M6/4 Motorway Galway to Dublin (for discussing completed sections)

Sully

Marcusm wrote: »

Click here ( http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055883597 for a boards discussion of those spaces! Doesn't change the fact that they don't exist on the M4.

That thread confirms they are perfectly legal, just not the safest places to stop. They should be in place on all motorways, but are not, for whatever reason - as per that thread.

Did you send me to the right topic?

Marcusm

Sully wrote: »

That thread confirms they are perfectly legal, just not the safest places to stop. They should be in place on all motorways, but are not, for whatever reason - as per that thread.

Did you send me to the right topic?

I thionk you need to read all of it. I think an appropriate summary is that they are (1) (principally) a legacy of some roads having been spec'd as high quality dual carriageway before being "converted" to motorways, (2) of dubious provenance where there is no sign indicating that motorway regs no longer apply and (3) to an extent being closed off.

Notwithstanding all of this, if you parked in a space marked "authorised vehicles only", you clearly contravened to rules. You might wish to excuse yourself by saying that your local ones have large P signs but by your own admission, this one did not.

Perhaps the next time you should reverse up onto the raised ones so that you can get a better view of the countryside. If a traffic corps vehicle pops along, you might want to let them have their priority claim over the space.

Sully

Marcusm wrote: »

I thionk you need to read all of it. I think an appropriate summary is that they are (1) (principally) a legacy of some roads having been spec'd as high quality dual carriageway before being "converted" to motorways, (2) of dubious provenance where there is no sign indicating that motorway regs no longer apply and (3) to an extent being closed off.

A summary of opinion, yes. But, clarified by the NRA. Page 3, Post 35.

On the issue of the legality of parking there (in the absence of 'End of Motorway' signage), well apparently parking on a motorway is permitted under SI 182 of 1997, section 33, which states "a driver shall not park on any part of the motorway, however, this shall not apply in relation to any part of the motorway which is provided for the parking of vehicles or for the provision of services or amenities."

Notwithstanding all of this, if you parked in a space marked "authorised vehicles only", you clearly contravened to rules. You might wish to excuse yourself by saying that your local ones have large P signs but by your own admission, this one did not.

Perhaps the next time you should reverse up onto the raised ones so that you can get a better view of the countryside. If a traffic corps vehicle pops along, you might want to let them have their priority claim over the space.

Agreed in terms of that alright. I assumed it was just poor signage because they are designed exactly the same as the normal Parking versions you see on other motorways. I felt it was the safest place to pull in, and did so.

Marcusm

"Safest" is an interesting word.

Presumably you considered it SAFE to continue. In which case you might have regarded it as SAFER to pull in. SAFEST would have been to leave the motorway and find a legal place to park.

Sully

Marcusm wrote: »

"Safest" is an interesting word.

Presumably you considered it SAFE to continue. In which case you might have regarded it as SAFER to pull in. SAFEST would have been to leave the motorway and find a legal place to park.

Safe is a matter of opinion. There the exact same as the designated parking lay-bys, the only difference is they (for some reason) are designated for use by Authorised Vehicles Only (not just Gardai or Emergency Services).

Anyway, I have already pointed out it wasn't an appropriate place to pull in seeing as they are not for public use. My point was, that the NRA should have provided proper spaces (and improved on safety measures discussed in the other thread) along this stretch of motorway.

I take it you agree with the other part of my post about the legality of provided spaces?

Marcusm

I'm not competent to comment on the legality or appropriateness of the analysis undertaken int he other thread; it's of little consequence to your particular actions.

I don't think that the NRA is the body charged with enforcing the Road Traffic Acts and I suspect that little value can be accorded to oral comment provided by a member of its staff.

That notwithstanding, I am sure that anyone who parks in such a space would be regarded as having a "reasonable excuse" for doing so int he event that the prosecutorial authorities took the view that they were not spaces set aside for parking but rather ones which were overlooked by the NRA or more likely its private sector contractors when the relevant roads were converted to motorways.

Irrespective of what this results in, I still think that parking in such a space amounts to negligent or careless driving.

etchyed

Sully wrote: »

They should be in place on all motorways

They (the type of rest stop discussed on that thread) shouldn't be in place on any motorway, anywhere. There should be places to stop but they should be nothing like these redesignated-HQDC stops. Using the phrase "not the safest" doesn't do them justice. They are extremely unsafe. Their legality shouldn't be considered a valid endorsement. There is nothing like them that I know of on a motorway in any other country. It would be better if they weren't there. In the absence of proper service/rest areas, it would be safer for any driver to leave the motorway at an exit and pull over for a rest on a nearby road, then rejoin the motorway afterwards.

antoobrien

KevR wrote: »

Emailed the NRA early last week asking if traffic counts for West of Athenry and West of Oranmore could be made available. There are counters in place which mean these figures should be available....unless the counters are not working properly.

Kev, Athenry and Glennascaul counter data is up on the NRA site.

The Glenascaul (Airport exit for those that don't know the area) counter is not listed on the webpage, I presume it's the one you referred to. Do you know which side of the exit it is on?

whyulittle

Death on the M6 around Moate today.

A woman in her 60s has died in a two-car crash on the M6.

Gardaí are investigating the death of a woman after what is being described as a tragic accident on the Dublin to Galway Road this afternoon.

It is understood the woman who died drove down an exit ramp from the westbound carriageway near Moate in Co Westmeath.

She proceeded to drive in an eastern direction meeting traffic travelling in the opposite direction.

A garda traffic car, which was on a motorway at the time, passed the vehicle and tried to warn traffic travelling in the opposite direction.

The gardaí then made an unsuccessful attempt to stop the vehicle. The motorist slowed down, but then continued to drive on in an eastern direction on the westbound carriageway of the M6.

Moments later the car was involved in a head-on collision with another car.

The driver of the car which was travelling in the wrong direction died.

The driver of the other car - a woman in her 30s - is in a critical condition hospital in Tullamore General Hospital.

A garda investigation is continuing.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0628/rta.html

Geogregor

I'm surprised how often people drive wrong way on Irish motorways. From reading this forum it seems it happens quite a lot.
Why is that?? In Poland, country with quite bad driving culture, it happens very rarely. I remember one accident mentioned in Polish forum couple of years ago. And that's pretty much it.

This sounds more like a suicide, rather than someone getting confused.
It's a new, well signposted section of road.

whyulittle

Action needed to remedy "atrocious" motorway -Kilduff

by Deirdre Verney

Driving on the Athlone to Ballinasloe motorway after any spell of rain is like travelling on a sheet of ice, a South Roscommon-based councillor claimed this week, after four separate accidents on the stretch on one day over the past fortnight.

Cllr Paddy Kilduff, who raised the issue at Monday's monthly meeting of the council, said he almost lost control of his own car recently on the "atrocious" stretch after a spell of heavy rain.

"Gardai are deeply concerned about the situation on that road," he said. "Four people crashed there on one day in the last two weeks after heavy rain. The drainage and ponding system is not right and culverts are not up to standard," he complained, adding that the project is just not up to the same spec as the Ballinasloe/Athlone road.

In a motion, he called on the Minister for Transport, Leo Varadkar, to investigate the reason why the stretch of motorway has been completed to what he said was such a poor standard to the extent that motorists were in serious risk of fatality during periods of heavy rainfall due to the inadequate storm water infrastructure.

He is concerned that if the council take over the road now, they will be left with huge bills to improve the problematic conditions on the stretch, something they can ill afford in a time of tight budgets on all fronts.

The Fianna Fáil councillor is adamant Roscommon County Council cannot take ownership of the motorway from Athlone to Ballinasloe until it is brought fully up to scratch and the drainage problems solved.

The lack of signage for rate-paying businesses at exit 13 to show the old Ballinasloe road also needs to remedied, he said, adding that at a meeting with the NRA recently to highlight the problems on the M6, six members of Roscommon County Council were treated like a "rabble of children" and with "total disrespect"

http://www.westmeathindependent.ie/news/roundup/articles/2011/06/29/4005203-action-needed-to-remedy-034atrocious034-motorway-kilduff-/

Chris_5339762

Ugh...

Driving on the Athlone to Ballinasloe motorway after any spell of rain is like travelling on a sheet of ice,

...he complained, adding that the project is just not up to the same spec as the Ballinasloe/Athlone road.

Brilliant.

Jayuu

From the above article:

The Fianna Fáil councillor is adamant Roscommon County Council cannot take ownership of the motorway from Athlone to Ballinasloe until it is brought fully up to scratch and the drainage problems solved.

What does he mean by "ownership" of the road? I thought that as a motorway all work on this road is the responsibility of the NRA and not Roscommon County Council. Is this just some ignorant FF gob****e not knowing anything about how roads are controlled these days?

JupiterKid

Genesis Important Ambassador wrote: »

This sounds more like a suicide, rather than someone getting confused.
It's a new, well signposted section of road.

Sounds like a very selfish means of committing suicide - the woman driver in the other car was critically injured.

The accidents involving wrong way driving on our new motorways all seem to involve elderly or old people. It's obvious that many older people have no notion of how to drive properly on a motorway.:(

NITransport

JupiterKid wrote: »

Sounds like a very selfish means of committing suicide - the woman driver in the other car was critically injured.

The accidents involving wrong way driving on our new motorways all seem to involve elderly or old people. It's obvious that many older people have no notion of how to drive properly on a motorway.:(

Or anywhere else. Especially in rural areas where people have spent most of their lives driving, you can't then expect them to drive on a motorway correctly.

Aidan1

With all due respect to the family of the person that died, it does seem a little difficult to understand how this accident could have occurred. Presuming she joined the motorway at Junction 6, the driver would have firstly have had to make a very sharp turn off the roundabout at the top of the slip road, then pass two large signs (Ok, one is in Irish) telling her "Danger Wrong Way Turn Back", and then merge with the motorway on the wrong side. The fact that she refused to stop when travelling against traffic, and particularly when Gardai were trying to get her to makes it even more strange.

It's difficult to blame road design, or the NRA, for stuff like this - this comes down entire to drivers.

Aidan1

Aidan1 wrote: »

Presuming she joined the motorway at Junction 6, the driver would have firstly have had to make a very sharp turn off the roundabout at the top of the slip road, then pass two large signs (Ok, one is in Irish) telling her "Danger Wrong Way Turn Back", and then merge with the motorway on the wrong side.
It's difficult to blame road design, or the NRA, for stuff like this - this comes down entire to drivers.

The sooner the Correct "No Entry" sign is erected at all these exits the better.

It has now (finally) been adopted by the NRA but has yet to be implamented!
Chances are that it wouldn't have helped in this case, but it will reduce the numbers of foreign drivers who do make this mistake.

mayo23

Aidan1 wrote: »

It's difficult to blame road design, or the NRA, for stuff like this - this comes down entire to drivers.

In this case yes, its definitely careless driving thats to blame. But note that no such signs are on any of the junctions on the M6 between Athlone and Galway, apart from the one at the end of the Athlone bypass. All that's on these junctions are standard circular 'no entry' signs. These can be missed if not paying attention, whereas you'd REALLY have to be tuned out to miss the "wrong way, turn back" signs.

Carawaystick

On th M1 at Lisburn and in Luxemburg they have flashing red lights like at level crossings to reduce the likelihood of this happening

L1011

Carawaystick wrote: »

On th M1 at Lisburn and in Luxemburg they have flashing red lights like at level crossings to reduce the likelihood of this happening

ALL NI motorway onramps have those lights.

whyulittle

I met a Heron on the M6 this morning near Kinnegad.

It was standing in the middle of the over-taking lane, but somehow managed to jump in between me and the van that was in the process of over-taking me!

rosscullen

Is it just me or does anyone find the cats eyes between Galway and Athlone extremely bumpy (almost dangerous) when crossing lanes (in comparison to anywhere else)?

rosscullen

rosscullen wrote: »

Is it just me or does anyone find the cats eyes between Galway and Athlone extremely bumpy (almost dangerous) when crossing lanes (in comparison to anywhere else)?

The new ones on the athlone bypass are also high, is it a new design or cockup!

whyulittle

Drove to Dublin and back this morning.

What's with the new alternative route signs, around Rochfordbridge?! Heading east, it only lists a few towns, but heading west it's much bigger, listing more towns. As well at having R446 or whatever it is patched with a yellow background on the brown sign, there is an awkward looking little 'Old N6' plate/sign above the brown sign.

I know the NRA were in the local paper a while ago replying to calls from Roscommon county councillors about signage for every little shop and B&B along the old N6. I wonder is this their response.

Also, the signs for Kilbeggan Racecource are at Moate, and Tyrrellspass. Fair enough if they don't want all the traffic using one exit, but they could at least use Kilbeggan for the westbound traffic, instead of Tyrrellspass.

KevR

I don't agree with this "Old N6" business. People will call it "The Old N6" forever now that they have put it on signs, nobody will call it the R446.

They may aswell not have bothered redesignating the N6 to a regional road if it's always going to be called the N6...

antoobrien

KevR wrote: »

I don't agree with this "Old N6" business. People will call it "The Old N6" forever now that they have put it on signs, nobody will call it the R446.

They may aswell not have bothered redesignating the N6 to a regional road if it's always going to be called the N6...

20 years later the coast road between Oranmore & Roscam is still called the "Old Dublin Rd", habits like that aren't going to change because of a redesignation or renumbering.

veryangryman

KevR wrote: »

I don't agree with this "Old N6" business. People will call it "The Old N6" forever now that they have put it on signs, nobody will call it the R446.

They may aswell not have bothered redesignating the N6 to a regional road if it's always going to be called the N6...

The Athlone bypass (and by extension Ballydangan-Moate stretch) is always going to be a local-dominated road. Witness the amount of traffic that uses the exits there (the Tuam road exit has 90% of cars westbound deciding to take the exit instead of continuting to Ballinasloe/Galway).

So there seems to be a need for such signposting. I live near the junction and get alot of people stopping me walking/cycling looking for directions. This junciton in particular has got so much new signage its unbelievable. I never realised the demand people have for going to Drum And this 3 years on from Motorways opening. With all the satnav, google map etc technology out there. Frickin crusties...

veryangryman

veryangryman wrote: »

The Athlone bypass (and by extension Ballydangan-Moate stretch) is always going to be a local-dominated road. Witness the amount of traffic that uses the exits there (the Tuam road exit has 90% of cars westbound deciding to take the exit instead of continuting to Ballinasloe/Galway).

So there seems to be a need for such signposting. I live near the junction and get alot of people stopping me walking/cycling looking for directions. This junciton in particular has got so much new signage its unbelievable. I never realised the demand people have for going to Drum And this 3 years on from Motorways opening. With all the satnav, google map etc technology out there. Frickin crusties...

Drum, now there is a place that takes some beating!

EAFC_rdfl

Coming towards Athlone this morning from Galway direction, about a km or 2 before the monksland exit there was a young deer standing on the grass just off the hard shoulder. Presume it must be from the pet farm. Hopefully it stayed off the road, he looked to be a bit surprised at all the traffic. Could lead to a very messy accident. I rang the gardai in Athlone and said they would get someone out, I hope so