Route
The route starts in the townland of Aghaboe, County Laois, at a motorway-to-motorway interchange with the M7. From here it proceeds southwards, passing under the R434 and R433 roads until it runs parallel to the single-carriageway R639 road, bypassing Abbeyleix, Durrow, Cullahill, Johnstown, Urlingford, Littleton, Horse and Jockey, Cashel, New Inn, Cahir, Skeheenarinky, Kilbeheny, Mitchelstown, Kilworth Mountain, Fermoy, Rathcormac, Watergrasshill and Glanmire.
Between its junction with the M7 and Dunkettle, the M8 passes through pasture in County Laois, and over bogland and coniferous forest through County Kilkenny and North Tipperary. South of Cashel, it enters the Golden Vale and crosses the River Suir west of Cahir. The motorway then travels south-west along the Galtee Mountains, passing Glengarra Wood and Mitchelstown Cave. East of the route, the Knockmealdown Mountains and the Comeraghs are starkly visible. The M8 crosses into County Cork south of Kilbeheny and proceeds south to the east of Mitchelstown, before skirting around the base of Kilworth Mountain through pastoral farmland and demesne parkland. At Moorepark, some 5 km north of Fermoy, the M8 is tolled for the next 17.5 kilometres. This tolled section is notable for incorporating an impressive 450m viaduct crossing of the River Blackwater. Toll plazas are located between junctions 16 and 17 and at the southbound exit of junction 15. The current toll for cars is €1.80. Many motorists, particularly lorry drivers, drive through Fermoy, Rathcormac and Watergrasshill to avoid the toll. In 2006 the Irish Road Haulage Association advised its members not to use the toll road, because they considered it to be too expensive. Consequently, traffic volumes through Watergrasshill increased by about 6,000 vehicles (of which approximately 1,100 were lorries) per day at the end of that year. By the end of 2008 increasing numbers of vehicles were opting to pay the toll. The M8 continues south, bypassing Watergrasshill, Sallybrook, Riverstown and Glanmire, before ending 450m north of the Jack Lynch Tunnel at the approach to the Dunkettle Interchange, which connects it with the N25 to Waterford, the N40 Cork South Ring Road and the N8 to Cork city centre. Despite having a nominal nineteen junctions, the motorway in fact only has eighteen, because the proposed junction 2 was never constructed.
Read more about this topic: M8 Motorway (Ireland)
Famous quotes containing the word route:
“no arranged terror: no forcing of image, plan,
or thought:
no propaganda, no humbling of reality to precept:
terror pervades but is not arranged, all possibilities
of escape open: no route shut,”
—Archie Randolph Ammons (b. 1926)
“A Route of Evanescence
With a revolving Wheel—”
—Emily Dickinson (1830–1886)
“The route through childhood is shaped by many forces, and it differs for each of us. Our biological inheritance, the temperament with which we are born, the care we receive, our family relationships, the place where we grow up, the schools we attend, the culture in which we participate, and the historical period in which we live—all these affect the paths we take through childhood and condition the remainder of our lives.”
—Robert H. Wozniak (20th century)