New Speed Limits??? (logic please)

Effluo

Hi everyone.......
My house is on the old N11 road between Inch and Gorey.
Ever since the Gorey bypass has opened they decided to reduce the speed limit on it as it is now a regional road rather than a national...

It suddenly became more "dangerous" to drive at 100km/h overnight??
Logic please

This completely irrational rule is exercised throughout the country and i see roads with a 100km/h speed limit which can scaricly hold two cars driving in opposite directions just because they have "the name" as a national road???
As i'm sure we all are frustrated at some point in the day with 80km/h which are on some very good roads too.


The solution is so simple it's ridiculous.
A team from the county council looks at each strip of road on it's own and then judge what speed limit the road should be at.

So yet again, a bit of sense please!!

BluntGuy

I agree. Some of the most twisty, dangerous parts of the N72 near Mallow (I think it's N72 at least) are marked with 100 kmph speed limits. It's ridiculous!

Meanwhile, we have brand new inter-urbans suffering with 100 kmph speed limits until 24th of September.

There is no logic when it comes to this kind of thing. I don't see how one of the most twisted, dangerous roads in the country has the same speed limit as a brand new dual carriageway.

And forget trying to do 100 on the '1' side of a 2+1 road...

L1011

County councils can restore the 100km/h to any regional road they want to. Louth has done it on sections of the ex-N1 (R132) as far as I know. So irritate your councillors!

Effluo

What i'm after is an organisation within the county councils or indeed the road authority which goes out and audits each road and each road part...

So that evertime a roads name changes that we don't have a national debate about it.

L1011

Officially the councils have a Roads department for that... do they do the job properly? Course not. That said, honourable mention for SDCC out of the lot of them, seem to be fairly decent.

alpha2zulu

The old N9 in Carlow is the very same story.With the opening of the M9 around the town the old N9 approaches to the town reduced from 100 to 80 km/h even though they are several km's of good quality road with a hard shoulder.
Bonkers, definetly

L1011

In a year or so, the N9 Moone/Timolin Bypass, virtually die straight WS2 grade road will be 80km/h also...

Carawaystick

Effluo wrote: »

What i'm after is an organisation within the county councils or indeed the road authority which goes out and audits each road and each road part...

So that evertime a roads name changes that we don't have a national debate about it.

contact your local councillors and TD's about it.
by law R roads get a default limit of 80. N roads get a default of 100. these can be changed after the fact, but someone has to start the review process.

The road from Carlingford to the M1 got it's limit raised to 100 and it's never a N road, so it can be done.


there's a load of difference between a R road and a N road. for the 4 days before the Arklow bypass opened, the wexford road was dug up and relaid because the ays after it would only be a regional road and arklow UDC would have had to pay for the same improvements. the fact there would be Waay less traffic those days was lost on the people making the stupid rules.

L1011

Carawaystick wrote: »

there's a load of difference between a R road and a N road. for the 4 days before the Arklow bypass opened, the wexford road was dug up and relaid because the ays after it would only be a regional road and arklow UDC would have had to pay for the same improvements. the fact there would be Waay less traffic those days was lost on the people making the stupid rules.

Part of the N7 in Limerick was opened in the morning, then bypassed and reduced to R-status THAT EVENING by another road opening - done to ensure it got National Road funding for its construction...

A cohesive single road management organisation like the North has would make a lot more sense.

[commonsense]
#The speed limit should be determined by the type of road not it's designation!#

In other words a grade separated dual carriageway/motorway have a certain limit, a dual carriageway with at grade junctions another limit, a well engineered single carriageway etc all the way down to an urban residential road.

[/commonsense]

SeanW

My favourites must be the R148 in Co. Meath (and North Kildare but that's another issue as the M4 is free through that county). One night, the N4 had a speed limit of 100. The next morning, the M4 is commissioned into service, the old N4 becomes the R148 and the speed limit drops to 80 from Kinnegad to Leixlip. Overnight.

Could someone please explain to me how a road that is marked safe to travel at 100kph or less one night, becomes dangerous at anything over 80kph the next morning when nothing physically changes?

dsg

It makes no sense to me that the speed limit changed overnight around inch and gorey. It also makes no sense that the speed limit through the bends between the old tap pub and beehive is eighty. That road is lethal. I've been on to the council about reducing the limit, changing the road layout, but to no avail. Have you noticed that southbound between tinnock bridge at fruit farm and gorey changed back recently to 100km but northbound from gorey to tinnock is still at 80km per hour? Makes no sense to me or anyone else i've pointed it out to. So if you're heading northbound and overtake you will expect traffic coming towards you to be doing eighty too but they'll actually be doing a hundrede.

Victor

Talk to the local councillors and road enginners. Tell them there is an election coming and if there is a serious accident, you will hold them accountable.

Effluo

dsg wrote: »

Have you noticed that southbound between tinnock bridge at fruit farm and gorey changed back recently to 100km but northbound from gorey to tinnock is still at 80km per hour? Makes no sense to me or anyone else i've pointed it out to. So if you're heading northbound and overtake you will expect traffic coming towards you to be doing eighty too but they'll actually be doing a hundrede.

WOW


That's gotta be some kind of mistake??
I mean really if that's true imagine what their IQ must be,
Certainly not a motorway 120
Possibly not a national 100
Definately a regional road 80!!

And somehow i don't see this "speed limit" changing over night!!!:pac:

AugustusMaximus

THe worst fact of the lot is how the Gardai love to do speed traps on the roads which have been reduced to 80kph.

Somedays they are all over the old Fermoy to Watergrasshill road eventhough its perfectly safe to do 100kph on.

Anyone want to start an email campaign to get all the old sections of the Cork to Fermoy and Cork to Carrigtowhill road reinstated to 100kph ?

chewed

Effluo wrote: »

Hi everyone.......
This completely irrational rule is exercised throughout the country and i see roads with a 100km/h speed limit which can scaricly hold two cars driving in opposite directions just because they have "the name" as a national road???

This is exactly the case in Meath as well. The N51 (Navan-Athboy) road is 100km/h just because it's a N route, even though the road is so narrow in places with extremely dangerous bends and bumps (due to bogs)!

On the other hand we have the R154 Trim/Dublin road, which has recently been resurfaced and is an excellent road to dive on, and is 80 km/h! Yet this road is much safer than the N51, if one was to drive at 100km/h. To make matters worse, they put in a 50km/h stretch at Kiltale. For those of you who don't know the area, you might think that Kiltale is a small village! No. It's basically a petrol station and small shop. I'm not one to break speed limits, especially in urban (50km/h zone) areas, but trying to keep the limit here is very difficult. Even trying to keep the 80km/h on the main stretch is hard enough with everyone up your a**e trying to overtake.

And yes, you've guessed it.......the Gardaí pick this 50km/h zone for their speed cameras! Absolutely pathetic!!!

corktina

i always think the gards bring themselves into disrepute by hitting soft targets instead of dangerous ones.... and the world can laugh at us again for our stupid attitude to spped limits....if a road is declassifed from an N road, that should not be a reason for changinf the speed limit..there are many GOOD reasons to do this, but that isnt one of them

Stark

In two minds about it. On the one hand, the majority of people wanting to go 100km/hr will be using the new motorway/HQDC and the 80km/hr limit makes it more pleasant for the little old ladies, cyclists and pedestrians who are left using the old road. Of course I still think it's very unfair to punish someone for doing 100km/hr on a quality road especially if the new road is tolled.

Javan

SeanW wrote: »

My favourites must be the R148 in Co. Meath (and North Kildare but that's another issue as the M4 is free through that county). One night, the N4 had a speed limit of 100. The next morning, the M4 is commissioned into service, the old N4 becomes the R148 and the speed limit drops to 80 from Kinnegad to Leixlip. Overnight.

Could someone please explain to me how a road that is marked safe to travel at 100kph or less one night, becomes dangerous at anything over 80kph the next morning when nothing physically changes?

Not quite true Sean. Before the M4 opened the old N4 had an 80 kph speed limit from the Broadford juntion to near Enfield, and for most of the stretch between Enfield and Kilcock. The speed limit from Kilcock to Leixlip also did not change, as the Kilcock / Maynooth / Leixlip bypass was opened years earlier. The speed limit on the R148 changed from Kinnegad to Broadford, and for a mile or two either side of Enfield. For most of the distance between Kinnegad and Leixlip there was no change.

Get your facts straight, and remember; the law may be an ass, but that is no defence for breaking it.

Victor

dsg wrote: »

It makes no sense to me that the speed limit changed overnight around inch and gorey. It also makes no sense that the speed limit through the bends between the old tap pub and beehive is eighty. That road is lethal. I've been on to the council about reducing the limit, changing the road layout, but to no avail. Have you noticed that southbound between tinnock bridge at fruit farm and gorey changed back recently to 100km but northbound from gorey to tinnock is still at 80km per hour? Makes no sense to me or anyone else i've pointed it out to. So if you're heading northbound and overtake you will expect traffic coming towards you to be doing eighty too but they'll actually be doing a hundrede.

Then stay off the wrong side of the road.

I don't know that road, but it makes sense to have a mcuh shorter section of road with a lower limit leaving town than entering town.

chewed wrote: »

To make matters worse, they put in a 50km/h stretch at Kiltale. For those of you who don't know the area, you might think that Kiltale is a small village! No. It's basically a petrol station and small shop. I'm not one to break speed limits, especially in urban (50km/h zone) areas, but trying to keep the limit here is very difficult.

There seems to be lots of ribbon housing in that area. A garda response to inappropriate speed would be reasonable.

Victor

Victor wrote: »

I don't know that road, but it makes sense to have a mcuh shorter section of road with a lower limit leaving town than entering town.There seems to be lots of ribbon housing in that area. A garda response to inappropriate speed would be reasonable.

That, unfortunately maybe one of the reasons for dropping limits on some new "R" roads as they are almost residential now with all this development along them.

Carawaystick

Victor wrote: »

I don't know that road, but it makes sense to have a mcuh shorter section of road with a lower limit leaving town than entering town.

Tinnock is where the Junction north of Gorey is. wen I passed my test, the speed limits went to 40 about 200m north of the railway bridge in Gorey and to NSL about another 200m north again. It's maybe 5 km to Tinnock from there.

TheNog

chewed wrote: »

To make matters worse, they put in a 50km/h stretch at Kiltale. For those of you who don't know the area, you might think that Kiltale is a small village! No. It's basically a petrol station and small shop.

And yes, you've guessed it.......the Gardaí pick this 50km/h zone for their speed cameras! Absolutely pathetic!!!

I know Kiltale well and I remember the limit was increased from 30mph to the 80kph (after the conversion from miles to km) and then down to 50kph but last year there was a near fatal collision when a 11yr old cycled out from the petrol station and was hit by a car. The investigation afterwards found the car was approx travelling at the speed limit of 50kph and this is what saved the young girl from losing her life or serious injury. She did end up with a broken leg though and I believe that she cannot walk without a limp.

It was also reported in the Meath Chronicle of a local councillor describing the local Gardai as "Men with hair dryers" because someone had complained to him when they were caught speeding at Kiltale. This councillor quietly returned to his seat when the local road engineer told him the particular surface and design of the road had an allowance of speeds of up to 100kmh and any speed over that would be considered dangerous.

There is two reasons why that road has a limit of 60kph at Kiltale and 80kph for the rest of it.

Owenw

I have never understood why they got rid of the N-roads whenever a motorway was finished. I know they want to encourage people to use the M-ways for long-distance journeys, but surely good signage could accomplish this... ahh right! :P

BluntGuy

Personally I think speed limits across our roads are in need of some serious reviewing...

Stark

Owenw wrote: »

I have never understood why they got rid of the N-roads whenever a motorway was finished. I know they want to encourage people to use the M-ways for long-distance journeys, but surely good signage could accomplish this... ahh right! :P

Because then the NRA would have to maintain two roads going in the same direction. By demoting the road to R status, it becomes the local council's responsibility.

Owenw

Stark wrote: »

Because then the NRA would have to maintain two roads going in the same direction. By demoting the road to R status, it becomes the local council's responsibility.

I see.
So why couldn't the NRA maintain both the M and N roads with funding diverted from LA's to cover this? Wouldn't one central gov't body in charge of all the main routes make for more consistency in terms of road quality, signage, maintenance across the country, not to mention more effective use of available budget?

Tech3

anyone try going 100Km/hr on the galway - castlebar road?? One of the worst national roads in the country. :pac: