A6(NI) dualling to start

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A42_Sparks
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Re: A6(NI) dualling to start

Post by A42_Sparks »

nirs wrote: Sun Sep 06, 2020 17:51 Thanks for those! Only thing I'd say is that regardless of its radius, the eastbound onslip at j3 SHOULD be under motorway restrictions as it leads to the M22 with no opportunity for escape. It should be signed as such from the roundabout.
I agree and with the chopsticks symbols on the blue flag sign you would think it was under motorway restrictions. There is a blue sign on the other side of the entry to the onslip which states 'Motorway traffic only'.
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Re: A6(NI) dualling to start

Post by A42_Sparks »

The A6 is now open between Toome and Castledawson, one lane each way with a 40 mph limit. Full opening is expected next month. I drove down the new section this afternoon. No photos this time but I did notice a few things. I think nirs may have touched on these issues before:

The decision to not grade separate the B183 Drumderg & B18 Brecart roundabouts is an utter disgrace and reminiscent of the bad old days of the 1980s/1990s when Roads Service tried to build everything on the cheap. I'm quite sure this will be remedied in the future but it will cost £millions more than if they had done it at the time.

Not grade separating this junnction is even more ridiculous when you look at the section between Toome and Castledawson. There are FOUR GSJ's in a two mile stretch along this section. Somehow the local residents complained enough to get four junctions built - two would probably have been adequate, three would have been the absolute maximum needed. Four in such a short distance cannot be good for road safety. I can understand the Creagh and Deerpark junctions (both with the B182) but the other two are with unclassified roads and can not be considered essential.

The section between Randalstown and Toome has no junctions at all and people who lived on the old A6 (now B183) have to suck up the long detours to get back onto the A6. Of course, moaning locals is nothing new between Toome and Castledawson. This entire section almost didn't get built thanks to one of them but all his objections did was to add £millions on to the cost of the scheme and line lawyers pockets. I'd love to see his face today now that the road is built. Such a situation should never be allowed to happen again just because someone doesn't like a road.
Last edited by A42_Sparks on Sun Nov 29, 2020 20:53, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: A6(NI) dualling to start

Post by Truvelo »

Are there two non GSJ roundabouts at Toome?
How would you like your grade separations, Sir?
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A42_Sparks
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Re: A6(NI) dualling to start

Post by A42_Sparks »

Truvelo wrote: Sun Nov 29, 2020 16:08 Are there two non GSJ roundabouts at Toome?
Of course! I forgot the one at the end of the Randalstown-Toome section :oops:

Both of these should have been GSJ'd.
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Re: A6(NI) dualling to start

Post by AndyB »

And one of them had to be reconstructed anyway... absolutely standard for NI.

The only defence is that the spec for a new dual carriageway is GSJs and roundabouts.
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Re: A6(NI) dualling to start

Post by IJP1 »

A quick note on this one that the 40mph limit on the Toome-Castledawson stretch is abolished as of tomorrow (5th), meaning essentially that the new stretch of expressway will be fully operational with a 70mph limit.
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Re: A6(NI) dualling to start

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IJP1 wrote: Tue May 04, 2021 21:03 A quick note on this one that the 40mph limit on the Toome-Castledawson stretch is abolished as of tomorrow (5th), meaning essentially that the new stretch of expressway will be fully operational with a 70mph limit.
I drove down the new A6 this afternoon and unfortunately this isn't the case at all. The road is still coned down to one lane each way with a 40mph limit. Very frustrating for motorists as all the tie-in works are now complete so I really don't know what they're waiting for.

All the junctions are now open so I took a little look around them. There's a strange yellow-backed sign at the Creagh Road eastbound onslip where Boilas Lane joins it. This is the only view available on Google Maps, you can just see it beside the NSL signs in the distance. It reads 'LANDOWNER USE ONLY BEYOND THIS POINT'.

Surely this has no legal standing? Boilas Lane is a public road which leads to a couple of properties. I think the landowner just doesn't want people coming down 'their' road. I went turned the car round on it anyway.
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Re: A6(NI) dualling to start

Post by IJP1 »

Yes, by chance I had two people I know comment to me on Wednesday and Thursday how slow it was, confirming the cones were not, after all, away.

TrafficWatch is now reporting simply that the 40mph limit applies, with no end date.

I'd guess the Regulations which stated 5th have been extended, but tbh I can't find any that say that.

It's a bit of a farce, to say the least. We are now at the stage where traffic is approaching normal levels and the road is ready for use. Cones are the last thing people need, particularly if they have already travelled through the (more understandable) roadwork chaos further north-west.
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Re: A6(NI) dualling to start

Post by AndyB »

All depends on what they stated in the original newspaper notice for the end date. There is no requirement for a TTRO for speed limits in NI.
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Re: A6(NI) dualling to start

Post by A42_Sparks »

40mph limit and cones extended for another month until June 20th :shock:
Commuters are starting to get a bit p****d off now and who can blame them:

https://twitter.com/jodonnell555/status ... 7576620034
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Re: A6(NI) dualling to start

Post by odlum »

This a great scheme, great progress, great to see :D
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Re: A6(NI) dualling to start

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-57300872 - A6 road: Nichola Mallon opens completed dual carriageway
The final section of a £189m stretch of dual carriageway between Belfast and Londonderry has fully opened for the first time.

Work was completed on the A6 between Toomebridge, County Antrim, and Castledawson, County Londonderry, over the weekend.
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Re: A6(NI) dualling to start

Post by explo »

Great to see this scheme finally complete, but the decision to retain those two roundabouts at Toome is baffling.
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Re: A6(NI) dualling to start

Post by A42_Sparks »

Yes it finally opened fully on Friday afternoon although official opening was today.
explo wrote: Mon May 31, 2021 16:52 Great to see this scheme finally complete, but the decision to retain those two roundabouts at Toome is baffling.
It's a joke and this will need to be rectified in the future at much more expense than if they'd done it now.
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Re: A6(NI) dualling to start

Post by explo »

A42_Sparks wrote: Mon May 31, 2021 19:44 Yes it finally opened fully on Friday afternoon although official opening was today.
explo wrote: Mon May 31, 2021 16:52 Great to see this scheme finally complete, but the decision to retain those two roundabouts at Toome is baffling.
It's a joke and this will need to be rectified in the future at much more expense than if they'd done it now.
I have my doubts anything will ever be done. Likewise the horrendous structure they've turned Castledawson roundabout into. It will almost certainly stay in any further dualling work towards Maghera.
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Re: A6(NI) dualling to start

Post by IJP1 »

I'm not as worried about the Castledawson Roundabout as the two at Toome - at Castledawson, particularly northwestbound, a lot of traffic is actually leaving the mainline and heading towards Mid Ulster. It is similar to the nonsense of the Dee St lights and the City Airport lights on the Sydenham Bypass - but a lot of traffic leaves the mainline at Tillysburn so it is less of a problem.

Re the two at Toome, it is easy to remove the one carrying the B18 (the one further west). Two westbound slips there plus a bridge would suffice (there is even a LILO further east on the northern carriageway), and would also enable the closure of that horrible right turn into a private property west of the roundabout.

The one east of Toome with the P&R would be somewhat more complex, in my view, so I suspect it is here to stay for a while, unfortunately.
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Re: A6(NI) dualling to start

Post by c2R »

Some legislation published this week to stop up private accesses to the Castledawson bypass:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/202 ... tents/made
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Re: A6(NI) dualling to start

Post by A42_Sparks »

When I saw the A6 thread had been bumped I expected it to be about the Dungiven to Derry build. It looks to be just weeks away from opening.
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Re: A6(NI) dualling to start

Post by Enceladus »

Is there a dedicated thread here on the major 30km (18 miles) A6 Dungiven to Derry dualling project? Did a quick search and couldn't seem to find one!

The Dungiven bypass section of the project (2.5 km or 1.6 miles) is now open to traffic with lane and temporary speed restrictions. :D :driving:

Link:
https://www.derrydaily.net/2022/03/28/n ... motorists/

This is the culmination of a 60-year campaign by the residents of the small County Derry town to have a bypass and it was also the last town on the busy A6 Belfast to Derry city route. Residents of Dungiven will finally be free of heavy through traffic, about 45 years after the Northern Ireland Roads Service first made early plans for a bypass.

As for the rest of the major A6 scheme, works are nearing completion and the entire route is expected to be open to traffic later this year - probably over the early Summer months. :)

The opening of this new dualled section of the A6 means that along with the dualling further east between the end of the M22 at Randalstown and Castledawson (incorporating the earlier Toome bypass) the only remaining S2 section of the A6 is over the Glenshane Pass in the Sperrin Mountains and down to Castledawson, an S2 section that had been upgraded in the 1970s.

I don't think SABRE member NIRS has been posting much here recently, but a link to his own Northern Ireland Roads site will give you all a good indication of how advanced the works are on this major new road project that will cut journey times between Derry and Belfast and of course, relieve Dungiven and improve road safety generally.


Link to details of the scheme on Wesley Johnston's excellent Northern Ireland Roads site:
http://www.wesleyjohnston.com/roads/a6d ... derry.html
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Re: A6(NI) dualling to start

Post by Owain »

Enceladus wrote: Fri Apr 01, 2022 12:27 The opening of this new dualled section of the A6 means that along with the dualling further east between the end of the M22 at Randalstown and Castledawson (incorporating the earlier Toome bypass) the only remaining S2 section of the A6 is over the Glenshane Pass in the Sperrin Mountains and down to Castledawson, an S2 section that had been upgraded in the 1970s.
Actually, most of the Glenshane section of the road between Dungiven and Castlesawson is already S2+1 (with overtaking permissions in both directions for much of it), and prior to the dualling either side it was by far the best section between Derry and Toome. It is only S2 for a short distance between Dungiven and the start of the overtaking lane, and for a longer distance on the other side of the Glenshane to Castlesawson.

I am not aware of any plans to dual the Glenshane, but I'm not sure it needs it; perhaps it would be sufficient to upgrade the remaining S2 sections between the new dual carriageway and the Glenshane so that it's all S2+1?
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