Well at long last the wait is over. Today, 28th September 2010 – the motorway at Birdhill is opening! Over 15 months late and (insert your own guesstimate figure) gazillions over budget. One can only imagine what Minister Dempsey’s speech will consist of. It will have to be very far from the usual ‘ahead of schedule, under budget’ schmooze.
But turn up he doubtless will, with the usual herd of grinning cronies in the background. I might go up to view my house from the latest vantage point, or maybe just to drive over the super-problematic 500 metres (yes that’s all it was). But I will give the ribbon cutting a miss.
Happy motoring everyone.
When the new M7 route was originally chosen, there were a few raised eyebrows around here. A section of it was to be built over the local Annaholty and Drominboy bogs – colloquially known as the Moving Bog and the Bottomless Bog (talk about The Clue is in the Name?)
Indigenous families have worked these bogs down through generations, and may reasonably be expected to know a thing or two about their behaviour. (Some of my own rellies even got their cúpla punt from the NRA for their own little section when it was CPOed.)
Local talk suggested that the bogs be treated like a lake and be spanned with a bridge. But it would appear that the planners had a better idea.
We are now seeing the results of the millions spent. Thousands of tonnes of concrete and steel sunk to depths of over 100 feet. All to to build the road straight onto the bog. I understand that the subsidence began at the edges of the road construction and tons more concrete was piled on either side to support it. It then began sinking in the centre.
I shudder to think how many more millions are being shelled out now to try and fix the problem. It must only be the embarrassment factor that’s keeping it out of the National News.
I could post any number of links here of newspaper ‘latest opening ’ reports, the dates for which have long since come and gone.
The newest one says it will open in three months time. I’ll expect it when I see it.
Safe motoring everyone – I expect we’ll be seeing you passing us in Birdhill for some time to come…
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I share your frustration but I don’t believe it’s over budget – wasn’t it a fixed price contract and therefore any budget overruns are picked up by the contractor?
Thanks for commenting. I suppose I’m just referring to the fact that ‘someone’ spent all the extra money, when it could most likely have been avoided…