Westport - The Best Place to Cross The Road in Ireland

StewartGriffin

What is going on with these elaborate pedestrian crossings being built all over the town? It's as if the council got carried away with all the awards and has dreams of Paris or New York, this is a small town in the west of Ireland.

How many crossings does one town need? How hard is it to cross a small street that they need to build these things?

James Street is nice, but it's not the Avenue des Champs-Elysees.

DuckSlice

They are not pedestrian crossings. They are courtesy crossings( or whatever you want to call them) and pedestrians could do with a reminder of that.

YouTookMyName

glorified speed bumps.

nuac

These crossing assume some give and take between pedestrians and motorists.

They are an effort to channel pedestrian crossings to fixed places

Most drivers do slow down as they approach the crossing, and allow pedestrians right of way.

I understand that they are not legally compelled to. Simply good driving manners and practice

Likewise pedestrians should not just step out onto them without warning or waiting for traffic to stop.

And holding a pint in your hand as you cross from one pub to the other does not make you easier to see or buffer you against a collision

rabwaygal

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rabwaygal

The crossings help slow traffic as well. Problem is people have no problem abandoning their cars in the middle of the street to pop into the shops. Serious amount of ignorant drivers in that town.

DuckSlice

nuac wrote: »

These crossing assume some give and take between pedestrians and motorists.

They are an effort to channel pedestrian crossings to fixed places

Most drivers do slow down as they approach the crossing, and allow pedestrians right of way.

I understand that they are not legally compelled to. Simply good driving manners and practice

Likewise pedestrians should not just step out onto them without warning or waiting for traffic to stop.

And holding a pint in your hand as you cross from one pub to the other does not make you easier to see or buffer you against a collision

I myself slow down most of the time as traffic is usually slow moving anyway. It's the pedestrians that are the problem they think they have right of way and just walk out in front of them. Half the time people don't thank you either. That really annoys me!

gizmo555

As a Westport resident, I've been tearing my hair out over the way the entire town has been dug up for the last few months. It is causing traffic chaos that, in proportion to the small size of the town, I've never seen in my life before. Just yesterday evening, it took me 40 minutes to drive from King's Hill to James St - a distance of just over 1km.

What's most annoying is that most of the works being done seem to be entirely cosmetic and non-functional. The council seems happy to bring the entire town to a standstill for the sake of pointless prettification.

CiniO

Those things are not pedestrian crossings.
They are just speed ramps.
Once everything is finished, I suppose Westport should become the speed ramp capital of Europe, as I can't think of any other place I've seen with higher density of speed ramps.

Pedestrian crossing is the one with painted zebra on the road near tourist office.

StewartGriffin

There seems to be a terrible lack of democracy in the entire project. Beyond that, an almost malicious absence of communication.
Residents have being given no reason (nor choice) why their streets are being ripped up.

Who asked for these convoluted speed ramps?

Where are the "soon to be obsolete" town council in all this?
Perhaps they were never very relevant after all?

gizmo555

StewartGriffin wrote: »

Where are the "soon to be obsolete" town council in all this? Perhaps they were never very relevant after all?

Isn't their imminent abolition the whole point? I had the impression they're in a rush to spend their reserves - God forbid they should end up being transferred to the county council and used for the "benefit" of the people of Castlebar or Ballina! :eek:

yop

gizmo555 wrote: »

Isn't their imminent abolition the whole point? I had the impression they're in a rush to spend their reserves - God forbid they should end up being transferred to the county council and used for the "benefit" of the people of Castlebar or Ballina! :eek:

Well I do believe a number of town councillors are going to be Irish Water employees.

monument

Generally, motorists must yield to pedestrians once they have started crossing (and they have not just jumped out in front of a car just a meter or two away.

CiniO wrote: »

Pedestrian crossing is the one with painted zebra on the road near tourist office.

Painted zebra = zebra crossing.

The term pedestrian crossing covers a few things from crossings with pedestrian lights to any crossing marked with lines.

gizmo555 wrote: »

Isn't their imminent abolition the whole point? I had the impression they're in a rush to spend their reserves - God forbid they should end up being transferred to the county council and used for the "benefit" of the people of Castlebar or Ballina! :eek:

Ballina is at the same thing -- as I'm sure most town councils are.

oscarBravo

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