R332 - Kilmaine to Tuam

marno21

In addition to his efforts to get the N59 done, Eamon O Cuiv wants the R332 done now to the Tuam bypass N17 connection

http://www.mayonews.ie/news/29904-o-cuiv-wants-kilmaine-to-tuam-road-upgrade

Sam Russell

marno21 wrote: »

In addition to his efforts to get the N59 done, Eamon O Cuiv wants the R332 done now to the Tuam bypass N17 connection

http://www.mayonews.ie/news/29904-o-cuiv-wants-kilmaine-to-tuam-road-upgrade

Why not use the R333?

marno21

Sam Russell wrote: »

Why not use the R333?

Not sure what you mean. The R333 would be a more indirect routing and doesn't connect directly wiht the N17. The N17 has a junction with the R332 on the Tuam BP.

He also wants the N84 done. No shortage of demands.

Sam Russell

marno21 wrote: »

Not sure what you mean. The R333 would be a more indirect routing and doesn't connect directly wiht the N17. The N17 has a junction with the R332 on the Tuam BP.

He also wants the N84 done. No shortage of demands.

Every boreen should be upgraded to Dual carriageway, and every dual carriageway should become a motorway. That is how you keep rural Ireland alive.

The R333 is further south, why not upgrade that as well, or is the R332 special. They are all rural roads that carry little traffic.

I think just because the M17 exists does not require that every road needs to upgraded to feed it. The R332 runs from the N84 to the N17, and the N84 connects Castlebar to Galway. There are much more pressing upgrades required.

MBSnr

Sam Russell wrote: »

Why not use the R333?

You would if the start/destination was Cong/Clonbur and areas beyond L. Mask and L. Corrib. The road from Kilmaine West to Cross village is an L road and not great, esp at night and in bad conditions.

If the start/destination is outside Castlebar then you'd go via Ballinrobe/N84/Kilmaine/R332/Tuam (or vice versa).

Sam Russell

MBSnr wrote: »

You would if the start/destination was Cong/Clonbur and areas beyond L. Mask and L. Corrib. The road from Kilmaine West to Cross village is an L road and not great, esp at night and in bad conditions.

If the start/destination is outside Castlebar then you'd go via Ballinrobe/N84/Kilmaine/R332/Tuam (or vice versa).

L roads are not motorways, and are generally 'not great, esp at night and in bad conditions'. Slow down if it is not safe.

You cannot expect motorways or dual carriageways for every L road that might be a little tricky. Danny Healey-Rae wants drink/driver exemptions for roads like this that are a bit tricky after a few pints. There are thousands of km of roads like that across the country, and probably a lot in Mayo and East Galway - I have driven on many of them. Just because you have to keep below 80 km/h does not mean it needs to be straightened, widened and levelled to enable you to travel at 100 km/h.

MBSnr

Sam Russell wrote: »

L roads are not motorways, and are generally 'not great, esp at night and in bad conditions'. Slow down if it is not safe.

You cannot expect motorways or dual carriageways for every L road that might be a little tricky. Danny Healey-Rae wants drink/driver exemptions for roads like this that are a bit tricky after a few pints. There are thousands of km of roads like that across the country, and probably a lot in Mayo and East Galway - I have driven on many of them. Just because you have to keep below 80 km/h does not mean it needs to be straightened, widened and levelled to enable you to travel at 100 km/h.

Well done Sam...

Did I actually say any of the above? Answer : No. Who are you to incorrectly lecture individuals on a public forum? Why reply directly to me implying that I drive too fast on L roads and that I expect motorways for every L road?

You're a Mod for this forum - I'm surprised at that. I really am.

Sam Russell

MBSnr wrote: »

Well done Sam...

Did I actually say any of the above? Answer : No. Who are you to incorrectly lecture individuals on a public forum? Why reply directly to me implying that I drive too fast on L roads and that I expect motorways for every L road?

You're a Mod for this forum - I'm surprised at that. I really am.

You are welcome to your opinion and I am not trying to lecture you or anyone. It is E. O'Cuiv who needs the lecture - he is just pumping the parish pump for all it is worth.

However, I have the opinion that many minor roads are put forward for upgrading when it is totally unnecessary. I was exaggerating, but I think the building of the M17/M18 ahead of the M20 was a serious mistake, and it appears to give licence for many to assume this gives licence for all roads to be upgraded.

My comment on slowing down was in regard to the comment ' esp at night and in bad conditions'. If conditions are bad - that is worse than normal - slowing down is required. Even if the road was upgraded, this advice is still valid.

unit 1

The 333 is a good idea but only if included in a "bigger" picture for the overall developement for the region.

What politicians should look for is indeed the 333 but for it to be extended further west via a new bridge at knockferry to oughterard. This would open up a large, though admittedly sparse area particularly from a tourist point of view. It might even reduce congestion in galway somewhat as an aletrnative route to the m6 for traffic from clifden.

MBSnr

Sam Russell wrote: »

However, I have the opinion that many minor roads are put forward for upgrading when it is totally unnecessary. I was exaggerating, but I think the building of the M17/M18 ahead of the M20 was a serious mistake, and it appears to give licence for many to assume this gives licence for all roads to be upgraded.
.

In this case I believe that some upgrades to the R332 are valid. It has many angled turns that could easily be amended to be straighter and a junction on it that forces a stop at the Ballinrobe Rd (even though the road to Kilmaine is the R332). It would make more sense to ensure that traffic flow was seamlessly sent to Kilmaine from Tuam on the R332 and then on to the N84 than the narrower and non white centre lined (in sections) Ballinrobe road.

marno21

unit 1 wrote: »

The 333 is a good idea but only if included in a "bigger" picture for the overall developement for the region.

What politicians should look for is indeed the 333 but for it to be extended further west via a new bridge at knockferry to oughterard. This would open up a large, though admittedly sparse area particularly from a tourist point of view. It might even reduce congestion in galway somewhat as an aletrnative route to the m6 for traffic from clifden.

There is €593m being spent on an alternative route from the M6 from the N59. That'll do for now.

marno21

http://galwaybayfm.ie/tii-urged-provide-funds-upgrade-tuam-kilmaine-road/

Someone needs to tell him that the road is controlled by Galway County Council and not TII.

discodaveirl

Biggest pressure for the R332 is coming from Mchales in Ballinrobe, much more direct route fo the motorway for Dublin.. Reduced transport costs for incoming raw materials and out going product meaning more profit (or as they will be telling government more employment and expansion in rural ireland)

plodder

marno21 wrote: »

In addition to his efforts to get the N59 done, Eamon O Cuiv wants the R332 done now to the Tuam bypass N17 connection

http://www.mayonews.ie/news/29904-o-cuiv-wants-kilmaine-to-tuam-road-upgrade

I can see a lot of people looking at that road as an alternative route to Balinrobe/Westport using the M17. Does anyone know what kind of condition the R332 is in now?

flazio

Local roads seeing increase in traffic trying to access the motorway.
https://connachttribune.ie/motorway-opening-sees-25-traffic-increase-on-rural-road-025/

marno21

flazio wrote: »

Local roads seeing increase in traffic trying to access the motorway.
https://connachttribune.ie/motorway-opening-sees-25-traffic-increase-on-rural-road-025/

13,500 vehicles on that road is just nuts.

MrDerp

I suppose it's to be expected that new motorway routes are going to create new patterns of usage on L and R roads.

As it happens, my mother is from South Mayo, I know the route, and I get where people are coming from. I would previously have driven to Galway to access the N84 from Dublin or Cork, I would now certainly use the route in question. An improved R333 wouldn't entice me without significant improvements to the N84. As it is, it's 50/50 whether folks continue on the N84 from Headford or use the R334 to Ballinrobe.

However, there are other roads in planning so I'm not sure knee-jerk re-prioritising of budget is the correct solution.

It would be good to start overlaying census data onto TII data on the improved road grid and do more advanced modeling of likely movements. There's a sort of stochastic graph traversal algorithm on steroids here when you consider that folks will naturally try routes, share feedback with eachother, and then travel on the optimal routes. New trunk routes change patterns, and folks naturally find new ways of getting from A to B.

I'd be happy to see new national secondary routes where they chain one or more communities to the motorway arteries, or upgrades to relevant R routes, but this shouldn't be based on bottom-up local pressure, rather TII should be in charge of the bigger picture, and take future planned improvements into account from a modeling perspective. It's easy for me to look at a map and see that Westport Traffic, and some Castlebar Traffic would access the M6 through this route, but in the longer term there are significant N5 corridor improvements in pipeline. I'm less familiar with the area, but I can see that west galway traffic might also be tempted through Cong and Kilmaine to avoid driving around Galway, and there's a Galway bypass on the plan.

Once the N5 improvements and Galway outer bypass are addressed, the population modeling of Ballinrobe and its surrounds probably wouldn't prioritise a new national secondary cut across, and indeed N84 traffic would have improved access via Galway.

One must also keep in mind, however, that the relevant part of Mayo is part of Galway West now (Ballinrobe, Shrule, Kilmaine), and so there's a bunch of voters in limbo in a traditionally fierce FG and FF battleground.

That aside, by all means the road safety within villages and immediate surrounds should be addressed. The road in question is a fine example of a dodgy R route with dodgy surrounds.

marno21

1.5km of this now out for tender for consultancy services for Phases 1-4

https://irl.eu-supply.com/app/rfq/publicpurchase.asp?PID=142711

marno21

Public consultation on this coming up shortly

https://galwaybayfm.ie/galway-bay-fm-news-desk/galway-td-urges-public-to-get-involved-in-consultation-on-kilbannon-realignment-scheme/

marno21

Construction on 1.2km including pedestrian/cyclist facilities to commence in September

https://www.tuamherald.ie/news/roundup/articles/2020/07/08/4189912-kilbannon-road-widening-project-moves-closer/

Baldilocks

Is there any sign of this road being upgraded, much busier since the opening of the Gort-Tuam motorway (as it's far quicker for those travelling from Mayo (Ballinrobe, Westport, etc), but the R332 is painful and dangerous