N33 is the Slane Bypass?

Slane Resident

This case has been made by a number of objectors at the An Bord Pleanala oral hearing into the Slane Bypass.

Discuss

It doesn't seem to make sense to me, but I wondered what others opinion might be?

L1011

Doesn't provide a second bridge for the town, remove even local-ish traffic from a fragile historic bridge or bypass journeys such as Ashbourne to Monaghan, etc.

So no, its not, at all.

knotknowbody

No way, it does not in any way bypass Slane, I believe that a second river crossing in the Slane area is way overdue, the by pass should have been build years ago, anyone who objects should be brought down and made to stand on the current bridge to see the traffic passing and see how dangerous it is, these people obviously don't care about safety, Slane needs a bypass, that is beyond question for me.

jack presley

Is every topic that comes up at the Slane Bypass oral hearing going to get its own thread?

veryangryman

The word "bypass" gives the hint - it passes "by" a town. Most actual bypasses, you can see the town in the distance from them

Same way if i walk past something 10 miles away, im not really "bypassing it"

While it is good that people are enouraged to use M1-N33, there is still alot of commuter traffic and long distance to the towns and villages along there (it is their main route to the capital after all) and a WS2 bypass would not be asking for much for these people.

In a time when Tralee needs a bypass (REALLY? WHERE are those people going that need to get to/from it via Tralee), Slane deserves better

Carawaystick

Slane population 1100
Ashbourne population 8530
Collon population 654
Ardee population 4700

Irish and Proud

Slane Resident wrote: »

This case has been made by a number of objectors at the An Bord Pleanala oral hearing into the Slane Bypass.

Discuss

It doesn't seem to make sense to me, but I wondered what others opinion might be?

It's an alternative route to Slane for long distance traffic on the N2, but it's NOT a bypass for Slane. The N33 does nothing to serve the needs of the local people (in the vicinity of Slane) who have to travel through the town in order to go about their everyday business. Anyone who thinks that the Slane Bypass is not needed is simply living in Cloud Cuckoo Land - even if the road spec is reduced to S2, it's the route that is needed whatever about the capacity.

Case Dismissed!

Pete_Cavan

The vast majority of traffic in Slane originates in Dublin/north of Slane and their destination is north of Slane/Dublin. There is no need for most of this traffic to go near Slane. Traffic going to/coming from Monaghan already uses the M1 and the Slane bypass would only facilitate toll dodgers. By improving the N33 and N2 north of Ardee it can become the Dublin - Derry road, which would take most of the traffic out of Slane. The toll on the M1 should be reduced and HGV ban put in place in Slane.

veryangryman

Pete_Cavan wrote: »

The vast majority of traffic in Slane originates in Dublin/north of Slane and their destination is north of Slane/Dublin. There is no need for most of this traffic to go near Slane. Traffic going to/coming from Monaghan already uses the M1 and the Slane bypass would only facilitate toll dodgers. By improving the N33 and N2 north of Ardee it can become the Dublin - Derry road, which would take most of the traffic out of Slane. The toll on the M1 should be reduced and HGV ban put in place in Slane.

Cant lower a toll as there is an agreement signed to not do so unless deflation occurs - hard enough to get them to knock it back 10 measly sense

HGV ban in Slane? cant legally do it. Need an alternative route (that isnt tolled)

Build a bridge and get over it is what i say

I agree with the Dublin->North traffic point. Sadly not everyone on that road is going to North so as the guys above point out to you countless times, its not an option for them.

Incidentally, Moate is also a small town. Surely that wasnt worthy of a bypass either.

Joined up thinking please

Pete_Cavan

veryangryman wrote: »

Cant lower a toll as there is an agreement signed to not do so unless deflation occurs - hard enough to get them to knock it back 10 measly sense

HGV ban in Slane? cant legally do it. Need an alternative route (that isnt tolled)

Nope, no non-toll alternative route needed. There is a ban on five-axle trucks around Dublin city centre and forces them to use the (tolled) Port Tunnel - no problems there.

veryangryman wrote: »

I agree with the Dublin->North traffic point. Sadly not everyone on that road is going to North so as the guys above point out to you countless times, its not an option for them.

Traffic coming from/going to anywhere north of Slane should use the M1. The M1 is the quickest route to Ardee and Monaghan and all that traffic should be directed onto the M1. Where else would traffic be coming from/going to, Collon? The problem is that it is a national primary route. The N2 north of Ashbourne should be detrunked and speed reduced to 80kmh. The money that the Slane bypass would cost would be better spent adding a third lane to more of the M1 which would be much better value for money.

veryangryman wrote: »

Incidentally, Moate is also a small town. Surely that wasnt worthy of a bypass either.

Moate is not situated 10km from a motorway on one side of the town and 15km from another motorway on the other side.

veryangryman wrote: »

Joined up thinking please

Joined up thinking would be not spending tens of millions building a road which is bang in the middle of two existing motorways which have already cost us billions and can fullfil the objectives of the proposed road.

Roryhy

Pete_Cavan wrote: »

Nope, no non-toll alternative route needed. There is a ban on five-axle trucks around Dublin city centre and forces them to use the (tolled) Port Tunnel - no problems there.

The tunnel is free for HGVs though isn't it?

veryangryman

Roryhy wrote: »

The tunnel is free for HGVs though isn't it?

Yes it is. I dont mean to be insulting but ive yet to meet an informed person on the subject who objects to this bypass

I do wonder if there was a referendum tomorrow to decide the issue by locals, praytell who do you think would win?

L1011

Pete_Cavan wrote: »

Nope, no non-toll alternative route needed. There is a ban on five-axle trucks around Dublin city centre and forces them to use the (tolled) Port Tunnel - no problems there.

There is. The port tunnel is, as someone has already corrected you, toll-free for trucks and high capacity buses.

They cannot ban HGVs from Slane Village without a signposted, free, alternative route. Take a look at a town with a HGV ban (e.g. Maynooth) to see what needs to be done.

murphaph

Roryhy wrote: »

The tunnel is free for HGVs though isn't it?

Perhaps Pete Cavan meant trucks coming from the N81, N7, N4 being basically forced to use the tolled M50 Westlink to get around to the non-tolled (for HGVs) port tunnel.

Pete_Cavan

Just came across this article today;

The council is seeking permission from the planning board to build a 3.5km dual-carriageway at a cost of €46 million to the east of the village. The route will take it some 500m from the buffer zone to Brú na Bóinne, a Unesco world heritage site that includes Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth.

...

At the moment, some 17,700 vehicles pass through the village each day; after the bypass, the number of vehicles will drop by a third. The number crossing Slane bridge daily will reduce by 7,700.

€46 million to only reduce traffic crossing the bridge by one third! So after spending close to €50m on the bypass there will still be ~10,000 vehicles passing through the village.

My opposition to the Slane bypass has always been based on the fact that the cost of building the road can not be justified when there is already one billion euro motorway 10km east of the village and another billion euro motorway 15km to the west. Seeing that estimate on the cost of the road only reinforces my belief. I am sure a few improvements on the N33, directing traffic onto the M1 and reducing the speed limit on the existing N2 would remove a lot more traffic from Slane at a fraction of the cost.

L1011

And I'm sure, as an actual long distance professional driver; that it wouldn't come close to taking 1,000 off, let alone "a lot more".

Or address the fact that Slane's only bridge is ancient and crumbling - and will eventualy (within a decade or) need complete closing for a prolonged period of remediation works.

Slane Resident

Pete_Cavan wrote: »

Just came across this article today;

€46 million to only reduce traffic crossing the bridge by one third! So after spending close to €50m on the bypass there will still be ~10,000 vehicles passing through the village.

My opposition to the Slane bypass has always been based on the fact that the cost of building the road can not be justified when there is already one billion euro motorway 10km east of the village and another billion euro motorway 15km to the west. Seeing that estimate on the cost of the road only reinforces my belief. I am sure a few improvements on the N33, directing traffic onto the M1 and reducing the speed limit on the existing N2 would remove a lot more traffic from Slane at a fraction of the cost.

There will still be significant east-west traffic following the bypass. However, it is the North-South traffic which primarily causes the accidents and it is that traffic that the bypass will be addressing, so while there will be significant east-west traffic, the actual danger will have decreased substantially which, after all, is what this road is all about.