N24 - Cahir to Limerick Junction [design and planning underway]

marno21

Due to the dearth of "pipeline" national road schemes, TII & DTTAS are planning on developing a series of schemes to be advanced when the current funded schemes are completed in the next 5-7 years.

Bar the three Donegal schemes, we got first mention of one scheme today when Alan Kelly asked Shane Ross about any prospective N24 upgrade plans.

Ross mentions that DTTAS are planning on advancing a 27km upgrade of the N24 from Limerick Junction to Cahir, which includes a bypass of Tipp Town, Bansha and the deplorable bends near Cahir. If advanced, this will be the first section of N24 to be upgraded, given the fact that all other schemes are suspended.

Welcome news.

https://www.kildarestreet.com/debates/?id=2017-07-04a.411

road_high

Definitely the worst section of the road. To what standard are they thinking?

marno21

road_high wrote: »

Definitely the worst section of the road. To what standard are they thinking?

That hasn't been decided yet but most likely 2+2/Type 2 DC.

boardsuser1

From the Cahir exit on the M8 to Tipperary town is a pretty poor road, Bansha needs resurfacing in some places as well.

Been 18 months since i was passing through but can't imagine it has changed very much.

JCX BXC

KC161 wrote: »

From the Cahir exit on the M8 to Tipperary town is a pretty poor road, Bansha needs resurfacing in some places as well.

Been 18 months since i was passing through but can't imagine it has changed very much.

It most certainly hasn't changed at all, hasn't changed in years.

Harry Palmr

I used to use that road as a delivery driver until 2007 then last year for the first time since I was on it and indeed I'm sure nothing had changed beyond the Cahir bypass having been completed. The N24 is a ghost road.

pigtown

A bypass of Tipp town will give it vital space to breathe. It has great potential but the constant traffic and dirt really prevent it from improving.

marno21

This planned scheme will do wonders for the N24 at peak times. Will remove Tipp Town, the ****e stretch both sides of Bansha and Bansha itself from the equation.

Will be decent road with no slowdowns from Oola to Rathkeevin.

marno21

The N24 is one of the few national roads that's terrible along its length.

* Several towns along the route (Tipp Town, Clonmel, Carrick on Suir)
* Long stretches of legacy terrible twisty narrow road
* Several dangerous railway bridges
* A disaster of a 2+1 road that made the road more dangerous (Piltown)
* A "bypass" of Clonmel that's a glorified car park at peak times
* A rake of villages (Boher, Dromkeen, Oola, Pallasgreen, Limerick Junction, Bansha, Rathkeevin, Kilsheelan, Mooncoin)

What's worse is that it has received little attention over the last few decades bar the failed Clonmel bypass, and the 2 2+1 schemes. There's a few bits of hard shouldered road in Co. Limerick but that's about it.

There were plans for several schemes progressed through 2000-2010s (Ballysimon-Pallasgreen, Pallasgreen-Bansha, Bansha-Cahir, Cahir-Rathkeevin, Rathkeevin-Kilsheelan, Kilsheelan-Piltown, Mooncoin-Waterford). All have been scrapped so we have to start from scratch.

The Limerick Junction-Cahir planned scheme is the first scheme to be born out of the ashes. If approved it could be open for 2025/2026. Post-Brexit pressure on Rosslare could create an impetus to improve the N24 given its current unsuitability to heavy traffic.

marno21

Scheme has been reactivated, along with the entire stretch from Cahir to Waterford.

Other scheme discussed here: https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=105742900#post105742900

pigtown

Limerick City and County Council have been allocated 25 thousand towards this project. Will any of it be in their territory?

marno21

pigtown wrote: »

Limerick City and County Council have been allocated 25 thousand towards this project. Will any of it be in their territory?

It's being done by Midwest RDO most likely, part of Limerick council. All of it is in Co. Tipperary

JCX BXC

The sooner Tipperary is bypassed the better, some of the delays I've experienced passing through that kip are best forgotten.

pigtown

JCX BXC wrote: »

The sooner Tipperary is bypassed the better, some of the delays I've experienced passing through that kip are best forgotten.

It is a kip but if you look beyond the traffic and the dirt it has a lot of really beautiful buildings and with a bypass has the potential to become a very attractive town.

JCX BXC

pigtown wrote: »

It is a kip but if you look beyond the traffic and the dirt it has a lot of really beautiful buildings and with a bypass has the potential to become a very attractive town.

Possibly, and I'd agree it has some nice architecture but alot needs to be done, hopefully minds would be set once the bypass is built.

marno21

Article on this project from the Star.

https://www.tipperarystar.ie/news/home/309484/progress-on-proposed-tipp-town-bypass.html

Nothing new, scheme will go through pre-appraisal in 2018 and if it ticks the boxes it will be prioritised for funding as per the National Development Plna.

pigtown

Marno, sorry this is off topic but you seem very knowledgeable about roads. A lot of the Caherconlish to Mitchelstown road has land set aside for widening, and judging by the ditches and railings it seems to have been set aside quite a while ago. Do you know if there was a road widening plan that was abandoned?

marno21

pigtown wrote: »

Marno, sorry this is off topic but you seem very knowledgeable about roads. A lot of the Caherconlish to Mitchelstown road has land set aside for widening, and judging by the ditches and railings it seems to have been set aside quite a while ago. Do you know if there was a road widening plan that was abandoned?

There are a lot of instances of land being bought by the council for widening but funding never came for the actual works so it was left there with nothing done. There's about 3km of a similar case north of Buttevant where the road is windy before Buttevant. It would be nice with the NDP if these sections could be realigned given the land is there and there would be no CPO issues.

I know the stretches you're on about and yes I would imagine they were for widening. Theres a lot of it there just north of Hospital

neiljung

marno21 wrote: »

There are a lot of instances of land being bought by the council for widening but funding never came for the actual works so it was left there with nothing done. There's about 3km of a similar case north of Buttevant where the road is windy before Buttevant. It would be nice with the NDP if these sections could be realigned given the land is there and there would be no CPO issues.

Where is the section North of Buttevant? A good 5k or so of that was resurfaced about 2 years ago. It does get very wide alright before the junction with the Doneraile road is this the section?

Kermit.de.frog

Will this be a motorway?

marno21

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Will this be a motorway?

Likely the approach into Waterford will be. The rest will be 2+2

The approach into Waterford will require an alteration of the Grannagh Interchange if ao

fricatus

marno21 wrote: »

The approach into Waterford will require an alteration of the Grannagh Interchange if so

I wouldn't think so. The M24 could terminate at the same roundabout (Quarry) as the M9 does easily enough, as long as the start of it was built just north of the current N24. That connects to the short stretch of N9 between the Quarry roundabout and the Grannagh interchange

AugustusMinimus

The end of the M9 is a right cluster****. What were they thinking?

Chris_5339762

Yeah that one is an utter and complete mess, no other way to put it.

Kermit.de.frog

The less said the better I think...

JCX BXC

It is a truly bizzare layout. Haven't gone on that road much but everytime I do I think what sort of layout is this.

marno21

The design of that junction may have predated the plans for an M9. The plan for the N9 back in the Road Needs Study 1998 was WS2. WS2 N9 and WS2 N24 meeting at that roundabout wouldn't have been the worst idea.

Of course, in hindsight it does look stupid. If the old plan for Type 1 DC from Mooncoin to Grannagh is ploughed on then there will have to be something done there. That whole area around Grannagh is a total mess between the M9, N24, N25, old N9, link road to old N9, and old N24.

Pete_Cavan

Imo the optimal solution is to extend the new N/M24 due east from COS to meet the western end of the New Ross bypass with a proper junction with the M9 south of Mullinavat. A single east - west road linking the M11, M9, M8 and eventually M20 replacing the existing N24 and N25 would really improve connectivity in the southern third of the island.

spacetweek

Pete_Cavan wrote: »

Imo the optimal solution is to extend the new N/M24 due east from COS to meet the western end of the New Ross bypass with a proper junction with the M9 south of Mullinavat. A single east - west road linking the M11, M9, M8 and eventually M20 replacing the existing N24 and N25 would really improve connectivity in the southern third of the island.

That's quite a radical idea but I like it.

steeler j

any word on this lately ?

marno21

steeler j wrote: »

any word on this lately ?

Initial planning and route selection should start in early 2019, from Limerick Junction to Waterford.