Damastown-Cruiserath Link Road open

murphaph

This short (maybe 2km) but very useful link road is now open and the signage overall is quite good. There are monster safety barriers on it and I think they are to protect nearby pylons from errant HGVs.

Strangely however they have placed the cycle track on the road instead of up level with the footpath.

60km/h limit. Probably about the right money.

mackerski

murphaph wrote: »

This short (maybe 2km) but very useful link road is now open and the signage overall is quite good. There are monster safety barriers on it and I think they are to protect nearby pylons from errant HGVs.

A Map for anyone wondering where this actually is. It's the yellow part of Damastown Avenue plus about half of Damastown Close.

murphaph wrote: »

60km/h limit. Probably about the right money.

You think? It's straight as a die with good sight lines, no entrances and no housing nearby. There are national roads with 100 limits that are much worse than this.

murphaph

mackerski wrote: »

You think? It's straight as a die with good sight lines, no entrances and no housing nearby. There are national roads with 100 limits that are much worse than this.

I'm just glad it didn't get a 50 like the Ongar Distributor originally (straighter still and with very limited pedestrian access due to the 10' walls along it!

It could handle 80 of course but I'm thinking as it will (hopefully) be populated with industrial units (there's an intermediate roundabout with future accesses) and so on it would be difficult for HGVs to get out onto the road with a higher limit. I also believe that the ESB may have had input into this limit. if you drive along it you'll see what appear to be ridiculously OTT crash barriers (high ones like you see on railway bridges) strong enough to deflect a HGV leaving the road. look closer and you'll see they are positioned level with pylons that are just a few yards from the carriageway so maybe that's also influenced the 60 limit though in any case, I doubt many CC's will impose an 80 limit on an urban distributor road like this.

There are of course national roads with 100 limits in dire straights but I'd rather they were reduced to a safer limit than make comparisons between them and this road.

Personally i don't know of any similar urban distributor in Dublin with a higher limit though I'm sure one or two have slipped through.

January

AFAIK, the roundabout on Damastown Avenue is going to link up with the road that connects Wellview estate with Ladyswell Road, eventually. It used to be open years ago but they closed it as too many stolen cars were abusing it.

markf909

murphaph wrote: »

I'm just glad it didn't get a 50 like the Ongar Distributor originally (straighter still and with very limited pedestrian access due to the 10' walls along it!

Oh dear, is it the same as the Snugborough Rd?

That for is the worst pedestrian experience as the high walls give a horrible impression of being boxed in.

murphaph

markf909 wrote: »

Oh dear, is it the same as the Snugborough Rd?

That for is the worst pedestrian experience as the high walls give a horrible impression of being boxed in.

It's as bad if not worse.

mackerski

murphaph wrote: »

though in any case, I doubt many CC's will impose an 80 limit on an urban distributor road like this.

You've hit the nail on the head here, but in reality this is a mad policy. There was a post here a while back about proposals to improve one of the currently rural back roads from Blanch/Clonee to Lucan to urban distributor standard. The limit is now 80. Once straightened out, it was expected to be 60. It's terrible when policies get established without us being able to see why they're there.

Similarly the coast road in the vicinity of the Bull Island Causeway. It used to have a 50mph limit, now it's 60km/h. And there's nothing in the way of new hazards.

bigar

The road is not really that convenient if you need to get on Cruiserath road from Tyrrelstown. As there is a constant stream of cars coming from the new road you can barely get on the roundabout. If you do, Cruisrath road is backed up for the whole lenght.

Strange solution for congestion: just move it somewhere else.

murphaph

bigar wrote: »

The road is not really that convenient if you need to get on Cruiserath road from Tyrrelstown. As there is a constant stream of cars coming from the new road you can barely get on the roundabout. If you do, Cruisrath road is backed up for the whole lenght.

Strange solution for congestion: just move it somewhere else.

If that presents itself as an ongoing problem the roundabout should have its capacity increased by signal controlling it.

Stark

I saw 80km/hr signs on part of the road when I drove on it this morning.

I was happy to see that they put down cycle paths on it. Although the cycle lanes do end randomly in the middle of the road like many cycle lanes in Dublin do. I couldn't see a reason for not having the cycle lane running all the way to the roundabout.

murphaph

Stark wrote: »

I saw 80km/hr signs on part of the road when I drove on it this morning.

Really? That'll be a first for Fingal. the only other road in the area with an 80 limit is that D2 section up to the ESB Dublin Supply Stores. 80 would be super.

Stark wrote: »

I was happy to see that they put down cycle paths on it. Although the cycle lanes do end randomly in the middle of the road like many cycle lanes in Dublin do. I couldn't see a reason for not having the cycle lane running all the way to the roundabout.

The cylce facilities are poor for a new road. Quite why they didn't segregate motor traffic from cyclists by putting the cycle track up beside the footpath is beyond me. It would have made no difference to land take or cost and would have resulted in a safer environment for cyclists.

daymobrew

murphaph wrote: »

The cylce facilities are poor for a new road. Quite why they didn't segregate motor traffic from cyclists by putting the cycle track up beside the footpath is beyond me. It would have made no difference to land take or cost and would have resulted in a safer environment for cyclists.

I prefer to be on the road as the surface is generally better and you don't end up with having to stop at every junction. Then of course there is the issue with wayward pedestrians.

WRT surface, this morning I emailed FCC about the new tarmac cycle track at the Phoenix Park train station bridge. It's quite bumpy when you're on a bike. The adjacent concrete ped path is fine. Same poor situation on the off-road cycle tracks around Riverwood.

WRT stopping - it really slows me down to have to stop at *every* junction.

Having said all that, on this road, with HGV traffic, segregation might not be a bad thing. My favourite stretch of road is citybound Navan Road between Ashtown and Cabra Road - on-road cycle track, bus lane then regular lane. Nice safety gap.

Stark

Yeah I think off-road cycle tracks would have been good on the Damastown road. Particular as you'd be more likely to encounter HGVs than pedestrians in that area.

fast1

has anyone used this road yet at half five? its useless. Took me 25 mins to go the 2 kms on Monday. One lane each way....the lanes are pretty wide but they could have done with a few extra metres on each side to make it a 4 lane road.

Stark

That's strange. I used the road about at about 5:20 yesterday and the road was dead. It was similarly quiet at about 6:00 today. You must have hit some freak traffic.

Jip

fast1 wrote: »

has anyone used this road yet at half five? its useless. Took me 25 mins to go the 2 kms on Monday. One lane each way....the lanes are pretty wide but they could have done with a few extra metres on each side to make it a 4 lane road.

Are you sure we're talking about the same road ? I joined it at the roundabout at Church Road just before 6 on Monday and used it to join the N3 inbound at the first Mulhuddart exit off the N3 and it was empty, I flew up it.
I'm guessing you're talking about the bridge into Clonee that's one way from the Clonee side that's been around years and is always bad in the evenings.