New Roundabout By the Beach

blankAs

anyone up for a laugh?!! go for a drive down by the pavillion in Tramore.
they have begun digging out the new roundabout and im really looking forward to the summer now. apple brown bettys are going to make their money this year providing chairs and coffee to watch the mayham that is going to ensue!
and they are putting in a path along where there once was about 15 parking spaces yet it looks like they have cut the roundabout too close to where the path will be so it will just be a skinny path along there. Have they considered the already lack of parking down around there or have they considered the window of the shop in the pavillion that cars will be driving towards or getting the circus down there......love this town.

shanemul

I think it will be good traffic should flow much better especially once it's all linked to the relief road by the business park. The parking spaces around there caused more problems than anything else. There is no way you can tell the size of anything until there is something physically there. There was always going to be more ground cut than need for the roundabout

blankAs

once its all linked. tell me when do you realistically see this road getting finished?

Sully

Its moving at a snails pace and tbh I think its a waste of money. I don't see a huge problem down here.

blankAs

Anyone got any ideas as to what is going in the middle of the roundabout?? perhaps some lovely trees or a playground?

eirator

blankAs wrote: »

Anyone got any ideas as to what is going in the middle of the roundabout?? perhaps some lovely trees or a playground?

Why not something iconic like chickens

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_Roundabout became very famous for a while.

SweetCaliber

Sully wrote: »

Its moving at a snails pace and tbh I think its a waste of money. I don't see a huge problem down here.

Couldn't agree more, however they have got it just about to the fence by the dump now so there's still hope.

In the meantime it's a great place to bring the dogs! Haha!

gary_walsh17

We are obviously and have been in an economic state for the past number of years where a majority of projects are taking a longer duration to complete as there is only a certain amount of money available to spend on them. Rather than do what was done in the past and throw mass amounts of money for a project to be completed super fast, money is being spent so that it will keep a number of employees employed for longer.

Yes it means that some things (for example this roundabout) will look unsightly and cause a minor disruption to a medium sized town in a not overly busy area during the winter and spring months, but when it is complete it will vastly improve the look of the area, it will make the road system in the area easier to understand for tourists & it will provide adequate road crossings at a junction that is very busy during the summer and with regards the parking.

There is easily adequate parking on the whole promenade area (including the car park) except for a few given sunny days (and I mean a few that are countable on one, maybe two hands). Once the Riverstown Bypass is complete and joining up to the end of the Prom it will give tourists and visitors a direct and easy access to the Prom and Beach and will showcase the best side of Tramore. Some people just need to have patience for work to be done, good things sometimes take time.

blankAs

chickens.....brilliant, they would love the seaside breeze! why not build up a glass tank and capture a dolphin.....

Brick Session

gary_walsh17 wrote: »

We are obviously and have been in an economic state for the past number of years where a majority of projects are taking a longer duration to complete as there is only a certain amount of money available to spend on them. Rather than do what was done in the past and throw mass amounts of money for a project to be completed super fast, money is being spent so that it will keep a number of employees employed for longer.

Yes it means that some things (for example this roundabout) will look unsightly and cause a minor disruption to a medium sized town in a not overly busy area during the winter and spring months, but when it is complete it will vastly improve the look of the area, it will make the road system in the area easier to understand for tourists & it will provide adequate road crossings at a junction that is very busy during the summer and with regards the parking.

There is easily adequate parking on the whole promenade area (including the car park) except for a few given sunny days (and I mean a few that are countable on one, maybe two hands). Once the Riverstown Bypass is complete and joining up to the end of the Prom it will give tourists and visitors a direct and easy access to the Prom and Beach and will showcase the best side of Tramore. Some people just need to have patience for work to be done, good things sometimes take time.

Ah Gary, you must be having a laugh, what was the last Good thing that Waterford county Council have done in Tramore? This roundabout is a complete waste of tax payers money along with a feckin ring road down there in Riverstown too.

gary_walsh17

Brick Session wrote: »

Ah Gary, you must be having a laugh, what was the last Good thing that Waterford county Council have done in Tramore? This roundabout is a complete waste of tax payers money along with a feckin ring road down there in Riverstown too.

I heard similar echoes of sentiment about the Tramore Ring Road and also about the complex area up Ballycarnane that is now Tesco/Lidl/Summerhill Centre/ArdScoil Na Mhara. A waste or scope for future development? If the town wants to improve its image as a resort for tourists then the least it can do is have a presentable looking seafront at our most precious asset i.e. the beach.

Brick Session

The ring road at the top of the town was a definite necessity and was money well spent, however the maintenance provided on that by WCC was always poor. Grass was rarely cut etc etc.

Growing up in Tramore and spending many days down by the seafront in the busy 80's & 90's when traffic was a major issue we survived with how the traffic was managed down there where they are putting in this new roundabout. Traffic may never reach those levels again, hopefully we will get the weather and people here again to enjoy our fantastic beach. I don't think a roundabout there is going to attract tourists to Tramore, Tramore in its current state is a thing of the past.

I am all for Tramore trying to attract in tourists but I think the money that will be wasted on this roundabout could be spent more wisely to clean up the seafront. Tidy up and landscape the park that surrounds the boating lake. Tidy up the eyesore that was Celtworld. Clean up Splashworld and reduce the prices there too. I am sure there are many other areas apart from my few that could do with attention that might make Tramore more pleasing on the eye for both tourists and those of us who live in Tramore.

I suppose Gary when you see the County Council wasting tax payers money on the likes of the statue and steps at roadway entrance to Splashworld and then 300K spent on a "cycle lane" while at the same time cutting services to people living in Tramore and moving services from the offices in Tankfield back to Dungarvan one has to despair a little bit.

wellboytoo

Saw the outline of the roundabout on Sunday, when the final part of the road behind Somerville is completed to the prom this junction was going to be a big problem, so in fairness it had to be made ready for increased traffic so maybe it should be looked at in that context?

Sully

wellboytoo wrote: »

Saw the outline of the roundabout on Sunday, when the final part of the road behind Somerville is completed to the prom this junction was going to be a big problem, so in fairness it had to be made ready for increased traffic so maybe it should be looked at in that context?

There appears to be nothing done with that road for sometime and I think it might be a little late to be addressing traffic problems. I'm not sure we will see the big crowds we are used to for a long time.

wellboytoo

I am not suggesting increased traffic just a different traffic flow as I imagine day trippers like myself will enter Tramore by the new route and up the prom, ergo the whole flow will change in that area.
I think I read somewhere quite recently that the council were given 750k to finish this road?

wellboy76

Sully wrote: »

There appears to be nothing done with that road for sometime and I think it might be a little late to be addressing traffic problems. I'm not sure we will see the big crowds we are used to for a long time.

Why not sully? Not as if people are hopping on planes to Spain every summer like they used to.

Sully

wellboy76 wrote: »

Why not sully? Not as if people are hopping on planes to Spain every summer like they used to.

This is a common consensus among the businesses I work with in Tramore. There was never a huge amount of Irish travelling to Tramore anyway, it was mainly Americans and Europeans. They have cut back on travelling here all the figures confirm. The Irish still go abroad, perhaps not in large numbers but there not making up the shortfall in the tourism market here anyway.

blankAs

if there was one umbrella tourism group in tramore there might be a hope of some proper marketing and promotion work done nationwide like what ust to happen back in the day when tourism worked for tramore. yeah tramore failte was run by the government but they did their job and did it well. tourism has fallen apart since the dissolution of this company and is now led by individuals who are only out there to make money just for themselves and not for the benefit of the whole town. at least tramore failte was from the people for the people, not give me e50 and ill put ya in my brochure.

Sully

blankAs wrote: »

if there was one umbrella tourism group in tramore there might be a hope of some proper marketing and promotion work done nationwide like what ust to happen back in the day when tourism worked for tramore. yeah tramore failte was run by the government but they did their job and did it well. tourism has fallen apart since the dissolution of this company and is now led by individuals who are only out there to make money just for themselves and not for the benefit of the whole town. at least tramore failte was from the people for the people, not give me e50 and ill put ya in my brochure.

Your beginning to sound like a broken record.

1) We have multiple tourism groups promoting Ireland, not just Failte Ireland.

2) Numerous towns and cities that are popular with tourists have more than one tourism body.

3) Considering both tourism groups in Tramore are non profit, its safe to say that they are not making any money from it.

4) Most businesses and people without a hidden agenda agree that the more the merrier. Its extra advertising.

5) Tramore Failte was run by private business owners in the town, a committee of local business owners. Not by the government. The same setup applies today, but as far as I am aware the current committee has no business owner on it (not on purpose, they just didn't want to be on the committee). There is little difference to the structure of the current "Tramore Failte" compared with the one that was there many years ago.

Tramore's problem isn't anything to do with multiple organisations shouting from the rooftops and doing their own way of advertising the town and businesses. In fact, I don't believe Tramore has a major problem. We are a victim of the recession.

A lot of B&Bs and Hotels pay into the tourism groups for more than just the brochure (though, its not uncommon for businesses to pay into an advertising booklet only, to promote their business) and they pay into other tourism bodies that represent their sector of business only (B&B Ireland for example) or a group that promotes Ireland separately than Failte Ireland.

I personally break my back promoting Tramore and do more than just print the only brochure of the town. Between the five different type of maps, a 16 page brochure, a website that gets about 60k visitors a year, a Facebook page that has in excess of 4,000 facebook fans, and advertisements online and in print separate to our own productions - that's about half of what businesses pay Discover Tramore for. They know the benefits for their business and for the town and that's why they invest. Businesses are not stupid - you wouldn't see them paying into these groups unless there was a direct benefit for them. Remember, its the businesses that help make the town a top attraction.

Psychedelic

I agree with what Sully says.

The main reason Tramore is suffering is simply because the whole country is fcuked, we are not alone. Maybe some towns are doing better than Tramore but that is no fault of any tourism groups who I think are actually doing even more to promote the town than in the days of Tramore Failte.

Tramore Tourism is non-profit and is made up of local business people who volunteer their time to do things to promote the town and attract visitors - if their businesses end up making money because of that, well so what, that is the point! We want and need our local businesses making money so they can employ people and support other businesses.

I know of loads of other stuff they are involved in which is beneficial to the town. At the end of the day they operate on a very limited budget and with a small group of volunteers so they are limited in what they can do.

Sully

Tramore has never been better in terms of tourism promotion, in my view. A huge improvement compared to five or so years ago when I started Discover Tramore. I very much believe nobody else is pushing us very much, if at all.

Sully

An update on the original issue (the construction of a roundabout). I have spoken with a number of businesses in the area and brought their concerns to a member of the County & Town council, who has always been extremely helpful. So I have a much better understanding of the plan for the area. Note, I am not quoting anybody here and I am just explaining the plan.

This project was planned two years ago. All the building owners in the area were contacted and submissions from the public were asked for (and given). The project only received the funding recently, hence the sudden construction. The owners were part of the talks on the roundabout and for the installation of walkways / improving pedestrianization. This has been confirmed by tenants to me.

- There will be walkways around the islands with pedestrian zebra crossings. I think this will greatly improve the whole area for pedestrians. Right now, pedestrians must walk on the road as the footpath stops at the beach. There was always cars parked on both sides of the road pushing people further out on the road. It wasn't ideal tbh. The new walkways will make it safer for people wanting to cross into the The Pavilion and I would suspect it will be safer and easier for surfers from Tramore Surf Shop & School getting to/from the beach. Hopefully.

- The road outside Bayspa will be two-way and will link up with the road that feeds down to the road at Summerville. That road will be done by the end of the summer, all going to plan, as its going out to private tender.

- The road on the opposite side outside T-Bay, The Reef, McCarthy's and Castle will remain one-way. But the footpath will be brought out further, about a car length. This should improve, I would hope, pedestrian access to such a busy area.

- A loading bay will be supplied for local businesses in the area to help them with deliveries, loading, unloading and so on.

- Buses are able to navigate the new road as long as they do the loop on the roundabout and take then drive down by the Bay Spa. This was tested.

- I'm hoping alterations to the design will be made to improve access for businesses to the Pavillion, but I was of the understanding access wasn't being removed. Likewise, for a fire/safety point of view I hope it will be addressed in alterations.

Hope the updates help

wellboytoo

Drove around it today far from finished but works very effectively and makes a a very messy group of junctions simple and easy navigate and much safer for pedestrians. Good result all around.

tbayers

Brick Session wrote: »

The ring road at the top of the town was a definite necessity and was money well spent, however the maintenance provided on that by WCC was always poor. Grass was rarely cut etc etc.

Growing up in Tramore and spending many days down by the seafront in the busy 80's & 90's when traffic was a major issue we survived with how the traffic was managed down there where they are putting in this new roundabout. Traffic may never reach those levels again, hopefully we will get the weather and people here again to enjoy our fantastic beach. I don't think a roundabout there is going to attract tourists to Tramore, Tramore in its current state is a thing of the past.

I am all for Tramore trying to attract in tourists but I think the money that will be wasted on this roundabout could be spent more wisely to clean up the seafront. Tidy up and landscape the park that surrounds the boating lake. Tidy up the eyesore that was Celtworld. Clean up Splashworld and reduce the prices there too. I am sure there are many other areas apart from my few that could do with attention that might make Tramore more pleasing on the eye for both tourists and those of us who live in Tramore.

I suppose Gary when you see the County Council wasting tax payers money on the likes of the statue and steps at roadway entrance to Splashworld and then 300K spent on a "cycle lane" while at the same time cutting services to people living in Tramore and moving services from the offices in Tankfield back to Dungarvan one has to despair a little bit.

Totally agree with you here. Such a waste of money. Look at the state of the slipway underneath the lifeguards hut, its a lawsuit waiting to happen. The prom in front of the surf centre could also do with an update.

In regards numbers of people in Tramore in future, it boils down to one thing really and one thing only - the Weather. If we have a 3 - 4 weeks to sunshine from sunrise to sunset this summer I think I could safely predict that earnings of all the business's in the area will at least double.

allthedoyles

SweetCaliber

allthedoyles wrote: »

I must say it's looking well, with all the markings now and the islands done and so but I guess the real test is the summer.

I've been down there a few times and traffic is flowing well.

tbayers

I presume they are going to replace all the car park spaces that they have demolished?? Parking is limited down there when it gets busy in the summer as it is! I reckon a standstill will still happen on a busy day because traffic will back up at least 2 exits and with right of way one of those exits will stay blocked for ages. It does look nice though!

DeiseforLiam

Yellow paint must have been on sale in the past week.

Sully

Brightens the place up though. Weird that work is still to be done on the roundabout, seems to be dragging on.

DeiseforLiam

That's one way of putting it. Between that and the proliferation of luminous orange bollards in the town, you'd get a migraine driving around Tramore.

Twoelles

as a previous tenant of Atlantic coast, I welcome it. There are always a serious amount of bumps and near misses from idiots who couldn't understand the previous lay out of the road, at lease with a round about they might actually know what direction to point their car in ..... however the loss of those parking spaces for a walkway is just plain stupid.

Max Powers

Twoelles wrote: »

as a previous tenant of Atlantic coast, I welcome it. There are always a serious amount of bumps and near misses from idiots who couldn't understand the previous lay out of the road, at lease with a round about they might actually know what direction to point their car in ..... however the loss of those parking spaces for a walkway is just plain stupid.

thought it looked well myself, there are other places to park in tramore beside beach front. What i did notice is cars travelling too fast along beach front, kids running out, needs serious amount of ramps, road narrows and well highlighted pedestrian signs to slow things right down there.

dermo909

Driver need to also take note of the no entry signs and road markings off the roundabout. Some people are still driving down the wrong way(locals included!)

invalid

Barring a hot weekend (alas a rarity) there is no problem parking in Tramore. However, there is a shortage of safe areas to cross for pedestrians. As per usual, people see the almighty car as supreme and those on foot being irrelevant.

The new roundabout has eliminated what, 20 spaces? big deal, there is still over 1500 spaces available in the area.

I think the new roundabout is great, a real boon to the area. Once the new road is built (it was held up by a landowner and then a lack of finance) access to the area will be so much better, and safer.

As for the painting, it is a cheap way to spruce up a place. In a time when there is very little money to do anything, at least there is a effort on helping the appearance to the Town.

DeiseforLiam

It will be interesting to see how a roundabout without drainage works.

looksee

Just went round the roundabout this afternoon (for the first time, and I live here!) and I think they have done a good job. It looks bright and organised, and much better than the rather ramshackle junction that was there before. The pebble and concrete finish is sensible and looks appropriate, and I love the planting on the main roundabout, very attractive.

Guramoogah

I saw this roundabout at the weekend. I love the "unfinished" look about it, it really blends in with the surroundings. Will they ever get around to completing it, I wonder?