NRA: removing pedestrian and cycle ways along the old N3

Dostoevsky

I'm not sure where to post this as it covers a few counties but it's gone beyond a joke.

According to this weekend's Meath Chronicle, the National Roads Authority (NRA), in building the new M3 from Dublin to Cavan, has removed the hard shoulder which previously allowed people to walk and cycle to their local towns, replaced them with roundabouts and bus lanes and in the process has forced anybody who wants to walk to their local town to go on the M3 motorway in the same lane as cars and trucks. You couldn't invent this stuff. This is happening in every single town across the M3 and the NRA, not the local councils in Fingal, Meath and Cavan, is directly responsible for removing these necessary walking routes to villages and towns. They are going to continue to do the same thing to other towns unless we all get out there and stop them now before it's too late (the M3 is due to open this summer).

What sort of intelligence is behind the thinking of the engineers in the National Roads Authority who "planned" this? How long before one of our children is killed? It will be too late then, too late.

Anyway, there's a public meeting in Dunshaughlin, Co Meath, tomorrow, Monday 26 April, at 9pm in the Community Centre, to restore these essential pedestrian rights in all of the affected towns. It's the NRA and its multi-billion euro budget that is being taken on by small communities so bring as many people with you as you can.

http://www.m3roundabouts.org/

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El Weirdo

You want people to be allowed to walk and cycle along the hard shoulder of a motorway?

Mark200

Yeah em... motorways aren't for cyclists or pedestrians. Not even the hard shoulder.

Dostoevsky

El Weirdo wrote: »

You want people to be allowed to walk and cycle along the hard shoulder of a motorway?

It's much better, and safer, than them walking on the actual motorway, isn't it? Ideally a path would obviously be preferable but until that happens the hard shoulder will have to do as it has done for decades before now.

brianthebard

From what I've read about Meath County council lately the government should just suspend them and have Gormley take on their role directly for a while.

mikom

Why do all the pics on the site show people walking outside the barriers.
Is there a facebook group to petition them to at least put the steel between them and the cars?

El Weirdo

Dostoevsky wrote: »

It's much better, and safer, than them walking on the actual motorway, isn't it? Ideally a path would obviously be preferable but until that happens the hard shoulder will have to do as it has done for decades before now.

There is a difference between a dual carriageway and a motorway.

AFAIK you have never been able to walk along the hard shoulder of a motorway.

I am open to correction.

pfm

Dostoevsky wrote: »

It's much better, and safer, than them walking on the actual motorway, isn't it? Ideally a path would obviously be preferable but until that happens the hard shoulder will have to do as it has done for decades before now.

It has never been legal to walk or cycle on a motorway. You seem to be confusing motorways "M roads", with national routes "N roads".

Dostoevsky

mikom wrote: »

Why do all the pics on the site show people walking outside the barriers.

Because the other side of the barrier is private property/somebody's farm/a field.

stepbar

He's talking about the work that's going on to realign the N3 so that traffic can get on to the M3.

rossie1977

El Weirdo wrote: »

AFAIK you have never been able to walk along the hard shoulder of a motorway.

I am open to correction.

you never have no, this is the sign that greets you up upon entering an irish motorway

http://www.drivingschoolireland.com/image/m2.gif

segaBOY

This should be posted in the motors forum.


This is a stupid campaign. Have you ever noticed these signs every time you enter a motorway?

expectationlost

so the situation is temporary, or will there still no local access after the n3/m3 work is finished?

Dostoevsky

pfm wrote: »

It has never been legal to walk or cycle on a motorway. You seem to be confusing motorways "M roads", with national routes "N roads".

Exactly. These old walking ways were along the hard shoulder on the N3 and now, where the M3 (which obviously never existed before) meets the N3, the M3 has subsumed the old walking routes into towns and villages rather than A) letting the M3 meet and N3 further outside all the towns and thus allow local residents to continue to walk along the hard shoulder into their towns, or build pedestrian paths near the M3 if they want to bring the M3 that close to the towns.

mikom

Dostoevsky wrote: »

Because the other side of the barrier is private property/somebody's farm/a field.

The other side of the barrier is not private property in the pics I have seen.
The field fences are further still.

Dostoevsky

segaBOY wrote: »

This should be posted in the motors forum.


This is a stupid campaign. Have you ever noticed these signs every time you enter a motorway?

It's far, far from stupid, which is a hell of a lot more than can be said for your post.

segaBOY

rossie1977 wrote: »

you never have no, this is the sign that greets you up upon entering an irish motorway

http://www.drivingschoolireland.com/image/m2.gif

Darn, beat me to it!!!

Dostoevsky

mikom wrote: »

The other side of the barrier is not private property in the pics I have seen.
The field fences are further still.

Yeah, it is. The NRA is using/leasing the field while construction of the M3/N3 junction continues at that spot.

segaBOY

Dostoevsky wrote: »

It's far, far from stupid, which is a hell of a lot more than can be said for your post.

The title of your post was "NRA: removing pedestrian and cycle ways along the M3". This would lead me to believe that you are talking about the motorway itself, where no pedestrians or cyclists are allowed.

stepbar

segaBOY wrote: »

This should be posted in the motors forum.


This is a stupid campaign. Have you ever noticed these signs every time you enter a motorway?

Perhaps if you read the initial post and looked at the website you'd find that he's not talking about walking on the motorway :rolleyes:

Slutmonkey57b

Dostoevsky wrote: »

I'm not sure where to post this as it covers a few counties but it's gone beyond a joke.

(.... lunatic culchies blithely sauntering down a major thoroughfare thereby increasing the likelihood of serious accidents......)

What sort of intelligence is behind the thinking of the engineers in the National Roads Authority who "planned" this? How long before one of our children is killed? It will be too late then, too late.

Yes. Yes, clearly it's the fault of the planners that your children will get killed - walking along the side of a main road where there's no pavement, never mind a motorway. After all, it's not like there is any other way for children to travel from town to town, now is it?

And people wonder why all the tragic road accidents tend to happen down the country.

SugarHigh

Dostoevsky

expectationlost wrote: »

so the situation is temporary, or will there still no local access after the n3/m3 work is finished?

According to the NRA, and reiterated last week, this is their permanent solution. They have said that after they hand the M3/new N3 junctions over to the respective county councils it is up to them what they do with it. But as the NRA has removed the walking ways the council is saying that they, the council, should not have to pay to restore them out of their budget.

Dostoevsky

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

Yes. Yes, clearly it's the fault of the planners that your children will get killed - walking along the side of a main road where there's no pavement, never mind a motorway. After all, it's not like there is any other way for children to travel from town to town, now is it?

And people wonder why all the tragic road accidents tend to happen down the country.

This is an ignorant thing to say. The sole public way people have had of walking to their local towns has been via the hard shoulders. These have now been removed so their sole way of walking to the same places is on the M3/N3 itself.

mikom

Dostoevsky wrote: »

Yeah, it is. The NRA is using/leasing the field while construction of the M3/N3 junction continues at that spot.

Barrier to field fence is always part of the roads property.
Sure what good would it be to the farmer.

By the way.... http://picasaweb.google.com/110222013258993711773/M3RoundaboutsActionGroupPhotos#5461556939530716818

People on the left...... mental.

People on the right...... a bit of cop on.

segaBOY

stepbar wrote: »

Perhaps if you read the initial post and looked at the website you'd find that he's not talking about walking on the motorway :rolleyes:

I realise they are now talking about roundabouts leading up to the motorway and local roads leading up to it but that was a very poorly written title.

Besides would Meath County Council not the the guys to contact about the local roads as opposed to the NRA?

stepbar

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

Yes. Yes, clearly it's the fault of the planners that your children will get killed - walking along the side of a main road where there's no pavement, never mind a motorway. After all, it's not like there is any other way for children to travel from town to town, now is it?

And people wonder why all the tragic road accidents tend to happen down the country.

"Tragic accidents".... you might wan't to expand on that, with specific reference to the amount of people who were killed out walking a main national primary road.

Lets say a joe soap like me wants to walk home from somewhere and come across a roundabout like this. So you think that ok that I would have to risk my life crossing a roundabout?

And before you say anything, the N3 itself is very safe to walk and has hard shoulders on both sides the whole way to Dublin. We're not talking about a country lane here. Unless you plan doing a "Fr Horan" you're very safe.

Dostoevsky

segaBOY wrote: »

The title of your post was "NRA: removing pedestrian and cycle ways along the M3". This would lead me to believe that you are talking about the motorway itself, where no pedestrians or cyclists are allowed.

The M3 has subsumed the N3, and thus the walking routes, at this point and as a result the right of pedestrians to walk to local towns has been removed. This has already been said, and two alternative ways that they could have avoided the current problem have been mentioned.

segaBOY

Dostoevsky wrote: »

The M3 has subsumed the N3, and thus the walking routes, at this point and as a result the right of pedestrians to walk to local towns has been removed. This has already been said, and two alternative ways that they could have avoided the current problem have been mentioned.

Fair enough, best of luck with the campaign, motors is prob the best place for this thread.

squod

Fair play for brining this to peoples attention. See you there.

**Timbuk2**

Online petitions are about as useful as a wheelchair with pedals.