Traffic Lights In Letterkenny

donegalman1

Having had the "Honour" of once having Donegal's only set of Traffic Lights I now propose Letterkenny gets the honour of Donegals worst set.

The Set (pedestrian Crossing) at the hospital seems to turn red non stop blocking up traffic around the roundabout without anyone anywhere in need of crossing. Entering from the Glencar exit, now everyone seems to use the "taxi" lane ie the Right hand lane, clearly marked for right turning, the lane favoured by taximen for using no matter where they are going. Obviously being near to the Garda Station, this is never observed by law inforcement who are duly posted on the Dual Carraigeway.

But thats not the point... what engineer got the job of deciding how these traffic lights are place and programmed and how stupid do I need to pretend to be to apply in the future for his job....

Obviously with two Hospitals and the Town Park a Pedestrian crossing is needed here but not neccessarily one designed to fustrate us tax paying Motorists and particularly those who seem to miss the big arrows painted on the righthand lane. Never mind the days when buttons used to be used to let the lights know someone desired to cross.

Think I will start a thread on the Dublin postings letting them know we here can solve their taxi problems (Cos everyone thinks they too can break the law like taxis) and we also can prove we can make a hems of traffic congestion too!!!!

Cultchies... yeah Right!

Civilian_Target

They're also designed to let people out of the hospital and town-park car-parks onto the main road safely. Except that that relies on culchies understanding the concept of "yellow hash box"

But, yeah, you're right, they should at least operate on a pushbutton & induction loop system.

muffler

Paddy20 is an expert in the way Council engineers think so we will wait with baited breath :eek:

foggy

I think the worst lights are the pedesterian lights between oatfields and tescos. They back the traffic up and drivers have no patience and end up sitting right the way around the roundabout blocking all other exits.

The ones at the hospital have never been red unless the button is pressed to allow people to cross, that I've noticed anyway and I'm on that road at least twice a day.

byte

I agree with foggy regarding the lights between Oatfields and Station Roundabout.

Don't even start me on the yellow hash boxes!

One other problem with lights in Letterkenny seems to be that a lot of the time, bulbs are blown often which doesn't help. I take it that nobody has to drive around to ensure all traffic lights are in PWO.

retalivity

i am so drunk/hungover i thought the thread title said traffic bites and im like wtf??? lol!!

donegalman1

Oh yes, I didn't want to get started on the Oatfields crossing.. same problem... though a higher rate of pedestrian use goes on here and it probably should have been sited up a bit from the roundabout. Now were a box junction located on all the roundabout exits and observed then it might not be so bad.

Still I'm ripping about the use of the righthand lane at the Hospital, particularly by Taxis.

I'm not sure but I believe the arrow on the road legally means you cannot use this lane to exit onto Develara Road when coming from the Glencar/Hospital Gate.

Litcagral

donegalman1 wrote:

Oh yes, I didn't want to get started on the Oatfields crossing.. same problem... though a higher rate of pedestrian use goes on here and it probably should have been sited up a bit from the roundabout. Now were a box junction located on all the roundabout exits and observed then it might not be so bad.

Still I'm ripping about the use of the righthand lane at the Hospital, particularly by Taxis.

I'm not sure but I believe the arrow on the road legally means you cannot use this lane to exit onto Develara Road when coming from the Glencar/Hospital Gate.

Im occasionally in Letterkenny and I always seem to have trouble when entering the Station Roundabout from the direction of the Oatfield factory. The left hand lane is clearly marked for left turns only (into Quinnsworth Shopping Centre?) but many motorists seem to use it when going straight on to the Derry Road. When I enter the roundabout on the right hand lane as indicated by the arrows and proceed to exit at the Derry Road, I'm usually 'blown at' aggressively by these motorists. Am I doing something wrong? (I haven't been up there in a while so apologies if the situation has altered).

Damien Blake

Litcagral wrote:

Im occasionally in Letterkenny and I always seem to have trouble when entering the Station Roundabout from the direction of the Oatfield factory. The left hand lane is clearly marked for left turns only (into Quinnsworth Shopping Centre?) but many motorists seem to use it when going straight on to the Derry Road. When I enter the roundabout on the right hand lane as indicated by the arrows and proceed to exit at the Derry Road, I'm usually 'blown at' aggressively by these motorists. Am I doing something wrong? (I haven't been up there in a while so apologies if the situation has altered).

Sorry to say, but you're wrong. It's a standard four-exit roundabout, so the left lane is for the first two exits and the right lane is for the rest. What really annoys me is drivers in the left lane going towards the Pearse Road!

I agree with foggy regarding the lights between Oatfields and Station Roundabout.

Oh yes, I didn't want to get started on the Oatfields crossing

I will definitely agree that the crossing there is giving loads of problems, but it's also something of a necessary evil. As has been pointed out, there's a huge amount of pedestrian traffic through there all day, and a very busy junction. By right, it probably should be a bit further up the road, but then you have the junction out of the Mr Chippie Car Park to cross, as well as the fact that (when it first opened) most people were just jumping the barrier and crossing where the junction used to be. A big consideration there (hence not wanting to cross the Mr Chippie exit) was the needs of visually impaired people, and people in wheelchairs. Letterkenny is still terrible for disabled access, but all new works are taking the regulations and guildelines into account. Still plenty to be done though!

The Set (pedestrian Crossing) at the hospital seems to turn red non stop blocking up traffic around the roundabout without anyone anywhere in need of crossing. Entering from the Glencar exit, now everyone seems to use the "taxi" lane ie the Right hand lane, clearly marked for right turning, the lane favoured by taximen for using no matter where they are going. Obviously being near to the Garda Station, this is never observed by law inforcement who are duly posted on the Dual Carraigeway.

Any time I've seen those lights changed someone has been crossing, but I can't say with any authority whether they are on a loop, timed or connected to a button. The crossing there is very necessary, particularly given the amount of parking for Letterkenny General which is located on the other side of the road, and (as had been mentioned) the exit from St Conals and the Town Park.

Pedestrian crossings can be a pain for motorists, but I have to say I wouldn't support removing (or moving much of a distance) the two that have been mentioned here. There may be changes possible in the way they work (something which is always kept under review) and I'd be more than willing to listen to anyone's thoughts on the matter.

Litcagral

Damien Blake wrote:

Sorry to say, but you're wrong. It's a standard four-exit roundabout, so the left lane is for the first two exits and the right lane is for the rest. What really annoys me is drivers in the left lane going towards the Pearse Road!QUOTE]


It is a five exit roundabout and normally one can use the left lane to take the first or second exit but in this roundabout the left lane approach has a left turn arrow painted on the road (i.e. it can only be used for the first exit).

How could I be in the wrong if I am taking the second exit and approach it on the right hand lane as marked on the road?

Damien Blake

Litcagral wrote:

Damien Blake wrote:

Sorry to say, but you're wrong. It's a standard four-exit roundabout, so the left lane is for the first two exits and the right lane is for the rest. What really annoys me is drivers in the left lane going towards the Pearse Road!

It is a five exit roundabout and normally one can use the left lane to take the first or second exit but in this roundabout the left lane approach has a left turn arrow painted on the road (i.e. it can only be used for the first exit).

How could I be in the wrong if I am taking the second exit and approach it on the right hand lane as marked on the road?

OK, got the number wrong, was counting the number of other exits from the road. But I think you're mis-reading the road markings. They are intended to point towards the left-ward lanes, that being the Derry Road and the entrance to Tesco, and the other arrow points straight, towards the Pearse road, rather than right.

I accept that the markings might be confusing. I'll take a look at them today if I get a chance.

Litcagral

Damien Blake wrote:

OK, got the number wrong, was counting the number of other exits from the road. But I think you're mis-reading the road markings. They are intended to point towards the left-ward lanes, that being the Derry Road and the entrance to Tesco, and the other arrow points straight, towards the Pearse road, rather than right.

I accept that the markings might be confusing. I'll take a look at them today if I get a chance.

I accept what you say Damien but it is confusing. Thanks for you reply.


According to The Road Traffic General Bye Laws 1964 Section 12 Part 2 Subsection (b):



12.—(1) An authorised broken white line on a roadway shall indicate the boundary of a traffic lane.

(2) White arrows placed in traffic lanes at an approach to a road junction shall indicate to drivers the direction to be taken by traffic using those lanes, as follows :—

(a) in the case of arrows pointing straight ahead, a driver using the traffic lane in which those arrows are placed shall proceed straight through the junction ;

(b) in the case of arrows pointing or curved to the left, a driver using the traffic lane in which those arrows are placed shall turn left at the junction ;

(c) in the case of arrows pointing or curved to the right, a driver using the traffic lane in which those arrows are placed shall turn right at the junction.

Damien Blake

Litcagral wrote:

...
(b) in the case of arrows pointing or curved to the left, a driver using the traffic lane in which those arrows are placed shall turn left at the junction ;
...

Like I say, I'll have to check it out, but I think the case at the Station Roundabout comes under that piece of legislation you've mentioned above- the Derry Road is to the left of the junction. I think the regulations you quote refer to junctions rather than roundabouts, but the rules for marking would be similar (if not the same).

Civilian_Target

Well, I guess, it's a bit confusing. You need a road marking that indicates "Hard left or medium left" as opposed to "Straight ahead or right"

Perhaps you should write "N14" on the road to clarify.

foggy

I wouldn't attach too much importance to the road markings. There are so close to the roundabout anyway that it is nearly always impossible to cross into the correct lane by the time you see them anyway.
I always use the left lane for the first two exits (Quinsworth and Derry road) and the right lane for the other exits. As explained to me during my driving lessons a few years ago.
IMO the traffic is backed around that roundabout trying to get into Tescos at peak times anyway so the lane you are in isn't important. Trying to get around the roundabout is a case of swinging into the left lane to get around the backlog of cars anyway !

Damien Blake

I wrote this yesterday, but the board has been acting up....

I had a look at the markings on the road today, coming back from the opening of the new Business Park Road.

The only markings on the road are the standard triangles; there are no directional arrows any more. I think that means that standard Road Rules apply, ie left lane for the first two exits.

I'm not sure how long those markings have been in place.

Litcagral

Damien Blake wrote:

I wrote this yesterday, but the board has been acting up....

I had a look at the markings on the road today, coming back from the opening of the new Business Park Road.

The only markings on the road are the standard triangles; there are no directional arrows any more. I think that means that standard Road Rules apply, ie left lane for the first two exits.

I'm not sure how long those markings have been in place.

Thanks Damien.

(PS I didn't realise you were a councillor and Mayor of Letterkenny. Belated congratulations and excuse my ignorance)

byte

Damien Blake wrote:

I wrote this yesterday, but the board has been acting up....

I had a look at the markings on the road today, coming back from the opening of the new Business Park Road.

The only markings on the road are the standard triangles; there are no directional arrows any more. I think that means that standard Road Rules apply, ie left lane for the first two exits.

I'm not sure how long those markings have been in place.

Actually Damien...

I noticed the arrows yesterday. Litcagral isn't dreaming! As soon as you come off Oatfield Roundabout, you'll see the 2 arrows just outside the entrance to the Station Lighthouse or whatever its' now called!

Damien Blake

byte wrote:

Actually Damien...

I noticed the arrows yesterday. Litcagral isn't dreaming! As soon as you come off Oatfield Roundabout, you'll see the 2 arrows just outside the entrance to the Station Lighthouse or whatever its' now called!

I suppose so. Forgot about those ones, I was more focussed on the ones at the roundabout itself. Oops!