Driving Conditions Dublin, And Surrounding Counties.

2qk4u

Starting a new thread to monitor driving conditions in Dublin and surrounding counties, I drive for a living and new years eve was the worst driving conditions Ive seen in 20 years of driving.
At 2am I could not get out of Dublin heading for Navan, the N3 was blocked because cars could not make it up the hill to the M50 roundabout, Castleknock blocked with traffic after the bridge at Castleknock train station was closed with cars and a bus stuck on it. Any where with a hill was a no go.
I turned back and headed for Finglas just to get stuck on the hill on Rathoath road. Eventualy got a good run at it and made it up. There was cars driving on footpaths, on grass and anywhere there was some grip. Traffic lights meant nothing in places because people just could not stop.
Took me 2.5 hours to get home.

Can we please post updates for anyone that needs to travel.

cornbb

I need to drive back to cork today from dublin, I'm guessing that would be a bit suicidal?

DWCommuter

The M7 through Kildare is in a poor condition. Naas and surrounding areas are also bad. I got reports from Laois that things are bad down there as well. The Dublin Coach service between Portlaoise and Dublin Airport have cancelled all services since lunchtime.

DWCommuter

cornbb wrote: »

I need to drive back to cork today from dublin, I'm guessing that would be a bit suicidal?

I'd recommend that you forget about it. Slide on down to the pub instead.

Elessar

Anyone know what the roads in dublin city are like now? I've to drive from swords to merrion road later and back again at 11pm

foxy06

My husband is a CIE bus driver and has just been sent home as the roads are too dangerous. He was stopped by the guards on the way in and they were turning people around. Sounds bad out there.

Chardee MacDennis

On the m11 on the way to dublin, average speed is about 25kph. Disasterous!

rovers2001

Drove through Glasnevin earlier my jesus one of the previous posters was right traffic lights i couldnt stop so had to go through car just did its own thing got through alright and proceeded to do Torvill and Dean the rest of the journey.As the old warning goes dont travel unless absolutely neccessary and for once i think we should listen this time.

cornbb

I know it's purely speculative, but does anyone think it's likely to be better or worse tomorrow, and at what time of day would the roads be at their best?

dudara

I've got a family event near Trim tomorrow - god knows what things will be like in the morning. We'll have to be on the road by 11am if we're going.

DWCommuter

cornbb wrote: »

I know it's purely speculative, but does anyone think it's likely to be better or worse tomorrow, and at what time of day would the roads be at their best?

Well there was no thaw today and the forecast tonight is between -5 and -10 on top of whats already frozen. So by that reckoning it doesn't look good for tomorrow. Of course the conditions were worsened by the fact that it happened at a time when there was little traffic on the roads taking the sting out of it. Likewise todays traffic was light so the roads are reletively untouched by heavy traffic which can go some way towards alleviating the worst of it. Lack of gritting has brought us here.

Joneser

According to yahoo weather its -1 in leixlip already, the roads are going to get even worse

Chris_533976

Got to do Cork to Galway on Sunday. Any ideas how that side of the country is faring?

rameire

Athy is currently 0 and getting colder, was 2 degrees about an hour ago.
athy roads are fine.

have seen a pic of the m9 and m7 afrom earlier today and it was pure white apart from one lane of road visable.

have also heard that the roads around the beachcomber are pure ice and its like that on most of the northside of dublin.


edit its -1 now. at5.50

edit its now -2 at 8.00

mobpd

report from N7 from Clondalkin to Naas :
road still very slushy / icy. Most driving in middle lane at about 40 kph
was starting to get foggy around Naas already
car reported outside temp already as -3.5 C

Cicero

Big freeze on in Kildare county....roads around naas/kill/clane etc never really thawed and it's currnently -2.5 and getting lower... very few cars out on the roads at the time of posting and there weren't many all day....feels very cold....while I drove last night in the snow at around 2am,,,I wouldn't like to drive it tonight...

DWCommuter

Im getting reports that taxi services in Naas have given up.

Colm R

Drove on the M9, M7, M50 and M2 this evening. It was very dodgy. Max speed was about 40 but often lower. Look out for black ice under bridges.
Well done to most drivers who took it handy and did everything right, but there are some idiots out there. Saw too many crazy people doing stupid things.

regedit

Tried to drive from Newbridge to Dublin today at around noon. Ended up turning back at the Strafing exit as the roads were in a very poor condition. I strongly believe that the road from Newbridge to N7 was not even gritted. On the other hand you had extremely careful drivers doing between 17-22 km/h on the cleared section and drivers in Puntos and Clio's overtaking them in untouched snow (ice). These driving conditions would be classed as mild anywhere else in Europe but not here.

brandodub

Drove home to Navan from work in Dublin this morning M50 nothing short of a disgrace. Once on the N3 max speed was about 35-40 kmh but as others have posted there are some real idiots out there.
Drove in Navan this afternoon and looks like patches of black ice all around Athlumney/Johnstown local area.

Dont drive unless emergency

Victor

http://www.nra.ie/RoadWeatherInfo/Map/data/htm/WeatherTable.htm

Irishrossoblu

Drove from Rathdrum to Dublin this afternoon. The N11 was the worst part, at 4.30 it was a skating rink. The cops were pushing all traffic into the left lane, and I was in first gear the whole way from Leopardstown Road to Donnybrook. I am not going near the car for a few days.

neilthefunkeone

Absolute disgrace the lack of treatment if any being put into the roads.. Stood in town last night for two hours and didnt see a single gritter or any one salting roads.. The Luas stops were all treated and cleared.. and it had stopped running ages ago...

Serious lack of effort...

Pigeon Reaper

regedit wrote: »

These driving conditions would be classed as mild anywhere else in Europe but not here.

In Europe they put winter tyres on the cars. When was the last time you changed your set of tyres at the beginning of November?

parsi

Colm R wrote: »

, but there are some idiots out there. Saw too many crazy people doing stupid things.

That seems to be a common refrain over the last week or so.

sdanseo

We're simply not used to these conditions here. It's fairly clear that winters here are getting more severe recently with proper snow twice in 12 months over most of the country.

When I was in Austria a couple of years ago they have it mastered, becuase theyre used to it. Buses have their snow chains, gritters are commonplace and the roads while Icy are fine to drive on because the locals are careful. Here, from my own experience last night, nobody knows how to drive on Ice. I was overtaken dangerously a couple of times because I was driving too slowly for some people - sorry, but that's just not on in this weather. I'd rather go slow (and not ridiculously so) than crumple my car in a ditch. Patience, folks.

Have to agree with the posts above, don't drive unless you have to for the forseeable future. Leinster is an Ice Rink at the minute and it won't get better until temps get above 3-4 degrees for at least 12 hours to let the snow thaw. It's compacted snow forming into glazed ice that's making the roads so much worse tan they have been.

Cabra

Does anyone know why Dublin City Council havent gritted roads in the city centre and surrounding areas? I've been out on foot in Cabra today and its absolutely lethal - cars stuck in junctions - careering into footpaths and this on main roads - not in estates!

DWCommuter

Cabra wrote: »

Does anyone know why Dublin City Council havent gritted roads in the city centre and surrounding areas?

"Happy new year mick!"

"Ah jaysus pat I hope it is. Here I'll get ya a drink"

"Feckin freezin out there boy"

"Roads will be like glass.Were ya in work durin the week?"

"**** no! Sure its christmas. Im on the lash. It'll be grand."

"Cheers ya boyo!"

Brian CivilEng

Is it possible that due to the length of this cold snap that the councils' supply of salt and grit has run low? I can imagine they wouldn't have provided for too much, you can just hear the politicians giving out on councils wasting money on grit in our climate.

positron

Drove Drogheda to Dublin this morning, and the M1 was very slushy and a few cars crawling along - and saw at least five cars abandoned / crashed. Roads in City center was worse actually. On N3, loads of cars sliding sideways, loads of spinning wheels at traffic lights, and ABS kicked in a few times today. Driving back from Blanch to Drogheda this evening, M50 was super slushy and kinda dangerous with a lot of traffic, but M1 itself was not too bad and cars were safely doing 100 kph.

This morning in Dublin, three suspicious looking young lads pulled into the traffic ahead aggressively, drifting and everything. They caused the Range Rover in front of me to break hard to slide sideways, and ABS saved me, just about! A mile up, they had crashed into a signpost and three muppets standing around freezing. Instant justice!

spockety

Just to echo what others have already said, the lack of road treatment/gritting is a disgrace. The M50 was in a shocking state at about 1pm today and again at about 6.30pm (Firhouse to Drumcondra and back today).

They either haven't bothered, cannot afford to, or are wilfully incompetent.

jenizzle

It's scary seeing Dublin this empty...

http://www.dublincity.ie/dublintraffic/

brandodub

abitofacomedian wrote: »

Is it possible that due to the length of this cold snap that the councils' supply of salt and grit has run low? I can imagine they wouldn't have provided for too much, you can just hear the politicians giving out on councils wasting money on grit in our climate.

Is it just me or have all the Dublin councils neglected their duties? What happens if it snows for a week? Questions need answering here-its no longer sheer incompitence its downright dangerous reckless neglect of duty.

New Year happens worldwide so why is it in a modern EU country we cannot prepare given ample warning???

AlekSmart

Happy new year Mick!"
"Ah jaysus pat I hope it is. Here I'll get ya a drink"
"Feckin freezin out there boy"
"Roads will be like glass.Were ya in work durin the week?"
"**** no! Sure its christmas. Im on the lash. It'll be grand."
"Cheers ya boyo!

I`m hoping that DWCommuters humourus post refers to the higher echelons of the Local Authorities cos if it refers to those who actually OPERATE the Road Gritting equipment then its WAAY off beam.

The reality is that the long established rota`s and routes which the LA`s operate are there ready and waiting as ever.
However it would appear that the MANAGERIAL instructions are to sit-tight as the budget has been spent OR that they need to conserve the funding to allow for problems when the country returns to work next week (??)

This has been our first introduction to the reality of major cuts in central funding (20% cut in Roads Maintenance,which includes winter treatment) and we are now into the business of prioritising where we spend our meagre funding.

Remember that ALL Irish Local Authorities recieved significant funds to upgrade and expand their Road Maintenance equipment including gritters and snowploughs,which now lie idle in depot`s all over Ireland.

It is,of course,nobodys responsibility, so we can be assured that nobody will even have to account for the inaction and facilitation of danger which has been obvious for the past 48 Hours.

At this juncture any Minister for the Environment worth the title would already have summarily dismissed the the Dublin City Manager and deputies as well as several County Managers in the provinces.

Oh well at least they won`t get a bonus this year....won`t they not Gay..???? :mad:

Taxipete29

Saw the Navan Rd being grited this evening near Ashtown. It was strange that the vehicle had Northern or English plates???

Gary ITR

I'm collecting the missus from the airport at 11. Not looking forward to it

kdouglas

Onkle wrote: »

I'm collecting the missus from the airport at 11. Not looking forward to it

You'd want to be leaving about now to be honest.

Gary ITR

kdouglas wrote: »

You'd want to be leaving about now to be honest.

I'm not actually driving from Oblivion, I'm in Inchicore so I'll leave at 10, flight lands at 11.35

McSpud

Drove Cork-Dublin this afternoon & clear roads until Abbeyleix. M8 was fine also until Naas where had to slow.

Zero sign of any gritting whatsoever. I accept this may not be done on secondary roads but beyond a disgrace on National roads & motorways. Local authorities & the NRA are pathetic!

walzer

Far be it for me to defend our local authorities, and I think they could do much much better, but....

Having lived in Holland and Austria, where they get these temperatures every winter, it's a bit different here. We have such damp weather that when it freezes properly here we get ice rinks on the road and freezing fog in the air. It's not usually like that in mainland European countries, they tend to either be dry, or have crisp snow which can be brushed away relatively easily.

But having said that, those countries do have enough grit and enough gritting machines when they're required. And they tend to have a public service who seem to take pride in doing a good job.

AlekSmart

But having said that, those countries do have enough grit and enough gritting machines when they're required. And they tend to have a public service who seem to take pride in doing a good job.

Walzer,we have enough grit,we have enough equipment, and we have enough committed staff to operate the system.

However we now also have a system of Local and National Administration which is effectively bankrupt and likely to remain so well into the future as the need to pour cash into the banking and finance industry takes absolute precedence.

So what do we do...?

howiya

AlekSmart wrote: »

However we now also have a system of Local and National Administration which is effectively bankrupt and likely to remain so well into the future as the need to pour cash into the banking and finance industry takes absolute precedence.

Bull****. Any money that has gone into the banks has not come from the same source as the money we spend on roads, hospitals etc. Bottom line is the country is not generating enough tax revenue to pay the bills.

I think you'll find that the money to date which has gone into the banks has come from the National Pension Reserve Fund. Money which wouldn't have otherwise been spent gritting the roads

baalthor

abitofacomedian wrote: »

Is it possible that due to the length of this cold snap that the councils' supply of salt and grit has run low? I can imagine they wouldn't have provided for too much, you can just hear the politicians giving out on councils wasting money on grit in our climate.

There was a guy from the NRA on RTE news yesterday saying that they are running low on grit. A ship with 8000 tons is due in Limerick which will be enough for the West of the country...

Gary ITR

Gritting the roads won't make a whole lot of difference, it's sheet ice. Gritting only really works on wet roads or patchy ice. Just drive slowly, take care, pay attention to what you are doing and you won't need to worry about the roads being gritted or not.

I'm in the airport now after a trip across the M50 and I didn't have one hairy moment because I took my time and was extra careful

spockety

Onkle wrote: »

Gritting the roads won't make a whole lot of difference, it's sheet ice. Gritting only really works on wet roads or patchy ice. Just drive slowly, take care, pay attention to what you are doing and you won't need to worry about the roads being gritted or not.

I'm in the airport now after a trip across the M50 and I didn't have one hairy moment because I took my time and was extra careful

The hairy moments for safe drivers won't come as a result of their own actions I fear.

Barname

Fingal and Dublin City are a Joke - especially on the Primary routes

I travelled from Dublin CC this evening at 9pm

CC roads are clear

Navan Road - a disgrace 20mph

Blanch Bypass - a disgrace 20mph

Navan Road - County Meath , GRITTED/SALTED - Driveable

jesus_thats_gre

So does anyone know what the M50 and M1 is like to Newry and Lisburn? I imagine that they will be fine tomorrow once there isn't more heavy snow tonight? Cheers

Capt'n Midnight

baalthor wrote: »

There was a guy from the NRA on RTE news

...
A shipment of 8,000 tonnes of rock salt is due in Limerick on Wednesday. Until the shipment arrives, the NRA said local authorities will have to work together to try and keep roads gritted.

If only there was somewhere close where we could get some salt from ?



http://www.irishsaltmining.com/home.htm

Irish Salt Mining and Exploration has been mining De-Icing Rock Salt at its Kilroot Mine Near Carrickfergus since 1965.

The Mine is not only worked but continuously developed using the latest mining techniques, machinery and management systems.

From 14,500 tonnes mined in our inaugural year, we can now produce half a million tonnes of De-icing Rock Salt per annum.

tigerbalm

Drove from Dublin to Galway today. Getting out of dublin was the worst bit. M50 and N3/M3 near Lucan was fairly sketchy. Saw an overturned car with some people injured further on near Athlone. New motorway section between Athlone and Galway was very icy. Saw no attempt at gritting anywhere.

Ham'nd'egger

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

If only there was somewhere close where we could get some salt from ?



http://www.irishsaltmining.com/home.htm

I have heard that this quarry isn't working at the minute. I don't know if it's weather, Xmas break, unable to meet demand or even if it's untrue and it is working but whatever is the case, there ain't enough grit being put on our roads and there are people who are silly enough to risk it out there. Even tonight in Dublin, main roads were risky at best so it's best stay put until you really need to move.

AlekSmart

Bull****. Any money that has gone into the banks has not come from the same source as the money we spend on roads, hospitals etc. Bottom line is the country is not generating enough tax revenue to pay the bills.

Bull**** it may be,in your opinion Howiya,but wherever you believe the Bailout money has come from the reality is that we have little or no money to fund the normal day-to-day spending on EVERYTHING...which includes the Road Treatment budget.

I do not share your opinion that our administration has ring-fenced various elements of it`s funds and I would suggest that in order to accquire the funding necessary to "protect" the integrity of our financial systems Ireland will have had to either divert elements of D2D spending allocated to other areas OR it will have to increase it`s borrowings and pay whatever premium is necessary.

Either way,we have,as a developed country,managed to buckle under a relatively mid-range snowfall and admittedly very low temperatures.

This of itself is still almost acceptable IF the same authorities had made public their intentions to retire from the fray.
As it stands, people needing to travel are forced to rely on the likes of boards.ie and other sources for advice.

The number and intensity of posts on the topic here would seem to indicate that SOMETHING has gone wrong nationally and we are not being given accurate information on which to base travel decisions....Why not ??