M7 - Naas/Newbridge Bypass Upgrade [Junction 9a now open]

JohnC.

pegasus1 wrote: »

Why would you have a local distance sign on a motorway..? It would seem to be a distance to exit sign

Does it work like this?

Distance to town

(Belfast isn't even on the M1, right?)

Distance to exit


If your sign had more than one distance on it, I assume it was the first type. I doubt they do distance to exit signs with more than one on it.

pegasus1

Ok maybe so, but why have a distance sign for a town when the exit is less than a km away and to a village beyond it..for those here traveling the M7, it’s located before Naas north heading north and have a look..

Mrs Dempsey

pegasus1 wrote: »

..... why have a distance sign for a town when the exit is less than a km away and to a village beyond it....

To annoy the easily annoyed

pegasus1

Mrs Dempsey wrote: »

To annoy the easily annoyed

Lol I’m not annoyed, it just took my eye off the road when I spotted it..

joe_99

Belfast is on the E01 route

jmkennedyie

Some observations...

Mainline
- Junction 10 Westbound onramp and junction roundabouts/relevelling in progress. OSM up to date, just being rerendered at different zoom levels at the moment https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=17/53.20785/-6.71149.
- Junction 9A bridge has barriers and has been surfaced...

Sallins Bypass
- New Osberstown Road overbridge beams installed. This bridge needs to opened so bypass can be carved through the existing temp road and under railway.
- Canal Bridge piers advanced.

Jim Gazebo

What is with the 60km section by J14? Passed it a few times now and no one seems to do 60, stay at 100/120/140 and it all seems very dangerous when you actually do 60.

Stark

JohnC. wrote: »

Does it work like this?

Distance to town

(Belfast isn't even on the M1, right?)

Is that an actual sign? Looks like a mockup that was proposed a few years ago to give Irish equal prominence to English on the signs but I don't remember them ever being accepted.

WhatsGoingOn2

The road is definitely holding up Westbound in the evenings. No delays so far even with schools back which is great.
Anyone know when the roundabout at Junction 10 is due to finish?
It is a bit of a pain to have to go back down to the Bundle of Sticks to go back into Newbridge. (although in the bigger scheme of things, commute is still hugely improved)

Pablod

Yeah big improvement on commute even with schools back apart from the crash on N7 at Kill this morning which backed down to Jn9 :mad: thankfully avoided it in time.

Not too keen on the new Jn10 have to say... have noticed few times at Jn10 (Eastbound) exit tailing back almost onto M7 due to traffic not being able to get onto the roundabout.

Also on Jn10 have seen plenty of near misses due to cars pulling across 2 or 3 lanes at last minute to exist at the new Jn10, as they wouldn't sit behind cars keeping to the 80K in lane 1.

Darc19

Pablod wrote: »

Yeah big improvement on commute even with schools back apart from the crash on N7 at Kill this morning which backed down to Jn9 :mad: thankfully avoided it in time.

Not too keen on the new Jn10 have to say... have noticed few times at Jn10 (Eastbound) exit tailing back almost onto M7 due to traffic not being able to get onto the roundabout.

Also on Jn10 have seen plenty of near misses due to cars pulling across 2 or 3 lanes at last minute to exist at the new Jn10, as they wouldn't sit behind cars keeping to the 80K in lane 1.

I wouldn't be worried about jct 10.

Once jct 9a opens all the millennium park and some general Naas traffic will use that which will see a lot less traffic on jct 10.

Also the gantry signs need to be installed asap so that motorists know the junction is a lot closer than before.

_Kaiser_

Jim Gazebo wrote: »

What is with the 60km section by J14? Passed it a few times now and no one seems to do 60, stay at 100/120/140 and it all seems very dangerous when you actually do 60.

They're resurfacing it in stages between J14 and J16 for some reason but they're pretty slow to update the signage as they complete each section which is why people are largely ignoring the lower limit as it's clearly no longer relevant?

There is a stripped back uneven section for a few hundred metres at J15 at the moment though so this does warrant a lower limit alright

Jim Gazebo

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

They're resurfacing it in stages between J14 and J16 for some reason but they're pretty slow to update the signage as they complete each section which is why people are largely ignoring the lower limit as it's clearly no longer relevant?

There is a stripped back uneven section for a few hundred metres at J15 at the moment though so this does warrant a lower limit alright

That's what I was asking. Couldn't understand why it was there but as an n driver being caught doing 120 in a 60 would pretty **** you up. Frustrating

BuzzFish

jmkennedyie wrote: »

Some observations...

Mainline
- Junction 9A bridge has barriers and has been surfaced..

To be 100% accurate the ramps are surfaced ready to go, lighting being installed however the link from 9a to the millennium park ring road is just completing out it's foundation layers and should see tarmac in the coming week or so. All curbing is in place now with the curbs at the millennium park roundabout installed just yesterday.

I'd say 9a could still be on for a September opening 😀 with a push.

Kevtherev1

The M7 Upgrade website has just posted the following traffic update.


This coming Sunday 8th Sept, the M9 southbound carriageway between Junction 11 (M7 split) and Junction 2 (Kilcullen) will be closed from 21.30 hrs through to 06.30hrs on Monday 9th Sep.Traffic will be diverted along the M7 westbound from Junction 11 to exit at Junction 12 (Newbridge) and then directed onto the R413 towards Kilcullen past the Curragh turning left at Kilcullen onto the R448 to rejoin the M9 at Junction 2.

This closure and diversion is necessary to carry out essential surfacing works as part of the M7 Upgrade. Motorists may experience some delays due to this closure and diversion and should make allowances when planning their journey.The Gardai will be in attendance during the closure to assist in maintaining traffic flows at certain locations.

WishUWereHere

This evening I was driving down from thr bundle of sticks. Coming up to the new roundabout for J10 here was a car driving towards me. I flashed like hell, he reversed...and started driving down the off ramp from the M7 NB.

I ran after him waving, got him stopped. Asked him where he was headed &he said Naas. He said he was totally disorientated. I know there are temporary orange signs there, but the large signs need to be erected ASAP before someone is killed.

Darc19

WishUWereHere wrote: »

This evening I was driving down from thr bundle of sticks. Coming up to the new roundabout for J10 here was a car driving towards me. I flashed like hell, he reversed...and started driving down the off ramp from the M7 NB.

I ran after him waving, got him stopped. Asked him where he was headed &he said Naas. He said he was totally disorientated. I know there are temporary orange signs there, but the large signs need to be erected ASAP before someone is killed.

There are plenty of official signs. Temporary signs were replaced over a week ago. The signs are very clear and concise.

Maybe it was simply an appalling driver who did not pay attention.

Thousands of other motorists have had no problem.

Darc19

Darc19 wrote: »

There are plenty of official signs. Temporary signs were replaced over a week ago. The signs are very clear and concise.

Maybe it was simply an appalling driver who did not pay attention.

Thousands of other motorists have had no problem.

The problem is that usually it's local drivers who get caught out, they know the road "like the back if their hand" so don't generally look out for signs.
When there are road works and things change, everyone should look out for the signs as their "default" route may change.

sdanseo

Deleted User wrote: »

The problem is that usually it's local drivers who get caught out, they know the road "like the back if their hand" so don't generally look out for signs.
When there are road works and things change, everyone should look out for the signs as their "default" route may change.

Simpler than that, every off ramp should have massive no entry signs. Most do but some don't.

The bare minimum - especially on new entrances such as this scheme where totally new ramps have been created -should be a large no entry sign accompanied by the words "DANGER WRONG WAY - TURN BACK" as they used to have.

Relatively tiny investment to prevent a crash at >200km/h closing speed which would be fatal 100% of the time.

Stark wrote: »

Is that an actual sign? Looks like a mockup that was proposed a few years ago to give Irish equal prominence to English on the signs but I don't remember them ever being accepted.

Exact and correct, although that particular mockup is piss poor, uses the English "transport" font without fadas.
The general idea was brilliant though and should have been followed through, the proposed scheme was much more visually appealing and promoted Irish back to equal status rather than its current italicised pecking order of only being there because it has to be.

sdanseo

sdanseo wrote: »

Simpler than that, every off ramp should have massive no entry signs. Most do but some don't.

The bare minimum - especially on new entrances such as this scheme where totally new ramps have been created -should be a large no entry sign accompanied by the words "DANGER WRONG WAY - TURN BACK" as they used to have.

Yes proper No Entry signs should be clearly displayed, especially when a change of direction has occurred (I don't know the road so can't say whether this is the case).

sdanseo wrote: »

Exact and correct, although that particular mockup is piss poor, uses the English "transport" font without fadas.
The general idea was brilliant though and should have been followed through, the proposed scheme was much more visually appealing and promoted Irish back to equal status rather than its current italicised pecking order of only being there because it has to be.

Yes I totally agree, the separate colours make signs so much easier to read, as for the lack of fáda, just a minor amendment to the font.

sdanseo

Deleted User wrote: »

Yes proper No Entry signs should be clearly displayed, especially when a change of direction has occurred (I don't know the road so can't say whether this is the case).




Yes I totally agree, the separate colours make signs so much easier to read, as for the lack of fáda, just a minor amendment to the font.

US signs are notriously blunt. Perfect for this situation. Albeit Gaelige required.
https://injuryinfo.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/wrong-way-do-not-enter-sign.jpg

sdanseo

sdanseo wrote: »

US signs are notriously blunt. Perfect for this situation. Albeit Gaelige required.
https://injuryinfo.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/wrong-way-do-not-enter-sign.jpg

The European "No entry" sign does not need text and is understandable by all competent drivers.

sdanseo

Deleted User wrote: »

The European "No entry" sign does not need text and is understandable by all competent drivers.

You could say the same for the concept of a motorway off ramp.

Having seen some of the absolute stupidity of Irish drivers in Dublin - let alone outside it where motorways remain a novelty despite being quite well established - erring on the side of caution is completely warranted.

sdanseo

sdanseo wrote: »

You could say the same for the concept of a motorway off ramp.

Having seen some of the absolute stupidity of Irish drivers in Dublin - let alone outside it where motorways remain a novelty despite being quite well established - erring on the side of caution is completely warranted.

Well if they don't understand the "No Entry" sign they simply shouldn't be driving!
In reality, these are usually the same drivers who ignores the " no ahead" signs that preceded them!

sdanseo

Deleted User wrote: »

Well if they don't understand the "No Entry" sign they simply shouldn't be driving!
In reality, these are usually the same drivers who ignores the " no ahead" signs that preceded them!

Completely agree that everyone should know the meaning of these.

Unfortunately people are stoopid (mispelling for emphasis) and that's why the US has the words literally integrated into the symbol.

A certain cohort of Irish drivers, are, sadly, on the same level. I have the dashcam footage to prove it.

sdanseo

sdanseo wrote: »

Completely agree that everyone should know the meaning of these.

Unfortunately people are stoopid (mispelling for emphasis) and that's why the US has the words literally integrated into the symbol.

A certain cohort of Irish drivers, are, sadly, on the same level. I have the dashcam footage to prove it.

The US signage assumes that you can understand English, not useful in EU with all the international drivers we see here, Our US style warning signs cause more issues for them than the "odd" parking signs.

sdanseo

Deleted User wrote: »

The US signage assumes that you can understand English, not useful in EU with all the international drivers we see here, Our US style warning signs cause more issues for them than the "odd" parking signs.

For sure, the symbol should be integrated.

45 seconds in paint (my translations probably a bit literal)
https://i.gyazo.com/33a569c89815ca8d0de199721ef378c8.png

I won't post any more on signage, as don't want to derail the thread entirely. Sam will shout at me.

BuzzFish

I've seen somewhere that a country uses laser\radar to detect a vehicle going the wrong way which flashes signage but also lifts those 45degree tyre bursting spikes (that you may have seen on one-way systems or leaving car rental places) as a last resort if the signage has been passed by. Definitely better that allowing the car to to motorway speed.

beertons

[Deleted User] wrote: »

The problem is that usually it's local drivers who get caught out, they know the road "like the back if their hand" so don't generally look out for signs.
When there are road works and things change, everyone should look out for the signs as their "default" route may change.

I did it myself last Tuesday afternoon. Cones had been removed to allow the trucks come and go for the tar removal.

WishUWereHere

Deleted User wrote: »

The problem is that usually it's local drivers who get caught out, they know the road "like the back if their hand" so don't generally look out for signs.
When there are road works and things change, everyone should look out for the signs as their "default" route may change.

You are so right DolanBaker. I don't know if the driver was local or not, but He sure was lost. I'm not sure that these temporary orange signs ( with black writing ) suffice, but where they are positioned isn't the most obvious - standing up on the ground...no elevation. I just hope the man got to Naas safely!

Edit: Was driven down from Naas today and got a chance to take photos to highlight the orange signage being used at that roundabout: