The drive from Carlow to Cork should be a lot more pleasant as of tomorrow when the new M8 Rathcormac-Fermoy Bypass is opened to the public.
Last night when I was driving back from Cork I got held up for a good forty minutes at Fermoy, so being able to avoid the town completely is going to be worth the cost involved (€1.60).
EDIT: Woops! It actually opened before I even posted this! See The Examiner’s story
Avoiding Fermoy?
It’s one of those things where the alternative is available, cheaper and for the most part easier to use.
Getting on and off the new toll road is difficult, it’s mostly empty southbound as the traffic problems lie in Cork for southbound travelers.
Going northbound, avoiding Fermoy is very useful.
At the moment hardly anyone is using it beacuse they are the regular commuters. They are the ones who really don’t want to suddnely want to pay a toll when there is a perfectly good road still available.
And the 5 sharp turns to avoid Watergrasshill is probably why the little town is seeing a hugh increase in traffic… trucks can’t make some of the shart turns safely.