Moneenageisha Roundabout: Temporary Road Closures

left_behind

http://www.galwaycity.ie/TopNews/MainBody,5511,en.html

KStaford

where is that roundabout?

synacron trion

Beside the Huntsman and G hotel.

Chris_533976

I thought that one was ffrench.

gaeilgegrinds

It is the Ffrench roundabout but everyone knows it as Móinn na gCseach from Galway!

biko

So it will be closed between 1900 and 0700 every night this week until Saturday morning.

Chris_533976

I really hope this makes a big difference as its the worst of the Galway roundabouts.

Malice

Chris_533976 wrote: »

I really hope this makes a big difference as its the worst of the Galway roundabouts.

:eek: How could you say that? Do you really think it's worse than the abomination just over the hill called the Headford Road (Magic) Roundabout?

Honestly, I can't see how changing the roundabout to a traffic light controlled junction is going to help. You're still going to have muppets heading out the Dublin road blocking the junction at peak times, blissfully ignorant of what they're doing. It's also not going to do much for the scrum that occurs at the roundabout beside the RTC.

synacron trion

malice_ wrote: »

:eek: How could you say that? Do you really think it's worse than the abomination just over the hill called the Headford Road (Magic) Roundabout?

What is so magical about about the Headford road roundabout? I've heard this phrase so many times I'd like it explained!

malice_ wrote: »

Honestly, I can't see how changing the roundabout to a traffic light controlled junction is going to help. You're still going to have muppets heading out the Dublin road blocking the junction at peak times, blissfully ignorant of what they're doing. It's also not going to do much for the scrum that occurs at the roundabout beside the RTC.

If there is a yellow box in the junction most drivers won't go into the junction unless they can get out. That'll stop most people from blocking the road. Any car that does camp in the junction, feel free to use your horn to show them how you feel. The likelihood is is that they won't do it again.

padi89

synacron trion wrote: »

What is so magical about about the Headford road roundabout? I've heard this phrase so many times I'd like it explained!

Magic roundabout = Cars come out of nowhere

synacron trion wrote: »

If there is a yellow box in the junction most drivers won't go into the junction unless they can get out. That'll stop most people from blocking the road. Any car that does camp in the junction, feel free to use your horn to show them how you feel. The likelihood is is that they won't do it again.

Do you drive around Galway at all? It wouldn't matter if there was a tank in the middle of the roundabout, in Galway it seems the majority of drivers don't have a clue about how to use a roundabout or obey road markings of any kind, a yellow box junction won't serve any purpose other than a road decoration.As for blowing your horn, do you really think people give a **** if your upset, most likely they are thinking "**** you wanker" when you give them a toot so its pointless only to satisfy your own frustration.

Im with malice_ on this one, what good are new junctions if people don't have any idea of how to use it in the first place.

DeadSkin

LMFAO, yellow box will stop people from blocking the road!!!!

Most drivers in Galway think it's a freakin' parking space ffs.

fuzzsc00ta

I'm with padi89 and malice_ on this one. Galway drivers don't obey traffic laws, so we should discontinue all traffic laws in the city and dig up all the signs.

Nobody indicates anyway, so what's the point in indicators? Seat belts? Get the frak outta here!

In this new traffic dystopia, cars will be retrofitted with battlements and roundabouts shall be known as "deathcircles" where G4 Mummies in SUVs will do battle for the pleasure of the emperor.

synacron trion

@malice_ and padi89 I agree with your points that most Galway drivers haven't a clue. I do drive, I live on the east side of the city and go to college in NUIG so I hit the Headford road roundabout twice a day if not at least once a day and I experience shocking driving-most of it on roundabouts. We're on the same page as regards our opinion on drivers I'd say.

We could do a back and forth about the headford road roundabout but this is a thread about the Ffrench roundabout or soon to be lighted junciton .

One thing I will ask though is what would your alternative to a lighted roundabout be at the headford road roundabout. I think in terms of traffic management (giving all inbound roads a chance to get onto the roundabout) it does quite well and better than it would if there were no lights (think of peak traffic times).

DeadSkin

synacron trion wrote: »

@malice_ and padi89 I agree with your points that most Galway drivers haven't a clue. I do drive, I live on the east side of the city and go to college in NUIG so I hit the Headford road roundabout twice a day if not at least once a day and I experience shocking driving-most of it on roundabouts. We're on the same page as regards our opinion on drivers I'd say.

We could do a back and forth about the headford road roundabout but this is a thread about the Ffrench roundabout or soon to be lighted junciton .

One thing I will ask though is what would your alternative to a lighted roundabout be at the headford road roundabout. I think in terms of traffic management (giving all inbound roads a chance to get onto the roundabout) it does quite well and better than it would if there were no lights (think of peak traffic times).

A big yellow box :pac:

Robbo

synacron trion wrote: »

One thing I will ask though is what would your alternative to a lighted roundabout be at the headford road roundabout. I think in terms of traffic management (giving all inbound roads a chance to get onto the roundabout) it does quite well and better than it would if there were no lights (think of peak traffic times).

A series of Dukes of Hazzard style jumps.

"Folks in Hazzard County hadn't seen a Fiat Punto embedded into the side of Dunnes in a long time..."

padi89

synacron trion wrote: »

One thing I will ask though is what would your alternative to a lighted roundabout be at the headford road roundabout. I think in terms of traffic management (giving all inbound roads a chance to get onto the roundabout) it does quite well and better than it would if there were no lights (think of peak traffic times).

I don't really have an issue with the Headford Road roundabout setup, i was just explaining to you the name.The problem is people just don't have a clue how to use it or even bother to obey it if they do.Despite the fact there are large signs approaching, road marking arrows and lanes marked on the roundabout itself for correct use people still don't have a clue.There really isn't an answer to ignorance, if i had a choice though id have a Garda there lashing out fines left right and center i bet that would sort out the problems fairly quickly

galvianlord

going to a thing in the eye tomorrow night. how the hell do i get back into town from the cinema? can turn left to the roundabout....and you cant leave the wellpark centre on the dublin road side...any suggestions?

biko

They'll prob let you go right at the Monivea Rd exit, which is not allowed today but ppl do anyway...

twinkle_toes

they shoulda built a bridge there over the middle of the roundabout from the hill to the dublin road and another bridge under that from wellpark rd to lough atalia rd. and then under them the traffic could fight it out to get from the hill to wellpark, lough atalia etc. bridges are cool.

on a less serious note...anyone know how people are goin to get out of the wellpark retail centre considerin you cant get straight out onto the dublin rd and you always had to go down round the roundabout to get where u wanted cos u couldnt turn right onto the wellpark road. and also the school on the dublin rd has no right turn out of it and i see people goin left, round the roundabout and back out dublin rd. what will they do?? oh wont someone please think of the children??!! :pac:

Xiney

I doubt many people will be leaving the school between the hours of 7pm and 7am.

twinkle_toes

Xiney wrote: »

I doubt many people will be leaving the school between the hours of 7pm and 7am.

i meant once these traffic lights are up and running. never said anything about 7-7.

twinkle_toes

Magnus wrote: »

They'll prob let you go right at the Monivea Rd exit, which is not allowed today but ppl do anyway...

thats a b*tch to do in a big car.:pac:
they'd want to tear up that traffic island in the middle and lower more of the footpath on the other side and warn pedistrians.

Malice

synacron trion wrote: »

What is so magical about about the Headford road roundabout? I've heard this phrase so many times I'd like it explained!

Sorry, I haven't read through all of the replies on this thread so someone may have already answered. It's a magic roundabout because that's how it works - magic! If you're driving through it, the best way to get around safely is to close your eyes and floor the accelerator. You'll arrive unscathed at the other side - by magic .

synacron trion wrote:

If there is a yellow box in the junction most drivers won't go into the junction unless they can get out. That'll stop most people from blocking the road. Any car that does camp in the junction, feel free to use your horn to show them how you feel. The likelihood is is that they won't do it again.

To be blunt, yellow boxes are pointless. People don't obey them at the best of times, even less when there's a lot of traffic. Once the traffic at a roundabout is at a crawl then people will enter it to cut off the other lane(s) that are in turn cutting them off. Laying on the horn will achieve nothing. I've never seen a driver put their hand up to apologise after I've honked at them . Do you think they will realise that they are in the wrong and reverse back to where they should be (assuming that space is still there)?

Sconsey

Worst freaking infrastructure upgrade ever!!!

Took me 30 minutes to travel the length of Lough Atalia (sp?) this morning, College road was completely blocked up also, the reason....

...they turned on the lights at Moneehageisha, I hope they just had the sequence messed up or something, otherwise this is a big step backwards from the roundabout that was there. Traffice moved better when the junction was in sh1t and had builders running about the place, no lights on it at all.

Malice

I agree. I was surprised actually that no one else had posted a rant about it . Normally I hit that junction in the morning before the traffic hits peak levels. It never used to take more than maybe 30 seconds to get to the other side (I go from the Sean Mulvoy side straight across to the Dublin Road side). This morning however I was stuck for just over 3 minutes waiting for the lights to change. I may have been particularly unlucky to hit it at the time I did but this "upgrade" has now made my traversal of the junction roughly 6 times slower. :mad:

As I stated earlier in the thread I still can't see how this change is going to be any help with the traffic problems at peak times. It will be interesting to see if the lines of traffic are any different this evening.

PopeBuckfastXVI

Yep far worse this mornign coming from cemetery cross down to turn left for mervue...

Well done Galway City Council, as usual you've managed to make a bad situation worse. clap clap.

Robbo

Hang on, aren't these lights meant to be "intelligent"?

They'll start off slow and docile and then gradually become more advanced until they want to kill us all and enslave mankind.

PopeBuckfastXVI

Robbo wrote: »

Hang on, aren't these lights meant to be "intelligent"?

They'll start off slow and docile and then gradually become more advanced until they want to kill us all and enslave mankind.

*Ahem*... well I for one welcome our new multicoloured overlords...

Robbo

PopeBuckfastXVI wrote: »

*Ahem*... well I for one welcome our new multicoloured overlords...

Someone had to say it.

Zzippy

Its Galway City Council, so I knew it was going to feck things up. I normally come in via the Monivea Rd, usually takes 15 mins from Doughiska to work by this route. Traffic at the time I come in is usually no more than 100m back from the roundabout, this morning it was backed up as far as Ballybane!
I know they were supposed to be changing the light sequence today, tinkering with things to try to get them right, but they'd want to do a lot of bloody tinkering by the looks of it... :rolleyes:

elyod

I love the way everyone gets in the lane clearly marked as "turn right only" to go straight on when coming from the Moneenageisha Road.

I get into the correct lane to go straight (left hand lane), and when I get across to the Dublin road I immediately have to switch back into the right hand lane to get out of the bus lane, but that lane is already full of people who were in the incorrect lane in the first place, but they see me trying to merge out of the bus lane and think what a gob****e.

futura123

well considering the mess that is the headford road roundabout did anybody expect they would get it right here??? with expensive / inadequate parking in the city centre and more traffic woes this will discourage even more people from coming into town to do their business.
dont get me started on city centre parking rates btw.... why the hell are they not coming down ?? 2.60 per hour is a rip off

PopeBuckfastXVI

Agree with that Futura, I rarely bother going into town during the day now, only for pints on a saturday night.

Robbo

futura123 wrote: »

dont get me started on city centre parking rates btw.... why the hell are they not coming down ?? 2.60 per hour is a rip off

Shocking rates. I remember when they wanted to put it up to €2.80 when on street parking in Stephens Green or similar in Dublin was "only" €2.50.

At least last Saturday I got free parking because some enterprising rogue thoughtless vandal had jammed the coin slot up. I'd love a Saturday where all machines in town were in the same way, such passive resistance would even give Gandhi a bulge in his nappy.

twinkle_toes

disaster!!! according to the traffic guy on galway bay this morning there was almost fist fights about the right turn only lane off the hill. he suggested a sign and i agree! he shouldnt have to suggest it. them signs should be up first thing to get people used to the situation asap.
as for the whole layout, its like a flippin circus. i left ten mins early this morning at 20 past 8 down the monivea rd. usually on dublin rd by latest 10 to 9. this morning it was after 9. kids teacher not pleased. i notice they've chopped off the two lane system at the end of the monivea rd as well so its an extra unnecessary wait to turn left.

anyone know how you get out of wellpark retail centre now onto the monivea rd? is there a way without footpathing it?

Krieg

Not surprised at the rant. I was waiting at the bus stop this morning and saw the line of traffic. Before the lights turned green, a line of traffic stretches up as far as the school. Id be interested to see the state of the dublin road at 5-6pm

snubbleste

Are there pedestrian-activated lights at the junction?

elyod

padi89 wrote: »

I don't really have an issue with the Headford Road roundabout setup, i was just explaining to you the name.The problem is people just don't have a clue how to use it or even bother to obey it if they do.Despite the fact there are large signs approaching, road marking arrows and lanes marked on the roundabout itself for correct use people still don't have a clue.There really isn't an answer to ignorance, if i had a choice though id have a Garda there lashing out fines left right and center i bet that would sort out the problems fairly quickly

You have 3 lane roads leading onto 2 lane roads and vice-versa. The road marking force you to switch lanes mid roundabout, which is fundamentally just plain wrong.

There are no overhead signs and road markings are no good mid roundabout either. Especially when it's busy and all these markings are cover up by cars.

For someone who has never used the roundabout before its is impossible to use it like it is supposed to be used.

Zzippy

twinkle_toes wrote: »

anyone know how you get out of wellpark retail centre now onto the monivea rd? is there a way without footpathing it?

Good question, it used to be possible to go left and go round the roundabout and back up the road, but thats obviously impossible now. Footpath it is so! :rolleyes:

ronnie3585

elyod wrote: »

You have 3 lane roads leading onto 2 lane roads and vice-versa. The road marking force you to switch lanes mid roundabout, which is fundamentally just plain wrong.

Exactly. It's a fundamentally flawed design. Coming down the Monivea Rd last night at 8pm, thought I would breeze through as Tuesday night at 8 isn't exactly rush hour. However, the traffic was backed up to the shops and bookies just below the IDA park. When I got to the junction the problem was the length of time the lights stayed red but the biggest issue was people being in the wrong lane (the right turn lane when they wanted to go straight on) and trying to get into the right lane or just plain cutting people off. In fairness, it's not signposted at all - this needs to be dealt with. If native Galweigans have this amount of trouble I can't wait to see it when all the visitors arrive for the boat race.

synacron trion

elyod wrote: »

You have 3 lane roads leading onto 2 lane roads and vice-versa. The road marking force you to switch lanes mid roundabout, which is fundamentally just plain wrong.

No you don't. You have 3 and 2 lane roads entering onto a 3 lane roundabout. On the roundabout at any particular exit there is either 1 or 2 lanes bleeding off the roundabout into the exit and they are all marked. The roundabout is actually easy to use if you have the cop on to be in the correct lane when going onto the roundabout.

Would you rather a traffic lighted junction at the headford road roundabout just like there is where Ffrench roundabout used to be?

finlma

Shame on the Council. This formerly free flowing junction has been turned into a chaotic mess. What a total and utter disaster. I for one will be going nowhere near the junction from now on, maybe that was the plan.

Malice

finlma wrote: »

What a total and utter disaster. I for one will be going nowhere near the junction from now on

The problem is though, that junction is unavoidable unless you take a lengthy detour out along the Tuam Road. If you're coming from the city along Lough Atalia you hit it, if you're coming from Prospect Hill or the Sean Mulvoy Road you hit it, if you're coming from the Monivea Road you hit it and if you're coming from the Dublin Road you hit it.

This really is incredible. I'd love to know who was responsible for the proposal, the approval and the design. Did any of them not think that maybe, just maybe, what they were doing wasn't a good idea?

ronnie3585

malice_ wrote: »

I'd love to know who was responsible for the proposal, the approval and the design. Did any of them not think that maybe, just maybe, what they were doing wasn't a good idea?

That's a good question. While I didn't use the old roundabout on a daily commute I did use it very regularly at peak and off peak times and of all the roundabouts in the city centre I found it the most stress free to use. I was a bit surprised when I heard it was being redeveloped. They really should have used all that time and money to try and do something with the magic roundabout.

lampsie

Defo some major teething problems...can't speak for the other roads coming onto the junction, but coming down the Monivea road onto it, looks like the lights are only staying on for a couple of seconds a pop. I drove down that way today (thankfully was turning left into Mervue village), and for an off peak time there was hell of a lot of stationary traffic backed way up
Hopefully it is just teething problems and they'll tinker with the sequence, but I ain't exactly optimistic!
lamps

KevR

I'm a bit surprised at the problems to be honest. I passed through the other night before the lights were switched on and the junction layout didn't seem all that hard to figure out.

Hopefully it should get a bit better over the coming days as people get used to it and the City Council will probably tweek the sequencing of the lights to improve it.

Although, they really should hastily stick up a few signs tonight to eliminate any confusion tomorrow.

snubbleste

more info

For the remainder of this week and through next week, additional work will be carried out on the traffic signals along the Dublin Road, at the junction between Lough Atalia Road & College Road and at the junction between Wellpark Road, Monivea Road & Connolly Avenue. The aim of this aspect of the project is signal co-ordination so as to improve traffic flow..
To facilitate this work, signals at both Renmore Road and Lough Atalia will be switched off for a short period on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of next week, but when switched back on the benefits will greatly outweigh this short-term disruption. Yield signs will be put in place to advise motorists of the junction priority while these minor works are underway - GTU May 12th

didigray

the responsible party for the traffic lights at moneen is Fianna Fail's Frank Fahy. Bualadh bos Fianna Fail.
the grand plan seems to be to facilitate buses on the dublin road.
i live off monivea road and would consider moving house the traffic was so bad this evening(8pm)
better avail of that bike grant......

Malice

I came through the roundabout this evening at 6pm. From the exit beside the Huntsman (to turn right onto the Dublin road) back as far as the exit left just down from Victoria place was bumper to bumper with cars. I was travelling in the other direction (into the city) so I was able to see the tailback. There used to be a certain amount of a backlog at peak times but it was never that bad surely?

Mrs OBumble

malice_ wrote: »

I came through the roundabout this evening at 6pm. From the exit beside the Huntsman (to turn right onto the Dublin road) back as far as the exit left just down from Victoria place was bumper to bumper with cars. I was travelling in the other direction (into the city) so I was able to see the tailback. There used to be a certain amount of a backlog at peak times but it was never that bad surely?

I was on the 6:15pm #9 bus that went up College Rd.

There was a tailback from the lights all the way to City Hall. But even though it looked bad, the queue was moving: the bus left Eyre Square at 6:20, got to Douughiska Rd just before 6:45.

I suspect that things will settle down over the next few days, as they tweak the settings on the various lights and as drivers get used to the new layout.

KevR

Passed from the Monivea Rd side at about 11pm and there was a medium sized queue from that direction then. All other directions were clear.

The sequencing isn't great - the Monivea Rd side doesn't get green for long enough.

However for both cycles of the lights that I observed then, the lights were green long enough for about 10 cars to get through. Of course being in Galway, people take an age to pull off when the light goes green and when they do eventually pull off they go slowly through the junction and/or hesitate in the middle of it when it's clear the other side. Probably only 4 or 5 cars got through on each of the two cycles I saw. Should have been about 10 each time.

The lane markings seemed pretty easy to follow. Although seeing as though there was widespread confusion a few signs wouldn't go amiss.