M18 - Gort to Crusheen

Chris_533976 · 12-12-2008 7:51pm

For those who want updates.

The rumours of Gort - Crusheen not starting till the new year are nonsense. There is huge earthwork going on there at the moment.

Big clearances have gone on at the end of the Ennis bypass for the N18 bridge that'll link Barefield to the current N18. My guess is that this bridge will be built quickly and traffic will be sent through Barefield while this is done. (Also this avoids the Motorway Redesignation #2 problem of no alternate route for 500m of the Ennis bypass). Some flattening has been done at the scheme beginning here and some gravel is ALREADY down.

Tree clearance is ongoing along the route, half a roundabout has been built in Gort at the scheme terminus and a group of engineers were eyeing one of the CPOed houses with a view to the wrecking ball.

Progress in one month is phenomenal.

BluntGuy · 12-12-2008 8:11pm

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Progress in one month is phenomenal.

Thanks for the update, and I'm glad of this. The quicker we get road-schemes done the quicker funding is freed up which is paramount in these tougher economic times.

I want the M20 and M18 finished by 2015. I still think it's possible, and once we have a motorway from Galway to Cork (and Limerick), we can truly begin to say we have a real inter-urban network that links core regional cities.

Sponge Bob · 12-12-2008 8:29pm

BluntGuy wrote: »

Thanks for the update, and I'm glad of this. The quicker we get road-schemes done the quicker funding is freed up which is paramount in these tougher economic times.

Eh! Funding ??? What ???

I want the M20 and M18 finished by 2015. I still think it's possible, and once we have a motorway from Galway to Cork (and Limerick), we can truly begin to say we have a real inter-urban network that links core regional cities.

As things are and will be through 2011 minimum there is now no chance whatsoever that any national road schemes will start before 2012 bar Newlands Cross .....maybe !

They may finish the M18 and M20 out towards the end of the next decade .

BluntGuy · 12-12-2008 8:41pm

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Eh! Funding ??? What ???

What do you mean "what"?

All road-schemes under construction suck-up money from the current budget (thus no new schemes are starting this year). When these schemes are complete, the budget for road projects is freed up (even though the budget will be significantly less than the mammoth amounts the NRA used to get.

Sponge Bob wrote:

As things are and will be through 2011 minimum there is now no chance whatsoever that any national road schemes will start before 2012 bar Newlands Cross .....maybe !

They may finish the M18 and M20 out towards the end of the next decade .

I agree with your first point, it is most likely no new road schemes will be started before 2012 bar Newland's Cross.

But I can see road-building accelerating again after 2012 albeit to less than half the extent of the current road-building programme, but enough to see the M20, M18 and M11 completed. I cannot be sure about the New Ross bypass, M17, Enniscorthy Bypass, anything for the N4 or even the DOOR, but I feel the M20, M18 and M11 will become finished (or at least nearly finished) by 2015.

Amtmann · 12-12-2008 9:45pm

Chris_533976 wrote: »

For those who want updates.
There is huge earthwork going on there at the moment.

Big clearances have gone on at the end of the Ennis bypass for the N18 bridge that'll link Barefield to the current N18....Some flattening has been done at the scheme beginning here and some gravel is ALREADY down.

Progress in one month is phenomenal.

Could you take some photos every so often and put them up here?

Chris_533976 · 12-12-2008 10:42pm

I had the camera in the bag but taking pictures out of a manky bus window in the rain just wasnt an option

Coming home just before Christmas tho, we'll see what we can do then.

invincibleirish · 12-12-2008 10:53pm

BluntGuy wrote: »

But I can see road-building accelerating again after 2012 albeit to less than half the extent of the current road-building programme, but enough to see the M20, M18 and M11 completed. I cannot be sure about the New Ross bypass, M17, Enniscorthy Bypass, anything for the N4 or even the DOOR, but I feel the M20, M18 and M11 will become finished (or at least nearly finished) by 2015.

I admire your confidence in the Irish economy to recover in the next 3 years BluntGuy but i think you're incorrect, imo its highly unlikely in the short to medium term that the Governments income will recover to anything near the levels we've become accustomed to over the past decade. Revenue is predicted to decrease throughout 2009/10.

Remember its not just international factors facing Government finances, the collapse of the construction sector means that there was always going to be a black hole in Gov. revenue anyway, now that its difficult for the Gov to obtain cheap credit internationally the chances of any headway being made on any large scale infrastructure projects are remote to say the least, even more so when you factor in what are other important costly national issues to deal with.

In short we've seen the golden age of road building in this country, shame we managed to squander it so spectacularly.

BluntGuy · 12-12-2008 11:15pm

invincibleirish wrote: »

I admire your confidence in the Irish economy to recover in the next 3 years BluntGuy but i think you're incorrect, imo its highly unlikely in the short to medium term that the Governments income will recover to anything near the levels we've become accustomed to over the past decade. Revenue is predicted to decrease throughout 2009/10.

I can certainly see things reaching their worst around 2010/2011, possibly even 2012, and no I don't see revenue recovering substantially within the medium term. But combine the remaining M20,M18 and M11 schemes. That's roughly 130 km worth of DC to construct within the space of a few years. I think that is (just about) feasible to do.

Now don't get me wrong, I certainly wouldn't be surprised if the M20 wasn't finished by 2015, but I do expect the majority of it to be either finished or under construction at that stage, especially if PPP funding can be found for it.

But as you said, the golden age of road-building is over. However to predict an additional 130 km of DC to begin construction within the space of 5 years (2010 - 2015) and an interchange upgrade, with a government that is obsessed with building roads and needs projects to help keep the construction sector busy is not exactly unlikely.

Of course, then again, with the (even more essential) Metro and Interconnector projects still to fork out for, perhaps I am being a little bit too hopeful.

I would just love to see the M20 and M18 opening, it'll be more gratifying in many ways than our other Dublin-centric MUIs.

Sponge Bob · 12-12-2008 11:30pm

BluntGuy wrote: »

Of course, then again, with the (even more essential) Metro and Interconnector projects still to fork out for, perhaps I am being a little bit too hopeful.

I would just love to see the M20 and M18 opening, it'll be more gratifying in many ways than our other Dublin-centric MUIs.

There you see the elephant in the room

A paltry Transport budget will be stretched to deliver anything bar a Metro North PPP over the first half of the next decade much less any road projects .

In fact the current situation is so dire that

a) There is no point in even keeping the current NRA beyond 2010, it is a rolls royce quango in a daewoo matiz economy for the foreseeable future .

b) It is even questionable whether some of the MIU projects will be complete by 2010

Chris_533976 · 12-12-2008 11:40pm

... and thats not really the fault of the government or the NRA. Its just a woeful construction company. I guess the NRA or the Gov could give them an ole kick up the ass tho.

I bet Crusheen-Gort finishes before the M7/M8 scheme.

Chris_533976 · 04-01-2009 7:31pm

Was on my way to Galway today and took some pictures out of the passenger window. Unfortunately they're crap, but here they are anyway. Fast car + high barrier + bad camera = not great pics, but here we go

All pics (except where mentioned) are taken at the end of the Ennis bypass where the tie-in will be. Big works are to start soon. We move north from there.

Side road between Ennis and Crusheen.

Crusheen Junction

Gort junction (Tie in with current N18, and where next N18 (Oranmore - Gort) will start in about 2100.

BluntGuy · 04-01-2009 9:24pm

Looks like they're really getting down to it already.

KevR · 05-01-2009 1:29am

Thanks for the pictures!

Have to drive to and from Shannon twice in the next week. Looking forward to seeing the work on the new section for myself when I'm passing, although doubt I'll get the chance to take any photos because I'll be driving..

Hopefully the new under construction will be M rather than N and have a 120kmh speed limit from day one. 100kmh feels too slow for the Ennis Bypass IMO.

KevR · 12-01-2009 2:19pm

There's no completion date for the Gort-Crusheen project on the NRA website, not that I can see anyway. Anyone know the planned completion date?

Had to drive Galway-Shannon and back again yesterday, both journeys during hours of darkness and the weather was aweful for driving also.
The current N18 between Oranmore and Crusheen is a disgrace. Such a dangerous road. You suddenly come into sections which have no cats eyes. There are loads of dangerous bends, loads of sudden dips & sudden climbs in the road, sudden endings of the hard shoulder, sudden narrowing in the road, aweful sightlines, impossible to overtake.....etc. They honestly must have spent more money on paying for and installing chevrons at dangerous bends than they would have spent on just straightning the road! It's such a pain to drive on. Drove on it at 23:30 last night and one slow driving van caused a pretty big tailback because nobody could overtake.

In stark contrast, the Ennis bypass is a pleasure to drive on. It feels so much safer and you don't get frustrated because you can't get stuck behind someone driving slow. I can't wait for the Gort-Crusheen section (and the next section to Athenry) to open. The sooner the better.

Chris_533976 · 12-01-2009 8:30pm

Gort may be tarred soon as I'm sure they wanted to leave it bad so they could whinge about it in the hopes that it might get the bypass built. But it is absolutely shocking there at the moment.

Official completion date for this is 2011.

My guess is that this'll be opened mid 2010, as its a simple run with no bridges, only one junction. There really isnt anything complicated about the engineering, its a piss easy scheme compared to some.

I think it'll take about the same length of time as M8 Mitchelstown - Fermoy. About 18 months. And I dont think there'll be any sectional opening as there really would be no point. Only junction is at Crusheen.

corktina · 12-01-2009 8:41pm

Furet wrote: »

Could you take some photos every so often and put them up here?

i came through the other day and it appears that work is taking place all the way from the end of the bypass at Ennis to North of Gort, I was really surprised. Possibly its only clearing and fencing work but quite extensive.

Cool Mo D · 12-01-2009 9:14pm

There actually isn't going to be a junction at Crusheen. The existing junction at Barefield, north of Ennis will be close to the start of the scheme, and then Gort will be the only junction.

See this map: http://www.nra.ie/RoadSchemeActivity/GalwayCountyCouncil/N18GorttoCrusheen/Map,15482,en.pdf

Chris_533976 · 12-01-2009 9:46pm

Map is wrong, they forgot it

http://www.galway.ie/en/Services/RoadsTransportation/RoadProjects/n18_new/n18.htm

Edit: But yeah, there isnt really a whole lot of point putting a junction at Crusheen. Improve the current Crusheen - Barefield road and let the lazy buggers (all 10 people who will use it daily) drive about a mile or two to Barefield to use another junction thats only used by about 10 cars a day and the Bus Eireann buses..

marmurr1916 · 13-01-2009 12:20am

corktina wrote: »

i came through the other day and it appears that work is taking place all the way from the end of the bypass at Ennis to North of Gort, I was really surprised. Possibly its only clearing and fencing work but quite extensive.

Did Cork-Galway return around New Years. There's a lot of work going on from Barefield (end of Ennis bypass) to the north of Gort alright.

At the moment it seems to be mostly clearing with some minor earthworks but hopefully there'll be faster progress over the rest of the year.

If it's done as quickly and efficiently as some of the M8 sections, it should be finished before the end of 2010.

Irish and Proud · 22-01-2009 3:40pm

spacetweek wrote: »

No, there is no news. No roads are starting this year (2009). If any begin in 2010, the N18 is likely.

This year’s start project was actually the Gort to Crusheen scheme, which started ahead of schedule around November 2008 - guess the NRA saw a further economic deterioration ahead and wanted to get one step ahead of “An Bord Snip” by entering into the construction contract, thereby rendering the scheme in question: “un-axable”.

:D:D

However, there might be some hope for the rest of the M18, plus the M20 motorway. But that said, I wouldn't be over optimistic (before 2015) about any other road scheme, apart from maybe the N7 Newlands Cross, N25 CSRR Interchanges (congestion black-spots) and M11 Arklow to Rathnew (current N11 stretch is a death trap). Also, the M11 scheme would make economic sense too as it would generate temporary employment, giving places like Arklow (AFAIK, an unemployment black-spot) more economic wriggle room. I heard the tendering for this scheme was cancelled

, which I think is crazy in light of the above. The only plausible explanation would be: that the government is waiting for construction costs to drop before committing. However, I would be too hopeful!

:(:(

Regards!

KevR · 23-01-2009 1:33am

Chris_533976 wrote: »

And forget about the Cork SRRs. They're still not high priority, and some idiots in the Cork council are OPPOSING them, proceeding blindly into an anti car, pro (useless) bus war.

Cork must be very similar to Galway in that there are people who object for the sake of objecting or just object to any sort of progress.

I have to laugh at anyone still pushing the idea of people switching form their cars to buses. It's all well and good spending money building bus lanes IF you're going to increase/improve bus services dramatically. But seeing as though Bus Eireann are cutting/reducing the already dire services, bus lanes are only a waste of time and money.

bill_ashmount · 23-01-2009 10:10am

Chris_533976 wrote: »

And forget about the Cork SRRs. They're still not high priority, and some idiots in the Cork council are OPPOSING them, proceeding blindly into an anti car, pro (useless) bus war.

Elected representatives or normal workers?

If you mean elected representatives do you have any names? Like to see if any of them are in my area.

Cheers

corktina · 23-01-2009 3:47pm

KevR wrote: »

Cork must be very similar to Galway in that there are people who object for the sake of objecting or just object to any sort of progress.

I have to laugh at anyone still pushing the idea of people switching form their cars to buses. It's all well and good spending money building bus lanes IF you're going to increase/improve bus services dramatically. But seeing as though Bus Eireann are cutting/reducing the already dire services, bus lanes are only a waste of time and money.

two examples....the new bus lanes being installed in Limerick, especially that one on the bypassy bit to the new bridge (dont know what its called) and the long one in cork on the Glasheen road in from the south ring to near CIT (Rossa AVe way)...never seen a bus on either road.

Tech3 · 23-01-2009 6:43pm

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Map is wrong, they forgot it

http://www.galway.ie/en/Services/RoadsTransportation/RoadProjects/n18_new/n18.htm

I was just looking at the new junction that is going to be laid out at gort. Was wondering will it be a roundabout to be constructed there or will it be a grade seperated junction??

Chris_533976 · 23-01-2009 7:47pm

Roundabout for now. It'll be replaced with a full GSJ when Oranmore - Gort is built. Dunno why they decided not to build a GSJ from day 1 though.

BluntGuy · 23-01-2009 8:14pm

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Roundabout for now. It'll be replaced with a full GSJ when Oranmore - Gort is built. Dunno why they decided not to build a GSJ from day 1 though.

It's ridiculous.

Minimal short-term savings at huge long-term expense. Pretty much sums up the way everything is handled in this country tbh.

Amtmann · 22-02-2009 10:19pm

Thanks to the poster Patspost on the Clare forum, I've acquired some pictures of the Gort to Crusheen scheme.

I don't know the area at all, but Patspost says that they were mostly taken on the Crusheen tubber road and the road from Crusheen village to Ruan, left at the railway bridge heading N in the village. The photos are from last week.

Considering works started in the middle of last November, I'd say progress has been very impressive. Looking at this set, it seems on a par with the M7 C-N scheme, which had a 7-month head start on Crusheen to Gort.

Chris_533976 · 22-02-2009 10:26pm

Thanks for those

Havent been down that way myself yet, so its good to see how the impending-Gort-bypass is doing.

Tech3 · 23-02-2009 7:30am

Thanks for the photos Furet.

I had a bit of a gander when I was driving past crusheen last week and earthworks were fairly advanced on the limerick side of the village coming up to that sharp turn just before the bridge. Also outside Gort alot of work has been done. Ill try and take a few photos during the week if I get the chance.

When do ye reckon the scheme could be finished for? NRA expects 2011 but it looks like it could be earlier judging on the progress so far?

KevR · 02-03-2009 1:01am

Caught a few glimpses of the Gort-Crusheen scheme from the coach window on the way down to Shannon Airport yesterday afternoon. I know it has been said before but the progress really is amazing.

M18 - Gort to Crusheen

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