IKEA and M50 Traffic

ecom

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/fears-of-chaos-on-m50-as-ikea-to-open-doors-1831818.html

................And despite An Bord Pleanala ruling that the upgrade to the Ballymun interchange off the M50 would have to be "fully completed" before the store opens, Fingal County Council has decided that Ikea can open for business at 11am on July 27..........

Are Fingal County Council allowed to overrule a decision by An Bord Pleanala?
I'm hoping it doesnt happen but I'm predicting chaos on the M50 in both directions. I think it's inevitable. Traffic northbound towards the M1 interchange is already bad a lot of the time but surely this is going to ensure a tailback at least as far as Blanch?

lods

ecom wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/fears-of-chaos-on-m50-as-ikea-to-open-doors-1831818.html

Are Fingal County Council allowed to overrule a decision by An Bord Pleanala?
I'm hoping it doesnt happen but I'm predicting chaos on the M50 in both directions. I think it's inevitable. Traffic northbound towards the M1 interchange is already bad a lot of the time but surely this is going to ensure a tailback at least as far as Blanch?

Happeneing during the builders holidsys & not at rush hour. Should give them a chance to sort it out. I'd say they'll have loads of Guards on the first few days.

Run_to_da_hills

All this hype about IKEA causing massive traffic jams on the M50 was a few years ago, we are now in recession, I don't think they are going to get the anticipated crowds that they originally expected.

ecom

I hope not.
But An Bord Pleanala imposed 29 conditions that had to be met before the store could open. This including the finishing of the upgraded roads, which are not complete.

What is the point in having a body like that if the council can just overrule it?

I seriously hope it doesnt cause any congestion, but like the Bus Corridor at College Green, I fear it will

Mitch Connor

IKEA are being put in danger because of this delay, a delay which is not their fault. They put the money forward for the upgrade, it is the Council that have failed to ensure the works were done on schedule.

lods

ecom wrote: »

I hope not.
But An Bord Pleanala imposed 29 conditions that had to be met before the store could open. This including the finishing of the upgraded roads, which are not complete.

What is the point in having a body like that if the council can just overrule it?

I seriously hope it doesnt cause any congestion, but like the Bus Corridor at College Green, I fear it will

The council shouldn't have agreed to finished the road on time if the couldn't. In fairness to IKEA the store has been finished for a long time & its providing employment in a very dark time. If IKEA didn't push the opening they would never get the council to finish.

ecom

Mitch Connor wrote: »

IKEA are being put in danger because of this delay, a delay which is not their fault. They put the money forward for the upgrade, it is the Council that have failed to ensure the works were done on schedule.

completely agree and I more than welcome IKEA and the employment they are bringing.

Was wondering though why the council are allowed to overrule An Bord Pleanala

jkgvfg

Mitch Connor wrote: »

IKEA are being put in danger because of this delay, a delay which is not their fault. They put the money forward for the upgrade, it is the Council that have failed to ensure the works were done on schedule.

What money did they put forward? And what schedule? I never heard anything out of the council other than the whole works being completed in 2010.

Not standing up for them but would like to know if there is more information out there than the less-than-informative www.m50.ie!

Ste.phen

I know they *offered* to pay for some of the works, but I'm not sure that they did

Riskymove

Ste.phen wrote: »

I know they *offered* to pay for some of the works, but I'm not sure that they did

+1 I think they were turned down


does anyone have the definite wording of ABP conditions? I be surprised if the Council could just ignore them

IIMII

There seems to be alot of work left on the junction - when are they likely to complete it? I passed it a few weeks ago and thought at least 3 months. The M50 is already ****e along that stretch because of the m50 upgrade

whosedaddy?

IKEA offer to speed up M50 reoadworks... no sums mentioned.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/ikea-cash-set-to-speed-up-m50-701477.html

However, IKEA told the Irish Independent last night it would pay to speed up M50 roadworks to allow it to open sooner.

and

IKEA will have to pay an unspecified sum to Fingal County Council for infrastructure and to help fund Metro North, the rail system planned for Ballymun.

why the council gets away overruling the ABP conditions..

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0123/breaking14.htm

Ikea has been in discussions with the National Roads Authority (NRA) in recent months seeking a “guaranteed” completion date for the M50 upgrade so it could decide when to open the Dublin store.

The NRA is concerned at the impact the opening of the Ikea store on M50 traffic volumes and it opposed the project at an planning hearing in March 2007.

NRA documents released under the Freedom of Information Act state its “board agreed that it is not possible to guarantee a completion date and that should Ikea wish to accelerate the upgrade works at Junction 4 (Ballymun), that this should be done at no expense to the NRA”.

According to the NRA documents, the authority will not “raise any objection to the planning authority” if Ikea opens after June 1st this year, even if the upgrade around the Ballymun junction remains incomplete.

Any effort to accelerate the upgrade at that section of the M50 is understood to have an estimated cost of between €10 million to €20 million.

So IKEA offered way back when, NRA put a price tag on the extra cost.. didn't go for IKEA support and now backs the Council to allow opening without raising objections...

serfboard

lods wrote: »

Happeneing during the builders holidsys & not at rush hour.

Yes. Am I right in thinking that there's a restriction that the store won't open until 11AM each day to avoid problems?

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

All this hype about IKEA causing massive traffic jams on the M50 was a few years ago, we are now in recession, I don't think they are going to get the anticipated crowds that they originally expected.

Agree with this. I was in the Belfast store recently and couldn't believe how empty it was. Sales of furniture are down massively. IKEA themselves have cut jobs and are halting expansion. Harvey Norman is losing money in Ireland.

digital_d

There was the same worry and hype in Belfast prior to the store opening there:

What was expected:
http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/national-news/special-traffic-plan-in-place-as-ikea-opens-in-belfast-1245607.html

http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/1213/ikea.html


What happened:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7150670.stm

http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/national-news/no-traffic-chaos-as-ikea-opens-first-irish-store-1245818.html

TBH if anyone was that desprate for IKEA they would have made the trip up to belfast by now. I think it will be messy enough but i'd say interest will build. At the moment the opening hours, catalouge, product listing etc. arn't even on the IKEA website. (www.ikea.ie)

D

Steviemak

The Ballymun junction especially the northbound exit is not suitable for high volumes. I use it currently and it only branches into two lanes near the end of the slip. Left lane for airport/naul and right lane for Ballymun. This will be an absolute nightmare when IKEA opens as its not even close to being finished. Traffic will back up on to the M50 and cause serious problems.

wyndham

There were wraparound ads in both the Metro and Herald AM this morning for the opening, stating that, while the store opens at 11 on Monday, 'festivities' start at 8am! Not really in the spirit of the 11am opening rule is it?

M50 should be interesting on Monday!

Dyr

Dublin bus annnounced that the 13/A is going to also serve IKEA, presumably because the service on that route isnt cr** enough already. Starting monday but they haven't seen fit to put the timetable up yet.

Good luck to anyone trying to get large boxes on the jalopies they use on the 13:rolleyes:

crosstownk

There might be a bit of madness in the first few days and weeks but once the novelty wears off the extra traffic will be hardly noticeable - especially when the M50 upgrade is completed. I'd stab a guess that the traffic on the first weekend might be a lot heavier than normal.

Redsoxfan

From the AA

IKEA opens on Monday 27th July at 11am

Updated: 23/07/2009 15:10:14

IKEA opens on Monday 27th at 11am and the car park opens at 7am. • The stores opening hours are: Monday to Friday from 11am – 9pm, Saturdays from 10am – 8pm and Sundays/Bank Holidays from 11am-7pm. As a result, there should be no impact on morning commuter traffic and limited impact on evening rush hour traffic.

The car park hosts 1,825 spaces, parking is free except from 4-8pm when there is a flat fee of €3. • DUBLIN BUS routes 13, 13A will serve the store from Monday 27th and within a few weeks the 140 will also serve the store. In addition, the 4 and 4A will continue to serve Ballymun terminus and will stop within a few minutes walk of the store.

During opening week, IKEA will have a large team of stewards directing traffic in and out of the car park in order to relieve any potential delays. • In addition, the entrance into IKEA is on the new St Margaret’s Road which will open from Friday evening.

Gardai, Fingal Co.Co. and IKEA will implement a traffic management plan to deal with the large amount of vehicles expected in the first week. • Yellow AA signs will be in place in accordance with the traffic plan and can be seen on the M50 from junction 11 Tallaght to the M1/M50 roundabout, on the N32, on the M1 and the Swords road.

Carawaystick

is the parking fee to get in or out of the carpark during the times specified?

whosedaddy?

a parking fee at IKEA - only in Ireland......

Davy

whosedaddy? wrote: »

a parking fee at IKEA - only in Ireland......and zurich

FYP

Run_to_da_hills

whosedaddy? wrote: »

a parking fee at IKEA - only in Ireland......

Initially a very clever idea and one of the conditions of setting it up the company here, it keeps Ikea traffic segregated from the evening rush hour, the idea was also initiated before EFlow, im sure it will have little effect now. The busiest times will be the weekends knowing the way the Irish will do anything to avoid paying unnecessary parking fees. .

whosedaddy?

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Initially a very clever idea and one of the conditions of setting it up the company here, it keeps Ikea traffic segregated from the evening rush hour, the idea was also initiated before EFlow, im sure it will have little effect now. The busiest times will be the weekends knowing the way the Irish will do anything to avoid paying unnecessary parking fees. .

its a clever idea - but whether its a good idea remains to be seen...
What will happen ppl park in Gullivers Retail Park and walk over, until they start charging money.

Interstingly IKEA has already started that, given the economic climate, it won't be a big deal if they are not profitable in the first year.
Its proably a fair assumption that, in case this happens, Dublin is the first IKEA store not the be profitable in year 1. Even considering and admitting this is astounding.

Shouldn't ppl that are willing to spend money not be encouraged to do so and not discouraged.....

Opps, OT, this is about using the parking fee to control traffic.

jkgvfg

Anyone know if the third lane on the M50N&S will be open for Monday?

They have the lines painted for most of the way except for Finglas to Ballymun NB (probably the one area it is most needed). Seems to me like they are waiting to see how bad it is before deciding to rescue the situation a couple of weeks later by opening a third lane. But that's just guessing because there is no information anyplace on when things are happening until 2 hours before/after they do.

Pineapple stu

Seeing that the store is only opening on monday then why would people go there in droves and cause traffic chaos when they can go there next week or later when the hype had died down? Do these people think that the store is only open for the week so they must go there as soon as possible before everything is gone or is it just so they can say they were there on the day it opened? People can be strange sometimes

Davy

cymro wrote: »

Seeing that the store is only opening on monday then why would people go there in droves and cause traffic chaos when they can go there next week or later when the hype had died down? Do these people think that the store is only open for the week so they must go there as soon as possible before everything is gone or is it just so they can say they were there on the day it opened? People can be strange sometimes

Opening day offers

Pineapple stu

Doubt that its worth it getting caught up in the crowds just for something that isnt that much of a bargain anyway.

sk8board

IKEA said today on the news they would expect 17-24k people on the opening day of any of their worldiwdew stores!
That said they also open on thursdays at 8am, not a wet Monday in Dublin in the middle of a recession

ste88m

Davy wrote: »

Opening day offers

Apperantly there won't be any.

Initial forecasts suggested there would be 24,000 visitors on the first day arriving in 9,600 vehicles. IKEA have agreed, in the interests of traffic management, to have what they describe as a soft opening i.e. no special offers and they have changed the planned opening day from a Thursday to a Monday. These factors combined with the timing of the opening during peak holiday season will lesson the effect to traffic however they still forecast 17 to 20 thousand visitors arriving in 5,800 to 7,200 vehicles. It is envisaged that the following weekend being a Bank Holiday Weekend will attract large volumes also.

From the Garda website.

HonalD

whosedaddy? wrote: »

its a clever idea - but whether its a good idea remains to be seen...
What will happen ppl park in Gullivers Retail Park and walk over, until they start charging money.

Interstingly IKEA has already started that, given the economic climate, it won't be a big deal if they are not profitable in the first year.
Its proably a fair assumption that, in case this happens, Dublin is the first IKEA store not the be profitable in year 1. Even considering and admitting this is astounding.

Shouldn't ppl that are willing to spend money not be encouraged to do so and not discouraged.....

Opps, OT, this is about using the parking fee to control traffic.

I thought I'd never see "IKEA", "Good Idea" and "Traffic" in the one post!!!