New signs every half km on motorways?

RoyalMarine

Might be posted before, not 100% sure.

Has anyone noticed the new signs erected on motorways that notify you that you are .5km closer to the next motorway junction?

Travelling from Cork to Dublin, they're on both sides of the road from the toll to the m8? interchange.

Is this not just a serious waste of money?!

Bigus

RoyalMarine wrote: »

Might be posted before, not 100% sure.

Has anyone noticed the new signs erected on motorways that notify you that you are .5km closer to the next motorway junction?

Travelling from Cork to Dublin, they're on both sides of the road from the toll to the m8? interchange.

Is this not just a serious waste of money?!

And an added danger to crash into, every half km is overkill.

MrDerp

They don't indicate distance to junction, they indicate your position North bound or south bound in km. e.g. M8 S 43.5 indicates that you are 43.5km South on the M8, i.e. 43.5 km from where it branched from the M7. It's much simpler to code up than "I'm about half way between Cahir and Cashel". There are presumably many practical reasons for the signs.

For example, if you had a breakdown or medical emergency on the motorway, can you give an accurate position to (emergency) services? Do you remember what exit you last passed? I often don't think about where I am on the motorway, as I'd be going the distance from Dublin to Cork.

With these signs, you are at worst 250m from information about your precise location. If your elderly parent/grandparent had a medical emergency and this sign got medical attention to you even 5-10 minutes quicker, would you still consider it a waste of money?

csd

These are called Driver Location Signs. As mentioned, they're to assist in locating broken down cars or accidents.

CBRD has an article on the UK version here.

Many European motorways have markers every 100 metres, and they don't seem to consider it a waste of money...

/csd

j@utis

every 100m is overkill really. every 1km maybe... waste of money really.

munchkin_utd

csd wrote: »

These are called Driver Location Signs. As mentioned, they're to assist in locating broken down cars or accidents.

CBRD has an article on the UK version here.

Many European motorways have markers every 100 metres, and they don't seem to consider it a waste of money...

/csd

slight tangent, but in Italy in addition to having such markers, they also have little signs every other km or so to tell you of the distance to the next junction or next services.
Fierce handy so it is.

Of course that will never happen in Ireland because we only copy the brits and any other smart ideas, like say in France where they can have the emergency phones flash to alert you of danger ahead would be far too sensible (until the brits adopt it and then it becomes a great idea!)

L1011

j@utis wrote: »

every 100m is overkill really. every 1km maybe... waste of money really.

They're not every 100m

DeiseforLiam

They were put in as part of the new motorway maintenance contracts. Also useful from a maintenance point of view.

corktina

interestingly the UK have these, in km whereas everything else is in miles.

RoyalMarine

Makes perfect sense now. Thanks for the info.

DeiseforLiam

corktina wrote: »

interestingly the UK have these, in km whereas everything else is in miles.

Yes but I suppose all their technical info is metric (DMRB etc.). Only reference to miles in the standards is in relation to design speeds.

Carawaystick

In France they have km posts on almost every road
And on autoroutes, they have smaller distance markers for power lines and bridges

Some motorways even sign the roads that cross over them too

dloob

j@utis wrote: »

every 100m is overkill really. every 1km maybe... waste of money really.

There are little signs every 100m parts of the M6.
They are on top of the concrete central barrier.
They seem to be distance tracking with two numbers on them.
The top seems to be the distance from the start of the motorway in km and the bottom is 0 to 9 for the 100 meter intervals between the km.

I don't think they were there originally but I'm not sure when they appeared.

L1011

They're chainage markers for the ppp concessionaire. All ppp roads have something vaguely similar I think. Usually not the median though - little posts at the edge.

glineli

Nice to see them on the N18 northbound, reminds me of how many KMs need to be built to complete it.

_Kaiser_

These are a great thing for situations where you need to let someone know where you are (eg: recovery services, Gardai etc)

Speaking for myself I do the Dublin-Cork run a fair bit and wouldn't have a clue where I am in terms of town-lands or even county sometimes (my reference point is the junction numbers) so this is definitely a good thing.

For example, just last week on the M7 there was a guy with a trailer pulled up in the centre median as the rear door had come loose and was lying on the outside lane of the motorway. Using the reference points I was able to tell the Trafficwatch girl exactly where he was so a car could be dispatched to divert/slow traffic or whatever.

corktina

these signs have appeared on the N20 twixt Cork and Mallow I see

GerardKeating

corktina wrote: »

these signs have appeared on the N20 twixt Cork and Mallow I see

And between Cork and Youghal.

Danno

There are quite a few that could have been mounted to very nearby posts on existing signage - but alas the great waste continues.

M4Girl

Probably not mounted on existing posts if only "near", as all the signs would have been set out accurately for distance and spacing...the signs (aluminium plate, steel post and concrete base) are at 500m intervals, with the intermediate 100m locations marked on the back edge of hard shoulder with thermo - this would be fine if the blacktop had been cleaned and swept first, if they don't wear out over time and spillages etc, and if they didn't need to be re-done each time the shoulder is resurfaced or repaired. And the 500m signs are an additional hazard and cost in the event of vehicle impact (and they are in the way of the grass-cutting).

Of course if we'd gone for a UK-style plastic marker post system it would have been easier, simpler, cheaper and better for maintenance, but hey, that's how it goes.

M4Girl

marmurr1916

M4Girl wrote: »

Probably not mounted on existing posts if only "near", as all the signs would have been set out accurately for distance and spacing...the signs (aluminium plate, steel post and concrete base) are at 500m intervals, with the intermediate 100m locations marked on the back edge of hard shoulder with thermo - this would be fine if the blacktop had been cleaned and swept first, if they don't wear out over time and spillages etc, and if they didn't need to be re-done each time the shoulder is resurfaced or repaired. And the 500m signs are an additional hazard and cost in the event of vehicle impact (and they are in the way of the grass-cutting).

Of course if we'd gone for a UK-style plastic marker post system it would have been easier, simpler, cheaper and better for maintenance, but hey, that's how it goes.

M4Girl

This is what they use in the UK:





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antoobrien

marmurr1916 wrote: »

This is what they use in the UK:

Slightly smaller and at 500m intervals but it's as good as the same thing as we now have on (at least) the M6.

marmurr1916

An explanation from the NRA of the new signs:

Location Reference Indicator (LRI) signs and Location Reference Markings (LRMs) are being deployed along motorway/dual carriageway sections of the national road network to assist road users accurately communicate where they are. In the event of an incident or breakdown, the road user can relay the information contained on the LRI sign or LRM to describe where you are. LRI signs/LRM markings will mean you can in the event of an
incident inform emergency services exactly where the incident has occurred

http://www.nra.ie/News/RepositoryforPressReleases/file,18582,en.pdf

They'll be placed at 500m intervals on motorways and dual-carriageway sections of national roads:

All LRI signs contain 3 lines of information that inform the road user of;
• The route number on which you are travelling
• The direction of travel, this can only be one of N, S, E or W
• The distance from the start point of the route
LRI signs are located on the nearside verge and are typically spaced every 500 metres although this may be modified at some locations to avoid inappropriate sites.

They'll also be supplemented by markings painted every 100m on hard shoulders:

Location Reference Markings (LRMs)
Location Reference Markers(LRMs)supplement the LRI signs. Location reference Markers are painted in the hard shoulder parallel to the road. The LRM indicates the route and the direction of travel along with distance from the start of the route. In addition the LRMs indicate the direction to the nearest emergency telephone. An example LRM is indicated in Figure 2 below. LRMs are painted in the hard shoulder every 100 metres.

icdg

Location Reference Indicators? Why did they need to think up a new name for what are essentially exactly the same as the English driver location signs? (Although they are better for using compass points instead of the "A" and "B")

Oddest place I've seen them so far, the dual carriageway section of the N85 in Clare.

larchill

M4Girl wrote: »

Probably not mounted on existing posts if only "near", as all the signs would have been set out accurately for distance and spacing...the signs (aluminium plate, steel post and concrete base) are at 500m intervals, with the intermediate 100m locations marked on the back edge of hard shoulder with thermo - this would be fine if the blacktop had been cleaned and swept first, if they don't wear out over time and spillages etc, and if they didn't need to be re-done each time the shoulder is resurfaced or repaired. And the 500m signs are an additional hazard and cost in the event of vehicle impact (and they are in the way of the grass-cutting).

Of course if we'd gone for a UK-style plastic marker post system it would have been easier, simpler, cheaper and better for maintenance, but hey, that's how it goes.

M4Girl

See the one @ the start of the M2 heading south near Ashbourne has already become a victim of grasscutting! The post has been flattened & the sign M2 S 0 is thrown over on the grass.

Irish_rat

The signs are on the M20 and some of the N21 aswell. Personally I think it's a bit overkill

mackerski

Irish_rat wrote: »

The signs are on the M20 and some of the N21 aswell. Personally I think it's a bit overkill

Don't worry, I think John Waters will be denouncing them from his pulpit any day now.

Mr Cumulonimbus

Also are on the N1 HQDC north of Dundalk.

marmurr1916

icdg wrote: »

Oddest place I've seen them so far, the dual carriageway section of the N85 in Clare.

They're being placed on every motorway and on every dual-carriageway section of N-road in the country.

AugustusMinimus

marmurr1916 wrote: »

They're being placed on every motorway and on every dual-carriageway section of N-road in the country.

They'll hardly squeeze a sign onto the N71 I'd say.

L1011

N51 DC is fairly tiny too. Not sure which is actually shorter.

They've slipped up on the westbound carriageway of the N6 before junction 13, the marker change from green to blue after junction 12, the motorway starts at J13.

Did they switch colour too early or miss one or two out while placing them, meaning that all the subsequent ones are further east than they should be.

L1011

Where does it change from blue to green?

MYOB

MYOB wrote: »

Where does it change from blue to green?

Not sure, must check next time I go east.

MYOB

MYOB wrote: »

Where does it change from blue to green?

Between J12 & J13, it's as if they changed one kilometre early.

ArnieSilvia

Distance markers at side of the road (white vertical type) are very helpful in bad visibility conditions i.e. fog, esp. in the dark. Seen how it worked in Bavarian mountains (every FEW meters on bends).
These also work great if you're first person driving on the road after major snowfall (not in this country I know) but it helped me a lot to avoid going into a ditch. In case of big snow and wind in the open, flat area the road will blend with surroundings, you'd have no idea where the road is

Like someone pointed out, it'll need a generation for people to realize these things are actually helpful

icdg

icdg wrote: »

Oddest place I've seen them so far, the dual carriageway section of the N85 in Clare.

To add to odd places I've seen them, the single-carriageway "secret motorway" section of the N10 in Kilkenny has them also, the only single carriageway road I've seen them on.

flazio

Was on the M6 Eastbound the other day and I noticed at the ditch edge of the hard shoulder there was a complicated number sequence and an arrow painted onto the hard shoulder every few metres. The arrows seem to point to the nearest Emergency Call Box

Danno

marmurr1916 wrote: »

They're being placed on every motorway and on every dual-carriageway section of N-road in the country.

N80 Portlaoise inner relief road too?

spacetweek

ArnieSilvia wrote: »

Like someone pointed out, it'll need a generation for people to realize these things are actually helpful

It should not take longer than 6 months.
It's hard to describe to the emergency services where you are when you're in the middle of nowhere. What's hard to understand about that?