M50 upgrade - Phase II

KevR

Redsoxfan wrote: »

One thing I noticed this morning was that there are quite a few 'cat's eyes' missing from their holders on the inside of the overtaking/outside lane-I presume this is due to the volume of traffic (myself included ) which would drive over these on a regular basis.

I don't like when cat's eyes are placed inside the white line, the lane is effectively narrowed and it just looks wrong. The M50 already has lanes which are narrower than other motorways and the cat's eyes have narrowed them further.

Cat's eyes should always be outside the line or on the line, in my opinion.

M50 Traffic MGT

Redsoxfan wrote: »

So M50 Traffic Management, any update from the NRA on how the audit is progressing?

Is the fact that there still appears to be soundproofing work to be completed at Tallaght/Firhouse going to delay things at all?

Looks like the M50 Southern Cross will be opened up this weekend, this will be confirmed this evening

Redsoxfan

KevR wrote: »

I don't like when cat's eyes are placed inside the white line, the lane is effectively narrowed and it just looks wrong. The M50 already has lanes which are narrower than other motorways and the cat's eyes have narrowed them further.

Cat's eyes should always be outside the line or on the line, in my opinion.

+1 to that-and I hope that they don't have to close lanes to re-do any of this....

Redsoxfan

M50 Traffic MGT wrote: »

Looks like the M50 Southern Cross will be opened up this weekend, this will be confirmed this evening

Thanks for the update-would appreciate if someone can confirm this evening!

And, will the slip roads/off/on ramps at Sandyford (J14) be opened in conjunction with the opening of the 3rd lane on the M50? There doesn't seem to be any work left on the ramps themselves.

rameire

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Thanks for the update-would appreciate if someone can confirm this evening!

And, will the slip roads/off/on ramps at Sandyford (J14) be opened in conjunction with the opening of the 3rd lane on the M50? There doesn't seem to be any work left on the ramps themselves.

sorry to be an ass.
when you say junction 14 Sandyford, do you mean the Northbound junction.

Redsoxfan

rameire wrote: »

sorry to be an ass.
when you say junction 14 Sandyford, do you mean the Northbound junction.

J14 is what I would refer to as Leopardstown myself (as that is where I get off/on and it the slip leads on to Leopardstown Road and my office address is Leopardstown!) but M50 Traffic Management (correctly) refers to it as Sandyford and so shall I in this thread!

There is technically no 'Northbound' junction here-you can exit the M50 while heading south, and enter the M50 again to head north, but there is no 'Northbound' entrance.

I am referring to the fact that we have cones on both ramps at this junction.

rameire

i get you.
forgot about the on slip, even though i take it every day.

i was really talking about the junction slip that overlaps with junction 14.
so if you are going northbound, you come off and hit a roundabout, left off the roundabout would take you up to lights that can lead to stepaside and stuff and
if you went right over the roundabout over the m50 you could go to sandyford and if you continue to the 4th exit you could go back to the m50 heading southbound.

I thought you were talking about the slips on that roundabout to bypass the lights.

Redsoxfan

I use 'slip' and 'ramp' interchangeably when I probably shouldn't....

Either way, I just want to see all the cones gone!

M50 Traffic MGT

M50 Traffic MGT wrote: »

Looks like the M50 Southern Cross will be opened up this weekend, this will be confirmed this evening

Confirmation that the M50 Southern Cross will be opened up this weekend. Restrictions will remain at J11 Tallaght & J12 Firhouse but all other restrictions will be lifted, including at J13 Dundrum & J14 Sandyford

Redsoxfan

M50 Traffic MGT wrote: »

Confirmation that the M50 Southern Cross will be opened up this weekend. Restrictions will remain at J11 Tallaght & J12 Firhouse but all other restrictions will be lifted, including at J13 Dundrum & J14 Sandyford

Outstanding! I will bid farewell to the cones on my journey home!

MagicMarker

I can't believe I'm excited about going to work on Monday!

Just remember to use lane one, you'll more than likely have it to yourself for the first few days. :pac:

towger

Deleted User wrote: »

Just remember to use lane one, you'll more than likely have it to yourself for the first few days. :pac:

You'll have it for ever !

Guy:Incognito

M50 Traffic MGT wrote: »

Confirmation that the M50 Southern Cross will be opened up this weekend. Restrictions will remain at J11 Tallaght & J12 Firhouse but all other restrictions will be lifted, including at J13 Dundrum & J14 Sandyford

Do you know what restrictions exactly? ie is it just between Tallaght Firhouse or wil it still be both sides of Tallaght. Will the Northbou8nd on ramp at Tallaght have the new free flow slip open and are the cones in the auxillary lane from Tallaght to Ballymount in both directions going to be removed?

testarossa40

Stekelly wrote: »

Do you know what restrictions exactly? ie is it just between Tallaght Firhouse or wil it still be both sides of Tallaght. Will the Northbou8nd on ramp at Tallaght have the new free flow slip open and are the cones in the auxillary lane from Tallaght to Ballymount in both directions going to be removed?

I'm guessing s/b Tallaght to Firhouse remains exactly as is and the 3 lanes finally become available from somewhere after Firhouse - I would have liked to have seen more detail posted about this... What constitutes "Southern Cross" exactly? HOPEFULLY the s/b Firhouse on-ramp will lead directly onto a newly opened Lane 1 thus alleviating the current merge lunacy at that bit and possibly loosen-up the ongoing bottlekneck at Tallaght-Firhouse a bit. I might just have to pop down myself on Sunday to have a look/see and report back here

N/b, there seems to be construction going on at Tallaght - definitely Firhouse - off-ramps that will go on for more weeks yet.

Tragedy

Southern Cross is the section between J11 and J13

Northern Cross: J3<->J6
Western Parkway: J6<->J11
Southern Cross: J11<->J13
South Eastern Motorway: J13<->J17

bg07

A sketch here from M50.ie might it a little clearer

M50 Southbound

csd

I hope they fixed the lane merging signage at J12 southbound. The mainline sign shows (or did last weekend) one lane of the sliproad merging into lane 1 of the mainline (correct), but incorrectly shows the left-hand lane of the sliproad continuing as an auxiliary lane. This is wrong, as there are only three driving lanes south of J12.

/csd

M50 Traffic MGT

M50 Traffic MGT wrote: »

Confirmation that the M50 Southern Cross will be opened up this weekend. Restrictions will remain at J11 Tallaght & J12 Firhouse but all other restrictions will be lifted, including at J13 Dundrum & J14 Sandyford

Update:

All Lanes of M50 Southern Cross from J10 Ballymount to J14 Sandyford NB & SB were opened this morning at 6am

M50 Traffic Management

dublinhead

I was on the road at 6.15am. Its great to see all the cones gone. Should make a huge difference to peak time commutes.:)

D'Peoples Voice

bg07 wrote: »

A sketch here from M50.ie might it a little clearer

M50 Southbound

Clearer?:eek: Are you taking the piss?
It has the words Western Parkway wrote on what is clearly the Southern Cross!:o

testarossa40

testarossa40 wrote: »

I might just have to pop down myself on Sunday to have a look/see and report back here

Well I did so and honestly I both laughed and cried as I sailed past Tallaght & Firhouse in lane 1! 2+ years was too long to have to put up with the madness - all the lost time, phone calls to work "I'm stuck on the M50..."

Have to say though the lane discipline - particularly n/b between Sandyford & Red Cow - was utterly atrocious - ~50%+ of traffic was nose-to-tail in lane 3, ~30% in lane 2, and only ~10%+ using lane 1. Everyone trundling at not more than 90kmh and doing their best to prevent anyone from changing lane. It's time to put the overhead digital signage to good use, M50TrafficMGT, and display "Keep Left Unless Overtaking" messages. How about it M50TrafficMGT?

Guy:Incognito

testarossa40 wrote: »

Well I did so and honestly I both laughed and cried as I sailed past Tallaght & Firhouse in lane 1! 2+ years was too long to have to put up with the madness - all the lost time, phone calls to work "I'm stuck on the M50..."

Have to say though the lane discipline - particularly n/b between Sandyford & Red Cow - was utterly atrocious - ~50%+ of traffic was nose-to-tail in lane 3, ~30% in lane 2, and only ~10%+ using lane 1. Everyone trundling at not more than 90kmh and doing their best to prevent anyone from changing lane. It's time to put the overhead digital signage to good use, M50TrafficMGT, and display "Keep Left Unless Overtaking" messages. How about it M50TrafficMGT?

Some of those raising bollards they use for bus gates would soon put an end to people sitting in the overtakign lanes.

HydeRoad

There IS another solution.

It's a bit awkward, and of course there should be no need for it. But face it, we are living in a world where half the human population seem to be regressing back to the monkey state.

Supposing, the FIRST lane, the lane where everyone SHOULD be driving, were to end every kilometre, with merging to the second lane, which would then of course, become the FIRST lane again. A hundred metres further on, a NEW third lane would open.

This would discourage people from staying out from the first lane. Those people who concentrate and know what they are doing, would merge and change lanes smoothly, at little disruption. Those who drive along in a daydream, oblivious to proper motorway practice, would find themselves deftly shifted into correct position.

How about it, would it work? Are there any disadvantages? Is the disadvantage of increased lanechanging manoeuvres outweighed by having far more drivers correctly positioned?

amacachi

HydeRoad wrote: »

There IS another solution.

It's a bit awkward, and of course there should be no need for it. But face it, we are living in a world where half the human population seem to be regressing back to the monkey state.

Supposing, the FIRST lane, the lane where everyone SHOULD be driving, were to end every kilometre, with merging to the second lane, which would then of course, become the FIRST lane again. A hundred metres further on, a NEW third lane would open.

This would discourage people from staying out from the first lane. Those people who concentrate and know what they are doing, would merge and change lanes smoothly, at little disruption. Those who drive along in a daydream, oblivious to proper motorway practice, would find themselves deftly shifted into correct position.

How about it, would it work? Are there any disadvantages? Is the disadvantage of increased lanechanging manoeuvres outweighed by having far more drivers correctly positioned?

Really? At high-ish traffic volumes it would cause unbelievable congestion.

HydeRoad

Yes, and the M50 would be busy most of the day. Good point. So we are back to signs on the M50 at regular intervals advising to 'keep left.' We can have 30kmh signs all over the city centre, but can't have signs on our 120kmh motorway network asking people to drive properly...

testarossa40

testarossa40 wrote: »

It's time to put the overhead digital signage to good use, M50TrafficMGT, and display "Keep Left Unless Overtaking" messages. How about it M50TrafficMGT?

T'would be useful! :rolleyes:

HydeRoad

HydeRoad wrote: »

There IS another solution.

It's a bit awkward, and of course there should be no need for it. But face it, we are living in a world where half the human population seem to be regressing back to the monkey state.

Supposing, the FIRST lane, the lane where everyone SHOULD be driving, were to end every kilometre, with merging to the second lane, which would then of course, become the FIRST lane again. A hundred metres further on, a NEW third lane would open.

This would discourage people from staying out from the first lane. Those people who concentrate and know what they are doing, would merge and change lanes smoothly, at little disruption. Those who drive along in a daydream, oblivious to proper motorway practice, would find themselves deftly shifted into correct position.

How about it, would it work? Are there any disadvantages? Is the disadvantage of increased lanechanging manoeuvres outweighed by having far more drivers correctly positioned?

Knowing the average Irish driver, they'd just stick to tha same lane and leave the motorway at the next exit!

KevR

HydeRoad wrote: »

Yes, and the M50 would be busy most of the day. Good point. So we are back to signs on the M50 at regular intervals advising to 'keep left.' We can have 30kmh signs all over the city centre, but can't have signs on our 120kmh motorway network asking people to drive properly...

The M6 has a couple of portable VMSs saying "Keep Left", "Overtake on the Right". I saw one on the Lucan Bypass (where lane discipline was as bad, if not worse, than the M50) a month or two ago.

Doesn't the M50 have permanent VMSs? Surely the "Keep Left", "Overtake on the Right" message could be displayed on these at certain times. If not then a few portable VMSs should be used for this purpose.

On the M(N)6 in Athlone they have had a VMS sign that thates "Overtaking lane closed ahead", first time I've ever seen the correct terminology used in this country.