Too many traffic lights?

H3llR4iser

Months ago, I received a leafleet in the postbox about some local TD campaigning for traffic lights at the junction where the street joins the main road. It seemed completely ridiculous to me, since we are on what is a residential estate access road and the difference in traffic volume with the main road it joins makes the current "STOP" sign work quite well.

This is not, by any chance, an isolated case - there are actually a lot of lights pointlessly stopping traffic on main, heavily loaded roads to give way to a handful of vehicles coming out of residential areas.

Now, I can understand the particular case of the TD looking for publicity, but what's going on? Did Cork City Council order a shipload of lights and now they don't know where to put them?

djimi

Local councils can go a bit overboard with lights sometimes. There are pair of lights in Naas that are about 100 feet apart and on a different sequence; extremely annoying.

Caliden

djimi wrote: »

Local councils can go a bit overboard with lights sometimes. There are pair of lights in Naas that are about 100 feet apart and on a different sequence; extremely annoying.

I've nothing against lights every few hundred yards to deal with high volumes of traffic but more often than not they are completely out of sequence.

One set I run into every morning is this:
http://goo.gl/maps/Xk6fc
Joining the N4 (Dublin direction) at this junction. Traffic coming off the N4 get the green light to turn right and head towards Adamstown but the lights at point B go red while the traffic is still flowing so it back

So when it comes to my turn to go, traffic is backed up and can't go anywhere.

Anan1

Didn't they do an experiment in a town somewhere where they turned off all the traffic lights and both congestion and accidents decreased?

There was a power cut in the greater Raheny/kilbarrack last night. So i went out for a spin, 90% of the traffic lights were out too. i drove from Raheny to Howth in a fraction of the time and the traffic flowed beautifully.

Obviously its not viable but it does make you think if we have gone overboard with the traffic lights.

pa990

Have a look at Ballincollig, a town just outside cork city.

http://www.eveningecho.ie/2012/05/29/ballincollig-traffic-lights-make-town-look-like-disco/

There are currently 14 sets of traffic lights installed between the Poulavone Roundabout to the east and the Maxol service station on the western side of Ballincollig.
“That’s an average of one set of lights every 215 metres.


and
http://thecorknews.ie/articles/%E2%80%98leave-lights-off%E2%80%99-say-local-retailers-6561

"17 traffic lights along the 4.6km stretch of road"

AugustusMinimus

Cork City council have gone quite nuts with traffic lights.

Only last night I note yet another pedestrian crossing being put in, this time outside of the Briar Rose on the Douglas Road. The amount of traffic light sin Cork City is gone through the roof. Makes driving about as frustrating as it gets.

In areas with low football, there is simply no need for signalised pedestrian crossings. In these cases, pelican crossings should be used. They give priority to pedestrians in the very few cases that they want to use the crossing and don't inconvenience drivers every other time.

And don't get me started on Cork City council's efforts to waste our money by replacing every roundabout in the city with a set of lights.


There's an urban myth around that the City Council added on an extra 0 to a traffic light order form. Personally, this must be true as there is no other explanation for what the hell is going on in the city and county.

djimi

Anan1 wrote: »

Didn't they do an experiment in a town somewhere where they turned off all the traffic lights and both congestion and accidents decreased?

Lights get turned off regularly in Naas when there is a big event on in Punchestown and surprise surprise traffic doesnt grind to a halt and widespread anarchy does not reign! I have nothing against traffic lights; they serve a purpose and in a lot of situations traffic simply would not function without them. But its very annoying when you are driving through a town and there is a set of traffic lights at the entrance to every estate, or there are a set of pedestrian lights within spitting distance of another set of lights at a junction.

kippy

cisk wrote: »

There was a power cut in the greater Raheny/kilbarrack last night. So i went out for a spin, 90% of the traffic lights were out too. i drove from Raheny to Howth in a fraction of the time and the traffic flowed beautifully.

Obviously its not viable but it does make you think if we have gone overboard with the traffic lights.

Possibly, however it does depend on:
1. The time of day.
2. The traffic volumes.

Some areas should no doubt have managed "smart" lights.

I have to say I was skeptical when they replaced three roundabouts here in Galway with signalised junctions but to be fair, for the majority of the users of these junctions things have vastly improved.

Not to say this should be the norm but it should be a "one" option if required, but not the only option. Every junction and traffic pattern is different.

blackwhite

https://maps.google.com/?ll=53.293862,-6.202254&spn=0.008965,0.026157&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=53.29377,-6.202143&panoid=GW85vZVgKj_reXE5-EV-9Q&cbp=12,181.33,,0,16.46

This set of lights here are an absolute joke. Pass them on my commute every morning and the only reason I can see for them is to promote obesity.

There are traffic lights within 50 yards in either direction from these lights. Why oh why do Dublin City Council think there's a need for some extra pedestrian lights here?

keithclancy

pa990 wrote: »

Have a look at Ballincollig, a town just outside cork city.

http://www.eveningecho.ie/2012/05/29/ballincollig-traffic-lights-make-town-look-like-disco/

There are currently 14 sets of traffic lights installed between the Poulavone Roundabout to the east and the Maxol service station on the western side of Ballincollig.
“That’s an average of one set of lights every 215 metres.


and
http://thecorknews.ie/articles/%E2%80%98leave-lights-off%E2%80%99-say-local-retailers-6561

"17 traffic lights along the 4.6km stretch of road"

I remember thinking last time I was in Ballincollig that they had availed of a Groupon for traffic lights.

I never go through the village anymore.

whomitconcerns

in a lot of eastern europe, poland especially, traffic lights just flash orange at night at all junctions. We could do with that here!

Viper_JB

keithclancy wrote: »

I remember thinking last time I was in Ballincollig that they had availed of a Groupon for traffic lights.

I never go through the village anymore.

Ballincollig is the worst >.< I avoid the village main st like the plague, in saying that the massive speed bumps they put in (which buses have a tendency for bottoming out on) are a good enough reason alone. It seems like most of them are disabled after about 8pm these days....such a massive waste of money.

djimi

whomitconcerns wrote: »

in a lot of eastern europe, poland especially, traffic lights just flash orange at night at all junctions. We could do with that here!

I shudder to think how that would work over here seeing as how most motorists see orange and green as both meaning go (as fast as your car will carry you in the case of orange...)

blackwhite

blackwhite wrote: »

https://maps.google.com/?ll=53.293862,-6.202254&spn=0.008965,0.026157&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=53.29377,-6.202143&panoid=GW85vZVgKj_reXE5-EV-9Q&cbp=12,181.33,,0,16.46

This set of lights here are an absolute joke. Pass them on my commute every morning and the only reason I can see for them is to promote obesity.

There are traffic lights within 50 yards in either direction from these lights. Why oh why do Dublin City Council think there's a need for some extra pedestrian lights here?

Thats on my commute too, the amount of people who drive through the red light at the pedestrian crossing because they are looking at a bright green light 50 yards ahead.

whomitconcerns

well it works pretty well actually..i remember being worried as a pedestrian crossing the road..but its common sense generally..if everyone takes care it works. Cinio can probably offer more on good/bad of this....a few years since I was there though..

djimi

whomitconcerns wrote: »

well it works pretty well actually..i remember being worried as a pedestrian crossing the road..but its common sense generally..if everyone takes care it works. Cinio can probably offer more on good/bad of this....a few years since I was there though..

Theres your problem right there

lway

Viper_JB wrote: »

Ballincollig is the worst >.< I avoid the village main st like the plague, in saying that the massive speed bumps they put in (which buses have a tendency for bottoming out on) are a good enough reason alone. It seems like most of them are disabled after about 8pm these days....such a massive waste of money.

Agree completely, they went mad and installed loads of lights through the village, it practically forces you to take the Ring road around the village if you want to get anywhere in the town. The set at the Link Road were (maybe still are) out of order for a long time, the word locally was that they couldn't afford to get them repaired.
And no offence to those who live in Classis Lake but surely those set of lights could be gotten rid of, especially those from the tiny estate across the road.

Cuddlesworth

Anan1 wrote: »

Didn't they do an experiment in a town somewhere where they turned off all the traffic lights and both congestion and accidents decreased?

Yep,

Works for certain circumstances. Certain roads like the N11, N81 etc wouldn't benefit as the junctions are too large.

Also issues for blind or elderly people.

endacl

It's the fault of Lidl and Aldi. Every few months they have a special on traffic lights. Local councillors are just like the rest of us. They stock up on a few, just in case they need them, and they end up filling the shed. Then comes the 'use those feckin things or get a skip' conversation...

Heroditas

Caliden wrote: »

I've nothing against lights every few hundred yards to deal with high volumes of traffic but more often than not they are completely out of sequence.

One set I run into every morning is this:
http://goo.gl/maps/Xk6fc
Joining the N4 (Dublin direction) at this junction. Traffic coming off the N4 get the green light to turn right and head towards Adamstown but the lights at point B go red while the traffic is still flowing so it back

So when it comes to my turn to go, traffic is backed up and can't go anywhere.

Six effin' sets of traffic lights in 700m with no thought put into their sequencing and this is just down the road from you.

http://goo.gl/maps/5b9R6

Ridiculous and incredibly frustrating in the morning and evening.

derry

Sweden and Stockholm removed some ~90% of all traffic lights and the traffic now flows faster and there are less problems and less accidents from amber gambler traffic light racers

Get the facts about it and send to your local county councils to stop this traffic light madness that has taken Eire by storm . There must be big bungs in the sale of Traffic lights to councilors who choose them for every 10 meters of the roads

Also the speed ramps are illegal on roads where scheduled bus routes are on and yet that law is ignored and on buses passengers get thrown about like broken eggs in a omelet

Derry