N8/N25/N40 - Dunkettle Interchange [open to traffic]

I think that link could only get done after today's change, so likely/hopefully in the next few weeks it'll be done.

The new opening has Northbound traffic using what will eventually be the M8 Southbound carriageway, so it can’t be permanent. My guess is that they’re hoping to have the old M8 bridge gone and the second new one built, and then route Northbound traffic onto its proper carriageway.

...and that bridge kinda clips on to the side of the new one. If you look closely (much easier on-site due to the angle of the camera), there is an un-used pillar sticking up.

The bridge is final I think. The way it interacts with the roundabout is not final though. The roundabout will be ripped up with both north south lanes continuing under the N25 in the east most underpass. I suspect this section of the current roundabout will be raised up significantly compared to present.

It's for another slip road. You can see in the diagrams above.

I also am baffled by that pillar. Visible at 38 seconds in this YouTube video: https://youtu.be/RvGvkMl0iIM

So, after a bit of head-scratching and comparing maps, here’s what has happened: The pink drawing is the existing interchange and approaches; the background is the finished plan. The M8 carriageway that has been demolished is dashed in black, and the new link for northbound M8 is in yellow.

The next change for this movement would be to build the bridge to take M8 northbound from tunnel (marked A on my diagram), at which point Northbound traffic will be diverted onto that. Don’t know if that could be done before late Summer, though, but things can happen surprisingly fast on these projects.

Okay. I had forgotten the exact movements, but anyway it’s clear that this link cannot stay in place. I can’t see when that final West-to-North movement would go live, but it could be quite late in the project.

What is also clearer when comparing the two maps is that the current Westbound N25-N8 carriageway is going to be removed, with Westbound traffic for the city being eventually routed over the current eastbound deck, and the new deck being constructed North of that will eventually carry Eastbound N25 vehicles - basically the East-West road is being shunted North by three lanes.

The reason the old Westbound N25 has to go to give the N25-M8North loop space to safely change height: it leaves the main East-to-West road at the same elevation, must stay under the Little Island junction structures, then vault over the main North-South carriageways, before turning and going under the East-West carriageways. Trying to do that with the East-West carriageways as far south as they are now would be lethal for traffic

Suspect the mainline coming out of the tunnel will be lowered to help in this case.

That'll be an absolute riot to build!

Dont think thats correct. The road you've marked "A" will be the slip for traffic coming from the east and heading north on the M8. Traffic coming from the tunnel heading north on the M8 will go over the new bridge where the traffic currently goes north on the M8. In order to do that traffic will travel from the tunnel under the eastern over bridge of the existing roundabout.

I think they are the final beams in order to take the Little Island access road over the myriad of slip roads underneath?

Took the screenshot below from the Dunkettle cam north yesterday. You can see given the perspective of the "small" white van how much they've dug out already. The way this is going the Tunnel to East Cork slip that is to run under the new bridge could be completed very quickly indeed.

Re the old bridge that used to take the M8 north and south over the railway bridge, I wonder will it actually be removed? In order to provide for the new east cork to M8 north link they will still have to construct another two or three structures to bridge over the railway line, the new tunnel to east cork link as well as the new slip road feeding in to that new roundabout to the east of the primary school. I'd imagine it may well just be cleaner to remove that railway bridge in its entirety? I could be wrong on that. We'll find out soon I suppose!