Removing Roundabouts - National Policy?

JupiterKid

I was on the SABRE forum a couple of days ago and there was a thread about the roundabouts being removed from the Galway inner ring road and that this was now official policy.

Ireland had a splurge of roundabout building from the 1970s to the 1990s - in many cases too many roundabouts were put in locations where they really don't work well - but is it really national policy now that roundabouts are to be removed? Doesn't this seem a little extreme?

Can anyone here shed some light on this issue?

AugustusMinimus

This seems to be the case in Cork, where roundabouts which have been regulating traffic quite well are being dug up at enourmous cost and being replaced with signalised junctions which are causing traffic chaos.

Absolutely mental.

galwaycyclist

The use of UK type roundabouts in Irish urban areas was a systematically incompetent policy and arguably raises serious questions as to the judgement and character of the officials involved.

The decision to use roundabouts of this type was effectively a decision to exclude cyclists and pedestrians from our towns and cities and by extension a decision to impose unecessary motor traffic and traffic congestion.

ardmacha

The decision to use roundabouts of this type was effectively a decision to exclude cyclists and pedestrians from our towns and cities and by extension a decision to impose unecessary motor traffic and traffic congestion.

Nonsense. Some junctions are well suited to roundabouts, others not. Perhaps you can say that the inappropriate use of roundabouts causes problems, but you cannot say that all UK road design is entirely useless or that all roundabouts are inappropriate.

JupiterKid

I really can't believe that it is national policy now to remove roundabouts - they work perfectly well where there are traffic flows of equal volume on the approach roads. Where they don't work well are where a busy road meets a lightly trafficked road and traffic from the latter road hardly has a chance to access the roundabout.

Plus - it looks like some new traffic light juhnctions are creating far more traffic problem than they were meant to solve.:(

Has anyone contacted the NRA to ask if removing roundabouts is now national roads policy?

Could there be instances where roundabouts are removed and replaced by traffic lights only to have the roundabouts reinstated later? Great use of scarce money! :rolleyes:

AugustusMinimus

JupiterKid wrote: »

Could there be instances where roundabouts are removed and replaced by traffic lights only to have the roundabouts reinstated later? Great use of scarce money! :rolleyes:

Cork City council wasted about €200k removing the roundabout outside of Finbarrs GAA club in Togher in Cork.

They signalised the junction. Caused traffic chaos. Within a week the lights were put on flashing amber and the junction was quite literally dangerous until the roundabout was rebuilt a number of months ago.

It is now as it was, a roundabout with pellican crossing on each arm for pedestrian use. It work perfect for both cars and pedestrians a like. If cyclists don't feel comfortable cycling through the roundabout, they can always dismount and walk along the pelican crossings. It will take about 20 seconds longer. A lot less than a cyclist being stopped at a red light.

galwaycyclist

ardmacha wrote: »

Nonsense. Some junctions are well suited to roundabouts, others not. Perhaps you can say that the inappropriate use of roundabouts causes problems, but you cannot say that all UK road design is entirely useless or that all roundabouts are inappropriate.

Careful you might run out of straw men. I havent said that all UK road design is entirely useless or that all roundabouts are inappropriate.

For instance, for urban roads as pointed out, I think this roundabout is appropriate.





I also like these ones.

http://www.nmfv.dk/PDF-filer/Vejnormalgruppen/Seminar_stockholm_juli_2011/RDC_Germany.pdf

ardmacha

Careful you might run out of straw men. I havent said that all UK road design is entirely useless or that all roundabouts are inappropriate.

Your original post was unclear. I'd say we pretty much agree.

patrickbrophy18

Is this removal of roundabouts going to be rolled out nationwide or just in Cork and Galway?

L1011

patrickbrophy18 wrote: »

Is this removal of roundabouts going to be rolled out nationwide or just in Cork and Galway?

Quite probably not

Galway is a patchwork to try and cope until the bypass is done

Cork is just a council spending money before its taken back off them.

spacetweek

Roundabouts are a pretty debatable concept. In countries where they are not common, they are not used as they are regarded as a traffic hazard. Yet in countries where they are common they are described as the optimal solution. I'd need to read up in detail.

The sequence of changes a junction usually go through are:
- Uncontrolled
- Roundabout
- (Roundabout with signals)
- Signalised with no roundabout

In some countries, like the UK, they just make the roundabout larger as traffic increases. In others, like here, they rip out the roundabout. In some countries, they skip the roundabout stage altogether. In places like the USA, you can find signalised crossroads even in the middle of nowhere.

who_me

MYOB wrote: »

Quite probably not

Galway is a patchwork to try and cope until the bypass is done

Cork is just a council spending money before its taken back off them.

A little OT, but what's going on there? A massive amount of road resurfacing, re-painting of the road markings, new footpaths, bridge repairs etc. Where the hell did all that money come from?