The Circle Things on the M4

marymc

When you're driving towards Dublin on the M4, there are two big circular discs with lines on them on both sides of the motorway just before you come to the Toll Plaza (they're just after the Plaza when you're driving from Dublin). They look like Stargates.

What the hell are they?

Are they just artwork? Are they something solar? Are they designed to blind and confuse drivers? Do they actually serve a purpose?

I've been driving past them for over a year now and it STILL bugs the hell out of me.

(edited coz I CAN spell)

daymobrew

You could email/phone the toll operators or the NRA.
I've often found the NRA to be quite responsive and helpful.

jjbrien

One os them looks like a circus hoop maybe its for bikers to jump trough.

icdg

There are "decorations" on quite a lot of rural motorways / HQDCs now. Apparently they're to alleviate the boredem of driving long distances in a straight line. But IMO, they look daft.

Daftest of all of them are the plastic animals on the N7 Annacotty - Limerick scheme, which freak me out every time I see them...

The Swordsman

They are probably part of the 'Percent for Art' scheme, whereby a certain amount of money for public projects is to be set aside to commission pieces of art.

http://www.laois.ie/LeisureCulture/ArtsEntertainment/Art/PublicArt/PercentforArtProjects/

Drax

Ah the Limerick ones aren't that bad. But those hoop things are ridiculous. My favourite ones are on the Youghal bypass.... totem poles. They actually look like someone went to some effort to make them as opposed to bending a metal bar in to a hoop etc. They also have an unusual one on the M1 near the toll plaza in Drogheda - looks like loads of red glow sticks on the bank of the road. They were recently vandalised by scobies!

Occidental

I've been hoping the wind might remove them. They are the height of nastyness.

europerson

I like Perpetual Motion, the ball of road in Naas.

daymobrew

I like the Man/Bull sculpture on the Nenagh by-pass (N7 near Limerick).

jmkennedyie

Part of the idea is to catch the drivers attention and stimulate the mind on otherwise long boring motorway journeys where folks might be nodding off [most of the newer ones are reflective and often work better at night], so in a sense they are designed to wreck your head

wwhyte

The stone beehives on the M1 near Balbriggan are cute.

Tom Dunne

jmkennedyie wrote:

Part of the idea is to catch the drivers attention and stimulate the mind on otherwise long boring motorway journeys where folks might be nodding off

So why is it right beside the Toll Plaza? Drivers who have just left the plaza, should hopefully have stopped their cars/trucks to pay the toll and those approaching it may be inclined to slow down.

Who says there is any thought/planning put into our roads? :rolleyes:

mackerski

jmkennedyie wrote:

Part of the idea is to catch the drivers attention and stimulate the mind on otherwise long boring motorway journeys where folks might be nodding off [most of the newer ones are reflective and often work better at night], so in a sense they are designed to wreck your head

Concentration lapses are one of the first indicators that the speed limit is too low.

impr0v

As The Swordsman says, they are an artistic feature installed under the Percent for Art scheme. I forget the complete story behind them, but it relates to the project being a gateway to the west, as well as reflecting the circular motif that reoccured in archaeological finds during preparatory work for the scheme. Circular forts and burial sites were discovered, as well as circular decorative pins.

Victor

mackerski wrote:

Concentration lapses are one of the first indicators that the speed limit is too low.

Very dangerous statement. Motorway driving should not be a white knuckle ride.

Seth Brundle

Victor wrote:

Motorway driving should not be a white knuckle ride.

spoilsport

mackerski

Victor wrote:

Very dangerous statement. Motorway driving should not be a white knuckle ride.

Show me where I said it should be. On an empty M1 between Drogheda and Dundalk, with the cruise control set to 120km/h your mind can wander in a way that it wouldn't at 150 or above. There's a reason why the 85th percentile rule is used to set speed limits. It doesn't cease to be valid above a magic "danger speed".

And yes, it's still the responsibility of every driver to keep his mind on the task at hand. But to me that's the road ahead, not a sculpture beside it.

MICKEYG

daymobrew wrote:

I like the Man/Bull sculpture on the Nenagh by-pass (N7 near Limerick).

I like that one too. Any idea what the one on the Kildare by-pass (Curragh end) is about? Looks like graffiti and vandalism but I may be artistically ignorant.

jmkennedyie

tom dunne wrote:

So why is it right beside the Toll Plaza?

Well I did say it was part of the idea. It might have some relevance for folks coming from the West - I don't recall local signage. Based on impr0v and The Swordsman, sounds like the primary intent is art.

MICKEYG wrote:

Any idea what the one on the Kildare by-pass (Curragh end) is about?

I think I read somewhere that it is based on a St. Brigid's Cross (she's from around there). It gradually builds up then disappears. The colours don't do much for me, but I think at night it's a bit clearer.

impr0v

tom dunne wrote:

So why is it right beside the Toll Plaza? Drivers who have just left the plaza, should hopefully have stopped their cars/trucks to pay the toll and those approaching it may be inclined to slow down.

Who says there is any thought/planning put into our roads?

It's in that location because the relatively deep rock cut in that location was the only element of the construction that had anything approaching drama. The majority of the route runs through almost flat gently undulating land.

I drive the road twice a day and I've yet to notice anyone slowing down for it, but perhaps I'm too busy staring at it to notice what other drivers are doing.

jjbrien

There is another wiered sculpure on the M4 just outside Mullingar it looks like one of those old anchne things for keeping time sitting on top of a round object. Very stange if you blink you will miss it.

impr0v

It's the corresponding installation under the same funding mechanism for the scheme adjacent to the M4; the N4 McNead's Bridge Road improvement scheme. It's a sculpture of a mushroom pin, again related to items found during archaeological preparation work prior to construction.