Too much

Danno

The amount of N road and main thoroughfares that are now under speed limit restrictions is becoming a bit too much.

For example, in Abbeyleix, they have 60kmph well outside the town on the Durrow side into woodland. Why?

On the Portlaoise side there is a 80kmph zone for up to 1km outside the town.

If this keeps happening then the whole N8 will be restricted in a few years. :mad:

mike65

Its will be when the new M road appears.

Mike.

popebenny16

Actualy what happens is a by-product of opening a motorway.

When the Monasterevin by-pass opened the old N7 from Monasterevin to Portlaoise was re-caterorised as an R road. Under the current law all R roads - no matter how safe - have an 80kph limit. So, if you know this road you will be aware of the fact that up till last year you could drive on this very very wide road at 60pmph then suddenly next day, same road 80kph, which is a total joke.

Interstingly, even going at 80kph and going through Ballybritas and Monesterevin I'd swear its quicker than taking the by-pass due to the long curve it has going south and then north agin. Turn off at the Ballybritas junction, get back on at the Kildare/Nurney Junction and, even if it isnt, it seesm an easier and faster drive!!

Why these roads could not stay as N roads with an M eqvilant beside it I dont know.

murphaph

popebenny16 wrote:

Under the current law all R roads - no matter how safe - have an 80kph limit.

This isn't exactly correct. When a road is detrunked from N to R status (usually because of a bypass) the default limit is 80km/h, BUT the local authority may at it's discretion (re)impose a 100km/h limit on such a road. The legislation is designed as a catch-all, so blame the local councillors if a perfectly good stretch of road has a silly 80km/h limit on it. These make me pretty mad actually. Where the hell are the AA/RAC in all this?

MT

But Murphaph, do you think there's something dodgy about the policy of downgrading all bypassed national routes to R status? I've always wondered is this a ploy to offload the cost of funding their maintenance from the DoT/NRA budget to that of the DoE and the councils. As the NRA only has to maintain or build national routes it gets to spend the lions share of its cash on opening new roads - a situation that's bound to be more popular politically as far as the government's concerned.

The problem with this approach is that many local authorities are simply hopeless at maintaining the roads they already have responsibility for and so are in no position to take on anymore. Take a new stretch of N15 opened in Donegal - the old N15 it bypassed was redesignated the R237 but still hasn't had it's signposts updated to reflect this. There are now two N15s running parallel to each other.:rolleyes:

popebenny16

Murphaph, the reality is that there are no 100kph R roads in the country, the only excersing of the discretion is downwards to 60kph in a few places near schools. And, you are correct, it is the local authorities fault. In fact, using the example i gave, along the stretch from Portloaise to Kildare all of the old N7 signs are still there, albeit with a few signs indicating it is a R road here and there.

Victor

MT wrote:

But Murphaph, do you think there's something dodgy about the policy of downgrading all bypassed national routes to R status? I've always wondered is this a ploy to offload the cost of funding their maintenance from the DoT/NRA budget to that of the DoE and the councils. As the NRA only has to maintain or build national routes it gets to spend the lions share of its cash on opening new roads - a situation that's bound to be more popular politically as far as the government's concerned.

But it is the local authorities that are driving (:)) these projects. The NRA merely funds them.

dowlingm

having 100km/h R roads would also discourage people from using motorways (and all those lovely tolls there are on some of them)

MT

Victor wrote:

But it is the local authorities that are driving (:)) these projects. The NRA merely funds them.

But they’d still be getting a fair degree of proding from the NRA and central government given the nationally strategic importance of most routes.

And are local authorities behind the controversial downgrading of bypassed routes to R status? My suspicion is that it’s the NRA’s budget that is given primary consideration here. That and the political desirability of funding flashy new things as opposed to maintaining what’s been around for years.

r3nu4l

Okay, here's my opinion.

I know it can be very difficult coming down straight from 100 kph on a road to 50 kph when you enter a town, seems like you could get out and walk faster. Perhaps the long stretches of 80 kph road are there to accustom the driver psychologically to driving at a slower speed?

On another (but similar) note, a Greek friend of mine recently travelled from Shannonto Galway as a passenger with my gf driving. The Greek girl could not believe that people were allowed to drive at 100 kph on some of the stretches of road they were on and was shocked when my gf told her that other narrower, windier roads often had the same speed limit. Now if a Greek driver is giving out about the high speed limits on our roads, maybe we should begin to listen?