Ireland's worst roundabouts!

rliston

I'm doing a final year project on the design of roundabouts and am looking for poorly designed roundabouts around Ireland, although preferably in Munster\Limerick. I'm especially looking for locations of roundabouts on major roads that are difficult to use by lorries, due to the radius, etc.

Orange69

The biggest problem on roundabouts imo is when the moron planners decide to build pedestrian crosswalks right where traffic exits the roundabout.. The amount of times i have nearly rear ended someone because of this is unreal...

A classic example of this is the roundabout at the riverpoint building and again outside the crescent.. There are too many to mention tbh..

When you are done with your project go into the city planners and give those muppets a presentation about the problems you are focusing on... maybe something will stick..

Orange69

rliston wrote: »

I'm especially looking for locations of roundabouts on major roads that are difficult to use by lorries, due to the radius, etc.

Crescent roundabout.. its very small and narrow yet has a huge traffic volume..
Actually if you drive from the crescent roundabout down towards the new motor tax office out onto the southern ring road you will find another 2 ridiculously narrow roundabouts..

kona

totally agree, the one in artane, the lights randomly go red for no reason at all, then go amber when it changes red to green.
most confusing roundabout ever, the amount of time ive ran red lights there, no way i can stop safely in 10m.
must be a irish thing:D

also,
indicating on a roundabout, i might be wrong here but here is how i use a roundabout.
1st exit indicate left.
2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th exit indicate right, and then left as i want to come off?? is this right??
as the amount of people who dont indicate on the roundabout,is unreal, i dont kno if they are coming or going

kona

kona wrote: »

also,
indicating on a roundabout, i might be wrong here but here is how i use a roundabout.
1st exit indicate left.
2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th exit indicate right, and then left as i want to come off?? is this right??
as the amount of people who dont indicate on the roundabout,is unreal, i dont kno if they are coming or going

Sorry Kona, your wrong.

1st (left) - Indicate Left
2nd / sometimes also 3rd - (straight) dont indicate at all until you indicate left after the last exit before the one your taking

3rd / sometimes 4th or more (right) Indicate right, then indicate off with left when your at the end of the last exit before the one your taking.

A lot of people in this country think you have to indicate right until your exit (obviously not if going left) - which is wrong.

Hope this helps

Spyguy

kona

cheers man:)
but, id have imagined indicating is better than not but anyhow:D

Creamy Goodness

roundabout entering (from bray) shankill village bearly enough with to get a golf around never mind bus/truck/lorry.

Guy:Incognito

Deleted User wrote: »

2nd / sometimes also 3rd - (straight) dont indicate at all until you indicate

That one bugs the crap out of me, and when they combine it with being in the wrong lane on bigger roundabouts its fun tryign to figure out what the hell they are at.

Fizman

rliston wrote: »

I'm doing a final year project on the design of roundabouts and am looking for poorly designed roundabouts around Ireland, although preferably in Munster\Limerick. I'm especially looking for locations of roundabouts on major roads that are difficult to use by lorries, due to the radius, etc.

The Condell Bridge roundabout/steamboat quay in Limerick. It gets pretty nasty there around rush hour.

green123

any of the many roundabouts with 2 lanes on it that exit into 1 lane
ridiculous design

stratos

all roundabouts with Irish drivers.

Driving in the U.K. a fair bit they understand its like a junction they indicate, and enter right lane for right hand turn and left for straight on or left.

it's just a junction but roundy. Why do people insist on being in the inner lane for straight on or left for right hand turn.

The best part is they blow their horn at you as they are in the wrong lane, and your observation and experience has guessed what they are gonna do and avoided an accident.

Rowley Birkin QC

The one on the Cork side of Mitchelstown, its tiny for the volume of traffic it handles.

Also the one on the relief road around Mitchelstown, its more like a slalom, would not like to be handling an artic or tractor and trailer on it.

Jrad

There a bad one in waterford at the end of the folly outside the golden fry.

Lord Nikon

The Red Cow - nuff said.

antodeco

stratos wrote: »

...enter right lane for right hand turn. Why do people insist on being in the inner lane for straight

You can use either lane for going straight (2nd exit) if there are 2 exit lanes.

My 5 worst roundabouts:
Steamboat Quay during rush hour.
Walkinstown Roundabout.
Entering Naas from Dublin Side.
Castletroy SC (for trucks)
Leopardstown during rush hour

paulksnn

The worst one of all has to be Kinsale road roundabout in cork.
5 exits and 4 sets of traffic lights.
Sadly they've built a flyover for the main flow of traffic, taking all the fun out of it.

Mossy Monk

stratos wrote: »

The best part is they blow their horn at you as they are in the wrong lane

It really angers me when people do that. They should learn how to drive before taking frustrations out on anyone.

woodseb

kona wrote: »

cheers man:)
but, id have imagined indicating is better than not but anyhow:D

the reason is that if you indicate right while using the 2nd exit (straight), you prevent people waiting to join at that exit getting on the roundabout as they think you are carrying on around the roundabout, think about it why indicate right when you are going straight on?....sorry but it's one of my pet hates

Cappo

Dublin Airport - exit - 3 lanes into one with lights
Entrance with multiple lights creating gridlock
:mad:

bman

antodeco wrote: »

You can use either lane for going straight (2nd exit) if there are 2 exit lanes.

Wrong, according to my reading of the rules of the road (unless there's some problem with taking the outer lane).

Attachment from the RSA book.

Seth Brundle

IMO the worst are at M50 junctions. The N3 and also the one at sandyford are desperate because the lane markings are jut wrong.
In the case of the N3, if you are heading westbound, your two lanes suddenly become three.
IN the case of the one at Sandyford, if you travel up from the Beacon and get into the righthand lane (to head for M50N), then you are left in a situation where you must change lanes or else you must keep going around the roundabout.

neuromancer wrote: »

The Red Cow - nuff said.

There is no roundabout at the red cow!

woodseb

bman wrote: »

Wrong, according to my reading of the rules of the road (unless there's some problem with taking the outer lane).

Attachment from the RSA book.

i think at most busy roundabouts it's acceptable to take in inside lane when going straight on, if everyone automatically queued in the left lane the traffic would snarl up very quickly

bcmf

In North County Dublin.They built a huge Tesco warehouse at Blakes cross on the N1 and they built what i can only describe as a token of a gesture of a roundabout for the entrance.Considering Huge trucks have to negotiate this it is only a matter of time that a truck jacknifes/turns over and causes mayhem.
Also in Santry coming off the flyover going towards Beaumont Hse I have seen very few people going round the little white bump.In fact I would say that in anything bigger than a mini it may be impossible togo round it in 1 go!!!!!!!1

Cookie_Monster

woodseb wrote: »

i think at most busy roundabouts it's acceptable to take in inside lane when going straight on, if everyone automatically queued in the left lane the traffic would snarl up very quickly

Clearly it's not:rolleyes:, unless blocked with stationary traffic or similar

Cookie_Monster

I think the Graduate roundabout in Killiney has to be one of the worst, considering it is a big easy too use roundabout the amount of people in the wrong lanes coming off Church road on this is unbelievable.

All because the first exit is at a very shallow angle to the entry. Noone indicates left for this and people taking the second exit all use the right hand lane and cut accross as they assume everyone in the left lane is going "straight on" i.e. 1st left.

woodseb

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Clearly it's not:rolleyes:, unless blocked with stationary traffic or similar

why is it clearly not acceptable? the guidance is only that 'where conditions dictate otherwise'. If there is a queue of 10 cars waiting to get on the roundabout in the left lane, i would choose the inside lane every single time. It's not illegal or dangerous and it doesn't affect other users of the roundabout, it's a matter of interpretation

A.Partridge

bcmf wrote: »

In North County Dublin.They built a huge Tesco warehouse at Blakes cross on the N1 and they built what i can only describe as a token of a gesture of a roundabout for the entrance...

Have to agree. This one is a POS, especially given that the planners could have made the roundabout bigger as the entrance to the Tesco warehouse could have been CPO'd to gain some more ground.

balon

kona wrote: »

totally agree, the one in artane, the lights randomly go red for no reason at all, then go amber when it changes red to green.
most confusing roundabout ever,

+1. When I read the OP, this was the first one I thought of. Crazy and defies logic why the crossing is where it is. Walkway over the road would be far more sensible

Cookie_Monster

woodseb wrote: »

why is it clearly not acceptable? the guidance is only that 'where conditions dictate otherwise'. If there is a queue of 10 cars waiting to get on the roundabout in the left lane, i would choose the inside lane every single time. It's not illegal or dangerous and it doesn't affect other users of the roundabout, it's a matter of interpretation

Well maybe on large roundabouts on dual carriage ways etc it is accecptable but not on normal smaller roundabouts.

Fey!

Come to Galway - we have a couple of dozen badly designed roundabouts, ranging from a thing the size of a tractor wheel in Salthill to the appropriatly nicknamed "Magic Roundabout" on the Headford Road. Then there's the yoke in the Galway Shopping Centre.

That said, it isn't just the design that makes a bad roundabout; it can often be the users!

As for lane usage, why can't the local authorities just put arrows on the approach roads and let people follow them, then we wouldn't have to rely on misinterpretation of badly written rules of the road?

Roddy23

Now here's a roundabout - the magic roundabout in swindon

MrPudding

The biggest problem on Irish Roundabouts ar ethe Irish drivers.

MrP

Cookie_Monster

Roddy23 wrote: »

Now here's a roundabout - the magic roundabout in swindon

Was wondering how long it would take for that to come up:D

Did it (does it still?) not work quite well?

norm

Anyone from the Ballyfermot area can verify this. There is a roundabout near Markevicz Park, which you are allowed drive the wrong way on! Don't know if its legal, or an unwritten rule amongst the locals. Anyone shed some light?

Seth Brundle

Fey! wrote: »

As for lane usage, why can't the local authorities just put arrows on the approach roads and let people follow them, then we wouldn't have to rely on misinterpretation of badly written rules of the road?

Many people ignore lane markings. Several of them decided to do this today beside the Beacon Hotel adding an unnecessary delay to my commute!

kikel

Ya got to go to Portlaoise. Their are 2 mini roundabouts on top of each other. In front of the Church if your interested. Total mayhem.

TwoShedsJackson

neuromancer wrote: »

The Red Cow - nuff said.

Not really, even when there was a roundabout there, it was signal controlled which meant certain types of muppetry were eliminated.

Walkinstown Cross can be a bit of a disaster, aggression levels seem to increase there as even getting on to it can be a pain in the ass, and as for the indicating..

RosieJoe

Not the worst roundabout going but one with the most amount of muppets on it, the award goes to the one near the Beacon. Has been mentioned before by people coming out of the estate. Try coming out of Dundrum and going straight through to head south down the M50.

3 lanes at the lights, clearly marked. 2 for left only and one for straight or right. Do you think people pay any heed to this? Not only do they go into the wrong lane for going straight on, they then try to force you into the wrong lane by just driving in a direct line to the far exit.

As stated before, bad drivers make roundabouts worse!

fletch

kbannon wrote: »

IN the case of the one at Sandyford, if you travel up from the Beacon and get into the righthand lane (to head for M50N), then you are left in a situation where you must change lanes or else you must keep going around the roundabout.
There is no roundabout at the red cow!

Agreed and if you are coming from Dundrum along the road that runs parallel to the M50 and want to go to the M50S, you have to use the right most lane. The first two lanes are for turning left down towards the Beacon. Very confusing

RosieJoe

fletch wrote: »

Agreed and if you are coming from Dundrum along the road that runs parallel to the M50 and want to go to the M50S, you have to use the right most lane. The first two lanes are for turning left down towards the Beacon. Very confusing

How is it confusing to follow markings and arrows on the road?

Tabnabs

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

I think the Graduate roundabout in Killiney has to be one of the worst, considering it is a big easy too use roundabout the amount of people in the wrong lanes coming off Church road on this is unbelievable.

All because the first exit is at a very shallow angle to the entry. Noone indicates left for this and people taking the second exit all use the right hand lane and cut accross as they assume everyone in the left lane is going "straight on" i.e. 1st left.

+1 I use this roundabout every morning and I have given up going straight through because of all the muppets using the inner lane to go straight (single lane exit) and then freaking out when you get in their way.

However, I would humbly nominate the roundabout at St Colmcilles way in Ballycullen in the mornings. Thousands of cars, trucks and buses trying to use one small roundabout and the junction hoppers on the M50 northbound at Firhouse causing three tailbacks and a ****load of misery.

Jeapy

Theres nothing wrong with the layout of the Headford rd roundabout in Galway, only the people who use it and cant read road markings. I think its one of the best in the country actually! The Walkinstown one...now theres one for your project OP...its mad stuff. Its far too small for the volume of traffic and the number of lanes is just crazy! I hate them little painted on ones!

fletch

RosieJoe wrote: »

How is it confusing to follow markings and arrows on the road?

Well since it goes against the rules of the road as you are meant to use the left most lane if you are going straight on the majority of roundabouts. Granted in some cases you can use the 2nd lane, however in this instance you have to use the 3rd lane and the 1st and 2nd lane are exclusively for people turning left.

RosieJoe

fletch wrote: »

Well since it goes against the rules of the road as you are meant to use the left most lane if you are going straight on the majority of roundabouts. Granted in some cases you can use the 2nd lane, however in this instance you have to use the 3rd lane and the 1st and 2nd lane are exclusively for people turning left.

Things is, most drivers do not know what lane to be in anyway. The fact that they are marked should make it harder to get it wrong!

I know it is against all proper wisdom, but it does get annoying when you are following the road markings and 50% of the time you get some idiot nearly hitting you!

Timmaay

The engineers who designed some of the small roundabouts should be taken ouside and hung, the worst one I know of is the small roundabout going into kilmacanogue on the northbound lane of the N11, its so small that buses pulling into the bus stop have NO option but to go around it the wrong way:rolleyes::rolleyes:

ronnie3585

After coming extremely close to scores of times and eventually having an accident on it at the weekend due to the other person not having a clue how to use it I nominate the Headford Road roundabout in Galway, also known as the Magic Roundabout.

Nineteen lanes of traffic leading into one roundabout which is straddled by the three largest shopping complexes in Galway and beside the main bridge (and the busiest road) across the river Corrib not to mention it being on the main artery into Galway and it is governed by totally inadequate traffic lights on all entrance points apart from the busiest one.

This is a monumental disaster of a roundabout and is testament to the wonderful planning system we have here in Galway.

antodeco

norm wrote: »

Anyone from the Ballyfermot area can verify this. There is a roundabout near Markevicz Park, which you are allowed drive the wrong way on! Don't know if its legal, or an unwritten rule amongst the locals. Anyone shed some light?

Eh? The one at kylemore road/ballyfermot road?

jameshayes

I live a few houses away from the walkinstown roundabout, I asked a local garda once how many accidents he see's there and he said the station done a count and it was reported there was at about 1 per day on average...

The amount of fender benders is amazing and then there are the buses than just drive straight on. Or the artic trucks which come down the greenhills road and turn down ballymount which is pratically a U turn!

bazz26

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Did it (does it still?) not work quite well?

It actually works quite well, as a traffic calming measure. Road users are so baffelled by it that most use alternative routes in the area.

Breezer

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

I think the Graduate roundabout in Killiney has to be one of the worst, considering it is a big easy too use roundabout the amount of people in the wrong lanes coming off Church road on this is unbelievable.

All because the first exit is at a very shallow angle to the entry. Noone indicates left for this and people taking the second exit all use the right hand lane and cut accross as they assume everyone in the left lane is going "straight on" i.e. 1st left.

Another +1 for this, and the one up the road from it at Glenageary is woeful too. 6 exits, one for a load of shops. Glenageary Avenue runs parallel to Sallyglen Road (one of the exits) but you have to take the Sallynoggin Road (the exit after Sallyglen) to get to it. Useless signage. Traffic lights 10m from each exit.

Then there's the Killiney Towers one. A cycle track encircles the whole thing to the inside of the left lane, and continues across all the exits with no yield signs for the cyclists or any warning signs for the motorists. Thankfully very few cyclists seem to use it. I know when I'm on the bike I prefer to dismount and just cross the roads as a pedestrian, it's less suicidal.

Jeapy

ronnie3585 wrote: »

After coming extremely close to scores of times and eventually having an accident on it at the weekend due to the other person not having a clue how to use it I nominate the Headford Road roundabout in Galway, also known as the Magic Roundabout.

Nineteen lanes of traffic leading into one roundabout which is straddled by the three largest shopping complexes in Galway and beside the main bridge (and the busiest road) across the river Corrib not to mention it being on the main artery into Galway and it is governed by totally inadequate traffic lights on all entrance points apart from the busiest one.

This is a monumental disaster of a roundabout and is testament to the wonderful planning system we have here in Galway.

Hmmm, I dont think theres 19 lanes leading into the roundabout...
3 from the quincentinneal (sp) and one filter ontho the Headford Road
3 from the Headford Road
2 from Sean Mulvoy Rd
2 from the Galway Shopping Centre
3 from Woodquay
= 13? (14 to include the filter). Could be wrong though. I agree that the roundabout needs lights coming onto it from Woodquay, but there are much worse ones out there! Come on, visit Walkinstown, Dublin to prove a point!