Traffic in the morning.

Truckermal · 29-09-2014 7:10pm #1

Hi folks anyone else notice traffic is much worse in these morning's compared to before the summer holidays. Traffic coming from Ballincolling seems to be greater heading towards the tunnel and jams are building earlier.

I regularly flew through the tunnel with no slowing down to Dunkettle at 7.40am but now the traffic is backed up towards Mahon.

On a similar note traffic coming in the Dublin side is much busier too, I have came to a stop about 2km from Dunkettle in the morning about 8.30 and it takes almost 30 mins to get through the tunnel. I never remember it being this bad before??

Cork Lass · 29-09-2014 7:58pm

Traffic is always crazy in September. Schools and colleges are all back and I find it's generally a few weeks before lift sharing kicks in. Plus, on a happier note, a lot more people are working again.

rebs23 · 29-09-2014 9:13pm

Traffic has got really bad in the past few weeks. Never got stuck in so many different places.

Padraig Mor · 29-09-2014 9:39pm

Definitely busier this year, even accounting for the usual increase at this time of year. Unfortunately, this has led to a significant increase in near suicidal idiots stopping on the driving lane of a dual carriageway trying to skip the queues (at the tunnel and Kinsale Rd specifically).

Bacchus · 30-09-2014 8:37am

It's defo worse this year (I work out in City Gate, travelling to/from the Kinsale Rd. roundabout direction). It's always been bad when the school come back but I'm convinced it is worse this year. It's easy to see why though, there's a whole new building in the business park employing Dell & EMC staff, not to mention all the other smaller companies that have moved out here in the past 6 months. It's great to see the jobs come in but it's becoming a real pain in the ass now getting to/from work.

Jimmy Bottles · 30-09-2014 8:47am

Coming out onto the South Ring Road going east from the Bloomfield Interchange has become a pain in the morning. Phantom traffic traffic jams going over the Douglas flyover. They really need to widen this section to 3 lanes each way.

Ludo · 30-09-2014 9:10am

Do you mean west? Douglas flyover is west from Bloomfield.

The "phantom" traffic jams are probably caused by f*cking assholes who insist on going all the way to the end of the off ramp for the Kinsale roundabout and then stopping in the driving lane as there is no room to get off. They are too good to join the end of the queue so try jumping in further up. I am amazed at the amount of people just stopped EVERY morning in the driving lane which results in tailbacks back beyond the Bloomfield interchange.

They need to put a garda there a few mornings and do them all for dangerous driving and slap em with a good few penalty points. it is the only way to stop it.

Nemanrio · 30-09-2014 9:12am

Are any schools off this week because I left home at 8.30 to be in work for 9 the last 2 mornings & Douglas seemed ok from what it usually is.

MrFrisp · 30-09-2014 9:24am

What I have noticed over the last 2 weeks, are the long lines of traffic trying to get onto the Pouladuff slip road from the Sarsfield Road roundabout.

Even earlier, the que of traffic was at a total standstill from that slip road all the way back to the roundabout. And it wasn't moving for the few minutes that I saw it.

I've never seen that before.
.

Jimmy Bottles · 30-09-2014 9:52am

Ludo wrote: »

Do you mean west? Douglas flyover is west from Bloomfield.

The "phantom" traffic jams are probably caused by f*cking assholes who insist on going all the way to the end of the off ramp for the Kinsale roundabout and then stopping in the driving lane as there is no room to get off. They are too good to join the end of the queue so try jumping in further up. I am amazed at the amount of people just stopped EVERY morning in the driving lane which results in tailbacks back beyond the Bloomfield interchange.

They need to put a garda there a few mornings and do them all for dangerous driving and slap em with a good few penalty points. it is the only way to stop it.

Sorry. Meant going west alright. The phantom traffic jam disappears once you go past the Douglas flyover. Adding a 3rd lane for traffic merging from Bloomfield is the only solution I think.

darkdubh · 30-09-2014 10:12am

Badly needs to be a car pooling system in place but of course Irish people won't go for that,not getting to drive their own car might turn them gay.

run_Forrest_run · 30-09-2014 10:25am

I totally agree with the likes of what Ludo is saying, try last Wednesday I think it was, apparently there was 'a car in the middle of the road' somewhere between Garryduff and Maryborough Hill...so this had a knock-on effect reaching places like Passage, Carrigaline, Douglas...seriously, 1 car!! I hope that car has now been crushed to pieces and will never bother us ever again :mad::mad:

Also I think technology should be used more to help drivers. Far too often when driving I make a decision on which way to go and suddenly I'm in the middle of a total mess with zero chance of 'undoing' it because it's too late.

A few drones with live camera feeds accessible from your smartphone would be a good idea...and if the drones can shoot that "Wayne in a Plane" idiot out of the sky it would be a bonus...seriously, what a waste of fuel those traffic reports are.

Ludo · 30-09-2014 10:29am

Jimmy Bottles wrote: »

Sorry. Meant going west alright. The phantom traffic jam disappears once you go past the Douglas flyover. Adding a 3rd lane for traffic merging from Bloomfield is the only solution I think.

This is what you are seeing back by the douglas flyover as a resulf ot some tool stopping in driving lane at Kinsale Road exit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Suugn-p5C1M

Better one here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goVjVVaLe10

Nemanrio · 30-09-2014 11:08am

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

I totally agree with the likes of what Ludo is saying, try last Wednesday I think it was, apparently there was 'a car in the middle of the road' somewhere between Garryduff and Maryborough Hill...so this had a knock-on effect reaching places like Passage, Carrigaline, Douglas...seriously, 1 car!! I hope that car has now been crushed to pieces and will never bother us ever again :mad::mad:

Also I think technology should be used more to help drivers. Far too often when driving I make a decision on which way to go and suddenly I'm in the middle of a total mess with zero chance of 'undoing' it because it's too late.

A few drones with live camera feeds accessible from your smartphone would be a good idea...and if the drones can shoot that "Wayne in a Plane" idiot out of the sky it would be a bonus...seriously, what a waste of fuel those traffic reports are.

Yes a dopey cow driving a land rover discovery. Cops had to come.

Jimmy Bottles · 30-09-2014 11:12am

Ludo wrote: »

This is what you are seeing back by the douglas flyover as a resulf ot some tool stopping in driving lane at Kinsale Road exit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Suugn-p5C1M

Better one here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goVjVVaLe10

No, this is before there is huge queues at the Kinsale Roundabout. Its caused by poor merging and people also slowing down going over the Douglas Flyover. Once you go past the flyover, the traffic completely disappears.

Ludo · 30-09-2014 11:43am

Jimmy Bottles wrote: »

No, this is before there is huge queues at the Kinsale Roundabout. Its caused by poor merging and people also slowing down going over the Douglas Flyover. Once you go past the flyover, the traffic completely disappears.

Fair enough..but they ain't ever gonna add a third lane here...impossible I would imagine.

Dannyboy83 · 30-09-2014 3:27pm

Significant increase in Traffic, I'm not travelling at school times, so I know the changes are heavily related to poor (re)design and also an increase of large vehicles.

Every morning at 6.30, there is a queue at Camden Wharf/ Pope's quay.

Left lane for turning left only.
Right lane for straight on or turning right for blackpool.
The light is much too short for Irish drivers, who tend to dawdle, or if there is a truck - which seem to be much more frequent recently for whatever reason.

A queue builds, 5 or 6 cars get through before the lights change, people in the centre lane get frustrated and swerve into the left lane and put the foot down. The footpath is so wide it's comical. If the car they're overtaking intends going straight on instead of turning right...I see close calls here frequently.

We're leaving 15mins earlier in the mornings.
That doesn't bother me.
The dangerous overtaking does - but it's almost to be expected with such a thoughtless redesign.

hoodwinked · 30-09-2014 8:30pm

Ludo wrote: »

Do you mean west? Douglas flyover is west from Bloomfield.

The "phantom" traffic jams are probably caused by f*cking assholes who insist on going all the way to the end of the off ramp for the Kinsale roundabout and then stopping in the driving lane as there is no room to get off. They are too good to join the end of the queue so try jumping in further up. I am amazed at the amount of people just stopped EVERY morning in the driving lane which results in tailbacks back beyond the Bloomfield interchange.

They need to put a garda there a few mornings and do them all for dangerous driving and slap em with a good few penalty points. it is the only way to stop it.

It's not just cars doing it either, i have seen company branded trucks/vans doing it too, i often thought about calling the companies to complain but i know nothing will be done about it as it's my word vs theirs and they are unlikely to admit they were dangerously driving when it's their job, traffic travelling at speeds up to 100km/h and they stop dead suddenly in the lane and indicate left like it makes it ok.... :mad:

mcko · 01-10-2014 8:26am

I noticed the traffic as well, maybe a good sign as more people are heading to work, noticed a good few 142 cars in the car park as well.
People jumping into lanes instead of joining the q like the rest of us does my head in, last week one guy stops alongside me on the main road and stars to push in, traffic backing up behind him and not a care in the world, I kept going and he when he saw I was prepared to hit him he stopped and started ranting at me, still the clown behind let him in. His time is more important than mine.

Jimmy Bottles · 01-10-2014 9:23am

This morning was the worst so far. Kinsale Roundabout was an absolute disaster.

Padraig Mor · 01-10-2014 10:09am

Jimmy Bottles wrote: »

This morning was the worst so far. Kinsale Roundabout was an absolute disaster.

I left 10 minutes earlier this morning but it was still really busy - I'd have been in trouble at my normal time I think. A special note to the driver of O'Brien Transport lorry with the tag OBT-16: it is extremely dangerous to practically stop on the driving lane of a high speed dual carriageway to jump the queue at Dunkettle; to then decide this wasn't enough of a queue jump and pull out again slowly into the driving lane and go forward a hundred meters before again slowly forcing your way into the queue; and then decide AGAIN that this wasn't good enough and slowly pull out again into the driving lane and heading off citywards; doing this while driving a low profile (harder to see) full length artic is insane.

Dannyboy83 · 01-10-2014 10:12am

Jimmy Bottles wrote: »

This morning was the worst so far. Kinsale Roundabout was an absolute disaster.

Traffic around the Tramore road/Forge hill has been heavy since the start of September.
Usually only Friday was heavy, but it seems to be heavy more often than not in recent weeks.

Jimmy Bottles · 01-10-2014 10:57am

Dannyboy83 wrote: »

Traffic around the Tramore road/Forge hill has been heavy since the start of September.
Usually only Friday was heavy, but it seems to be heavy more often than not in recent weeks.

Would going up Matthews Hill and coming back down through Togher be quite busy in the mornings ?

MrFrisp · 01-10-2014 1:34pm

Jimmy Bottles wrote: »

Would going up Matthews Hill and coming back down through Togher be quite busy in the mornings ?

Depends on your timing.

I live in that area.. If you hit it before 8.15 your grand.

But after that it's hit and miss..

You could have free flow all the way down into Togher, but sometimes, and a lot when it's raining, you could be caught right up at the top of that hill, and it could take you 20 minutes or more just to make it to the bottom.

run_Forrest_run · 01-10-2014 1:49pm

Now call me naive but is there anyone/group in City Hall/County Hall who is actually charged with monitoring traffic and most importantly attempting to come up with ways to help alleviate it?

I think the most frustrating point to the traffic problems is that nothing seems to ever be done about it from the authorities. We're not expecting some silver bullet solution but it would be nice to know that someone is actually trying to do something about it.

One positive thing I've seen happen since the schools returned is the side entrance to Douglas Court shopping centre has been closed. This is a great help because it stops those chancers taking an illegal right into the shopping centre and zipping back out at the roundabout lower down (by McDonalds) which blocks up all the traffic coming from the fingerpost roundabout.
Since this small thing happened it actually has a positive affect on the traffic congestion levels around the area.

the beer revolu · 01-10-2014 4:02pm

The only real solution for traffic congestion is a widespread liberalisation of working hours. Why the hell does everyone have to work 9-5?
I can understand why some people must but as long as we have such regimental work hours for the majority of people, we will have rush hour congestion.
Selfish and/or unobservant driving is a major contributor to congestion too, in my opinion.

Also, once Irish people purchase a car, the thought of ever using public transport again
seems to be an anathema. We also need to promote car pooling more.

It would seem to be a negative in the economic recovery - I remember traffic easing hugely after the decline.

I once saw a very amusing piece of graffiti that stated: Don't complain about traffic when you are traffic.

run_Forrest_run · 01-10-2014 4:21pm

you make some valid points the beer revolu but in relation to public transport, it must be there and available to entice the car owner to use it and in Cork it simply isn't up to scratch, unless you want to travel to the city.
Why else do companies like EMC put on their own bus service?
You also fail to mention schools etc which is a massive contributory factor, it would be nice if schools staggered their starting times etc.

I actually think the 9-5 thing isn't as prevalent as many think. Flexi-time is a very common thing now, as well as working from home the odd day or two since connectivity has improved thanks to technology etc.

Driver consideration/ignorance is a big problem alright.

Bacchus · 01-10-2014 7:26pm

the beer revolu wrote: »

The only real solution for traffic congestion is a widespread liberalisation of working hours. Why the hell does everyone have to work 9-5?
I can understand why some people must but as long as we have such regimental work hours for the majority of people, we will have rush hour congestion.

It's called business hours for a reason. Business's interact with each other. If everyone was working "liberal" hours it would hamper business. Businesses need structure to operate.

Additionally, a lot of people have children who attend school. Working outside of those hours doesn't make much sense.

There are exceptions of course. One of the other groups at work deal a lot with the American office and therefore generally work a later day. Another team works with an office in India quite closely and I've been in at 7am and they have been there at their desks.

The company I work with have flexi-time so you can start between 8-10am and leave around 5-7pm (it's really between you and your manager what hours you work). Encouraging businesses to adopt flexitime where possible would be of benefit, though who's to say that's not already the case and it's just not enough.

The simple fact is, there is one road (2 lanes) through which the majority of traffic flows, whether is going to/from Mahon, the city center, Little Island, Douglas or Ballincollig and at one end of that road there is a big traffic lighted roundabout where everyone meets that clogs the whole thing up. The disastrous infrastructure in Mahon, being so close to that roundabout compounds the problem as the traffic for the slip road to Mahon backs up on to the ring road too.

Bacchus · 01-10-2014 7:31pm

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

you make some valid points the beer revolu but in relation to public transport, it must be there and available to entice the car owner to use it and in Cork it simply isn't up to scratch, unless you want to travel to the city.
Why else do companies like EMC put on their own bus service?

The companies in City Gate got together and tried this last year. It failed SO HARD. Any chance it had at success was ruined by a weird pay in advance scheme that didn't really offer much savings over the public bus. I think it's just too awkward to arrange times and routes that everyone is happy with when they could just take their car. People that use the public bus then don't gain anything either by being tied to a bus that does a limited number of runs compared to the public bus that goes all day.

hoodwinked · 01-10-2014 7:32pm

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

Now call me naive but is there anyone/group in City Hall/County Hall who is actually charged with monitoring traffic and most importantly attempting to come up with ways to help alleviate it?

nope! instead like in the case on the Maryborough hill they give developers the right to shut a busy main road down to one lane for MONTHS so they can do "road works" aka build more mansions in Maryborough Woods easier.

BUNK1982 · 01-10-2014 8:38pm

You almost forget that up until 18 months there was no flyover for the sarsfield rd or bandon rd roundabouts!

Cork is shocking for traffic and it all comes down to some pretty appalling urban planing really, Mahon Point and City Gate as a case in point.

Traffic in the morning.

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