Do you think we should rebuild the roundabout at the Moneenageisha Junction??

_ZeeK_

I refer to this issue because there was an article in todays galway advertiser concerning this issue. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2901864&o=all&op=1&view=all&subj=119845166055&aid=-1&id=607401377&oid=119845166055

Traffic has definitely been made worse since the installation of this new traffic light system. Cllr. Walsh suggest it has costed over €320,000 to complete. However, it would no doubt cost another 6figure sum to reinstate the roundabout.

In these tough times, we might not be able to justify spending such money. Do you feel it would be worth the cost to decrease traffic waits? Or are you happy to bear out the extra long waits and just put it down to another traffic management lesson learned by City Council?

I read a brilliant suggestion in another thread about perhaps turning traffic lights off at night, as they do in Germany. Perhaps this would help slightly? But it wouldn't fix the core problem of peak hour traffic volumes.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

jenno86

Maybe if it was fully functional all the time it wouldn't be so bad. Half the time I pass through it some of the lights are turned off and you have eejit from the council directing the traffic through.

_ZeeK_

when they were initially set up, yeah that was the case. but tbh, they seem to think they're fully functional now. which definitely isn't the case. they could definitely do with some tweaking.

but even then, the lights just back up cars. by the time the light turns green, people are slow to put their cars into gear and get going. roundabouts, by their nature, tend to process cars much faster, and from all directions rather than just one side of a junction at a time.

No - we need more traffic lights and less roundabouts in this city not the other way round.

I posted an aerial photo of where I live on a different global forum and they laughed at the number of roundabouts you could see in the shot. (I'm on the Headford road)

biko

The RB was ****e. No solution will handle that amount of traffic, unless you force some cars to take alternate routes before they reach the junction.

ceepeedee

I've had the good fortune not to have to use that junction much of late, but I did watch it being reworked and my experience of using it shortly after it opened wasn't much to rejoice about. IMHO, the roundabout worked slightly better, but was far from ideal. I reckon we should allow the new system of allowing two lanes of traffic to turn right from College Road direction onto Dublin Road direction, plus allowing two lanes of traffic to progress straight through from Cemetery Cross to the Dublin Road, to bed in. If things don't improve then we can blow the whole thing up and build a flyover (that's a joke btw!).
In the current economic climate etc, etc, it's going to look downright awful if they spend another six figure sum reworking a junction they spent six figures reworking already less than a year previosuly.
And I'm trying not to think of what might ensue if the traffic lights are turned off at night....

death1234567

€320,000 spent to make a big important junction in the city much less efficient. Of course nobody will be held accountable for this shambles, they'll just sit in their highly paid, secure for life job then get early retirement at 62/63 and collect a massive pension that poor normal joe 12 packs like me pay for. This country is a joke.

merchant08

traffic lights at a very busy juction dont work where every approach is allowed to turn right. it simply takes too long.

Sconsey

I think they should change back to the roundabout if the lights don't work...oh and by the way, the lights don't work

It seems like getting through that junction now takes a lot longer and anecdotal evidence is that there are less people using the junction now. In the meantime they could do with painting one of those yellow cross hatch boxes at the junction between college road and Lough Atalia road, it's been a complete snarl up there every morning this week.

galah

it's not the junction that's the problem, it's the traffic....seriously, can noone remember that the tailbacks were just as bad before they put in the traffic lights? You were stuck on Dublin road inbound forever, and on Lough Atalia outbound. Ther are certain bottlenecks in the town, and that's part of the problem.

At peak times, traffic will always be bad. You could increase bus routes, make them more reliable, increase school busses or use catchment areas instad of a free for all so that mammy doesn't have to take the SUV to bring little Chloe to school cause little fat Chloe could walk to the NEAREST school, reeducate drivers not to be soo flipping stupid anymore (sleeping at the lights, breaking the lights, general muppetry). Intelligent lights all over the town (back home, on the town's bypass, the have little lights telling you how fast you 'should' go so that the lights at every junction will be green..now that's smart)

They *could* also introduce a scheme I saw in Sydney - where they have special lanes for cars with more than 2 passengers in it (and it was reinforced with fines, so no cheating) - which sped up traffic, and encouraged people to carpool.

So many things Galway could implement with a little more cop-on and a look to our neighbours across the world. yet, all they probably will do, is throw more money at it, bitch and moan, and nothing will change.

snubbleste

I have my car and i'll go where i want when i want in a certain timeframe too and if i can't then i'll bítch about it. This is my entitlement so it is

jenno86

galah wrote: »

it's not the junction that's the problem, it's the traffic....seriously, can noone remember that the tailbacks were just as bad before they put in the traffic lights?

It is true. Spending another €300,000+ is not an option. Would a road running behind the Huntsman be an option? Connecting the Dublin Rd to the Lough Atalia Rd? Take a bit of pressure off the junction.

?Cee?view

How many multiples of €320,000 will have to be spent fighting the nutjobs who are taking spurious cases against the bypass?

The members of "Hands across the Corrib", Mr. Sweetman and their ilk, should be made to sit in the traffic at that junction every day for a month and then we'd see if they think the bypass is still be a bad idea.

Different types of junction, whether roundabouts, lights, whatever, won't work when all traffic crossing town is bottlenecked through an old narrow road network.

snubbleste

churchview wrote: »

How many multiples of €320,000 will have to be spent fighting the nutjobs who are taking spurious cases against the bypass?

The members of "Hands across the Corrib", Mr. Sweetman and their ilk, should be made to sit in the traffic at that junction every day for a month and then we'd see if they think the bypass is still be a bad idea.

Different types of junction, whether roundabouts, lights, whatever, won't work when all traffic crossing town is bottlenecked through an old narrow road network.

You should read the views of one councillor in today's Tribune. I actually agree with her on the issue.

galah

I still think that a big bridge from Oranmore across the bay to Salthill would solve a good few problems of inner-city congestion...wouldn't be pretty, but hey..:p (or maybe even just another relief road into town from Renmore, fowllowing the path of the train bridge...)

But yeah, it's pretty annoying that they only have park and ride for christmas, and that it doesn't work 'the other way' round - as in, that normal commuters living in town but working in Parkmore can't use the busses to go in and out - you HAVE to have a car in Parkmore, first.

biko

A commuter ferry service between Oranmore and Galway Docks is just one of a number of innovative proposals of the Labour Party contained in a master plan for an integrated public transport system for the city.
Labour Party spokesperson on Transport, Tommy Broughan, and local Deputy Michael D Higgins will address a public meeting on Thursday about the party’s vision for an integrated transport network in Galway.
A ‘Park and Ride’ style ferry that would depart Renville Pier at the local sailing club and allow workers and shoppers to avoid traffic congestion by bringing them into the Docks in 14 minutes, is the brainchild of Oranmore Labour Party candidate Enda O’ Rourke.
source

_ZeeK_

I don't know how legally viable this would be, but could the council only give permission for a commercial development on a plot of land on condition that a strip of that land adjoining the road is given up for road widening and creating extra lanes.

Whenever there is a new big development - e.g. wellpark retail, briarhill dunnes, (galway shopping centre, to a certain extent) - they develop this big complex that draws more traffic BUT this relies on the existing infrastructure. Both briarhill and wellpark are at important junctions but neither have really widened the road much to cater for the extra traffic they draw. This is particularly the case for Briarhill. There is a slight entry lane just off the roundabout but its a too short to actually draw traffic off the adjoining road. It causes bottlenecks. There should have been an entry lane off the dualcarriage way also.

Had this been used down by the Moneenageisha junction, there'd be less bottlenecks by Wellpark Retail and the Huntsman.

Mrs OBumble

_ZeeK_ wrote: »

Traffic has definitely been made worse since the installation of this new traffic light system.

As a pedestrian, I couldn't disagree more strongly.

Every time I had to cross the roundabout between the Eye Cinema and the Huntsman, I felt like I was taking my life in my hands.

If even lights don't fix the problem, they need to build a flyover (next step UP in the hierarchy of junction options), not revert back to a solution that worked for the volume of traffic ten years ago!


On a related note:

On the bus this morning (Eyre Square to Parkmore still takes 25 minutes or less, even now school has started), I looked at the traffic coming up Lough Attalia Rd, and wondered "where the f*** are they all coming from?" I can understand it in the afternoon: people have been working in town, and several of the large car-parks are on that side of the city, so 'twould be silly for them to cross town to get to the Quin... Bridge. But what is going on in the morning?

Mrs OBumble

_ZeeK_ wrote: »

I don't know how legally viable this would be, but could the council only give permission for a commercial development on a plot of land on condition that a strip of that land adjoining the road is given up for road widening and creating extra lanes.

Now you're talking sense!

Of course this should be happening, and I'm sure it could be done totally legally - planning should only be granted for developments that have acceptable traffic management plans.

Briarhill is particularly disgraceful: not only is the shopper access ridiculous, deliveries have to go in from Doughiska Rd, either around some very very tight corners, or up a long residential road (which, in places, was little more than a boreen when the shops first opened). It should never have been agreed to.

Mrs OBumble

Magnus wrote: »

Labour Party spokesperson on Transport, Tommy Broughan, and local Deputy Michael D Higgins will address a public meeting on Thursday

Where and when?

corribdude

galah wrote: »

it's not the junction that's the problem, it's the traffic....seriously, can noone remember that the tailbacks were just as bad before they put in the traffic lights? You were stuck on Dublin road inbound forever, and on Lough Atalia outbound. Ther are certain bottlenecks in the town, and that's part of the problem.

As someone who lives in Sailin and has to go through this junction multiple times a day I can tell you that the new junction has definitely made things worse, considerably worse. We all know the junction was never great even with the roundabout, the thing is it's alot worse now. The nature of the junction means you are never going to be able to avoid tailbacks, but imo the roundabout is the best option of a bad lot, there is not really anymore you can do, there just isn't the space in Galway to build new roads or enlarge existing ones. Particularly with this juntion, there is feck all that can be done with it. Someone mentioned putting a bridge across from oranmore to salthill - that would probably the best way to ease the traffic a noticeable amount imo, but that is not a trivial job, your probably looking at tens of million euro to get that done and that kind of money isn't there.

Putting the roundabout back in is about the only thing that can be done to alleviate the traffic a decent bit that won't cost an absolute fortune. Seriously 300K is feck all in the big scheme of things in the amount of money the council is allocated a year. And saving (tens of) thousands of people from being stuck at this juction longer than they need to be is money well spent imo.

The junction would be back to what it was before, which was a moderate annoyance, but it would be a worthwhile improvement over what it is now, which is a complete and utter pain in the hole. The way it stands now it is a complete joke during busy times, but there is also an issue at non-peak times in that, before, people used to just drive down to the junction and go around the roundabout in under 30 seconds. Now, even when there is little or no traffic people are being forced to wait up to 3 minutes for the lights to change. It's getting to be a serious pain in the hole getting stuck at these lights for several minutes at 10pm on a weekday or 9am sunday morning for example.

By the way, that wasn't the only article in the local papers about this junction. There was one recently that gave the views of galway businesses on the junction and basically they are very unhappy with it, particularly the businesses in wellpark. They also made the reasonable point that this junction is leaving a negative impression on people, as in tourists/visitors, who are on their way out of galway.

_ZeeK_

JustMary wrote: »

As a pedestrian, I couldn't disagree more strongly.

Every time I had to cross the roundabout between the Eye Cinema and the Huntsman, I felt like I was taking my life in my hands.

Was that because it was flowing much faster than it is now ?

No reason we can't have a pedestrian overpass AND a roundabout..

_ZeeK_

corribdude wrote: »

there is also an issue at non-peak times in that, before, people used to just drive down to the junction and go around the roundabout in under 30 seconds. Now, even when there is little or no traffic people are being forced to wait up to 3 minutes for the lights to change. It's getting to be a serious pain in the hole getting stuck at these lights for several minutes at 10pm on a weekday or 9am sunday morning for example.

ever been to the Eye cinema at night? say a 9o'clock or 11o'clock screening? after the end of the movie, every1 filters out at once and you have the bizarre result of traffic tailbacks all the way back into the wellpark underground carpark AT 1 IN THE MORNING!! Its weird, its crazy, its annoying.

corribdude wrote: »

By the way, that wasn't the only article in the local papers about this junction. There was one recently that gave the views of galway businesses on the junction and basically they are very unhappy with it, particularly the businesses in wellpark. They also made the reasonable point that this junction is leaving a negative impression on people, as in tourists/visitors, who are on their way out of galway

don't still have it, do you?

biko

JustMary wrote: »

Where and when?

Thursday 26th February 2009
**

po0k

Cars don't have the passenger density required.

Increase passenger density per metre length of vehicle, reduce the density of vehicles, reduce the traffic build-up.

Get out of your cars and march to demand the provisioning of expanded bus services and commit to utilising them - taking care of any 'cost' arguments.
How much does it cost you in petrol/diesel - never mind parking, depreciation/mileage on your vehicle, medical costs due to breathing in the fumes from the vehicle in front - to get into work?
Compare that with a fare of eg. 2euro, or even 4 euro each way.
Obviously buses won't be able to serve every commuter's needs, but it should take a sizable chunk of cars off the roads, which would lead to improved quality of life for everyone in my opinion.

Buses have priority for a reason. They carry more people. Depending on the highly variable skill and alertness of individual drivers makes a balls of any traffic system.

Roundabouts rely on this just as much and after a certain traffic threshold you get people having to perform risky dashes to get on to the thing (ie. Bother Mór RAB).

This all seems so fscking obvious.

_ZeeK_

Theres rumors that CIE in galway are making more job cuts...

Less drivers but more buses??
I know, if there was increased business there'd be more money for wages, etc., etc. BUT, I think it'll be hard to get that kind of a commitment from people in this wet town of ours that find their personal automobile oh so comfortable. So, are we looking to make the best of a bad situation as regards this junction?

Myself, I'd be up for more regular scheduled buses, if at all possible. But I live out in Carnmore and I don't foresee regular public transport reaching these parts any time soon...

_ZeeK_

Magnus wrote: »

Thursday 26th February 2009
**

how did it go?

po0k

_ZeeK_ wrote: »

Theres rumors that CIE in galway are making more job cuts...

Less drivers but more buses??
I know, if there was increased business there'd be more money for wages, etc., etc. BUT, I think it'll be hard to get that kind of a commitment from people in this wet town of ours that find their personal automobile oh so comfortable. So, are we looking to make the best of a bad situation as regards this junction?

Myself, I'd be up for more regular scheduled buses, if at all possible. But I live out in Carnmore and I don't foresee regular public transport reaching these parts any time soon...

Tell them you want it. Get the parish priest to remind people at Mass to do it. Have a petition sign-up outside for a few weeks. Whatever it takes.
Bang the drum for your market segment

And proper bus-stop facilities (ie. more than a pole with no/old/half-ripped timetable).
Combine with real-time GPS location of buses on a nice wee bullet-proof screen letting you know where the next one is or where it will be.
<IfIWereInCharge>Shoot Indentured labour washing the perspex for any scobe who vandalises them.</IfIWereInCharge>

Mrs OBumble

_ZeeK_ wrote: »

But I live out in Carnmore and I don't foresee regular public transport reaching these parts any time soon...

Isn't that where the airport is?

'Twould be on my list of places that badly need more public transport.

Mrs OBumble

_ZeeK_ wrote: »

Theres rumors that CIE in galway are making more job cuts...

Less drivers but more buses??

One of the papers (Connacht Sentienal?) had a headline about 29 bus driver jobs (out of 140) depending on the outcome of a Labour Court ruling this week.

'Tis no secret that CIE were projecting a loss this year, and planned service cuts to balance the books. There have been strikes from Dublin Bus drivers over the proposals there.

29/140 seems a lot though.

I think they do need more buses, though: they're using inaccessible long-distance coaches for some of the peak-time city routes again, not good use of buses (less capacity) or good for passengers with mobility impairments.

_ZeeK_

JustMary wrote: »

Isn't that where the airport is?

'Twould be on my list of places that badly need more public transport.

ya... at present it is served by 2 buses a day. its a conspiracy to allow the taxi drivers extra profits!

?Cee?view

snubbleste wrote: »

You should read the views of one councillor in today's Tribune. I actually agree with her on the issue.

I'll see the full article tomorrow when I can have a look at the printed version, but from the bit on the website, it seems Cllr. Connolly is trotting out the tired old either/or scenario.

Revolutionary idea - build the bypass AND provide a better public transport infrastructure. Maybe even provide some buses to make effective use of the new bus lanes?

As for the argument that more roads bring more cars. In an Irish context, the argument is rubbish. Over the last approx. ten years the rate of car ownership has grown exponentially. We already have the "more cars". We need our infrastructure to catch up with the cars we already have. The issue of more infrastructure leading to even more cars certainly doesn't arise now.

I'll wait to read the whole article to see if she's proposed anything new or sensible.

galah

JustMary wrote: »

Now you're talking sense!

Of course this should be happening, and I'm sure it could be done totally legally - planning should only be granted for developments that have acceptable traffic management plans.

However, thinking ahead and anticipating increased traffic and other potential issues doesn't go well with brown envelopes, I'm sure...

I mean, just look at Doughiska - how that place was allowed to be built with only that tiny access road, no facilities, nothing, is still beyond belief. This goes for Knocknacarra and any of the newer estates as well, I guess. It's an absolute disgrace, and the people in charge should have been shot for that a long time ago...

lucianot

I live very close to the junction and I have to be stuck there all the time, in the morning and specially in the afternoon. I remember both the old and the new system. Both are bad but this is worse. The section going to town is too narrow for two vehicles but the section going to the GMIT is too wide as it not used as much as the other. So it's a bad design and it should be fixed. The roundabout was mad but this is just too bad designed.

_ZeeK_

lucianot wrote: »

I live very close to the junction and I have to be stuck there all the time, in the morning and specially in the afternoon. I remember both the old and the new system. Both are bad but this is worse. The section going to town is too narrow for two vehicles but the section going to the GMIT is too wide as it not used as much as the other. So it's a bad design and it should be fixed. The roundabout was mad but this is just too bad designed.

so, would you take the best of a bad situation, i.e. the roundabout? or is there anything else you'd like to see? your opinion is valued since you're a local

ceepeedee

merchant08 wrote: »

traffic lights at a very busy juction dont work where every approach is allowed to turn right. it simply takes too long.

Again, I put my hand up and admit I haven't used that junction in a while so I'm very open to correction, but my understanding is that only two incoming directions will be allowed to turn right from both lanes, as opposed to operating right-turn only lanes, with filter lights, for opposing directions.
Regarding the Lough Atalia/College Road junction, which direction takes the most traffic in general - do most people come in from the Moneenageisha mess and head towards the docks or towards Eyre Sq, and vice versa? Am I naive in thinking the city fathers have already pondered this junction and its knock-on effect...?!

_ZeeK_

_ZeeK_ wrote: »

ya... at present it is served by 2 buses a day. its a conspiracy to allow the taxi drivers extra profits!

Those two busses could carry 1/3 of the passengers on an average day
270,000 passengers last year is 740 per day average - 370 each way.

Galway airport is tiny and there isn't the demand for many taxis let alone buses.

lucianot

I'm an adopted local as I'm from Argentina and came here 9 years ago

To be honest a roundabout there is not the way to go. At this stage is better to sit down and synchronize all the traffic lights in the area.
This isn't an intelligent system because as someone said, the settings are the same in a Sunday morning when obviously the system should sense the amount of traffic in the area and modify the times accordingly.
I also noticed a similar issue with the traffic lights at the Lisbaun centre, there is no "green wave" at pick time!
So obviously there is not intelligence behind the design but it can be done for less money, I hope, than rebuilding the whole crossing again.

The bridge over the Lought Atalia is not a bad idea and also creating a better bus system where private companies can open their own lines in order to have more routes at a good price due to competition.
I would gladly leave the car at home but I work in Ballybrit and there is no way I can be on time, never, I tried before and it was a mess.

?Cee?view

lucianot wrote: »

I'm an adopted local as I'm from Argentina and came here 9 years ago

To be honest a roundabout there is not the way to go. At this stage is better to sit down and synchronize all the traffic lights in the area.
This isn't an intelligent system because as someone said, the settings are the same in a Sunday morning when obviously the system should sense the amount of traffic in the area and modify the times accordingly.
I also noticed a similar issue with the traffic lights at the Lisbaun centre, there is no "green wave" at pick time!
So obviously there is not intelligence behind the design but it can be done for less money, I hope, than rebuilding the whole crossing again.

The bridge over the Lought Atalia is not a bad idea and also creating a better bus system where private companies can open their own lines in order to have more routes at a good price due to competition.
I would gladly leave the car at home but I work in Ballybrit and there is no way I can be on time, never, I tried before and it was a mess.

Traffic in Buenos Aires! Now there's an experience to savour. Few things in life are more exhilarating than a taxi ride in BA

What a wonderful country and what wonderful people. I'd swap Galway and it's traffic jams for BA's edge of the seat driving anyday

lucianot

I am not from Buenos Aires, been there but I don't like, I would prefer Galway traffic any day.
Let's not extrapolate please, you wouldn't want to end on a bus driven by a psychopath with a salary double than a school teacher!
I hope the way we drive in Argentina is not an obstacle for expressing my opinion

_ZeeK_

Deleted User wrote: »

Those two busses could carry 1/3 of the passengers on an average day
270,000 passengers last year is 740 per day average - 370 each way.

Galway airport is tiny and there isn't the demand for many taxis let alone buses.

ok. well people are arguing the whole public transport thing and we're on about servicing an area rather than JUST the airport (so, airport road, carnmore, briarhill). can't use public transport if there is none. as it stands, i try to use that whenever i can. but its a mile and a half walk from my house and two a day isn't exactly regular..

?Cee?view

lucianot wrote: »

I am not from Buenos Aires, been there but I don't like, I would prefer Galway traffic any day.
Let's not extrapolate please, you wouldn't want to end on a bus driven by a psychopath with a salary double than a school teacher!
I hope the way we drive in Argentina is not an obstacle for expressing my opinion

I think you took me up wrongly; I wasn't being sarcastic in my last post. I love Argentina and love the frenetic pace of BA - I can see how it would be hard to live there all the time though.

Your comments on intelligent lighting make complete sense.

_ZeeK_

_ZeeK_ wrote: »

but its a mile and a half walk from my house and two a day isn't exactly regular..

I was in a similar situation when I moved home to work here from the UK.
I moved to town after a couple of months.

lucianot

churchview wrote: »

I think you took me up wrongly; I wasn't being sarcastic in my last post. I love Argentina and love the frenetic pace of BA - I can see how it would be hard to live there all the time though.

Your comments on intelligent lighting make complete sense.

Oh, no, sorry, I was joking, all good here. Peace!

Chris_533976

Moneenageisha can be solved with an overblown plan.

Build a new bridge across Lough Atalia next to the railway bridge. Its greenfield (mostly) from there to the Coast Road. Make that outbound only, make the Dublin Road inbound only. Link them with an upgraded Ballyloughlan road.

Its completely unlikely, but with a bit of CPO muscle would be possible.

?Cee?view

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Moneenageisha can be solved with an overblown plan.

Build a new bridge across Lough Atalia next to the railway bridge. Its greenfield (mostly) from there to the Coast Road. Make that outbound only, make the Dublin Road inbound only. Link them with an upgraded Ballyloughlan road.

Its completely unlikely, but with a bit of CPO muscle would be possible.

It's that kind of left field thinking that's needed. Some might say that yours is a mad idea, but what's needed is ideas like yours to solve this crisis (and let's face it, traffic in Galway is now a crisis). Unfortunately I don't think that there's anyone with the imagination or balls involved in designing "traffic solutions" for Galway that could even begin to think the way you're thinking.

lucianot

I completely agree, that would be the first thing, esier than fixing the public transport.

Redhairedguy

It's gonna happen, irregardless of anything else said.

It happened before, it will happen again.

po0k

_ZeeK_ wrote: »

ok. well people are arguing the whole public transport thing and we're on about servicing an area rather than JUST the airport (so, airport road, carnmore, briarhill). can't use public transport if there is none. as it stands, i try to use that whenever i can. but its a mile and a half walk from my house and two a day isn't exactly regular..

Lights or roundabouts, makes no difference if there's a stupid ratio of people:cars at peak hours.

I'm purely curious, as I was in a similar situation when growing up, but what is stopping you cycling the distance to the bus-stop, assuming more buses were provided?
Weather? Lack of secure bike parking? Dangerous road to cycle on? Being sweaty getting on the bus to town?

I've been driving for about 3 years. I have a car (a rather expensive luxury good don't forget) when I go travelling long distance, or when something bulky needs to be moved.
I associate the rather large cost owning with with the increased freedom of movement it provides, as long as I can afford to fuel it.
churchview, the exponential growth is alot of the problem, but something that needs to be normalised.
Given the recent ~66% slash of the roads maintenace budget, we're going to be back to potholes everywhere (instead of just the 'backroads') wrecking suspensions.
It will be self correcting, whether it is pleasant and co-operative or brutal and is our choice.
Done effectively and nationally, the country could save having to build concrete spaghetti everywhere and ruining the place by concentrating on more effective use of the roads.

In general, I think the following could help:

• Reduce cars by facilitating carpooling.
  Remove/clarify the clause in insurance policies regarding 'driving for profit', which I understand makes effective wide-scale Car Pooling technically illegal.
  Things like The Internet and community comms tools like this very forum, Twitter-like mobile 'friend-casting' could be leveraged by Galway City and County Councils to help facilitate people sharing car journeys for mutual benefit and virtually zero cost.
  Sort out how to pay/compensate each other for fuel/driving in a simple open fashion, it could even inject a bit of healthy competion amongst drivers.
  Efficient vehicle and driving style suddenly becomes hugely pragmatic if dare I say it fashionable.
• Reduce cars by encouraging the use of bike/park and ride facilities, secure car and bike parking with an emphasis on bikes.
• Road widening where possible - not for more lanes but more foot and cyclepaths.
  There are too many roads where you taking a high risk if you are cycling or walking. That is not right or attractive.
  Folk are out of work on the dole, could be feeling a bit frustrated or bored. Offer those who are willing and competent work improving our country's infrastructure.
  There are stretches of the N59 and N84 that are bad enough in a car on a rainy winter evening, and you simply can't walk or cycle on them.
• More dynamic, responsive .ie intelligently designed traffic lights, in every sense of the word.
  Surely there are improvements to be made to take advantage of the network to be responsive and pre-emptive.
  Collect taffic flow data. Identify patterns and causes of build-ups. Detect those signatures and accomodate or prioritise traffic flows ie. rush-hour.
  Leaving a chain of lights green for a few seconds longer could cut down on the stop-start faffing about when there's a bunch of closely spaced lights.
  Communicate status info, lights change count-down with the drivers via scrolling marquee text in the traffic light so they're not cursing the lights.
• Vastly improved signage standards. Instead of having an arrow painted on the road at the junction, also paint it a few times before that. Should cut down on out-of-towners stopping to figure out wtf to do.
• Safe pedestrian crossing of the Quincentennial bridge at multiple points.
  The bridge, while doing it's job well, could do with some improvements.
  It could be an artistic and aritectural feather in our cap if done correctly, I'm thinking foot bridges over the top with slip-ramps out-rigged on the sides of the bridge, blending in with the existing pathworks. And nice lighting.
  Maybe it could complement and match the style bridges further down.

Just some ideas.

A note of caution regarding relying on privatised bus operators: they will serve profitable routes exclusively, or they will go out of business. There is a need for a publicly-run service to facilitate transport for as many of those who need it as possible. As anachronistically socialist as it may sound ('How dare you operate at a loss taking Bridie to the shops!'), but how else might alot of folk get around?

KevR

merchant08 wrote: »

traffic lights at a very busy juction dont work where every approach is allowed to turn right. it simply takes too long.

Possibly ban right turns for Dublin Road inbound (make anyone wishing to tunr right use the Cemetary Cross roundabout to loop back) and ban right turns from Cemetary Cross side onto Lough Atalia (if you have just come from Cemetary Cross roundabout you could instead use the Bohermore route for town/College Rd/Lough Atalia areas).

Then there would be no need for seperate sequences for Dublin Rd and Cemetary Cross traffic and you could have longer sequences all round.

It's just a thought, I don't know if it would work.

_ZeeK_

@ po0k...
"assuming more buses were provided". I would if there were. Never said I wouldn't. But thats a big assumption, tbh. Its not exactly a profitable route.