traffic lights at coosan junction?

afkasurfjunkie

whats the story with the traffic lights going in at the exits off/onto dual carriageway beside apple green/b&q?
ive never been held up for longer than 5 seconds there and its my nearest access to the carriageway. i was already annoyed at the roundabout they added outside caislean riada which makes a fairly straightforward t junction awkward now.

stooge

There are plenty of questions arising about the recent works. IMO they have made an absolute balls of every junction so far.

Garrycastle exit:
- they put a pedestrian bridge in, even though it wasn't really needed. The old Garrycastle bridge was where it should have been placed
- the filter lanes for traffic looking to enter the bypass are very confusing and will definitely cause more harm than good.
- Traffic lights on the off ramps. Obviously a benefit to traffic coming off the bypass, but will cause a backlog into and out of town during busy hours.

B&Q exit:
- roundabout is a disaster. It was too small a junction to have a roundabout in the first place.
- traffic lights are unnecessary and badly placed restricting views of the oncoming traffic

coylemj

First they block the 'merging lane' that B & Q conveniently provided for traffic coming off the M6 heading towards Beechpark and now they're putting traffic lights there, FFS!

gyppo

I wonder is it the same genius that designed the junction layout at the cresent?
New developments at B&Q and garrycastle will be absolute disasters, imo.

boredatwork82

Next thing we know they will have a brainwave to put a one way system into town!

athlonelad

the council should buy the site where o neills and the austioneers was and put in a roundabout. its very annoying not being able to turn right coming from any of the roads.

FlicFlak

athlonelad wrote: »

the council should buy the site where o neills and the austioneers was and put in a roundabout. its very annoying not being able to turn right coming from any of the roads.

Apparently, O'Neills was a protected heritage building and has to be rebuilt to its previous state, aint no roundabout goin' there!!

Kurz

coylemj wrote: »

First they block the 'merging lane' that B & Q conveniently provided for traffic coming off the M6 heading towards Beechpark and now they're putting traffic lights there, FFS!

It was never a "merging lane", it was a dedicated slip-road for the Arcadia center. It was closed because people were using it as a merging lane.

martin1

---

ok akasurfjunkie so youve never been delayed at these junctions ???

While you are tucked up in your cosy bed between say 8:30 am and 9:30 am , it may be news to you but its virtually impossible to get from any of the slip roads into the main stream of traffic. Ive often sat for 20 mins at Garrycastle waiting my chance to dash.

I welcome these improvments to the junctions and say well done atc...for once

athlonelad

martin1 wrote: »

---

ok akasurfjunkie so youve never been delayed at these junctions ???

While you are tucked up in your cosy bed between say 8:30 am and 9:30 am , it may be news to you but its virtually impossible to get from any of the slip roads into the main stream of traffic. Ive often sat for 20 mins at Garrycastle waiting my chance to dash.

I welcome these improvments to the junctions and say well done atc...for once

Yes it is a battle to get out on that road sometimes.

athlonelad

FlicFlak wrote: »

athlonelad wrote: »

the council should buy the site where o neills and the austioneers was and put in a roundabout. its very annoying not being able to turn right coming from any of the roads.

Apparently, O'Neills was a protected heritage building and has to be rebuilt to its previous state, aint no roundabout goin' there!!

Pity. Would of even helped if they are planning on having another go at the one way system

Saint_Mel

Its a nightmare they way they have left things on the dual carrigeway bridge at Garrycastle now. Its a death trap trying to come off the slip road and turn down towards Ericsson as the half constructed pedestrian/cycle lane badly obstructs visibility.

Saint_Mel

stooge wrote: »

- they put a pedestrian bridge in, even though it wasn't really needed. The old Garrycastle bridge was where it should have been placed

I think there still may be plans to pedestrianise that bridge and re-route the road through the field opposite Spar to link up with the Dublin Rd.

athlonelad

Saint_Mel wrote: »

stooge wrote: »

- they put a pedestrian bridge in, even though it wasn't really needed. The old Garrycastle bridge was where it should have been placed

I think there still may be plans to pedestrianise that bridge and re-route the road through the field opposite Spar to link up with the Dublin Rd.

That'd make a lot of sense. Only took a decade

Saint_Mel

athlonelad wrote: »

That'd make a lot of sense. Only took a decade

Been in the planning stage for a good while but not straight forward as the planned route not only went through the field but also some gardens etc so there were objections. Plus I think there was some issue about access from Garrycastle to the shop, as in whether to put pedestrian crossing and stuff like that.

Having said all that, none of that may be true, its just what I heard at the time

afkasurfjunkie

martin1 wrote: »

---

ok akasurfjunkie so youve never been delayed at these junctions ???

While you are tucked up in your cosy bed between say 8:30 am and 9:30 am , it may be news to you but its virtually impossible to get from any of the slip roads into the main stream of traffic. Ive often sat for 20 mins at Garrycastle waiting my chance to dash.

I welcome these improvments to the junctions and say well done atc...for once

long gone through by 8.15 actually.:) id imagine the junction at garycastle gets very busy alright with all the industrial estates being nearby so i tend to avoid that junction like the plague at any time of the day. its the junction at b&q i find much quieter and think having traffic lights there will only add confusion.

slave1

Garycastle I can understand, Coosan I can't, I've been caught at GC plenty of times in traffic but never at Coosan?

athlonelad

slave1 wrote: »

Garycastle I can understand, Coosan I can't, I've been caught at GC plenty of times in traffic but never at Coosan?

They have also gotten rid of the right turn at ballymahon road exit if you were in galway direction.
This is gonna take some getting used to. Wonder why they couldn't do all this work six months ago when them junctions were closed off.

The traffic lights have been such an outstanding success that the Garda have had them switched off to prevent the traffic backing up in all directions. :rolleyes:

athlonelad

dolanbaker wrote: »

The traffic lights have been such an outstanding success that the Garda have had them switched off to prevent the traffic backing up in all directions. :rolleyes:

Only were on for about 6hours!!!
What a joke.

AhrSkidar

Deleted User wrote: »

The traffic lights have been such an outstanding success that the Garda have had them switched off to prevent the traffic backing up in all directions. :rolleyes:

Was it really the Guards that had them switched off? Thought it might have been a trial run.

They are/were a complete disaster in any event. On a bad day you could wait 2/3 minutes to exit Junctions 10 or 11. With the lights on I was being held everywhere.

Thing is, they've ruined the sight lines now from the junction exits, so I presume that will be the justification for turning them back on.

athlonelad

AhrSkidar wrote: »

Deleted User wrote: »

The traffic lights have been such an outstanding success that the Garda have had them switched off to prevent the traffic backing up in all directions. :rolleyes:

Was it really the Guards that had them switched off? Thought it might have been a trial run.

They are/were a complete disaster in any event. On a bad day you could wait 2/3 minutes to exit Junctions 10 or 11. With the lights on I was being held everywhere.

Thing is, they've ruined the sight lines now from the junction exits, so I presume that will be the justification for turning them back on.

Trying to get off at garrycastle coming the galway direction is like playing Russian Roulette at the moment.
Hope its sorted soon. Its only a matter of time before someone gets side swiped there and I'd be blaming whoever in the council decided to leave the road like that.


I wonder is it wide enough for one of them mini roundabouts now instead?

athlonelad

athlonelad wrote: »

Trying to get off at garrycastle coming the galway direction is like playing Russian Roulette at the moment.
Hope its sorted soon. Its only a matter of time before someone gets side swiped there and I'd be blaming whoever in the council decided to leave the road like that.


I wonder is it wide enough for one of them mini roundabouts now instead?

I actually suggested mini-roundabouts (or dumbbell roundabouts) during the consultation period, that suggestion was dismissed out of hand!

There is space for mini roundabouts at all the junctions, plus they're cheaper and automatically adjust to traffic volumes as well (within limits that are achievable at these junctions).

Saint_Mel

athlonelad wrote: »

Trying to get off at garrycastle coming the galway direction is like playing Russian Roulette at the moment.
Hope its sorted soon. Its only a matter of time before someone gets side swiped there and I'd be blaming whoever in the council decided to leave the road like that.


I wonder is it wide enough for one of them mini roundabouts now instead?

Just as bad coming from the Dublin side, especially with the new wider foot/cycle path and council vans pulled up along side

Melanoma

I think coming off the dual carriageway heading east bound, when you have to turn right it was difficult as cars sometimes came around the corner from Coosan despite looking both ways. The road turns too close to the junction. Maybe there have been accidents there and this is to prevent them. I have been stuck at that junction a few times never for too long but if cars are building behind you it feels like you should then go asap even if you have to cut in a bit. Definitely tru it is much worse at Garrycastle.

slave1

Coosan junction is a total joke, I use it every day, I'm getting stopped at lights at 7.30AM with no cars on the road, on Monday evening I was coming home from work around 5'ish (from Galway direction) and the back-up on the dual carrageway was to the bottom of the hill so I kept going to the GarryCastle turn off and got caught there for a while, then on the way around I got caught at the petrol station beside Fernhill as that's where the traffic was backed up to.
1-2 minute normal "journey" turned into over quarter of an hour.

Phoned the council to complain and told they are on set times for a few weeks while they record the traffic numbers, asked to speak to the Engineering in charge and told he's on two weeks leave (which is fine in itself) but has no cover in place and he is the only guy to talk to.
Asked to make a complaint so and told it has to be in writing but it will go to the guys who's on leave so what's the point.

Coosan traffic lights are a complete waste of money, lived there for 15 years and there was no need, yeah a wee struggle at school or peak work times but never no more than a few minutes here and there.
Rant over

afkasurfjunkie

slave1 wrote: »

Coosan junction is a total joke, I use it every day, I'm getting stopped at lights at 7.30AM with no cars on the road, on Monday evening I was coming home from work around 5'ish (from Galway direction) and the back-up on the dual carrageway was to the bottom of the hill so I kept going to the GarryCastle turn off and got caught there for a while, then on the way around I got caught at the petrol station beside Fernhill as that's where the traffic was backed up to.
1-2 minute normal "journey" turned into over quarter of an hour.

Phoned the council to complain and told they are on set times for a few weeks while they record the traffic numbers, asked to speak to the Engineering in charge and told he's on two weeks leave (which is fine in itself) but has no cover in place and he is the only guy to talk to.
Asked to make a complaint so and told it has to be in writing but it will go to the guys who's on leave so what's the point.

Coosan traffic lights are a complete waste of money, lived there for 15 years and there was no need, yeah a wee struggle at school or peak work times but never no more than a few minutes here and there.
Rant over

My point exactly. Sure, the junctions might be busy for 20/30 mins at peak times but what about the other 23 hours in the day? Causing a build up of traffic where there never was any problems before.

Melanoma

In the states years ago I mean 20 years ago they put sensors on the traffic lights to detect when it was needed to change the lights. Maybe this is expensive but its old technology so can see why it would be.

I arrived there yesterday and got caught coming off from the Roscommon side and I just hit the red. I waited 30 seconds for green but on turning right I only just made it through the next lights. What are the lights that you hit heading to town for so close in time to the getting the green light for?

It might be traffic is building as people get caught unable to turn right coming off the dual carriageway.

I don't know but sometimes traffic engineers seem to make work for themselves.

Melanoma

Oh yea I forgot to say, the light was green when it did not need to be and turned red as I arrived.

I still think though its important to avoid accidents.

Melanoma

Melanoma wrote: »

Oh yea I forgot to say, the light was green when it did not need to be and turned red as I arrived.

I still think though its important to avoid accidents.

Traffic tights increase the risk of accidents due to the frustration they cause, making some motorists take risks by jumping them and others become complacent because the green is in their favour so they don't look out for jumpers.

Saint_Mel

Last few days the lights at the slip road coming off the dual carrigeway at Junction 9 Blyry/Ballymahon/Cavan were averaging 3 minutes red, 6 seconds green so pretty much 1 car every 3 minutes getting through.

Actually update from today, timings changed to 1 minute red

demanufactured

Aaaaaand we have our first crash....
Collision at the coosan junction this evenin.

whyulittle

Almost had a cyclist go into the side of me at Garrycastle today - on my inside he was going straight on, I was turning left. He was in the painted on cycle lane so we both had the light to go. The more I go through them they really have screwed them all up.

Nforce

demanufactured wrote: »

Aaaaaand we have our first crash....
Collision at the coosan junction this evenin.

I'm surprised it took this long. I saw a car sail straight through the red lights a few days ago.

tubos

Yep I've seen two cars sail through the lights at Coosan. As for the Garrycastle one, the approach from Garrycastle has two lanes for traffic going straight, but straight after the first lights one of the lanes turns into a right hand turn lane, I've seen many a car trying to get in lane very quickly and nearly causing a collision! There's a lot more decent signage needed.

Melanoma

whyulittle wrote: »

Almost had a cyclist go into the side of me at Garrycastle today - on my inside he was going straight on, I was turning left. He was in the painted on cycle lane so we both had the light to go. The more I go through them they really have screwed them all up.

Always slow down for cyclists and treat them like a slow moving car when there is a chance they will pull out in front of you. He should have used the hand out sign to indicate before moving and if a cyclist does so then wait behind them. Glad it worked out, well done on reacting and avoiding.

Saint_Mel

tubos wrote: »

.... As for the Garrycastle one, the approach from Garrycastle has two lanes for traffic going straight, but straight after the first lights one of the lanes turns into a right hand turn lane, I've seen many a car trying to get in lane very quickly and nearly causing a collision...

Saw a Garda car get caught with that lane the other day and nearly take out a line of traffic swerving back into the correct lane at the last minute!!

Anyone know the total cost of the project?

tubos

tubos wrote: »

Yep I've seen two cars sail through the lights at Coosan. As for the Garrycastle one, the approach from Garrycastle has two lanes for traffic going straight, but straight after the first lights one of the lanes turns into a right hand turn lane, I've seen many a car trying to get in lane very quickly and nearly causing a collision! There's a lot more decent signage needed.

There needs to be an advance "Get in Lane" sign stating that the right lane is for turning onto the bypass after the bridge.

It caught me out, and I was actually turning right!

h57xiucj2z946q

Seen when your meeting oncoming and they are in "their" right lane waiting to get on the ramp to the bypass. Both ways get a green light, but sometimes the oncoming traffic that were waiting don't realise you have a green light at the same time and cut across in front of you.

Also noticed someone blatantly running a red light at the Coosan junction yesterday.

Both myself and my friend were caught out by the turning lane at Garrycastle lights also.

Melanoma

Anaya Strong Drugstore wrote: »

Seen when your meeting oncoming and they are in "their" right lane waiting to get on the ramp to the bypass. Both ways get a green light, but sometimes the oncoming traffic that were waiting don't realise you have a green light at the same time and cut across in front of you.

Also noticed someone blatantly running a red light at the Coosan junction yesterday.

Both myself and my friend were caught out by the turning lane at Garrycastle lights also.

That is a really good point. I do not know if it is poor driving skills but it is clear how the mistake could be made. They are very close together when they get green and its not like the more normal cross roads type lights.

tubos

Well, they did a great job of fixing the garrycastle flyover lights and road markings!! The approach from the Spar - left lane is now for turning left only, right hand lane for all through traffic, but nobody adheres to it, I am constantly being beeped by people in the left lane going straight on, as if I am in the wrong! There needs to be a sign saying left lane for turning only.

Saw a big accident there last night although it looked like somebody broke the lights at the off ramp on the northbound carriageway. Fire Brigade were called to remove one of the drivers from the car.

nice_guy80

don't know why they changed them at all!

the Coosan exit is now a mess.

Melanoma

If there are people breaking the lights in probably would not cause a serious accident unless people are speeding in on the approach to the lights. Then they might hit a car coming from B & Q at speed. Maybe the installation of speed cameras on the off ramps might help. I think the idea of a left turn only lane without markings on the road big arrows is very hard for people to follow as there are very few of these type of junctions. Once you pass a green light are you not then entitled to turn left. The light on red would only refer to the those on the opposite side of the junction. Can anyone she light on this?

They should have put in mini-roundabouts!

nice_guy80

Deleted User wrote: »

They should have put in mini-roundabouts!

mini roundabouts still work when the electricity goes.