised to see NRA erected brown signs saying 'Services' .

I'm not convinced they're NRA erected at all.

G_R

Was there today on my way home, I got two pics of it, so I'll throw em up as promised:

This is just looking across the forecourt. The Pumps closest to you in the picture all have chip and pin at the pump, so you don't even have to go inside if you don't want to.

This one is taken from the outside seating area, you can see the smoking area, and just to the side of that there is a kids play area, still under construction, but i'm sure it'll be good once it opens.


Inside there isn't much seating room, maybe enough for 30 people max, but there is loads of room outside, both in the smoking area and the outside seating area.

They also have a pretty cool air-pump for your tyres. Took me a while to figure out but i got it eventually.:cool:

Edit:
Dear God those pics are massive. If a mod knows how to resize em, could you edit them please. Of not delete em, the links are below. Thanks!

Amtmann

I'm going to have to stop going to that 24-hr Amber off M8 junction 14. It's like walking into Willy Wonka's chocolate factory or some marvellous bakery. The amount of specialist chocolate, muffins, rocky roads, cream buns, meringues, cakes, and caramel slices in it is unreal, all beautifully merchandised. And the deli is superb. It takes great single-mindedness to walk to the counter and pay for my petrol only.

Amtmann

Stopped off at M7 J14 Mayfield yesterday and today. Loved it, though I would echo ColmR's point above about the cash desks.

It is perfectly positioned with lots of space - superior to the Topaz/McDonalds effort on the M8 in terms of site layout and appearance.

marmurr1916

This article from the IT underlines the importance of getting a decent MSA network built as quickly as possible:

ONE IN five road deaths is caused by driver fatigue, according to the Road Safety Authority. RSA chief executive Noel Brett said research showed that driving while fatigued was as dangerous as driving at the current drink-driving limits.

He said people needed to be aware when they were tired and should take a break. He stressed it was not safe to open the window or turn on the radio and continue driving.

“All of the inter-urban motorways have signage and distances to the closest services and most of them are within a kilometre or two from the turn-off.”

The RSA is concerned that links between driver fatigue and collisions are under-reported. Studies it had carried found one driver in 10 in Ireland had fallen asleep at the wheel. Falling asleep for three seconds at the motorway speed limit of 120km/h would result in a car travelling 100 metres uncontrolled.

Garda Chief Supt Gabriel McIntyre said: “We pay particular attention to the area of driver fatigue. We appeal to motorists to use service stations that are on motorways and to pull into a safe location as well if you want to take a rest.”

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0728/1224301501292.html

munchkin_utd

From the article:

“All of the inter-urban motorways have signage and distances to the closest services and most of them are within a kilometre or two from the turn-off.”

That's exactly what I have issue with.
They DON'T have signage TO the closest services

They have signage to leave the motorway, and then nothing.
Lots of roundabouts and junctions and NO more lovely brown signs.
Better still, there are often no distances on the signs at junctions off a motorway so you can't even tell where the nearest town is let alone which town may have some services of interest!!
Fuppin bonkers!!

You could erect a few more brown signs to guide you on your way beyond every junction on the motorway system for less than the cost to the taxpayer of dealing with the medical costs of a few severe accidents.

Kumsheen

I stopped off at the M7 J14 Mayfield services last week and thought it was great.
A nice place to stop / relax and get refreshed for the next part of the journey.
One observation though. I think this service area will be very popular and i can see it becoming congested in the future.
The indoor area is not nearly as big as the services on the M1 and when i stopped off the second time on Friday afternoon, all the indoor tables were occupied.

Maybe when more services open along the M7 it will spread the business out a bit, but if it stays as the only real option on this road, then it will be very busy.

veryangryman

Kumsheen wrote: »

I stopped off at the M7 J14 Mayfield services last week and thought it was great.
A nice place to stop / relax and get refreshed for the next part of the journey.
One observation though. I think this service area will be very popular and i can see it becoming congested in the future.
The indoor area is not nearly as big as the services on the M1 and when i stopped off the second time on Friday afternoon, all the indoor tables were occupied.

Maybe when more services open along the M7 it will spread the business out a bit, but if it stays as the only real option on this road, then it will be very busy.

Midway Portlaoise (even if not 24 hour, its open when the roads are busy)
Cashel Services
Rathcoole


All of these are right by the Motorways. Could we use a few more? Of course, but I think we have the essentials now.

munchkin_utd

veryangryman wrote: »

Midway Portlaoise (even if not 24 hour, its open when the roads are busy)
Cashel Services
Rathcoole


All of these are right by the Motorways. Could we use a few more? Of course, but I think we have the essentials now.

there is need for more.

Travelling up from Cork to Cavan at christmas late in the evening there was nowhere on the M8/ M7 to stop for a pee (pre Monastirevin admittedly but even now you cant really time the calls of nature).
I pulled in at an Esso somewhere on the N7 (where its 3 lanes) and not a toilet to be seen.
Down the road I found a reasonably large topaz, but it was all locked up. Think that was up around citywest direction far enough off the road.

Ended up peeing in the snow behind the petrol station as I wasnt going to be able to hold for another 2 hours!!
(the state of the utter abysmal snow clearing efforts in Dublin are another topic altogether - how I didnt crash on the N7/ M50 or back roads to the station I'll never know)

Anyhow the point I'm making is that its argueable that there still isnt adequate facilities out there as it currently stands

L1011

munchkin_utd wrote: »

I pulled in at an Esso somewhere on the N7 (where its 3 lanes) and not a toilet to be seen.

Planning permission was put in to build a full scale MSA and hotel here, not too long ago (trying to find the planning file and the last one I can find refers to an amendment in 2008) but I can't see it going ahead.

They first asked for permission to replace it with a modern station in 1999! I'd imagine it was refused due to the planned widening which closed quite a few stations.

munchkin_utd

Tremelo wrote: »

The McDonalds/Topaz service area off M8 J8 is doing very well so far. They should have built it bigger though. It's very congested and parking is dire.

Stopped off there this afternoon at this place as much for a snoop as to pick up a coffee.

It's modern but that's about all that can be said about it in a positive way.
On entering the site there's directions for the drive through or petrol. Nothing to state where either the parking for the mc d's or petrol station is. I ended up driving toward the petrol and before i know it on a one way road out of the place!!

Did a lap then almost to the motorway and back and decided to risk whatbwas being signed as the drive through. At the worst I'd order the coffee there and hit the road seeing as parking wasn't signed in any way. Found that the sign for drive through doesnt lead to the drive through but to the (full) mc donalds car park and the car wash. Obvious I suppose!
And beyond that again was about a dozen car parking spaces opposite the topaz.
Completely and utterly insufficient for the location they are in.

The topaz itself is ok. There's the normal garage shop selection with a Hot counter selling all day breakfast and the likes. Upstairs is some seating and a play area (which I didnt go up to as I had 2 unpaid for coffees in my hand)

And as for the coffee. I've barely gotten a more watery milky coffee in my life so the struggle and effort to get it was far from worth it.

Compared to the NRA applegreen msa in lusk that I visited this day last week the Cashel topaz is way below the standard required.
Both station and coffee alike!

Amtmann

I really dislike it with a passion. It was done on the cheap and they haven't even the courtesy to maintain the grounds, which are a weedy eyesore. M7 Junction 14 Mayfield is how it should be done.

L1011

There is an irony that, due to having to upgrade the junction, Cashel probably cost as much or more than the better efforts and yet they still appear to have deliberately underprovided for parking.

Amtmann

MYOB wrote: »

There is an irony that, due to having to upgrade the junction, Cashel probably cost as much or more than the better efforts and yet they still appear to have deliberately underprovided for parking.

Not only is parking farcical there, but the big problem as far as I am concerned is the blindness of the layout and the non-segregation of HGV and car traffic. This is a safety disaster and it's appalling that it was given planning permission in my opinion.