Traffic lights at Dunnes, Terryland.

ger vallely

Has any one else noticed this problem?I drive straight in the Headford Road most every day. The new junction I find great,easy to navigate,no major hold ups and pretty smooth. The problem I have is with some drivers. As I am passing Dunnes in Terryland(on my left),there's a set of lights. When they are green for me to continue heading straight I find so many people stop to let traffic come out of the Dunnes exit.This would have been the decent thing to do pre road upgrade. There is a set of lights there now,which would be red at the stage that mine are green. There is a time at which the exit from Dunnes lights are green and at that point I have to stop.This morning the car ahead of me stopped for ages,let loads out and then we got caught by a red light. It's not that I was tearing along,major rush to get anywhere but it is pointless and quite dangerous. I hold my hands up in quiet acceptance if I'm wrong on this by the way,peace and love and all that!

snubbleste

So your issue is that motorists are going through a red light at a pedestrian crossing

Iwannahurl

My own view -- and it's just a hunch -- is that many road users passing through that area are continuing to do (or at least they feel like doing) much the same as they did when the Bodkin roundabout was there. If there are motorists looking to get out of Dunnes then they let them out, just like in the 'old days'.

I still find myself wanting to travel around Galway on well-worn routes, even when I should go a different way.

Old habits die hard perhaps?

galah

I've seen even worse - people just bolting out of the Dunnes exit, completely ignoring their red traffic lights, into traffic coming down the Headford Road (whose light is green). :mad:

Mrs OBumble

Shocker: Galway drivers ignore traffic lights!!!



(I'm gonna have a car for a few days over the Christmas .. am looking forward to checking out the new intersection from a motorist's perspective. I fugure it probably needs as much care as in the magic-roundabout days, still.)

I do think there is an element of people continuing to consider it as a filter / slip rather than the light it is.

We got beeped at by someone back in the queue for waiting for a green light.

Points to note:
The left turn coming from Dun Na Coiribe does have a filter light so people might legitimately be pulling out there.

There is a sensor loop thingy before the stop line to detect waiting cars - if you pull up too short you won't be detected and the lights won't change. Equally if you stop beyond the stop line across the pedestrian crossing you will be beyond the sensor and the lights mightn't change.

The right hand lane is for turning right only.

The left hand lane is for going straight ahead or for turning left - there is only room for one car in each lane - please don't pull along side me (particularly to my right) in the left hand lane as I am generally going straight ahead.

There does seem to be some intelligence in the timings - at peak times the N6 has priority and you may have to wait a few minutes. Off peak it seems to depend on demand.

edit: the worst I saw so far was someone come from the new junction and pull into dun Na Coiribe, do a U-turn, drive through the red light across the junction and enter Dunnes through the (right turning lane) exit

ger vallely

Well snubbleste,yes motorists would be driving through a red light at a pedestrian crossing,true. Iwannahurl- I get your point,continuing doing things out of habit but this is ridiculous. I meant there is very obvious traffic lights in position. It's not a sign painted on the ground,they are right there for all drivers to see. Well Mrs OBumble,yeah,shocker-someone did a Galway drivers ignore traffic lights thing again,but people have to be aware that something serious could come of this.Surely that is a good use of public forums,no? I was back that way just an hour ago and it happened again,I can only imagine the reaction if I decided to stop further along that section,at the main lights, to allow people out from the other roads.

jkforde

ger vallely wrote: »

Has any one else noticed this problem?I drive straight in the Headford Road most every day. The new junction I find great,easy to navigate,no major hold ups and pretty smooth. The problem I have is with some drivers. As I am passing Dunnes in Terryland(on my left),there's a set of lights. When they are green for me to continue heading straight I find so many people stop to let traffic come out of the Dunnes exit.This would have been the decent thing to do pre road upgrade. There is a set of lights there now,which would be red at the stage that mine are green. There is a time at which the exit from Dunnes lights are green and at that point I have to stop.This morning the car ahead of me stopped for ages,let loads out and then we got caught by a red light. It's not that I was tearing along,major rush to get anywhere but it is pointless and quite dangerous. I hold my hands up in quiet acceptance if I'm wrong on this by the way,peace and love and all that!

I've noticed this as well at that junction and on other roads... one cause is that Irish people are so nice and generous and polite and egalitarian to the point of stupidity and of causing unintended danger. I've lived here all my life and I still boggle at some of these 'polite' antics. It comes from a deep contrarian instinct in us I reckon, ..."oh, that green light?, I'll just ignore that and just keep doing my thing"

at1withmyself

I might be wrong but pretty sure the Driving Tester told me that if you let someone go and they have an accident as a result of that manoeuvre then your liable for advancing them. So if that's right and you let someone out from the Junction who instigates an accident then you could be fined. Although letting people advance through a red light is ridiculous.

Considering the amount of incidents reported on this forum, how many are also reported the Guards? If they're been made aware of the incidents maybe they'll act on them???

Storm 10

One of the problems at Dunnes is that the red light only lets out about three cars so frustration is forcing drivers to try to get out on the red, does anyone in City Hall check to see the times of traffic lights on green.

snubbleste

Storm 10 wrote: »

One of the problems at Dunnes is that the red light only lets out about three cars so frustration is forcing drivers to try to get out on the red, does anyone in City Hall check to see the times of traffic lights on green.

It lets out more than three cars. The main problem is that motorists continue to use Dunnes as a rat run to skip traffic..

ger vallely

I've noticed the rat run being used a lot. Even the Galway FM bike does this in the mornings!!Maybe we'll allow him though as he is just trying to get ahead to report the traffic.

RahenyD5

If people are using the Dunnes car park as a rat run then maybe Dunnes should consider putting in ramps as a deterrent?

I admit not being a Galway local, I've been following the Bodkin thread with interest to see how Galway is coping with the roundabout conversions knowing local drivers' actions! With the Bodkin junction now finished, does anyone know which roundabout is next to be converted, Kirwan (Menlo Park) or Browne (after the bridge) or Morris (Tuam/Sean Mulvoy rds)?

Thanks

zarquon

Storm 10 wrote: »

One of the problems at Dunnes is that the red light only lets out about three cars so frustration is forcing drivers to try to get out on the red, does anyone in City Hall check to see the times of traffic lights on green.

This is the single biggest issue. Rat runners are a large part of the queue coming out of Dunnes. People should not be stopping to let such people out. The lights are green there to allow enough cars to get out with regular Dunnes customer traffic, although this is an exceptional time of the year.

Mrs OBumble

Morris is long gone.

RahenyD5

Sorry, wrong name I meant Joyce roundabout not Morris!

Thanks again

at1withmyself

The whole thing is a disaster, I never saw traffic as bad when the roundabout was there and you could get out straight from dunnes onto the slip road to the roundabout. Now a stupid waste of space of a bus lane is sitting there.

The dyke road is the only way to go now that they ruined the junction. Went into town yesterday and traffic was backed all the way around the kirwin from the new junction. I shot in the dyke road right up to the lights near wood quay with no traffic and was parked in wood quay as quick as I would have been as far as dunnes.

Getting rid of roundabouts is the single worst thing to happen to Galway in many years.

at1withmyself wrote: »

I might be wrong but pretty sure the Driving Tester told me that if you let someone go and they have an accident as a result of that manoeuvre then your liable for advancing them. So if that's right and you let someone out from the Junction who instigates an accident then you could be fined. Although letting people advance through a red light is ridiculous.

Good luck proving it.

zarquon

Maya Swift Returnee wrote: »

The whole thing is a disaster, I never saw traffic as bad when the roundabout was there and you could get out straight from dunnes onto the slip road to the roundabout. Now a stupid waste of space of a bus lane is sitting there.

Yes, it's a disaster for rat runners who are now blocked by the lights.

Maya Swift Returnee wrote: »

Getting rid of roundabouts is the single worst thing to happen to Galway in many years.

Disagree, not building the bypass was the worst thing to happen Galway.

Also the traffic would be crazy at this time of the year regardless of the roundabout. It was the very same last Christmas but you must have a short memory and choose to remember the roundabout with fondness :rolleyes:

Also try coming out from woodquay through the old roundabout and you would be sitting there forever. The new junction is a vast improvement coming from woodquay.