New Traffic Layout Passes First Test

fergiesfolly

Theres a story on Galwaynews thats praising the New Traffic light system and how well it worked during raceweek. Even though it was turned off and those junctions managed by Gardai! How the hell is that a success?!

biko

This is the source OP is referring to
http://www.galwaynews.ie/27099-new-city-traffic-network-passes-its-first-major-test

Nothing is certain but death and taxes... and traffic jams in the city during Galway Race Week. But City Hall officials say the usual traffic chaos normally associated with the racing festival has been reduced this year by a combination of its new traffic management system and Gardaí on point duty.

A Council spokesperson said the new system, coupled with Gardaí on the ground directing traffic at pinch point junctions en route to Ballybrit, has helped the traffic to flow more smoothly this year compared with other years.

Falling attendances at the festival as well as the increased popularity of the shuttle buses and a new taxi route to the race track are other factors attributed to the reduction in traffic congestion.

Ergo - less people, shuttle buses and Gardai on key point junctions seems to have made this year a success.

Sponge Bob

Gardai on junctions and lights off is a feature of all major events for years. EG a Connacht Final in Pearse Stadium.

The corpo are frankly grasping at straws if they are claiming their shiny new system is able to cope with major events.

fergiesfolly

Thanks for the link Biko. Couldn't insert a link from my phone. It certainly seemed when I read the article, that city hall were trying to claim a victory for their new traffic lights system while giving scant credit to the Gardai who were the ones actually controlling the movement of vehicles through those junctions. It could well have been a lighted junction, a roundabout or a bowl of soup for all the difference the lights made.

Katunga

thats a joke like the numbers this year are only 2/3 of last year.

barryd09

There may have been no problems in the vicinity of ballybrit/tuam road etc because of less numbers attending the races, garda traffic corps on duty (credit where its due) & general bad weather BUT there was gridlock in the city.

This is something Horse Racing Ireland should be taking responsibility for, the traffic management of the whole event through volunteers, like the VOR, some of us couldnt give a toss about horses or drinking all week, those of us with jobs would like to get around the place minus the hours of gridlock traffic situations.

Delighted its another 51/52 weeks away again.

Iwannahurl

I'd be interested to know the total passenger numbers, and occupancy rates, for the shuttle bus service.

Mrs OBumble

I'd be interested in a hearing a few more reports about overall traffic flow during last week, both in the racecourse area and in the rest of town.

My impression was that things seemed to be moving better overall - but I saw a very small subset of the town.

ErnieBert

As a humble punter who attended the races on Tue & Fri, I found the new system worked well.

I also had to got to Limerick on business on Wed, leaving Salthill at 12pm, and was parked up near UL before 2pm.

Mollie Breathna

biko wrote: »

This is the source OP is referring to
http://www.galwaynews.ie/27099-new-city-traffic-network-passes-its-first-major-test



Ergo - less people, shuttle buses and Gardai on key point junctions seems to have made this year a success.

Good man Biko, never willingly give the Council a break, as usual.

The story seems to be saying that a combination of things including 'less people, shuttle buses and Gardai' (as you say) with the new lights system have helped things flow better. They don't appear to me, at least, to be claiming any more than that.

fergiesfolly

Theres no point in giving the lights any credit when they were turned off. It might have been interesting, if chaotic, to see how well this new traffic light system handled the extra volume on Its own.

barryd09

fergiesfolly wrote: »

Theres no point in giving the lights any credit when they were turned off. It might have been interesting, if chaotic, to see how well this new traffic light system handled the extra volume on Its own.

I was kind of hoping the lights would be put to the test actually.

fergiesfolly

God bless our innocence but so was I.

Mrs OBumble

Well I drove thru the Ballybane roundabout at about 3:45pm on the Friday - my only non-bus experience of the week, which is why I asked for others opinions.

AFAIK, the races started at 4pm, so the traffic was well under way. At that stage, it was moving in some directions, but starting to back up out of town, and the four guards were standing at the edge of the road looking like they were considering taking manual control

To my mind, that means the system was coping up 'til then.

Sponge Bob

JustMary wrote: »

AFAIK, the races started at 4pm,.

First race was 5:10 on Friday Mary.

KevR

Travelled down from Athlone on Saturday and went to the races. I use the M6 every weekend and on Saturday it was visibly a lot busier than usual (which is to be expected with the Bank Holiday Weekend + Races).

Anyhow, got to Galway and traffic was fine around the racecourse. Lights were on. Went into town after the races - passed through Briarhill, Ballybane and Tuam Rd lights. All were on and all were working well.

During the VOR, I drove home to Galway on the Sat. Sailed through the 3 sets of lights, no delay. I then got caught up in an outrageous queue for the Menlo Park roundabout. It took over 20 mins just to get through that one roundabout. The Menlo Pk roundabout could not cope with the level of traffic that the lights were sending towards it.

People seem to forget that you could easily get held up at the old roundabouts off-peak on a normal Sat.

antoobrien

I'd take the "success" of the traffic layout with a considerable pinch of snuff. There are several factors that I'd say had a bigger affect on the traffic than anybody realise:

Attendances were down about 12,000 on last year (in yesterdays independent, can't find an online link, figures for each day are usually in the today's sentinel).

U18's (who are largely brought by car) were charged student rates unless accompanied by parents. The evenings I was around there was a marked absence of kids around (probably had a big impact on the drop in attendance too).

Taxis were banned from Racecourse Avenue* (i.e. the entrance to the stand from Parkmore Rd). This mightn't seem like much but in the past bottlenecks resulted from cabs turning while/after dropping off fares on the avenue. Minor tailbacks quickly went back outside the gates, resulting in them never getting cleared due to the volume of traffic approaching the course from the East (which had a knock on effect on the other roads)

Accommodation patterns have changed - there are more people staying in town and less travelling from the towns in the county (and there's more accommodation in the city now than there ever was).

Travel patterns have changed - people used to come to Galway for 2/3 days at a time e.g. arrive Monday afternoon, leave Wednesday from the racecourse (when the Plate was still the biggest race). Now people are knocking a day or two off their trips, meaning the earlier part of the week is quieter (easier to get Thursday & Friday off work I suppose) and some are even driving back across the country each night instead of staying locally (much cheaper than paying hotel rates if there's 2/3 in a car).

* I heard a rumour that there are plans for Bus & Taxi only entrance from the Tuam Rd next year to have a drop off point at the back of the stands, which should further improve the taxi situation.