m50 and our motorways

by **npvd** » Thu Jun 19, 2003 10:54 pm

hi all.

i heard something the other day about the new extension to the m50 motorway. sounds kind of strange as it will stop either side of an important site. i think something of great importance was discovered there recently. i wonder how this new part of the road will work? it does seem kind of silly that it will stop either side of this site. i wonder will it create more problems than actually solve them. i hear that cars will be flooding out on to smaller streets/roads as a result. anyone care to comment? i also wonder will there be electronic tolls introduced in to the country? i mean a system where u simply drive straight through the toll while a camera takes a picture of your reg, then they just bill you by mail. it would save time.

by the way poor poor naz, keeps getting picked on. while he makes some good points he does tend to drag it out but then again so do plenty of others on the site from what i can see. oh well i suppose he is only new to the site as he keeps saying.

cheers lads.

by **sw101** » Thu Jun 19, 2003 11:50 pm

saw that on the paper. i dont think they're phsycally bringing the road to opposite edges of the site, rather they are completing it as far as possible for practical use. i imagine they're hoping the wall-hugging hippies will be too stoned some sunday and go to mass in some old cairn, then they can sneak in and complete it.

i really dont understand why this castle could be said to be so important. if they got time team in they could figure out the whole lot in 3 days and go home happy. its just an old bloody proddy outpost on the edge of the pale and i say screw it, progression not regression. i imagine the same fools who are all for skyscrapers (naz) and innercity deelopment are completelely opposed to this sort of ruinous activity, and vice versa. i dont think this bunch of little walls is any more important than the wrecked foundation of a georgian house in dublin, and when it comes to it they have to be built upon.

anyway, it'll give supersleuth archaeologists something to stroke their beards about in 100 years when we take up the road because we all use jetpacks run on earwax and soup scum (they're very similar in bolton street skank-teen) and we've all chucked our cars into the sun

peace naz

by **npvd** » Fri Jun 20, 2003 12:06 am

by **ewanduffy** » Fri Jun 20, 2003 9:21 am

Originally posted by sw101
if they got time team in they could figure out the whole lot in 3 days and go home happy.

Time Team are barred from operating in Ireland, the appropriate State body that issues licences to archaeologists wont let them in!

Anyhow, why this has occured is some jobsworth in the State sector has stubbornly refused to route a slip road away from the site because it would damage their ego.

Similar ego boosting stubbornness cost the State EU funding for the Kildare bypass and also saw the original LUAS scheme being scuppered by the exclusion of the Ballymun route from the detailled route planning. The State employees in question should be sacked.

by **AndrewP** » Fri Jun 20, 2003 10:12 am

I can't understand why the arcaheologists are only called in when work on these projects is just about to start.
I mean, you can't dig a hole anywhere in Dublin without unearthing something of interest. When these infrastructural projects are first conceived, why can't preliminary digs be carried out all along proposed routes, before the planners go ahead.
Surely the investment would help head off potential showdowns with the enviro/ historical groups.

by **Rory W** » Fri Jun 20, 2003 11:42 am

Why not send the bill for the delay to the appropriate jobsworth and then see how quickly he changes his mind.

I'm all for preservation, but also would like to live in a country that moves. So preserve as much of the site as possible, if you loose some of it - thats life. Protestors who want to stop the roads etc (i.e no roads whatsoever) should also be sent the bill.

I'm delighted that the guy from the Madrid Metro lambasted the way things operate in this country - it really is a petty corrupt place

by **StephenC** » Fri Jun 20, 2003 11:47 am

Me too! A breathe of fresh air in the staid corridors of Leinster House.

Seamus was impressed by him too and is now talking up a Critical Infrastructure Bill to speed up the snail pace of NDP projects.

by **Andrew Duffy** » Fri Jun 20, 2003 12:58 pm

Does anyone know the full story here? As far as a know (although it's probably from the same source as my brother) only the Carrickmines interchange is the problem, not the road itself. This would suggest that the road can be built without the interchange, but sill allowing Dublin to be completely bypassed on the N1 (or E1 or whatever it's officially called). However, I heard some wormy conservationist on the radio effectively saying that the road couldn't be built because it determines the location of the interchange.

What's going on?

by **ewanduffy** » Fri Jun 20, 2003 1:44 pm

What's worse about this is that about 6 months ago, I was talking to a senior member of An Taisce who lives locally and he was bullish at that stage that the issue was about to be resolved, i.e., that Dun Laoghaire Rathdown had agreed to reroute the slip road. What happened since I don't know.

by **emf** » Fri Jun 20, 2003 3:17 pm

Does anyone have a link to a map showing an aerial view of the motorway and the Carrickmines site, they we could see if its the motorway or the interchange that is causing the problem???

by **Peter Fitz** » Fri Jun 20, 2003 3:56 pm

only the Carrickmines interchange is the problem, not the road itself.

yep Andrew, thats the way I heard it too. As far as I know, they are going to press ahead with the motorway without the carrickmines interchange, so that it will be completed and open to traffic "on time" ...

the plan is to build the carrickmines interchange at a later date, which can be done without causing distruption, as with the recently completed cellbridge interchange on the N4.

think i heard all that on the radio yesterday morning whilst semi-asleep :-)

by **SteveM** » Wed Jun 25, 2003 11:20 am

<quote>Time Team are barred from operating in Ireland, the appropriate State body that issues licences to archaeologists wont let them in!</quote>

Correct me if I'm wrong but were they not here a couple of years back trying to unearth some round tower in St Pats?

by **GregF** » Wed Jun 25, 2003 12:33 pm

It's gas to think too that they have demolished and ruined and neglected a lot more that was of far more historical importance and architectural significance.

by **GrahamH** » Fri Jun 27, 2003 2:37 pm

I read that a survey conducted in 1997 showed that 70% of users of the M50, intended for national use, are Dublin commuters getting from one part of the city to the other, and that 80% of cars have 1 person in them.
Probably even worse now.

by **StephenC** » Fri Jun 27, 2003 2:48 pm

But thats the whole point of road usage isn't it... as quick as you build the roads the cares fill them! I am sure the same thing will happen with the new M1 (or N01) when it opens. Meath dwellers will now have a quicker route into Dublin which will only fuel the urban sprawl in this county.

Too many cars, too much traffic

by **notjim** » Fri Jun 27, 2003 3:20 pm

the problem isn't roads, it's interchanges. if people couldn't get off roads they won't go on them.

by **Rory W** » Fri Jun 27, 2003 3:26 pm

The problem is a combination of poor spatial strategy, selfish drivers and bad public transport infrastructure

by **GrahamH** » Fri Jun 27, 2003 11:38 pm

And at weekends the commuters are replaced by Saturday shoppers to Liffey Valley & Blanchardstown, one of the worst planning decisions/bribes ever made for Dublin.

by **WillC** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 3:43 pm

The main problem with the M50 is the ridiculous roundabouts at every major junction. Whoever heard of traffic lights on roundabouts? I've never seen traffic lights on roundabouts in any other country.

Anyway these roundabouts are a cheap solution to proper interchanges - every major junction on the M50 should of the clover leaf design, eliminating the need for traffic lights. Traffic would be able to move freely without having to stop at lights. I constantly think how much easier my life would be if it wasn't for the penny pinching and stupid design of these 'interchanges'.

Because of these stupid designs it takes forever to get into town from Lucan and Blanchardstown etc.

I hope the planners have learned from previous mistakes and construct proper interchanges on the remainder of the M50, but will not hold my breath. This is Ireland after all, and dare I say it, a banana republic in many respects.

by **WillC** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 3:45 pm

Sorry if I offended anyone in calling this place a banana republic, but spending at least 3 hours in traffic every day has made me very cynical!

by **notjim** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 9:23 pm

and are you on your own for these three hours?

by **WillC** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 12:10 pm

No I'm not actually. sorry to ruin your theory

by **kefu** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 1:56 pm

The real problem with the M50 is that it isn't a real ring road. It only rings about half of the city (and I'm not talking about the unfinished segment). Too many Dublin residents have to cross it to go to work or town as a matter of course. The obvious solution is to start a new ring road another ten miles out, past Tallaght, past Blanchardstown, past Lucan and so on.

The interchanges are also a disaster. People talk about increasing the M50 to three lanes either side (which is feasible). But it would be pointless unless capacity at the interchanges is improved upon.

by **Peter Fitz** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 2:10 pm

About a year ago, I saw plans on the Nra's site to eliminate all roundabout interchanges on the M50, can't seem to find them anywhere now though ... does anyone else remember seeing them ?

by **Andrew Duffy** » Mon Jun 30, 2003 8:44 am

Here's some of them, culled from various PDFs on the NRA's website:

M50-N4

M50-N3

M50-Ballymun

m50 and our motorways

m50 and our motorways

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