M4 Signs around Maynooth '5t HGV route'

JMSE

These new signs have caught my eye in the last week or two. What are they telling me coz its about as clear as mud. Am I to take it that I cant drive the Maynooth to Dunboyne road if I'm over 5 tonne? Or the same on the Kilcock to Clane route, if this is true then I'm gonna eat my workboots. With Dunboyne now ringroaded, have they now decided to that the best route for a truck leaving Dunboyne for Maynooth is to head for the M50?

And if I'm wrong then as I said, the info is as clear as mud. Why do they pick 5. Is it because Maynooth itself is a 3.5 tonne zone? Or is it a 5 tonne max zone?

L1011

Those signs are years old, not new! They were put up when the Celbridge Interchange was opened.

They are not legally binding - Maynooth's main roads are not 3.5T zones although nearly all the housing estates are. The signs are to try and get the traffic that cuts cross-country to avoid the M50 toll and/or Newlands X to divert around Maynooth via the Blacklion, R148, Celbridge Link and the M4. You can still drive via Maynooth town centre, but you'd need to be mad to risk it with the traffic and the tight 90 degee turn at the main street.

JMSE

Are you saying that the '5t' signs are there for years? I know the 3.5 tonne ones are there for a long time but those are not the ones I am referring to in my original post.

L1011

The 5t signs are ANCIENT. They've signed traffic as a "HGV route" around the town since J6 (J2A) on the M4 opened.

Theres a lot of new signage up so this might be why you noticed it!

JMSE

Ok thanks MYOB but its still bad signage isnt it? Why didnt they just omit the 5t and use the 'HGV route' signage alone. A glance at these signs tells me the route is for 5 tonne trucks or less. Isnt a HGV over 7.5 tonne GLW.

If I'm travelling from Straffan to Dunboyne via Maynooth in a HGV I will be diverted down onto the M4 before I get into Maynooth village to avoid the 3.5 tonne limit. Grand, so eastbound I go until I come to the exit/route they want me take yet this is very largely dominated by a '5t' picture and if I am from Peckham or Prague, I'm definitely going to be confused, I'm probably going to miss my exit and end up down at Leixlip or Liffey Valley and I'll definitely be wondering where the hell is my diversion route.

3.5 tonne is the Maynooth village limit, fine.
5 tonne is the weight indicated on the M4 signs.
A HGV is defined as having a gross weight over 7.5 tonnes.
Where do the lads weighing 4 tonne go?
Why am I up at this hour of a Sunday typing this?

L1011

Theres no limit in Maynooth village though! The signs are a recommendation, not an obligation.