Should I/Can I use this bus lane!!??!!

highdef

Hello
I have been trying a different route to work as I'm trying to bring my commute time down. I have found one route which is quite good. I come from Finglas and head west on Ballyogan Road and then onto the Rathoath Road southbound and over the railway crossing and into Cabra. Now the problem is that due to the railway crossing at the Rathoath Road, traffic usually tails back a long way in the mornings. There is also a bus lane along the last few hundred metres of the Ballyogan Road. This bus lane fills up with traffic when the queue builds. However, I never use a bus lane when it is not permitted so I drive up the driving lane until the end of the bus lane and wait till there is a gap to get in to the lane now marked as "straight ahead". This can take time as traffic sometimes does not move for 10-15 mins at a time due to the railway crossing gates being closed on the road ahead. The problem with this is that it blocks cars behind me from taking the right turn north onto rathoath Road heading for Finglas. I get honked at and also have problems getting back into the left lane when traffic gets moving again as people asume I am trying to skip them, which is certainly not the case. I don't want to get a ticket for driving in a bus lane. I also don't want to be responsible for holding up people using a bus because of my selfishness. I have never actually seen a bus on the Ballyogan Road and am not even sure if buses use the lane!!! Should I continue doing what I do or break the law and risk a fine and get in the bus lane which will be inconvenient to bus users but better for cars driving to Finglas on the Rathoath Road. I have included an aerial view to give an idea of the roads in the area. In the map, I am heading west along Ballyogan Road (towards the top of the map) and am joining Rathoath to head south over the railway crossing and on through Cabra.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=ballyogan+road,+ireland&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=51.085266,92.988281&ie=UTF8&ll=53.37506,-6.306152&spn=0.005812,0.01575&t=h&z=16

corktina

i dont know the area so I wont comment except to say, fair play to you for trying to do your best for everyone...

WezzyB

Do you mean 'Ballyboggan Road'?
I live off this road and know the bus lane alright, they widened the road last year and added the bus lane, afaik there are no signs up about bus lane times, so people just assume it isn't in use and queue in it.
I don't think you are doing anything wrong though.

highdef

Sorry WezzyB - i did actually mean Ballyboggan Road. and now that you mention it, I don't recall seeing any bus lane signs showing the times it is in use. I will check again tomorrow if I go that way. If that is the case, I'll queue like everyone else in the bus lane seeing as it would not be in use. Thanks for that

robfitz

Motor vehicles are excluded from driving in a bus lane during it's period of operator, outside of that I believe that the general keep left rules would apply. The period of operator sign is included with bus lane sign, if there is no period of operator sign the the bus lane operates 24/7.

Here's an example of the relevant sign for the beginning of a bus lane.

mackerski

Are there any bus lane signs at all? I've seen bus lane markings painted on the road before without any signs to declare them as actual bus lanes. In such cases, I assume that they haven't been opened yet and drive in them in accordance with the keep-left rule.

steyr fan

contact www.dublincity.ie it is the council that puts bus lanes in place, and they should know when or if a bus lane is active.

I know that area pretty well - nightmare area particularly since train frequency increased. But I am going the opposite direction, and I see the traffic stopped waiting.

godtabh

The bus lane isnt open. I worked for the company who desinged it and its not due to be open for awhile but that could have changed over the last couple of months