Cork Transport
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Hmm, just a thought.
I see that certain bye laws can be used to bringing the speed limit on Dual carriageway roads up to 120k/h,
Any hope of this happening on either the Watergrasshill bypass, the new Road to Midleton or the Ballincollig bypass ?
Ballincollig bypass yes, definatly. Cork – Carrigtwohill proboboly. Carrigtwohill – Midleton no chance.
Watergrasshill possibly.
Basicially if its HQDC (High quality Dual) then probobly yes. If its SDC (Standard Dual), no.
90% of new DC is HQDC tho.
Well the section from Carrigtohill to Midleton is going to be completely redeveloped with all junctions replaced with fly overs and sliproads. I guess it all depends how good the job they do on that stretch of road.
Will Cork Co Co use this by-law to raise the speed limit though. I think they should, especially from the top of Glanmire to Watergrasshill. There really isn’t any point not to do so.
Could also be implemented on the Fermoy to Mitchelstown section of the N7, the proposed Northern Ring Road and the dual carriage upgrade on the N28 road from Roachestown to Ringaskiddy. Add in the future dual carriage way to Limerick planned under the Atlantic Corridor setup.
@Micko wrote:
Well the section from Carrigtohill to Midleton is going to be completely redeveloped with all junctions replaced with fly overs and sliproads. I guess it all depends how good the job they do on that stretch of road.
When is all of that due to happen. It would make a huge difference. Those f*cking crossroads in the middle of the DC going into the quarry will be the death of people soon enough. It’s ridiculous!
Also read in the Echo the other day that Amgen want to develop a train station at their site in Carrigtohill, so employees won’t have to take their cars to work. It’s a brilliant idea, hope they get permission and Carrigtohill will go from a town with no station to a town with two stations. All in the name of pharmaceutical development of course.Heard more about that Ryanair airport to be built in (or around) Killeagh. I have just regarded this as rumour now, but where is it that people are hearing it from, because it isn’t the first time I heard it. :confused:
Amgen also want their own railway sidings for freight. I assume Like IFI much of their product will travel by rail.
Local residents have loged a number of objections to the Amgen plant, mostly in the area of Infastructure. There will be a large volume of Construction traffic using the already poor roads in the area for the building of the plant. The Council plan to replace the Interchange to the quarries with a flyover, but many fear this will not be done until after the plant is constructed.(it won’t be needed then) There is a large amount of underground geological oddities in that area also. Thats why the surface is so poor.
The main fear again is that the heavy construction traffic will compromise this already delicate surface.
There are two problems with 120km/h. One is that it will lead to a worsening in air quality around the roads in question. The other is that it will excaerbate congestion in the run up to interchanges.
From this point of view, it would only be appropriate to start it as a speed limit around 5km from Dunkettle on both the N8 and N25.
Similarly, it should only start west of the Curraheen junction on the Ballincollig bypass.
@A-ha wrote:
When is all of that due to happen. It would make a huge difference. Those f*cking crossroads in the middle of the DC going into the quarry will be the death of people soon enough. It’s ridiculous!
Also read in the Echo the other day that Amgen want to develop a train station at their site in Carrigtohill, so employees won’t have to take their cars to work. It’s a brilliant idea, hope they get permission and Carrigtohill will go from a town with no station to a town with two stations. All in the name of pharmaceutical development of course.Heard more about that Ryanair airport to be built in (or around) Killeagh. I have just regarded this as rumour now, but where is it that people are hearing it from, because it isn’t the first time I heard it. :confused:
Ryanair are an Airline and do not build or manage airports.
How about this from today’s quondam Cork Examiner:
18 September 2006
‘Magic circle’ not a traffic solution
AFTER reading about the impact of a slip-road on Watergrasshill, north of Cork city, and the proposal of a roundabout as the solution (Irish Examiner, September 14), I feel this is not the answer to the village’s problems.
Why spend millions of taxpayers’ money on a new motorway and then effectively scupper it by interrupting the flow of traffic with a roundabout in the middle.
This would create bottlenecks on a road designed to eliminate them and increase the likelihood of accidents as fast-moving traffic must slow down and merge with other traffic at the roundabout. Anyway, most Irish drivers seem totally incapable of correctly negotiating roundabouts anywhere.
Putting one in the motorway at Watergrasshill would also increase environmental costs as vehicles must accelerate to cruising speed after they have gone through, using significantly more fuel. This is a ‘solution’ most people, and especially the motorists paying for it, would not want.
Take, for example, the roundabouts on the South Link road in Cork city. Surely people have learned by now how poorly they cope with traffic. Their only real function is to impede traffic flow. It was implied in your report that Watergrasshill community council was consulted on the initial bypass.
If this was the case, then it seems a little short-sighted of those involved in that consultation to have accepted the slip-road in the first place.
It would not have taken much to realise that if local traffic was going to grow significantly, and if they were worried about its effect on residents, they should either have objected to the location of the slip-road in first place or not allowed a new estate to be built right beside it. Doing neither, and then complaining about motorists using a road they have funded through road tax, seems like them wanting to have their cake and eat it.
May I suggest that instead of campaigning for the construction of a roundabout at taxpayers’ expense, would if not be better to concentrate on abolishing the toll that will drive all those extra vehicles into the village?
The people of Watergrasshill are also taxpayers, and I’m sure many would agree they have already paid in taxes — direct and indirect, over and over again — for roads such as this.
The only people really to benefit from the tolls are the private individuals operating them.
Even if the removal of the toll gates is not feasible, the construction of a second slip-road to join up with the old road on the northside of the village would be preferable to the building of yet another ‘circle of pain’ on the main highway.
Having had for many years the questionable claim to the country’s only ‘magic roundabout’ at the Kinsale Road intersection, and the subsequent dumbfounding attempts to copy its inanities at Wilton and Bishopstown, the people of Cork truly deserve better.
Kieran Donnelly
Lr Beechwood Avenue
Ranelagh
Dublin 6@Spinal Tap wrote:
Ryanair are an Airline and do not build or manage airports.
Not at the moment. But they have plans to build and operate their own terminals in airports across Europe (including Dublin) in a bid to lower taxes and charges. They already have a large stake in Frankfurt-Hahn airport, which is how they managed to reduce taxes on that route substantially without getting into trouble with the European Union, which is what happened/is happening in Charleroi and Shannon. Oh and before I forget, bmiBaby have ceased all operations at Durham Tees Valley Airport and thereby ending the route to Cork. If anyone’s wondering, I think the nearest alternative is Newcastle with Jet2.
@Praxiteles wrote:
Why spend millions of taxpayers’ money on a new motorway and then effectively scupper it by interrupting the flow of traffic with a roundabout in the middle.
I think the bigger question is why spend millions of taxpayers’ money, only to put a toll on the road? lol. I suppose we are lucky that the tunnel was never tolled though….. can you imagine it?
The inability to operate tolls in this country at river crossing without serious tailbacks is depressing.
I read about a €4million refurbishment of Kent Station the other day, that will include more retail units, new lighting, heating and flooring, extensions to facilitate the new Midleton Commuter Service and a new bus and taxi passenger set down and pick up area in front of the station. Does anyone have any pics. of what we can expect?
Bit of a comedown from the €35 million revamp including new bus terminus that had been planned.
When is that election!!!!!!!
Whatever about the scale of the development, they’d better still include an entrance onto the quays. It would take 5 minutes off the walk to the city centre (and south docklands if anthing ever happens there…)
In terms of increasing the attractiveness of commuting by train, that one small development is vital.
Rail line is being extended to Midelton and I believe the track bed for the old Youghal Line is still in existence. On the other side the track bed from Waterford to Dungarvan is still in CIE hands – 18 mile gap for a potential Cork – Dungarvan – Waterford – Rosslare – rail line – any views on long term possibility – should a route be identified and safegaurded.
The original intention was to complete a line on the route you mention. I’m not sure why it was never finished and Cork-Waterford trains routed via Mallow instead.
As for linking them up…
The first thing would be to make the Cork-Youghal and Waterford-Dungarvan lines viable again. This would require the respective county councils zoning land to increase the populations of Youghal and Dungarvan. Once that was done, a line between the two could be considered. There is the substantial natural obstacle of the Blackwater Estuary to cross as well as some pretty mountainous terrain. Overall, it would be a ‘nice to have’, but in the context of rail transport in this country, there are far better ways to spend the money. I suppose there would be no harm in creating a theoretical route on a map and restricting development along it.
Something that is potentially of more interest is the line from Charleville to Patrickswell. This line existed until the early sixties and is 17 miles long (chopping more than 30 miles off the rail distance between Cork and Limerick). Its reinstatement could make a Cork-Limerick-Galway service much more competitive timewise. It could also be handy for commuter services in the Limerick region.
Anyone been on the new M8 motorway in Fermoy? What’s the chance of all this Watergrasshill traffic congestion stuff being sorted out by Christmas? Its only been open a few days and everywhere I look is criticism. No doubt it’s a brilliant piece of infrastructre for people travelling to Dublin, or indeed for people living in Fermoy…. but where is all the praise gone?
Also, RE: the Cork-Waterford train. I think it would be a brilliant service, and would be very popular, especially with the amount of students from Waterford studying in Cork, but unfortunetly, I don’t see it happening in the next twenty to thirty years (but you never know). At the very least, extending the Cork Suburban Rail to Youghal would put the finishing touches on the overall Cork services and no doubt prove popular in the summer with droves of people going to the beach for the day (the station is right next to Youghal Strand). Whatever happened to those tram rumours for Cork, you’d think they would create something in the gossip mill with an election coming up soon!
I drove the M8 yesterday and was frankly not impressed. First problem is that signeage is shocking and its impossible to tell who goes where. There will be accidents as drivers unfamiliar with the layout will cross lanes in an attempt to get to the correct booths.
Rolling up to the “exact change” barrier, with exact change ready(while on my motorcycle) comes the first problem. The “exact change” barriers are only for cars.
Barrier fails to open until I pay my remaining 70c(Not bloody likely) so I wait and watch the q build up behind me. German engineer type comes over and explains that barrier is for class 1 vehicle only, Not class 2.I never new there was a class system in motoring. How do I become upper class? Who is lower class?
Another yellow jacketed individual pushes barrier open for me and i speed off(to the sound of the “tilt” alarm going off on the barriers, but you can push them 😉 )
Motorway is nice, but just two lanes, and little room for expanding, should the need arise, particularly in the region of Dr Barrys Bridge, where the road is cut through the hillside. On my travels I noticed on occasion the old N8, still full of the many articulated trucks that will divert through Watergrasshill to avoid paying the toll.The central reservation has those concrete wall type barriers, and no “run off”, apart from at the other off ramps along the way.
The ending is confusing, as rather than merging two lanes into one at Moorepark, the inner lane gets fed up the slip road to one roundabout, while the outside lane gets fed up the offramp against traffic entering the motorway.
I made the return leg, noticing that there may be crosswinds for high vehicles on the Blackwater bridge.
After my experience with the toll booth on the outward leg, on my return I joined the q behind all the trucks,buses and other lower class vehicles that would not fit through the height controlled “exact change” booths. This single q also includes those seeking reciepts, and thosw who wish to pay by cheque or from their loose change jar.
5 minutes waiting at toll.
Sure it beats waiting in Fermoy traffic, but its not very encouraging. High speed motorway=hot engine. Waiting in a stationery vehicle with a hot engine is not good for the cooling system of ones vehicle.Good effort, but needs much improvement.
Not sure, but if they keep building scraps of by-passes, calling them motorways and sticking a toll on them, then I would imagine it’s going to be quite a substantial amount. I can’t see them getting away with it for long though, not many people would stand for it. Talk about double taxing! Isn’t it our money paying for the roads anyway.
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