N22 - Macroom to Ovens [postponed until post 2027]

marno21

This will be a 'gap' between the Ballincollig bypass & the Macroom/Ballyvourney bypass when the later will be finished in the next few years. It was planned as HQDC before being suspended and is phase II of the Ballyvourney - Ovens overall agenda.

Mention of it here: http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/push-for-macroom-bypass-green-light-335588.html

Chris_5339762

Its a gap but is mostly Wide S2 between the end of the Ballincollig Bypass and where the Macroom - Ballyvourney scheme will begin. Its rare to get slowed down along that section, TBH.

There are a couple of junctions along the route and a few km of narrow road just south of Macroom but I think this is quite rightly a fair bit down the priority list.

AugustusMinimus

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

Its a gap but is mostly Wide S2 between the end of the Ballincollig Bypass and where the Macroom - Ballyvourney scheme will begin. Its rare to get slowed down along that section, TBH.

There are a couple of junctions along the route and a few km of narrow road just south of Macroom but I think this is quite rightly a fair bit down the priority list.

Ovens to Lissarda is wide S2 and is OK for the moment.

Lissarda to Macroom as you say isn't as good. I'd go further and say parts are just as bad as Macroom to Ballyvourney and resemble the N20 south of Buttevant.

marno21

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

Ovens to Lissarda is wide S2 and is OK for the moment.

Lissarda to Macroom as you say isn't as good. I'd go further and say parts are just as bad as Macroom to Ballyvourney and resemble the N20 south of Buttevant.

The area around Coolcower, is terrible especially around the 2 bridges. It's a pity it's not part of the Macroom/Ballyvourney scheme.

hans aus dtschl

If there was even a scheme to widen the road between the two bridges it'd be a big improvement.
East of the bridges isn't perfect, but also isn't too bad.

marno21

The section of road between Lissarda and the Macroom bypass that this scheme will replace is now down to 80km/h due to safety concerns. Hopefully a few more points in its favour.

The N22 itself along here will get a lot busier down the road firstly when the Macroom bypass opens and secondly if the Killarney bypass is added to the National Development Plan. A lot of Tralee-Cork traffic avoids the N22 due to how slow it is and instead takes the R577 via Castleisland and Ballydesmond/Boherbue.

Assuming both schemes are done, it'll be:

Tralee-Farranfore - WS2, ok for the minute and could be retrospectively 2+2'd. Tralee-Farranfore is a quieter section of the N22.
Farranfore-Killarney East - 2+2, this is a very busy and congested stretch at present and the 2+2 can't come quick enough especially around Killarney
Killarney East-Ballyvourney - part WS2 part WS3, this is ok for now but will see traffic volumes increase as the N22 improves.
Ballyvourney-Macroom East - 2+2, don't need to say much here.

This leaves the busiest part of the N22, between Macroom and Ovens as the worst section of the route, with part of it legacy S2 and part reduced S2 with narrow shoulders. There are also 3 urban stretches with reduced speed limits requiring bypassing. The end of the Ballincollig bypass westbound is also a choke point and there are safety issues after it ends due to the volume of traffic clumping up with frequent turning traffic and junctions.

Having 100km/h DC from Ballyvourney to Macroom and 120km/h motorway from Macroom to the soon to be M40 would be a proper first class route for the region.

Chris_5339762

Agreed, but with this the only gap between bits of roads, my vote anyway would be to do Midleton - Youghal instead as the Midleton roundabout, Castlemartyr and Killeagh are bad bottlenecks and the traffic on the road is way heavier.

marno21

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

Agreed, but with this the only gap between bits of roads, my vote anyway would be to do Midleton - Youghal instead as the Midleton roundabout, Castlemartyr and Killeagh are bad bottlenecks and the traffic on the road is way heavier.

Thankfully we're not alone in this view.

https://twitter.com/cooper_m/status/963204478609608705

I agree with you. Cork is big enough now that it deserves a functional radial road network and M20, M22, M25, M28 and M71 stretches are required to complement the M8. When you see what cities like Galway and Waterford have now and what they will have when the NDP is implemented it makes Cork look worse.

Roadrunner99

Unfortunately I don't think we'll see the macroom to ovens part of the road done for a good few years yet. Infairness it's not the worst road it's from 4 mile bridge back to the county bounds is the worst part of it tbh it's a shocking road one of the worst in the county with the amount of traffic on it.

AugustusMinimus

Roadrunner99 wrote: »

Unfortunately I don't think we'll see the macroom to ovens part of the road done for a good few years yet. Infairness it's not the worst road it's from 4 mile bridge back to the county bounds is the worst part of it tbh it's a shocking road one of the worst in the county with the amount of traffic on it.

Macroom -Ovens still badly needs to be done though. It’s an appalling piece of road given the traffic it carries.

Roadrunner99

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

Macroom -Ovens still badly needs to be done though. It’s an appalling piece of road given the traffic it carries.

Couldn't agree more but once the macroom bypass is done now in a few years this should put pressure on getting the ovens bypass up and running with the extra traffic that will be coming on to it.

Roadrunner99

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

Macroom -Ovens still badly needs to be done though. It’s an appalling piece of road given the traffic it carries.

Couldn't agree more but once the macroom bypass is done now in a few years this should put pressure on getting the ovens bypass up and running with the extra traffic that will be coming on to it.

marno21

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

Macroom -Ovens still badly needs to be done though. It’s an appalling piece of road given the traffic it carries.

Exactly. It was recommended for dualling as far as the Coachford junction in the 1998 Road Needs Study, when the N6 west of Ballinasloe and the N9 south of Kilcullen were advised to become wide singles.

As things stand, initial planning on the N22 Ovens-Macroom section will not begin until 2028. Given TII's 8-13 years for total progression of major schemes assuming no delays it'll open between 2036 and 2041. So between 38 and 43 years after it was advised in a policy document that the N22 between Ballincollig and Macroom West should be done within 10 years.

For reference, here is the volume:capacity for the N22 in 2016. The entire N22 from Ovens to Ballyvourney is operating above 120% capacity bar a few km near Lissarda

AugustusMinimus

Obviously a lot of activity in the Macroom bypass thread.

I’m just wondering if anyone has s map showing the proposed route of this scheme or at least how it will tie into the end of the Macroom bypass.

marno21

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

Obviously a lot of activity in the Macroom bypass thread.

I’m just wondering if anyone has s map showing the proposed route of this scheme or at least how it will tie into the end of the Macroom bypass.

http://map.geohive.ie/

Under Data Catalogue, go Nature & Environment --> Environment, Conservation & Heritage --> Route Protection Corridors, Cork

That was the 2002 route afaik. The route in the 2032 project may change.

marno21

Confirmation from Shane Ross last week that this has been 100% ****canned and won't move for some time.

The N22 Ovens to Macroom major scheme, which links the N22 Ballincollig Bypass to the N22 Ballyvourney to Macroom scheme, is a legacy project proposal. This scheme was suspended some time ago, at which time it had been developed to the stage of route selection. This scheme remains suspended and has not been identified in the NDP among the projects to be progressed. There are, therefore, no current plans to progress the planning and design of this project.

marno21

Aindreas Moynihan making racket about the lack of work being done on the N22 between Macroom and Ovens

https://www.southernstar.ie/news/gaeltacht-in-muscrai-is-losing-out-on-jobs-says-td-4199984

There is now severe congestion sporadically on the route at peak times due to sheer volume of traffic heading to Cork. When it becomes a junction riddled single carriageway sandwiched between two grade separated dual carriageways the safety record of the road will drop even further.

steeler j

marno21 wrote: »

Aindreas Moynihan making racket about the lack of work being done on the N22 between Macroom and Ovens

https://www.southernstar.ie/news/gaeltacht-in-muscrai-is-losing-out-on-jobs-says-td-4199984

There is now severe congestion sporadically on the route at peak times due to sheer volume of traffic heading to Cork. When it becomes a junction riddled single carriageway sandwiched between two grade separated dual carriageways the safety record of the road will drop even further.

I was down that way last June or July and I'm supposed to be going down there in a few weeks and the back up coming into dual carriageway can be very bad and the turn off at nurtica isn't great ,that's where I turn off and I don't like it

Truckermal

marno21 wrote: »

Aindreas Moynihan making racket about the lack of work being done on the N22 between Macroom and Ovens

https://www.southernstar.ie/news/gaeltacht-in-muscrai-is-losing-out-on-jobs-says-td-4199984

There is now severe congestion sporadically on the route at peak times due to sheer volume of traffic heading to Cork. When it becomes a junction riddled single carriageway sandwiched between two grade separated dual carriageways the safety record of the road will drop even further.

Maybe that will change now considering Ross has the Goose cooked.

Cork Trucker

Truckermal wrote: »

Maybe that will change now considering Ross has the Goose cooked.

Not if the Greens get in, they are so cuckoo they will halt the Macroom Bypass as well as any future plans for this

Cookiemunster

Cork Trucker wrote: »

Not if the Greens get in, they are so cuckoo they will halt the Macroom Bypass as well as any future plans for this

Before the election the Greens were looking like king makers. The way the results went, they're now just one of the possible coalition options.

The most likely coalition (amazingly) is FF and SF who would be just shy of 80, meaning Labour and/or the SDs would get them over the line. Both FF and SF say they will finish the motorway network in their manifestos.

Also Ryan has already admitted that no project that already has contracts signed can be stopped.

Cork Trucker

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Before the election the Greens were looking like king makers. The way the results went, they're now just one of the possible coalition options.

The most likely coalition (amazingly) is FF and SF who would be just shy of 80, meaning Labour and/or the SDs would get them over the line. Both FF and SF say they will finish the motorway network in their manifestos.

Also Ryan has already admitted that no project that already has contracts signed can be stopped.

I don’t see SF willing to accept a junior role in any coalition based in them getting the highest vote percentage, if they do that and FF are the major party then they’ll go down the same road as the PD/LAB parties.

What Ryan night say is true, but you can bet your bottom dollar he’d stop anything new coming in stream.

Sorry to him but the climate charge lecturing isn’t resonating with the electorate, they would do untold damage if Ryan leads them into government. I never have nor will I ever vote green

Cookiemunster

Cork Trucker wrote: »

I don’t see SF willing to accept a junior role in any coalition based in them getting the highest vote percentage, if they do that and FF are the major party then they’ll go down the same road as the PD/LAB parties.

What Ryan night say is true, but you can bet your bottom dollar he’d stop anything new coming in stream.

Sorry to him but the climate charge lecturing isn’t resonating with the electorate, they would do untold damage if Ryan leads them into government. I never have nor will I ever vote green

They Greens are unlikely to be in any government with SF if they stick to their red lines as they claim they're going to do. SF are anti carbon tax and pro motorway. They definitely won't bend to the Greens on any tax increases. I don't think the Greens will be in government without a major back down.

actuar90

I haven't seen anything recent on this. Anyone have any updates?

marno21

actuar90 wrote: »

I haven't seen anything recent on this. Anyone have any updates?

None at all. It remains mothballed.

There is a review of the NDP in early 2021 and this just about missed out the last time around so hopefully it’ll make it this time.

Absolute headache of a road. Whatever about Macroom this stretch is painful from one end to the other unlike the smaller but more severe Macroom. When the Macroom section is done too it’ll be sandwiched in between two dual carriageways. Definitely needs to be put back on the table

BelfastVanMan

marno21 wrote: »

None at all. It remains mothballed.

There is a review of the NDP in early 2021 and this just about missed out the last time around so hopefully it’ll make it this time.

Absolute headache of a road. Whatever about Macroom this stretch is painful from one end to the other unlike the smaller but more severe Macroom. When the Macroom section is done too it’ll be sandwiched in between two dual carriageways. Definitely needs to be put back on the table

Agreed, it was a perfectly good road 30 or 40 years ago, but as you say, it will be a complete choke point when the current DC is finished.

marno21

https://www.echolive.ie/corknews/arid-40202279.html

Michael Creed today correctly stating that the Macroom-Ovens scheme is another important piece of the puzzle. Especially with the bucket of shíte between Macroom and Lissarda

Would be wonderful to see it included in the 2021 NDP.

KrisW1001

With Farranfore-Killarney on the list already, this is the only part of N22 that's left to do. I do think the Kerry project is more urgent (N22 in Cork is under capacity, but it's safe, unlike the Kerry stretch), but this needs to follow quickly.

Chris_5339762

Its well over capacity, I'd say. But it is, incredibly, REASONABLY safe compared with other similarly highly trafficked single carriageway routes.

That said, it is a big gap now in the network and should be sorted.

But after Midleton - Youghal bypass.

KrisW1001

Apologies, of course I meant to write "over capacity" there. I can't remember the last time I drove that road without being stuck in a platoon of at least ten cars at some stage. I think it's this platooning that makes it safer. If the traffic was just a little lighter, light enough for frustrated drivers to take a chance on a risky overtake (and they're nearly all risky on this route), there would be more accidents, I think.

Midleton-Youghal? It's a big job, and the western end of it will be plagued by objections. To be honest, I'd be happy with a Castlemartyr bypass for now - even a relief road would help (and Castlemartyr will probably need a relief road anyway, regardless of the national network). Killeagh is nowhere near as congested, and from there to Youghal is usually free-moving.

marno21

[QUOTE]The N22 Macroom to Ballincollig improvement scheme was suspended in the period 2006-2009 due to funding constraints and it remains suspended. It has not been identified as a project for progression under the revised National Development Plan to 2030. Given the competing demands on funding, it is unlikely that TII will be in a position to progress this project in the near future. However, TII have informed me that they recently approved funding to Cork County Council for a surfacing contract on the N22 at Coolcour, east of Macroom. A contractor has been appointed by the local authority and I understand that works will be completed this year.

In addition, there are a number of major new road projects under construction in the Cork area which should help reduce traffic congestion, as follows.

N22 Ballyvourney to Macroom

The N22 Ballyvourney to Macroom project consists of the construction of a 22km dual carriageway from Ballyvourney to Macroom, comprising a bypass of Macroom Town and the villages of Ballyvourney and Ballymakeera, at an estimated cost of €280 million. Works are approximately midway through construction with the dual carriageway expected to open by 2024.

By reducing traffic volumes on the existing N22 by approximately 12,000 vehicles per day, this project will improve journey times and allow for safer and more reliable road journeys. With traffic redirected to the new bypass, existing roads may be developed to facilitate better cycling and walking routes in the town of Macroom.

M8/N40/N25 Dunkettle Interchange Upgrade

The Dunkettle Interchange is undergoing a major upgrade to a free-flowing junction at an estimated cost of €216 million. This will include a new interchange for local traffic movements. This upgrade will facilitate economic growth and result in improved journey times for road users and quality of life benefits for residents of Cork. It is expected the new interchange will be in operation by the end of 2024.[/QUOTE]

Dead and buried.

TII identified this stretch as priority for safety reasons in 2018 (along with the rest of the route to Farranfore, the N20, the N4 between Mullingar and Longford, and the N2 North of Ardee). All four routes are busy interurban routes with heavy traffic, too many access points, chronic junctions and very poro safety records. Once the Macroom/Baile Bhurine section is complete, expect safety to get worse along here. It won't be until several people are killed on the route that the issue will be revisited. Very disappointing.