Road Signs

manna452121

I had to do a trip to Tralee today via Tarbert and on the way I passed five road crews who were at differant stages of putting up new road signs.They seem to be replacing poles and also name plates,some of the name plates to me seemed ok.For a country that is broke should we be using money on this work.

xsiborg

manna452121 wrote: »

I had to do a trip to Tralee today via Tarbert and on the way I passed five road crews who were at differant stages of putting up new road signs.They seem to be replacing poles and also name plates,some of the name plates to me seemed ok.For a country that is broke should we be using money on this work.

i'll tell you something they COULD spend money on though, the amount of dog crap up along upper henry street and south circular in the mornings that gets smeared all over the pavements by the afternoon, is ridiculous!

and then while trying to watch your step to avoid the dog crap, you notice how much chewing gum lumps there are stuck to the pavement too!

its bloody disgusting! and the thing is, all up along that route is dotted with bins too that never seem to get emptied in the summer, leaving litter strewn about everywhere, how there hasnt been an accident where a scrap of paper litter or a plastic bag has flown into a car windscreen is beyond me! :mad:

source

xsiborg wrote: »

manna452121 wrote: »

I had to do a trip to Tralee today via Tarbert and on the way I passed five road crews who were at differant stages of putting up new road signs.They seem to be replacing poles and also name plates,some of the name plates to me seemed ok.For a country that is broke should we be using money on this work.

i'll tell you something they COULD spend money on though, the amount of dog crap up along upper henry street and south circular in the mornings that gets smeared all over the pavements by the afternoon, is ridiculous!

and then while trying to watch your step to avoid the dog crap, you notice how much chewing gum lumps there are stuck to the pavement too!

its bloody disgusting! and the thing is, all up along that route is dotted with bins too that never seem to get emptied in the summer, leaving litter strewn about everywhere, how there hasnt been an accident where a scrap of paper litter or a plastic bag has flown into a car windscreen is beyond me! :mad:

As someone who walks their dog along that route, and is very conscious about cleaning up after it, I have to agree with you. The amount of people who still don't pick up after their dogs is ridiculous.

Pikasso

manna452121 wrote: »

I had to do a trip to Tralee today via Tarbert and on the way I passed five road crews who were at differant stages of putting up new road signs.They seem to be replacing poles and also name plates,some of the name plates to me seemed ok.For a country that is broke should we be using money on this work.

I agree. They are replacing practically every sign with replicas the whole way out that road. Clearly a budget for this somewhere but not for the midwives in the maternity. Banana republic!

Berty

Pikasso wrote: »

I agree. They are replacing practically every sign with replicas the whole way out that road. Clearly a budget for this somewhere but not for the midwives in the maternity. Banana republic!

That's Ireland for you. Early retirement works for those taking it but the recruitment embargo screws over the system and the people using it or hoping to use it. From the radio today it appears 20% are taking early retirement and won't be replaced. Heck you cannot even cross the border to have a child these days. Derry and Belfast both have had that nasty bug.

On road signs. The movie falling down answers all. "Justifying inflated budgets" just before he takes out the rocket launcher . If you don't kick and scream that you need more money in your budget, the next year they will give you less. (one would assume)

the drifter

I couldnt believe this when i seen them digging the holes before xmas...

Seriously...these were not needed

Brennans Row

xsiborg wrote: »

. . . . . . . the amount of dog crap up along upper henry street and south circular in the mornings that gets smeared all over the pavements by the afternoon, is ridiculous! and then while trying to watch your step to avoid the dog crap, you notice how much chewing gum lumps there are stuck to the pavement too! its bloody disgusting! . . . . . . .

source wrote: »

As someone who walks their dog along that route, and is very conscious about cleaning up after it, I have to agree with you. The amount of people who still don't pick up after their dogs is ridiculous.

If you are really pissed off by those dog owners, why not make a civic statement by flagging it!

All you need is to download this pdf, a scissors, glue, toothpicks.

Who knows maybe the Limerick Post newspaper based on Henry Street might take notice of them too.

Islington Council uses similar flags as a strategy to create awareness among the public against dog crap being left behind by dog owners.

<mod snip> pic removed as some of our members have soft stomachs :P

Thanks

Drifter

xsiborg

Beer Baron wrote: »

Pikasso wrote: »

I agree. They are replacing practically every sign with replicas the whole way out that road. Clearly a budget for this somewhere but not for the midwives in the maternity. Banana republic!

That's Ireland for you. Early retirement works for those taking it but the recruitment embargo screws over the system and the people using it or hoping to use it. From the radio today it appears 20% are taking early retirement and won't be replaced. Heck you cannot even cross the border to have a child these days. Derry and Belfast both have had that nasty bug.

On road signs. The movie falling down answers all. "Justifying inflated budgets" just before he takes out the rocket launcher . If you don't kick and scream that you need more money in your budget, the next year they will give you less. (one would assume)

just what you said at the end there BB, thats exactly the way it works, they do the same every year, rather than the various government departments managing their budgets efficiently throughout the year, they scrimp and save and make cuts, and then come just before budget time when they tot up their expenses, whatever money is left gets thrown into 'projects', just so they can send a projected statement of expenditure to their relevant government minister, who then submits it to the minister for finance, who then decides what increases he needs to make in taxes and so forth, to meet the demands of each budget department, and make cuts where he deems necessary, often the hardest cuts seem to be in the health and education sectors, so we have fantastic new roads to get to these hospitals and schools that have closed down.

you could be forgiven for calling it hindsight if it hadnt been done by successive governments, starting from when i can remember at least the last time fine gael were in power, and ironically enough michael noonan was the minister for health. he made a proper cock up of the health system when he was last in government, mary harney continued that trend, and now michael noonan as the minister for finance is in an even better position to make even more drastic cuts, not just to our health system, but to every aspect of our economy. people have short memories is all i can say.

anyway, back on topic, about the road signs- they were changing all the place names for their german equivalent, in preparation for our assimilation into a german 'superstate' about 20 years from now, if not sooner.

in preparation for this, i am already in the process of learning german, having borrowed an audio cd and book from the local library, (at this point i'd have thrown in a comment about returning them before the book burning, but that'd probably be stretching the metaphor!)...

EDIT: perhaps eclectichoney could weigh in here and offer some insight as from reading her posts she seems to be quite the economics expert around the limerick forum, and seems to have a far better head for figures and a grasp of economics than i do, i'd be interested to hear her take on it, but perhaps thats for another thread...

xsiborg

Brennans Row wrote: »

xsiborg wrote: »

. . . . . . . the amount of dog crap up along upper henry street and south circular in the mornings that gets smeared all over the pavements by the afternoon, is ridiculous! and then while trying to watch your step to avoid the dog crap, you notice how much chewing gum lumps there are stuck to the pavement too! its bloody disgusting! . . . . . . .

source wrote: »

As someone who walks their dog along that route, and is very conscious about cleaning up after it, I have to agree with you. The amount of people who still don't pick up after their dogs is ridiculous.

If you are really pissed off by those dog owners, why not make a civic statement by flagging it!

All you need is to download this pdf, a scissors, glue, toothpicks.

Who knows maybe the Limerick Post newspaper based on Henry Street might take notice of them too.

Islington Council uses similar flags as a strategy to create awareness among the public against dog crap being left behind by dog owners.

seriously? you're suggesting that i put my fingers anywhere within the proximity of dog crap? i dont carry a plastic bag with me, so the idea that im going to be bending down every ten yards to put a cocktail stick in dog crap while trying to keep my son from stepping in it also, as well as all the other pupils and pedestrians from the surrounding schools? seriously? that might be a viable solution in somewhere like the people's park, where the footfall isnt anything like upper henry street/ south circular.

if you were to ask me what would my solution be, well how long would it take for the mobile street cleaner that goes down cruises street to go up along south circular at ten o clock in the morning when there was considerably less footfall and clean off the crap, empty the bins, BEFORE the afternoon when it'd be smeared all over the pavement.

since you mention the town in england, (im on the mobile at the moment so posting external references is a pain! ) i recently too heard of a town in england that is trying to ban the sale of chewing gum. i myself am a smoker and i've had to comply with the smoking ban, much as i still resent it, could the same not be introduced for chewing gum which probably brings in proportionally less revenue for the government, and i can still manage to find a bin for my butts!

EDIT: hardly the deftest of ninja edits, but edited to remove quoted flagged poo pic. only saw the mod edit after i'd posted.

Brennans Row

xsiborg wrote: »

seriously? you're suggesting that i put my fingers anywhere within the proximity of dog crap? i dont carry a plastic bag with me, so the idea that im going to be bending down every ten yards to put a cocktail stick in dog crap while trying to keep my son from stepping in it

Why not? It’s funny and actually the Islington Council encourages schools go get involved with the flagging of dog crap to create an awareness to stop it.

The problem is some people think that when they pay for a dog license, they expect the city council to clean up after them.

I’m amazed that an area like the S.C.Rd. has such ignorant residents!

I think a third level college and three secondary schools would generate a large footfall on the S.C.Rd.?

Cleaning up after your dog (Islington Council)

Since 2005 the environmental charity - Groundwork, in partnership with Islington Council has carried out workshops in primary schools and youth clubs. Groundwork worked with the children to educate them about responsible dog ownership and to design anti-dog fouling ‘flags’ and poems.

The children then visited nearby open spaces identified as having dog fouling problems and put the flags in the ground in affected areas. The flags were left for a day or two for dog owners to see, to encourage them to pick up after their pets and remind them of the impact their behaviour has on children.

Hmmm . . . . . . it seems English school kids have a better stomach for this subject than our poor moderators.

xsiborg

im surprised quite frankly that they not only encouraged, but actually LET children go NEAR infectious dog waste.

perhaps with the amount of bins they have lined along that route, they could put signs on them along the lines of 'no dog waste, no cigarette butts, no chewing gum... NO EXCUSES!!'.

as for the ignorance of local residents, i'd sooner suggest it was indifference- try walking up there on the days they have their bins and bags out on the pavement for collection, then try to dodge the cars as you step out off the pavement to dodge around the wheelie bins and bags!

EDIT: just occurred to me that they have been running that campaign since 2005! hardly a very effective campaign then, is it?

and 'funny'? you'll have to excuse me if i dont share your sense of humor!

and yes, there is the large footfall of students and pedestrians along there, and thats why i questioned the idea of myself alone trying to flag stuff every ten yards with a cocktail stick, you seem to be failing to understand BR that with the rainy weather and sometimes others unfortunately stepping in the stuff, slipping and so on, flagging is both an impractical and unworkable solution.

as i said previously, it wouldn't cost the council a crazy amount of diesel, or time, in their street sweepers, to detour up along that way and clean the pavements and empty the bins.

Insect Overlord

Brennans Row wrote: »

Hmmm . . . . . . it seems English school kids have a better stomach for this subject than our poor moderators.

Posting images of faeces on a widely viewed forum isn't clever, no matter what point you're trying to prove. End of story.

Brennans Row

Insect Overlord wrote: »

Posting images of faeces on a widely viewed forum isn't clever, no matter what point you're trying to prove. End of story.

Apologies, point taken.

Xsiborg, you brought up a very good public health issue i.e. dog litter on our streets.


Obviously the city council is responsible for street cleaning but with our dire public finances, we need to find other creative ways to tackle the many problems facing our city.


The idea with the flags might seem childish but this visual tool has been very effective in many European cities in changing peoples’ tolerance against this disgusting litter.


It’s only educational.

xsiborg

Brennans Row wrote: »

Insect Overlord wrote: »

Posting images of faeces on a widely viewed forum isn't clever, no matter what point you're trying to prove. End of story.

Apologies, point taken.

Xsiborg, you brought up a very good public health issue i.e. dog litter on our streets.


Obviously the city council is responsible for street cleaning but with our dire public finances, we need to find other creative ways to tackle the many problems facing our city.


The idea with the flags might seem childish but this visual tool has been very effective in many European cities in changing peoples’ tolerance against this disgusting litter.


It’s only educational.

as much as i can appreciate the educational aspect of the initiative BR, its not that i find the idea of the flags childish, its that i find it impractical and unworkable, there's enough litter up that way already without adding to it with flourescent flags strewn all over the pavement.

also if the sight of the pavements the way they are now doesnt bother the perpetrators, i highly doubt little yellow flags is going to bother them too much either.

a detour with the cleaning trucks may not be a particularly innovative solution, but it would be an effective one, aesthetically at least, in conjunction with the putting signs on the bins, again a solution that's hardly going to create consternation in the council's coffers.

this thread started out as the pointless replacement and errection of signs that already existed, they could've used that same money to weld a couple of 2x1 signs with the notice in them to the already existing bins in place.

how much did it cost the city council to erect the giant candyfloss sticks on william street? or the giant parking notices? common sense would have better sized these electronic signs down to a quarter of their size, and placed them on already existing signposts underneath the nameplaces so for example under the signs for the city centre, you would have one sign indicating parking availability in henry street car park and thomas street car park, you get the idea.

you really have to wonder what DO the city planners do in their offices all day? making giant paper planes from architects plans i suppose!

that would've actually been funny if these new signs and candyfloss lamp posts werent such a colossal waste of money already, and now we have them wasting more money replacing signs that didnt need replacing and digging holes just so that council staff aren't seen to be resting on their laurels shovels!