Limerick Transport

@Griff wrote:

I saw that over on the M7 Nenagh to Limerick thread on boards.ie – is it really a collapse ?..it looks more like a cut !… if it was a colllapse then the contractor must have cleared away the debris and cleaned up where the tarmac crumbled. It could easily have been access to pipework or cables were required at that spot…

All utilities and services are run through ducting for protection and easy access. They would never be laid under the motorway where access to them would require such an excavation of the surface!

The only other possibility is that there were issues with the drainage system that needed serious attention but that’s pretty unlikely!

The fact is that this part of the road runs through a very boggy area which required extensive foundation works. Worryingly there has almost certainly been a structural failure here which surely poses a number of questions about the integrity of the rest of this stretch!!

New Limerick city orbital route has ‘teething’ problems (Limerick Leader)

By Nick Rabbitts

MORE than 20 staff from the council and the gardai were out in the city on Friday as the new Limerick orbital route became operational for the first time.
There was heavy traffic for much of the day in the city, as well as a number of cars parking illegally on double yellow lines.

And although there was criticism of Limerick City Council’s decision to open the new one-way route on one of the busiest days of the week, senior engineer Vincent Murray said that any teething problems should be ironed out by next week.

The route circulates the city in a one-way direction from Mulgrave Street, up Sexton Street and Upper William Street. Inbound traffic on Mulgrave Street, Cathedral Place and the Roxboro Road are now directed onto this new route. All traffic entering the city on the Roxboro Road and the Ballysimon Road, and on Cathedral Place en route to Upper Gerald Griffin Street now have access via Lower Gerald Griffin Street to Upper William Street.

As well as providing a route around the city centre, the road – designed by Nicholas De Jong Associates – has brought with it footpath widening, lighting safety and landscaping improvements.

Speaking to the Limerick Leader, director of service Vincent Murray predicted that by this Monday morning, the road should be operating “100 per cent.”

“There is no good day or bad day to launch it. The opening could have been held over to next week, but the guys were eager to have it launched. It is not until you open a road do teething issues come up. Whatever day we launched it, there were always going to be problems,” he said, “The beauty with opening it on Friday is that on Saturday and Sunday, you can make minor alterations.”

In a bid to make motorists aware of the changes, the city council has also put in place ten electronic signs, Mr Murray added.

As a result of the new traffic arrangements, Limerick East TD Michael Noonan was late for a number of appointments in the city on Friday. :p But he is confident that in a few days, any teething issues will be resolved.

“There was very dense traffic from William Street, and up to the station. It obviously arose from the new traffic management system in place. It seems to me that traffic will flow freely when people are used to it. But it is significantly more difficult to travel in that part of the city now. Its very hard to get through town anyway on a Friday, but it had to start some day. Perhaps it could have been earlier in the week,” he said.

Mayor Kevin Kiely said there could have been more consultation between city council’s top brass, councillors and the general public. He said he will be raising his concerns with director of service Mr Murray.

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Permission sought for sea plane terminal in Limerick (Limerick Leader)

This sea plane is typical of the ones Harbour Air Ireland will use if they get permission to construct a terminal in Limerick

By Nick Rabbitts

LIMERICK could be linked to Galway and the Aran Islands by a 30-minute journey if a proposal to build a seaplane terminal at the Clarion Hotel gets permission.

Harbour Air Ireland have this week lodged a planning application with Limerick City Council to install “floating pontoons, (an] access gangway, mooring anchors and associated infrastructure for the berthing of a seaplane” on the opening to the river Shannon in front of the Clarion Hotel.

If the proposals get the go-ahead, the company says a regular sea-boat service will run from the heart of Limerick city, to Foynes, Galway and the Aran Islands.

And unlike the new rail service, or the upcoming motorway to Galway, any journey could link Limerick and the Western Seaboard in just 20 minutes, according to company director Emlyn Heap.

Mr Heap told the Leader how the foyer of the landmark Clarion Hotel would serve as a departure lounge, before people board the sea planes.

“Our whole mission is connectivity. We want to shorten travel times – turning hours into minutes. Seaplane operations are nothing new. There is a very successful operation flying out of the Clyde (in Glasgow] to Loch Lomond, where the journey is complete in 15 minutes.

“My mission here is to have three resorts in this part of the country. The tourists who come to Ireland mainly spend two nights in Dublin and make day trips to the West. My overall dream is to make the West of Ireland the destination, and Dublin the day visit,” Mr Heap said.

The company has been working closely with Margaret O’Shaughnessy of the Foynes flying boat museum.

Mr Heap insisted that the sea-plane voyages would be cost-competitive – “although we are not going to be a Ryanair-type service”.

“What we want to do is align ourselves to taxi and coach firms. Seat costs will be between €40 and €50 one-way, and this gives people the option of experiencing a sea-plane flight. If they cannot afford a return flight, we would partner with coach firms so they offer the return journey,” he said.

“Tourism is down 25 per cent. We have been talking to Tourism Ireland in the UK, and trying to include it as part of a package to include sea plane journeys.”

Harbour Air Ireland propose to build a network of seaplane terminals linking Ireland’s major towns and cities.

According to plans lodged with Clare County Council for a sea-plane terminal in Mountshannon, the firm wants to build bases in Belfast, Dubln, Athlone, Galway, Nenagh and Cork, with its main base in the Co Clare resort.

However, the plans to land a seaplane on Lough Derg have attracted local opposition including the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board. Fishermen in Lough Derg have formed an umbrella group expressing their opposition to the proposals

Hmmm . . . . . there must be thousands of lakes all over the place, I wonder what will Michael O’Leary make of all this? With no landing charges, Aer Rianta can stuff their terminals and Aer Lingus can stuff their hangar 6! 😉

By the way what became of the hovercraft service between the city and Shannon airport a few years back.

@foinse wrote:

If i remember correctly, it was bloody expensive for a trip on that thing, not enough people used it, so they had to shut it down.

That would echo bjg’s sentiments on the difficulties of running a boat service in Ireland. Cost of fulfilling regulations, high insurance premiums and I could imagine that a hovercraft can guzzle a lot of fuel too.

SRR Phase 2 & Tunnel Update

Spring 2010 Newsletter

At this stage, I’d say we’re looking at a late June/early July opening.

All that appears to be left is the final surface layer (wearing course) on the northern section. Along with the installation of signage and some general tidying up. The actual opening date depends on when the emergency services finish their safety drills.

It’s also clear that the new stretch definitely won’t be a motorway.:( It’s to be classified N18 rather than N7 with a 100km/h limit, 80 in the tunnel and approaches.

The current N18 from the Radisson hotel into the city centre via the Condell Road will be downgraded to a regional route.

@CologneMike wrote:

This will remain N18 instead of M18 until they solve access to those houses located along the hard shoulder at Cratloe.

I’m not sure it would be worth the hassle really. That stretch of the N18 is a pretty low grade dual carriageway by today’s standards. The opening of the SRR II will only further highlight this. To bring it up to an equivalent standard would basically require a complete rebuild. Which if done online would be an extremely messy & tedious job more than likely resulting in major traffic problems.

It think for that reason an offline new build is probably the easier option. The Bunratty bypass could probably be re-used, I think it’s only around 20 years old. Although it would probably need parallel service roads as there isn’t really an alternative route here. You couldn’t really send non motorway traffic back into Bunratty village! The rest of the route from there to the airport junction is of decent enough spec I think.

Although I believe such an upgrade should and probably will take place at some stage. It’s well down the list of priorities for now!

Looking at the signage mounted before St. Nessans Road Bridge, it does seem odd to me that no airport symbol for Shannon is to be seen on it. :confused: Whereas Listowel’s importance weighs more than Foynes Port on the N69 Estuary route.

I spotted that aswell, a fairly glaring error alright. It’s quite an important destination after all. An international airport like! :confused: As you say all it needs is the plane symbol. They could easily patch it onto the sign too.

The omission of Foynes is puzzling aswell. Listowel is the largest town on the route, excluding Tralee where the route terminates. However Tralee traffic is already directed to the N21 primary route via the M20 at the Rossbrien interchange.

Foynes is a busy commercial deep-water facility which is entirely dependant on road transport. It’s a no-brainer surely to provide adequate advance signage for it.

Surely it will at least be listed on the cantilever sign/half gantry at the start of the off slip at the N69 junction.

The second phase of the southern ring road looks fantastic and I’d say most people are itching to drive on it. 😎

It’s been a long time coming, hard to believe that it’s now 6 years since phase 1 (Rosbrien – Mountshannon) opened. Phase 2 has been under construction since late 2006.

It’s shaping up to be a really nice drive in fairness. Passing through a wooded area at Portland park, crossing Bunlicky lake on a causeway. Then skirting the banks of the Shannon before joining the N18 via that sleek viaduct near Cratloe castle. 😎

Won’t be too long now. 🙂

@CologneMike wrote:

Would not a new driveway to the rear of those 20 houses linking them to the R462 solve the problem?

Having provided a proper entrance / exit to the N18 for Cratloe at the Portdrine flyover, a footbridge over the N18 near Setrights Pub and a tunnel under the N18 at Ballymorris.

It beggars belief that after nearly 40 years since a dual carriageway first appeared here, the Clare County Council and the NRA can’t finish the job off properly to eliminate this accident blackspot.

One off housing will haunt us yet! 🙁

The houses are a huge problem but there are other issues along this stretch of road aswell. It’s difficult to find much information on it but I think the dual carriageway from the outskirts of Limerick to Bunratty was formed by constructing another carriageway beside the existing single lane road. I think this was done in phases during the 1970s and 80s which is probably why the road has a sort of “cobbled together” feeling about it.

Anyway some of the curves are too tight for motorway speeds and the sightlines aren’t up to that spec either. The surface is substandard aswell, it’s far from being smooth & level. I don’t know if this is down to the piecemeal fashion in which it was built or maybe it was done on the cheap? It could also have something to do with the ground conditions in the area.

Going by aerial imagery, there are in the region of 25/26 access points onto the N18 between Cratloe castle (tie in with Limerick SRR) and the Bunratty bypass! 😮 The situation is particularly bad around Setright’s cross (see below). Clearly Clare County Council didnt see anything wrong with allowing peoples driveways to open directly onto a busy dual carriageway.

To solve this mess you would need to construct local access link roads either side of the N18. The existing junctions on the route would also need to be improved as they are currently pretty crude and basic.

Ideally this section would be left as a route for local and non motorway traffic with a new high quality motorway link built offline. Although the future plans for this stretch will obviously depend on transport policy and the size of the capital budget in the years ahead.

N18 @ Setright’s Cross

The NRA have confirmed the tunnel will open the week after the open day.

It’d be great to have it open by the following Monday but I’d say Friday the 25th of June is more likely. Just four weeks to go anyhow! 🙂

Limerick Tunnel to open for business in June as NRA promises fuel and time savings (Limerick Leader)

By Nick Rabbitts

WITH the opening of the €660m Limerick tunnel due to take place next month, the question now is: will people use it?
The National Roads Authority has confirmed the Limerick Tunnel will be open on Saturday, June 19, to allow people to walk up and down the tunnel, before it opens to traffic around a week later.

Charges for the use of the tunnel – which it is hoped will remove traffic from the Dock, Ennis and Condell Roads, and which completes the Southern Ring Road, Phase 2, linking the N7 and the N18 – range from 90c for motorcycles, to €4.50 and €5.70 for large goods vehicles, with motor cars costing €1.80 for entry.

A spokesperson for the NRA has said while toll booths will be in place at the entry points to the 900m long tunnel, there will be ‘fast lanes’ for people who carry toll tags.

But concern has been raised at the price of the road – which could see some local businesses paying more than €20 per week for access.

However, an NRA spokesman has predicted the tunnel will be a success, saying: “The Dock Road in Limerick is one of the most significant bottlenecks in the Mid-West of Ireland.

“The tunnel will, without question, offer fuel efficiency, value for money and time savings. The indications we are getting is that people will vote with their wallets on this matter.”

The spokesman also called on the Limerick public to visit http://www.tagcompare.ie, to check out the offers available to motorists to ensure they can get through the barriers swiftly when the tunnel – operated by Direct Route – opens.

Conor Faughnan, the AA’s public affairs manager has welcomed the new tunnel, but feels that the money could be collected in an alternative manner, to stop businesses feeling the pinch.

“I have always maintained that using tolls as a funding mechanism for these roads is a significant mistake. If you take the carbon tax increase from last December’s budget, the revenue raised from that would equal the total toll revenue. It would be far easier for the government to apply this levy on fuel to the infrastructure.

“Then the roads would be paid for, without burdening motorists with tolls,” he explained, “The infrastructure is magnificent. It is a very far-sighted investment, and substantially enhances the infrastructure, and will pay us back in the long run.

But it is a deeply unfortunate, long term mistake to rely on direct tolls as a funding mechanism.”

Sean Guinane, of cable transportation company Techpart, based in the Ballysimon Road, welcomed the new road, and predicted it would be widely used.

“There will be no new traffic on Limerick’s main roads, that is the point.

“Even if just one car switches to the Limerick Tunnel, it will have a positive impact,” he told the Limerick Leader.

The Limerick Tunnel links up the N18 Ennis Road from a final interchange bridge near Cratloe Castle, and represents the final junction on the N7 Limerick Southern Ring Road.

The work is being carried out by a consortium of Strabag, John Sisk & Son, Lagan Holdings and Roadbridge.

No cycle lane- missed opportunity there

The choice of parking as opposed to a bus lane in the last image seems poor given the urban scale, lack of commuter rail and proximity to the retail core; too many councillor representations gunthering the process?