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Waterford to Dublin motorway M9 section to open soon

by | Feb 17, 2010 | Ireland

There is growing anticipation now for the imminent opening of the new M9 Motorway from Waterford to Dublin. This section is to open soon, with dates of March 8th, march 12th, March 17th and March 21st as the possible opening dates of this new motorway which should decrease journey times between Dublin and Waterford. The Kilkenny People has quoted March 8th but apparently no official date has been set! Motorway now extends as far as Carlow and this new section will be of major benefit to people in Waterford wanting to shop in Kilkenny or people in Kilkenny wanting to visit Tramore. After 3 years of development the motorway will see towns like Mullinavat (also known as Mullinavegas) and Ballyhale bypassed. I’m looking forward to not having to sit behind slow moving trucks and tractors on a stretch of road which has a surface which is becoming worse each and every day. I just hope that the new section is not subject to the stupid political mess which almost delayed the Carlow to Kilcullen opening – If it does, then I am sure that boards.ie will see another people power move which saw politicians berated by the angry motoring public.

N9 Potholes – When is the Dublin to Waterford M9 motorway opening?

by | Jan 22, 2010 | Ireland

The N9 is quite dangerous at the moment between Ballyhale and Mullinavat southbound. There were 5 cars in the hard shoulder this evening all fixing punctures from one ginormous pothole as you head up the hill (straight stretch outside Ballyhale) towards Mullinavat. Be careful if you are driving that route. The road damage is as a result of the recent snow, thaw and rain. What makes it even more annoying is the fact that the new M9 Waterford to Danesfort motorway is almost ready … but when will the Dublin to Waterford motorway actually be opening? Some say Mid February will see the Waterford to Danesfort section open, but with the recent bad weather will this actually happen? The road is under construction for about 2 years now and still its not finished. In that time the M9 Carlow bypass and M9 Castledermot to Kilcullen route have opened. Its ridiculous to think 2 major stretches of motorway have opened in this time. Lets wait and see – hopefully this is the last month I have to travel this route. The N9 is now a dreadful road to travel.

M9 Kilcullen/Carlow section of Motorway to open Monday 21st December

by | Dec 17, 2009 | In The News

Minister Noel Dempsey reversed his decision to open the M9 Motorway on 8th Jan 2010 and the motorway will now be opened on Monday 21st December between 12 midday and 2pm with varying setups for north and south traffic. The website boards.ie was inundated with posts about the M9 situation with calls made to the media and radio stations such as WLR FM, Kildare FM, Joe Duffy and Today FM. At lunchtime the decision was made to go ahead and open the new stretch of Motorway on the date set out in Tuesdays Irish Times. At one point there was a “People Power” movement which was going to go to the motorway at 2pm and manually move the bollards – i.e. the people would open the Motorway if the NRA did not. Thankfully sense was seen through and all is well again in the world! This should really cut down driving times to Waterford and Kilkenny from Dublin as well as getting rid of the usual delays at Castledermot (or Hassledermot) as it was called this week. At Last ; Goodbye N9 at Castledermot – Hello M9.

New River Suir Bridge, The Cat Flap : Tolls, Route and M9

New River Suir Bridge, The Cat Flap : Tolls, Route and M9

by | Oct 21, 2009 | In The News

Since I put up the posts about the Waterford bypass and the New River Suir Bridge there has been huge traffic on the website. On Monday, I had over 2,200 visitors on the site, the day the new bridge opened, all looking for information or pictures of the event.

In response to emails and blog comments I got, here is some extra information.

Naming of the bridge – Apparently the official unofficial name of the bridge is the River Suir Bridge. Some people are saying that the bridge will not have a name, others are saying we should call the bridge something more imaginative. Kilkenny residents are calling the bridge “The Cat Flap”

Tolls – Toll charges as of Monday 19th October 2009 are as follows;
Motor Cycles €1.00, Motor Cars €1.90, Buses or Coaches €3.40, Goods Vehicles with a design gross weight not exceeding 3,500 kilograms €3.40, Goods Vehicles with design gross weight exceeding 3,500 kgs & having 2 or 3 axles €4.80, Goods Vehicles with design gross weight exceeding 3,500 kgs & 4 or more axles €6.10.

Route – The N25 Waterford City Bypass is 24km in length. The New N25 route stretches from Kilmeaden in Co.Waterford to Slieverue in Co. Kilkenny (if one takes the new bridge). The route will also benefit people who want to go to places like Tramore, so that you can go from Co. Kilkenny, across the new suir bridge and take the first left exit to continue through the Cork Road and on to the Tramore road.

M9 to Dublin – The first phase of the M9 towards Kilkenny should be open before Christmas, this will be ideal for people traveling to places like Thomastown and Kilkenny and they are claiming that you will be able to get to Kilkenny in 30 mins on the new M9.

Bridge Lighting – The lights on the new bridge now switched on at night which makes for a very impressive sight, but the placement of the lights means that some parts of the bridge are lit up while others are not so lit up – might be nice to include the blue style lights which are on Rice Bridge.