Traffic due to Census (Again)

BobTheBeat

Cheers NRA and County Council -75 mins in the car this morning.Got mad for a few mins, but then decided it wasnt worth it.Heard there were a number of accidents though as a result.

Anyone else crazy late this morning?

snowman707

one of my lads was pulled for weight yesterday, escorted to the weight bridge & well under the limit as he insisted, then got caught up in back logs at 2 census points,

wasn't too happy when he eventually reached home

um7y1h83ge06nx

Don't talk to me about it.

I was driving out of my estate in Father Russell Rd., in Raheen when I noticed it was backed up in the hospital direction.

So I drove down towards the Dock Road direction and noticed that the road to the Dock Road was backed up. I went up by the South Court and up Church Rd., planning on going through Rosbrien to get to Parnell Street. Nope, Dooradoyle Rd., was jammed so I took the country road at the top of Church Rd. to come back to the roundabout in Dooradoyle. The road in Rosbrien beside the Crescent club was jammed so I decided to hit the motorway towards Roxboro. That of course was busy too.

All in all, a ten min drive at that time turned in 35-40 mins.

Pain in the neck.

Twin-go

This is crazy. They did a census only a few months ago. Can they not just take photos of the number plates and send the census via the post.

This morning on my journey to work I encountered the following. Roadworks - N18 - 15 mins delay. Traffic on the Clondel rd. 15 mins delay. Traffic on the Dock Rd. caused by rubber neckers at the census 10 mins delay. Traffic from the Dock Rd. to Raheen Ind. Est. cased by build up a roundabouts due to census 25 mins delay. All in all over an hour added to my journey.

I'm lucky, my boss is quite flexible when it comes to been late and I can work it back if needed but, what if people don't have as flexable a boss/job. Or even worse, people that may of had to be at the Hospital.

I'm sure they will be still there this evening on the way home. Does anybody know what would happen if somebody refused to cooperate? I just know I'll be pi$$ed if I have to queue again on the way home. Rather say nothing than say somthing I regrete to somebody that is just doing a job.

TestTransmission

2 days now,how many days do they usually go on for?

Twin-go

jackncoke wrote: »

2 days now,how many days do they usually go on for?

I think is was a couple of weeks the last time. They move them around to different locations.

Last time I was caught in traffic by not asked to partake in the census in the following locations.

N18 inbound oposite the Haulting Site
N18 outbound just before the Haulting Site

Clondel Rd. Inbound just before Shannon Bridge (Delays in both directions caused by Census using the turning lane for North Circler/Shelbourne Rd

Dock Rd. both directions just before/after the Soft Colth Wash

BobTheBeat

Spoke to a colleague of mine who drove in from Newmarket on Fergus.journey usually takes 40mins (he leaves at 8), he got to work in Raheen at 10:10.
I left home at 8:30am and got to work at 10:05. The Crescent shopping centre census was causing all the hassle. Seriously, they couldnt have picked a worse location for this, especially with the way traffic is being routed around there at the moment.

+1 for undertanding bosses!

AARoadwatch

We have been told that these road surveys will continue in Limerickuntil Thursday 8th Oct.

AA Roadwatch would really appreciate updates from motorists stuck in these delays! It's tough to get details and we rely so much on commuters.

From what I can gather it's has added one hour to the journey so far on Monday and Tuesday morning. Anyone stuck in Limerick at rush hour, please get in touch.

It would be most helpful if you have the road name / number, time of day and the delay compared to your normal journey time.

i'll keep an eye on this board but you can also get in touch by text or call.

Text us 087 972 6000
standard SMS rates apply

Callsave 1850 542 542
6.35 cent per call from landline. Calls from mobile vary according to Network Service Provider.

Thanks

Nicola Hudson, AA Roadwatch.

sonyair

The next one is going to be on the dock rd shortly just gave away the location on limericks 95fm, it will make that rd worse than it already is, avoid the area if possible

wylo

they should at least give you some sort of small cert you can show your boss or whatever

AARoadwatch

very heavy bothways on the N69 Dock Rd through to the Clarina R/A on the N69 Tralee/Limerick Rd due to a stop/go system in place until 7pm.

Any word on how long the delays are? The roadworks are reported to be the problem here as opposed to the census.

Anyone got anymore info?

Nicola

sonyair

no more info at the moment other than what you have, but the road works at clarina are to be finished this evening, while the stop and go is in place people the traffic lights at the cross roads are to be ignored

dingdong1

just talked to a mate of mine who reluctantly took some temp work being a surveyor. they will be posted on the 3 shannon bridges all day tomorrow, you have been warned!

Mc Love

I was so happy this morning on my way home not to have been caught up on this. But the gridlock is the worst I have ever seen in Limerick, especially southside of city/suburbs.

First indication something was wrong when I saw traffic heading inbound on the SRR, the traffic extended right back! Then i saw the rosbrien road backed up as far as the roundabout. Then got caught in small stretch there outside huntsfield, but wasnt too pissed.

Then turning to head up past Raheen Foodstore, the jam was past this and down the other side of the hill, never ever ever seen it so bad

jonski

Dooradoyle road seemed fine this morning around 8:45 , actually better than fine , haven't seen traffic that light on a weekday for a long time . Was the traffice stopped somewhere further out . First ice of the winter on town cars this morning ( well at 8:30 anyway , no idea what goes on before that )

Firefox10

jonski wrote: »

Dooradoyle road seemed fine this morning around 8:45 , actually better than fine , haven't seen traffic that light on a weekday for a long time . Was the traffice stopped somewhere further out . First ice of the winter on town cars this morning ( well at 8:30 anyway , no idea what goes on before that )

That would be because of the few thousand people less going out towards raheen business park in the mornings.

jonski

Firefox10 wrote: »

That would be because of the few thousand people less going out towards raheen business park in the mornings.

I was talking about the traffic coming in , sorry about the confusion .

BobTheBeat

Firefox10 wrote: »

That would be because of the few thousand people less going out towards raheen business park in the mornings.

Thats true, although its still relatively busy most mornings. I left at 7:50 this morning to avoid the rush and I suspect most people did the same. Definitely a more even distribution today I reckon.

Delphi91

Not sure if it's still there or not, but they were doing a census on Sexton St North this morning - road towards town from Hassetts Cross, just outside the Topaz filling station. It was on the inward lane only.

source

Published Date: 07 October 2009
By Nick Rabbitts
THERE were further traffic problems this morning as communter traffic surveys carried out by Limerick City Council continued.
Traffic tailed back for miles along the Condell Road and over the Shannon Bridge into the city as census and traffic stops were conducted.

As revealed by our sister newspaper, the Limerick Chronicle yesterday morning, the local authorities in the Mid-West are taking part in a transport interview survey.

The second of three surveys, this is being done in a bid to determine future funding requirements from the central government for roads in Limerick.

Yesterday, there was anger as roadworks and wet weather caused traffic to come to a standstill around the Dock Road and the new bridge linking the Crescent Shopping Centre and the Ballinacurra roundabout. These surveys happened during the morning and evening rush hours.

The questions asked on the card distributed to drivers included the type of vehicle they are driving, the number of occupants in the car, and the purpose of their journey.

This caused many motorists to complain that this information could have been easily got without stopping vehicles.

Fianna Fail's Limerick City East councillor Kieran O'Hanlon said that delays in Corbally, and towards the Tipperary Road meant a doctor in his constituency was late for work, causing inconvenience to patients.

He added: "I'm not sure doing the survey at this stage is necessary. The (Limerick] tunnel is opening up next year. Surely we will have to see the way the traffic flow changes when the tunnel opens up. I would question the need to do it now. People are bringing their children to school, and it is very inconvenient for them to be stuck in traffic for an hour. People should be given notice, so they can make adequate plans. Although how can you plan for an hours delay?"

However, Limerick City Council's senior executive engineer, Vincent Murray said advising people of the surveys defeated the purpose.

"Its very important we gather the information to inform the government, and inform the department of transport what investment we need over the next 20 years. If we do not collect this information, and other regions do, they will be able to make a business case for funding, we will not be able to make a business case, so its important people bear with us.

"We cannot tell people where exactly the areas are because we do not want people to avoid the areas, we want people to be doing their normal travel pattern."

Speaking late last night, he declined to confirm where the road blocks would take place, stating that traffic consultants were to sit down with Gardai to decide

.

from here

It appears that this is only the second of three, survey's being done.

BobTheBeat

In essence, nobody can really argue with what theyre doing, but Its such an irish thing to assume people should just put up and shut up.

DarkJager

All that irritation and wasting petrol sitting in traffic, being made late for work, for a few stupid ****ing questions about where I'm going? They should not be allowed to cause such disruption for something so unneccesary and completely pointless.

Boardmaster

Surely they could let us know that we could expect one in the next 3 weeks before any survey.

This would not change the nature of the results neither would it solve the hour long delay but it would mean we could have idea of what to expect in the coming three weeks and so would the boss when I turn up late.

Personaly I would be less frustrated if it wasn't sprung on me as a surprise in the morning and would be more likely to give proper answers.

Mc Love

jonski wrote: »

Dooradoyle road seemed fine this morning around 8:45 , actually better than fine , haven't seen traffic that light on a weekday for a long time . Was the traffice stopped somewhere further out . First ice of the winter on town cars this morning ( well at 8:30 anyway , no idea what goes on before that )

Yeah i was coming home from work at about 08:05 and it was like a saturday morning - very strange

Twin-go

So another 40 mins sitting in traffic this morning. :rolleyes:

Just after Sheilds Ford Dealership was where the census was. By the time I got there they were handing out the survey on a freepost postcard

Return Address is:

Count On Us Ireland Ltd
1a MPO Building,
Blanchardstown Business Park
Snugborough Rd
Blanchardstown
Business Reply
Dublin 15

Details looked for are:

1. Vehicle Type
2. Number of occupents
3. Destination - Full Postal Address
4. Destination Purpose
9.(sic) Origin - Full Postal Address
10. Origan Purpose
11. Have you/will you make reverse journey today? - time?
Heavy Goods Vehicles
12.Where are you going after Limerick
13. Where did your journey begin
14 What commodity are you carring

AnCapaillMor

Did'nt see any signs this morning, yesterday took me 25 mins to get the cement factory rondabout to the shopping complex, i turned in there went through fr russell road and by the cresecent and over o'connell bridge and home in 15 mins. Total joke.

Pablogogo

After my third morning or being stuck in traffic I want to add my bit.

Accoridng to Mr. Vincent Murray of Limerick City council on Live 95FM, he stated that commuters would only be stuck in traffic for one day due to the rotation of check points. However this is my third morning being caught in traffic from said check points.
I travel from Newmarket-on-Fergus to Raheen each morning, normal journey time is 30mins.
Had a 2 hour journey to work on Tuesday due to the chaos on Ft. Russell Road.
Wednesday had 1h30min journey due to census checkpoint on Condell Bridge.

However this morning is where i have the biggest issue, the census point was beside Sheils garage on the Ennis road. Would it not have made sense to have the check point out where the roadworks are at the raddison where traffic is stopped anyhow? Causing two bottle necks on one section of road does not make sense. A check point could have been placed on Phares road to capture traffic escaping down there. I rang limerick city council to ask if i could speak to an engieer in relation to this matter and I was told no one was available at the moment. I think it is true what they say about civil engineers who could not get a job in the private sector, they go public instead. Do the census checks have to be performed within city boundaries, would it have made any difference in this case?

If anyone would like to ring limerick city council their contact details are as follows:
Phone: (061) 407229
Fax: (061) 418345

Best of luck getting a comment/intelligent answer. :rolleyes:

cashville

Excuse my ignorance but why do they do this? What gets done with the information they gather? I was passing through Limerick on Monday and yesterday, passed Census points both times but luckily I didn't get snared.

On a side note I saw some tosser skip a big long line of traffic by pretending he was turning right and then ducked into the left lane when traffic lights went green. Passed a census point up the road and he was there getting questioned. Up yours douchebag.

Azphyxi8

cashville wrote: »

On a side note I saw some tosser skip a big long line of traffic by pretending he was turning right and then ducked into the left lane when traffic lights went green. Passed a census point up the road and he was there getting questioned. Up yours douchebag.

I saw the same thing yesterday morning. He pretended to turn right at hassetts cross and got caught at the checkpoint outside Quiltys.

Twin-go

cashville wrote: »

Excuse my ignorance but why do they do this? What gets done with the information they gather? I was passing through Limerick on Monday and yesterday, passed Census points both times but luckily I didn't get snared.

Also, Won't the information they gather with this survey be out of date as soon as next year when the tunnel opens?

jimoc

I know you are legally obliged to follow the directions of a member of the guards, but is there any legal obligation on people to give valid and true answers to the censusors?

Or would the following suffice as answers?

1. Vehicle Type
A. A motor vehicle.

2. Number of occupents
Enough

3. Destination - Full Postal Address
Over that way.

4. Destination Purpose
to get there

9.(sic) Origin - Full Postal Address
Back that way.

10. Origan Purpose
To get away from there

11. Have you/will you make reverse journey today? - time?
no I won't, I will drive forward as reversing home would be too dangerous.

ohdaesu

jimoc wrote: »

I know you are legally obliged to follow the directions of a member of the guards, but is there any legal obligation on people to give valid and true answers to the censusors?

Or would the following suffice as answers?

1. Vehicle Type
A. A motor vehicle.

2. Number of occupents
Enough

3. Destination - Full Postal Address
Over that way.

4. Destination Purpose
to get there

9.(sic) Origin - Full Postal Address
Back that way.

10. Origan Purpose
To get away from there

11. Have you/will you make reverse journey today? - time?
no I won't, I will drive forward as reversing home would be too dangerous.

I was a surveyor this week (not what I'd rather be doing, but I was just back from travelling and stuck for money,recession and all that)

If you copped that attitude with me I would have told you to roll up your window and f**k off. It amazed me how many adults turned into stroppy passive aggresive teenagers when asked a couple of simple questions in a 30 second interview for the benefit of future Infrastucture.

The surveyors understood that people were delayed and frustrated and most drivers were in fact really polite and helpful to us. In fact we let off people that were late for appointments and such, no one had a gun to their head.
However there was more that a few people that thought they were striking a righteous blow against the city and county council by being complete pr*cks to people standing in the rain on the side of the road with a clipboard. Mostly entitled 'important' men between the ages of 40 and 60, do you fit that demographic jimoc?

With regards to the survey itself, the engineer that placed some of the census points wasn't too bright IMO, especially the ennis rd on thurs, just down from the roadworks. The whole thing was also a PR disaster as well, most people didn't seem to know what it was for and why it was important, which meant people were more frustrated.

Oh and by the way, if motorists didn't give up the right information it has to be redone, this is why its the second time this year we've had it. So you better pray that most people aren't like jimoc.

DarkJager

ohdaesu wrote: »

I was a surveyor this week (not what I'd rather be doing, but I was just back from travelling and stuck for money,recession and all that)

If you copped that attitude with me I would have told you to roll up your window and f**k off. It amazed me how many adults turned into stroppy passive aggresive teenagers when asked a couple of simple questions in a 30 second interview for the benefit of future Infrastucture.

It amazed you that people were angry when those "simple questions" caused tailbacks that added 45+ mins on to people journeys??

The surveyors understood that people were delayed and frustrated and most drivers were in fact really polite and helpful to us. In fact we let off people that were late for appointments and such, no one had a gun to their head.
However there was more that a few people that thought they were striking a righteous blow against the city and county council by being complete pr*cks to people standing in the rain on the side of the road with a clipboard. Mostly entitled 'important' men between the ages of 40 and 60, do you fit that demographic jimoc?

Badly planned, badly orchestrated census stop = pissed off motorists. What did you expect? People to roll up with a big **** eating grin on their face just dying to talk to you? Welcome to reality.

With regards to the survey itself, the engineer that placed some of the census points wasn't too bright IMO, especially the ennis rd on thurs, just down from the roadworks. The whole thing was also a PR disaster as well, most people didn't seem to know what it was for and why it was important, which meant people were more frustrated.

Oh and by the way, if motorists didn't give up the right information it has to be redone, this is why its the second time this year we've had it. So you better pray that most people aren't like jimoc.

Or what? They will **** up the traffic flow again next time? How about next time the county council gets a fantastically bright idea like this, they give the public advance notice of where it will be? They supposedly don't want people avoiding the area the census is in, but we should have a choice. I have no interest in giving answers to stupid questions that are really nobodies business except mine. when I'm trying to get somewhere in what is already heavy traffic.

P.S: What stops you census people from having a quick look at the number of occupants, direction vehicle is coming from, direction vehicle is heading to?

Kess73

ohdaesu wrote: »

I was a surveyor this week (not what I'd rather be doing, but I was just back from travelling and stuck for money,recession and all that)

If you copped that attitude with me I would have told you to roll up your window and f**k off. It amazed me how many adults turned into stroppy passive aggresive teenagers when asked a couple of simple questions in a 30 second interview for the benefit of future Infrastucture.

The surveyors understood that people were delayed and frustrated and most drivers were in fact really polite and helpful to us. In fact we let off people that were late for appointments and such, no one had a gun to their head.
However there was more that a few people that thought they were striking a righteous blow against the city and county council by being complete pr*cks to people standing in the rain on the side of the road with a clipboard. Mostly entitled 'important' men between the ages of 40 and 60, do you fit that demographic jimoc?

With regards to the survey itself, the engineer that placed some of the census points wasn't too bright IMO, especially the ennis rd on thurs, just down from the roadworks. The whole thing was also a PR disaster as well, most people didn't seem to know what it was for and why it was important, which meant people were more frustrated.

Oh and by the way, if motorists didn't give up the right information it has to be redone, this is why its the second time this year we've had it. So you better pray that most people aren't like jimoc.

So you have just claimed that it is because of motorists being stroppy/unhelpful that there has been a second set of these surveys? That totally goes against what Vincent Murray of Limerick City council said on Live95fm. He said that this census was the second in a set of three that was preplanned for getting needed information on road usage.

So either you are lying by saying this second survey was caused by the general public acting up, or he is lying by saying it is the second survey of a preplanned set of three.

Because your comment and his comment contradict each other.

krudler

With regards to the survey itself, the engineer that placed some of the census points wasn't too bright IMO, especially the ennis rd on thurs, just down from the roadworks. The whole thing was also a PR disaster as well, most people didn't seem to know what it was for and why it was important, which meant people were more frustrated.

No ****, "you know what people will love?if we ask pointless questions that wont solve anything! just so the council or whoever can look like they're trying to do something to solve the traffic by adding an hour to everyones commute home! brilliant Ted!"

ohdaesu

DarkJager wrote: »

It amazed you that people were angry when those "simple questions" caused tailbacks that added 45+ mins on to people journeys??

many people were frustrated but polite, which everybody conducting the survey understood, standing in the pissing rain with a clipboard isn't my idea of fun. I was verbally threatened several times, and girl stationed on one of the bridges in town was nearly assaulted only for a garda restraining the motorist. This is the beaviour I'm talking about.

Yes they were 'simple questions', I had my surveys done i thirty seconds. Trust me, we didnt want your life story, you're not that interesting.

DarkJager wrote: »

Badly planned, badly orchestrated census stop = pissed off motorists. What did you expect? People to roll up with a big **** eating grin on their face just dying to talk to you? Welcome to reality.

Badly planned? perhaps. the survey was actually quite well conducted given the circumstances.

I expected most people to be polite which they were, my point was, if people acted like jimoc, I more often than not told them to get lost beacause they were delaying everyone behind them with their smartarse attitude.

And the information is necessary, road statistics for infrastucture and applications for government/EU funds aren't plucked out of thin air. Welcome to reality.

DarkJager wrote: »

Or what? They will **** up the traffic flow again next time? How about next time the county council gets a fantastically bright idea like this, they give the public advance notice of where it will be? They supposedly don't want people avoiding the area the census is in, but we should have a choice. I have no interest in giving answers to stupid questions that are really nobodies business except mine. when I'm trying to get somewhere in what is already heavy traffic.

P.S: What stops you census people from having a quick look at the number of occupants, direction vehicle is coming from, direction vehicle is heading to?

You census people??? this isn't the day job trust me.

-giving people advance notice defeats the purpose, people wont make their regular journey.

-they're not 'stupid questions' if you really think about it. where do road and travel statistics for engineers come from genius?

- looking at where a car comes from and what direction it's heading tell's you nothing. a car coming in towards town from the ennis road direction could be going anywhere in the city or the country taking any number of different routes, and you dont know what frequency they make they journey

DarkJager

ohdaesu wrote: »

Badly planned? perhaps. the survey was actually quite well conducted given the circumstances.

I expected most people to be polite which they were, my point was, if people acted like jimoc, I more often than not told them to get lost beacause they were delaying everyone behind them with their smartarse attitude.

If the census wasn't there in the first place, nobody would have been delayed. I'm more amazed at this attitude that such delays and disruption are seen as acceptable for such stupid questions (and yes they are pointless).

-they're not 'stupid questions' if you really think about it. where do road and travel statistics for engineers come from genius?

1. Vehicle Type
Look at the badge on the front of the car.

2. Number of occupents
Clear as day, why is this question neccesary?

3. Destination
What business is it of the County council where I'm going to...

4. Destination Purpose
why I'm going there...

9. Origin - Full Postal Address
where I've driven from....

10. Origan Purpose
and why I drove from there?

11. Have you/will you make reverse journey today? - time?
Again, what business is it of the council what time I am travelling or where I am travelling to?

ohdaesu

Kess73 wrote: »

So you have just claimed that it is because of motorists being stroppy/unhelpful that there has been a second set of these surveys? That totally goes against what Vincent Murray of Limerick City council said on Live95fm. He said that this census was the second in a set of three that was preplanned for getting needed information on road usage.

So either you are lying by saying this second survey was caused by the general public acting up, or he is lying by saying it is the second survey of a preplanned set of three.

Because your comment and his comment contradict each other.

A chap from the engineering company told me that the results they got last time weren't up to scratch, so they had to go for round 2. perhaps Mr.Murray is preparing everyone for round three if all doesn't go well this time?

As far as I ascertained from the engineering company, they weren't planning a third set of surveys if they got what they needed. as it stands they seemed reasonably happy but they havn't examined everything in detail yet.
I was only a hired gun though, so dont take it as gospel.

Just for the record I sympathised with frustrated motorists this week. jimoc's post promted me to register and post, because frankly it helps no-one taking that attitude and if everyone was like that we DEFINATELY will have to do the surveys again.

ohdaesu

DarkJager wrote: »

If the census wasn't there in the first place, nobody would have been delayed. I'm more amazed at this attitude that such delays and disruption are seen as acceptable for such stupid questions (and yes they are pointless).



1. Vehicle Type
Look at the badge on the front of the car.

2. Number of occupents
Clear as day, why is this question neccesary?

3. Destination
What business is it of the County council where I'm going to...

4. Destination Purpose
why I'm going there...

9. Origin - Full Postal Address
where I've driven from....

10. Origan Purpose
and why I drove from there?

11. Have you/will you make reverse journey today? - time?
Again, what business is it of the council what time I am travelling or where I am travelling to?

They're not ponitless, if you can think of a better way to gather accurate (thats the key word here) traffic data ring Vincent Murray and volunteer your plan

I had all those questions done i thirty seconds, you dont have to ask the obvious ones.

It may be their business so they can ascertain traffic volumes and plan for the future. no need to get so paranoid. you're helping yourself out by answering the questions.

Listen Im not here to defend the census, im not the city council or an engineer. i just happen to have worked for it this week (never again by the way) and as citizen and a motorist think it was a necessary evil. take from that what you will

Stab*City

ohdaesu wrote: »

giving people advance notice defeats the purpose, people wont make their regular journey.

-they're not 'stupid questions' if you really think about it. where do road and travel statistics for engineers come from genius?

- looking at where a car comes from and what direction it's heading tell's you nothing. a car coming in towards town from the ennis road direction could be going anywhere in the city or the country taking any number of different routes, and you dont know what frequency they make they journey

Where were the census people when some fool decided to close off access to carew park/roxboro via the ring road coming in from the tipp side? obviously they didnt do one as if they had bothered to ask anyone they would have been told where to go..

no point in counting cars this direction cuz all the cars are going out to rosbrein to turn around and come in by roxboro swimming pool.. how uterly useless the city and county planning in this country is and for that matter the rsa.. i cant wait to see what horrors are next when the whole thing is done.. and the next bu**sh*t way they think up to waste more money..

DarkJager

ohdaesu wrote: »

They're not ponitless, if you can think of a better way to gather accurate (thats the key word here) traffic data ring Vincent Murray and volunteer your plan

I had all those questions done i thirty seconds, you dont have to ask the obvious ones.

It may be their business so they can ascertain traffic volumes and plan for the future. no need to get so paranoid. you're helping yourself out by answering the questions.

Listen Im not here to defend the census, im not the city council or an engineer. i just happen to have worked for it this week (never again by the way) and as citizen and a motorist think it was a necessary evil. take from that what you will

I'm sorry if I come across as attacking you personally for the census, thats not my intention . It just appears whenever the council get the chance, they love to make a short 20min journey into a 45+ min long nightmare!

I'm sure there are other ways of doing it than stalling the entire traffic system in and around the city. Haven't they placed those cables on most roads that takes count of the volumes of traffic? Apart from the amount of cars using a road at times of day, I am baffled as to why they need my reasons for driving my car in the first place or where I am going. I can't see how those questions could translate to any sort of stats.

Stab*City

ohdaesu wrote: »

It may be their business so they can ascertain traffic volumes and plan for the future. no need to get so paranoid. you're helping yourself out by answering the questions.

Plan for the future (in this country)!! now theres a good one..

Kess73

ohdaesu wrote: »

They're not ponitless, if you can think of a better way to gather accurate (thats the key word here) traffic data ring Vincent Murray and volunteer your plan
I had all those questions done i thirty seconds, you dont have to ask the obvious ones.

It may be their business so they can ascertain traffic volumes and plan for the future. no need to get so paranoid. you're helping yourself out by answering the questions.

Listen Im not here to defend the census, im not the city council or an engineer. i just happen to have worked for it this week (never again by the way) and as citizen and a motorist think it was a necessary evil. take from that what you will

Well the little radar guns that most other European countries use would be far more efficient and have no impact on the traffic in there of causing pointless congestion.

There are two versions of the gun, one is a small one on a tripod that a person stays with and can be mounted inside a parked van and it looks nothing like a police speed gun.

The other version gets mounted in a small box and could be placed up a light pole. They get left for months, and have small removeable hard drives inside them, so when the info is needed as to how many cars passed and at what times, all they have to do is take out the drive and download the info.

I would have thought that a country that claims to be the "heart" of Europe would be trying to work to the same standards rather than having guys on the side of the road with clipboards and pens.

krudler

They're not ponitless, if you can think of a better way to gather accurate (thats the key word here) traffic data ring Vincent Murray and volunteer your plan

They are pointless, between 8 and 9 everyones going to work, between 5 and 6 everyones coming home! do they seriously need a census to tell us that Raheen, the Ennis Road and Corbally are busy at peak traffic times? it isnt going to solve anything by asking people questions that everyone already knows the answer to

ohdaesu

krudler wrote: »

They are pointless, between 8 and 9 everyones going to work, between 5 and 6 everyones coming home! do they seriously need a census to tell us that Raheen, the Ennis Road and Corbally are busy at peak traffic times? it isnt going to solve anything by asking people questions that everyone already knows the answer to

Not everyone is going to work and its impossible to tell where in the city, the environs, and the country in general people are going to on these roads at these times without surveying them.

I was informed that if the city wants money they need this information.

Say if the city and county council said to the department of transport, NRA or the people who control the National development plan pursestrings that they need a road widened at x intersection or a bus lane at y location. They are going to be asked for statistical proof that they need it. Essentially they need a business plan to get at the cash. This is especially true in this economic climate and the surveys give them ammo they need to get at the money.

ohdaesu

DarkJager wrote: »

I'm sorry if I come across as attacking you personally for the census, thats not my intention . It just appears whenever the council get the chance, they love to make a short 20min journey into a 45+ min long nightmare!

I'm sure there are other ways of doing it than stalling the entire traffic system in and around the city. Haven't they placed those cables on most roads that takes count of the volumes of traffic? Apart from the amount of cars using a road at times of day, I am baffled as to why they need my reasons for driving my car in the first place or where I am going. I can't see how those questions could translate to any sort of stats.

no problem, i get where you are coming from.

They need it becuase if your journey is a once off or habitual and where in the city you are going togives them a better idea of where to plan lanes, lights, traffic volumes at certain points at certain times and even down to where you are likely to park.

I think it makes sense, am I alone???
Granted the surveys are a pain in the arse but if something good comes out of the whole affair it then a few days of pain will seem worth it (again it depends on politicans and bureaucrats willingness to put money into useful transport projects, which I'd be as cynical about as you are~)

ohdaesu

Kess73 wrote: »

Well the little radar guns that most other European countries use would be far more efficient and have no impact on the traffic in there of causing pointless congestion.

There are two versions of the gun, one is a small one on a tripod that a person stays with and can be mounted inside a parked van and it looks nothing like a police speed gun.

The other version gets mounted in a small box and could be placed up a light pole. They get left for months, and have small removeable hard drives inside them, so when the info is needed as to how many cars passed and at what times, all they have to do is take out the drive and download the info.

I would have thought that a country that claims to be the "heart" of Europe would be trying to work to the same standards rather than having guys on the side of the road with clipboards and pens.

Again, a good idea and not intrusive to traffic, but i doesn't give the engineers the accurate data they need, where you are going, is it habitual, what intersections you use, where you are likely to park. If you are going on a national journey, which road will you use etc.

Xennon

Tell me this, are these the same 'engineers' that designed the flyover on the tipperary road, or perhaps they're the ones that did the nenagh bypass.....twice.....or are they the 'engineers' that place lane assignment information ON the road so that its covered by traffic at lights.... and then decide to do a traffic 'survey' while there are roadworks all over town....

Kess73

ohdaesu wrote: »

Again, a good idea and not intrusive to traffic, but i doesn't give the engineers the accurate data they need, where you are going, is it habitual, what intersections you use, where you are likely to park. If you are going on a national journey, which road will you use etc.

Well it is a system that is good enough for the German road authorities and their engineers. Then again they do tend to work to a high standard in terms of build quality and don't run miles over budget so their methods would not work here.

Still makes me laugh when I think back to living in Germany and seeing how quickly they manage to build huge stretches of roads, tunnels, and bridges over distances of hundreds and hundreds of km. And back here we take years and years to build stretches that may be less than 50km and normally cannot finish a job without being miles over the set budget.

Was interesting to hear Bertie mention on the Late Late Show last night that the current Limerick works (Tunnel and connecting roads) have already gone well over budget and that they ran into lots of problems that they had not taken into account like drainages.

The interview is still on the RTE.ie website. It was only a few sentences but no shock to hear that the planners for the roads are way over budget again.

Stab*City

Kess73 wrote: »

Was interesting to hear Bertie mention on the Late Late Show last night that the current Limerick works (Tunnel and connecting roads) have already gone well over budget and that they ran into lots of problems that they had not taken into account like drainages.

ya but in fairness to these genuises who are planning this stuff who would have forseen drainage problems when "BUILDING A F**KING TUNNEL UNDER A FU**ING RIVER"!

Kess73

Stab*City wrote: »

ya but in fairness to these genuises who are planning this stuff who would have forseen drainage problems when "BUILDING A F**KING TUNNEL UNDER A FU**ING RIVER"!