If I became Minister in charge of Roads, the first thing I'd do is...........

betistuc

I wanted to start a thread to hear all your thoughts and ideas and what really annoys you . If you woke up tomorrow and found yourself the Minister in charge of Roads, whats the first thing you'd change?

If I could start with: If I was Minister for Roads I'd .... get rid of those three roundabouts at the northern end of the M3. Since reading somewhere that a grade separated junction is almost as cheap to construct as a roundabout I despair that they went with the latter. These three abominations make me seethe.

Irish and Proud

Great Idea BTW betistuc!

If I was in charge of transport, I'd:

1) Review the National Transport Authority and establish integrated transport policies rather than the partisan rubbish that has developed in the last few decades - both anti-car and pro-car biased policies are old thinking IMO. Also, the reduced junctions suggested by the National Transport Authority need urgent review - for example, the removal of left slips roads at traffic junctions increases pedestrian severance IMO. Junctions must be designed to cater for all modes of transport - as a pedestrian, I getting very p**sed off over the lack of left turn slips - too much time is being lost waiting at lights and I see the removal of left slips as an anti pedestrian measure;

2) Establish Regional Road Authorities (under the NRA) to take over the planning and management of Class 'R' (Regional) Roads from the Local Authorities - for too long have these roads been victim to bad planning and local politics;

3) Introduce a new type of road: Expressway (N5x for example). Like motorways, these roads would be controlled access roads in order to curb development and haphazard access points. Such roads would have a design speed of 100kph and would generally be grade separated with roundabout terminals. The cross section would be 2 x 9.0m pavements separated by a Reinforced Concrete Barrier;

4) Crack down on speeding and bullying (driving at a car from behind). Both speeders and crawlers are a pain in the neck. Cars on motorways should generally be subject to a minimum speed of 100kph while the maximum speed should be rigorously enforced. Penalty points and fines need to be very tough for motorists driving at ridiculously slow or fast speeds (unless there is a good reason - bad weather, emergency hospital trips etc). Drivers caught bullying from behind should get 6 points and a four figure fine - no ifs or buts!

5) Introduce very strict templates for traffic calming measures - whether on private or public land. This would include acceptable severity, placement, construction, need etc.

antoobrien

Irish and Proud wrote: »

4) Crack down on speeding and bullying (driving at a car from behind). Both speeders and crawlers are a pain in the neck. Cars on motorways should generally be subject to a minimum speed of 100kph while the maximum speed should be rigorously enforced. Penalty points and fines need to be very tough for motorists driving at ridiculously slow or fast speeds (unless there is a good reason - bad weather, emergency hospital trips etc). Drivers caught bullying from behind should get 6 points and a four figure fine - no ifs or buts!

No automatic renewal of the license, you should have to sit the theory test & do a driver safety test again.

Renewal of licenses every 5 years instead of 10.

Not sure what the procedure is for returning from bans but should have to resit the full driving test before regaining the license.

Add points to a license for cycling offences (where a driving license is held) - e.g. running red lights and cycling on motorways - in the same way as points for offences obtained while using a motorcycle apply to all license classes held.

Outside urban areas impose a minimum speed (subject to weather conditions) of 80% of the speed limit of the road. Anything lower than that get's points & a fine. Obvious exceptions include vehicels with trailers/vehicles with max limits that would be below this figure in any case.

Fine & points for people that refuse to overtake despite getting the full width of the road to do so (had a surreal road rage experience with this a few years ago).

Fine & points for people that refuse to allow overtaking despite e.g. driving slowly through bends then speeding up as soon as the vehicle behind indicates to go past, driving so as to block the view of the road ahead.

On dual carriageways/motorways - points and fines for driving in the overtaking lane.

veryangryman

I would also add a "how to enforce" bit onto every new rule introduced.

The suggestion of taking the non-overtakers to the cleaners while novel, does need some thinking on the "how to enforce" level.

I would re-introduce every roundabout taken out in Galway. Car drivers do pay their fair share and should as such, not be needlessly delayed in their journey. If the gov actually cared about pedestrians, theyd invest in overpasses/underpasses. Traffic lights, like tax increases are a very lazy way to solve a problem that barely exists.

antoobrien

veryangryman wrote: »

I would also add a "how to enforce" bit onto every new rule introduced.

The suggestion of taking the non-overtakers to the cleaners while novel, does need some thinking on the "how to enforce" level.

Not that hard - speed cameras and the Mark I Human Eye-Ball can be used. Actually getting it enforced would be the problem.

veryangryman wrote: »

I would re-introduce every roundabout taken out in Galway. Car drivers do pay their fair share and should as such, not be needlessly delayed in their journey. If the gov actually cared about pedestrians, theyd invest in overpasses/underpasses. Traffic lights, like tax increases are a very lazy way to solve a problem that barely exists.

It'll be interesting to see if AGS decide to use the standard approach and knock off all the lights for the races.

monument

Minister for roads? First thing:

Lobby for the position to be merged with all other transport functions!

marmurr1916

1. Give the NRA control over regional roads.

2. Require the NRA to establish and publish criteria for rating the importance of roads.

3. Require the NRA to establish and publish criteria and standards for road quality according to road importance.

4. Require the NRA to carry out and publish an audit of road quality in accordance with 1 and 2 above. Audits to be carried out for every single national and regional road.

5. Require the NRA to research and publish an action plan setting out how the various road types will be upgraded and/or maintained to the road quality criteria and standards set out in 3.

6. Require the NRA to carry out and publish an annual report and audit of roads, including information on progress towards upgrading roads according to the published road quality criteria and standards.

7. Bring in legislation giving the NRA multi-annual funding to enable it to carry out all the above.

SeanW

1. First thing I do is to set up a pothole repair task force. Set high standards of it and fund it properly. Set up a "Fix My Road" online reporting service where members of the public can report potholes.
2. Pretty much everything in Irish And Proud's post.

SeanW

Before I forget,
No 3. Re-instate all the national roads inside the M50 ring, with particular emphasis on the N1 and N4.

betistuc

The second thing I'd do is retro fit on our motorways, the German style parking/picnic/public convenience areas found on all autobahns. Anyone who has ever traveled there will know what I mean. I would place them about every 30km and as is the case in Germany, no retailing should take place within them.

I'm finding the posts very interesting so far. I&P , your third and fourth points would be certs if I was the Boss.

Slow drivers are a public menace. They are nearly always over seventy and are completely unaware of what's going on behind them.

I feel I'm preaching to the long ago converted though!!

chewed

Get rid of the tolls on the M50. Or introduce a fairer system where you pay for the distance travelled.

Maintain road surfaces more regularly...not just pot holes but also re-painting (had a bad experience on the N2 recently one night where the road markings completely disappeared and had to slam on brakes to figure out where the road was going!!)

Rock of Gibraltar

chewed wrote: »

Get rid of the tolls on the M50. Or introduce a fairer system where you pay for the distance travelled.

Maintain road surfaces more regularly...not just pot holes but also re-painting (had a bad experience on the N2 recently one night where the road markings completely disappeared and had to slam on brakes to figure out where the road was going!!)

On the tolls thing the City of San Francisco is thinking of GPS chipping every car so that you pay per mile/km traveled. A sort of toll, road tax and congestion charge rolled into one.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/ludicrous-san-fran-area-drivers-could-be-forced-to-install-gps-devices-that-could-tax-their-travel/

If I were 'Minister for Roads' i'd introduce physical segregation of cycle lanes, bus lanes and general traffic in as many places as possible similar to Paris and across the Netherlands.