Closure of the road at the hatch bridge on Celbridge?

Movie Maestro

I drove over the hatch bridge from Celbridge going towards Newcastle this morning and noticed a sign saying road closed from around 20 Feb until 3 Mar. Has anyone seen this and does it refer to the actual humpback bridge at the hatch pub being closed during this time? Maybe they'll finally put traffic lights on each side of it to control the flow of cars!

Doodah7

Saw those signs also. Of course there is nothing I can find on the Kildare County Council website...:rolleyes:

Movie Maestro

tallpaul wrote: »

Saw those signs also. Of course there is nothing I can find on the Kildare County Council website...:rolleyes:

Typical!

It would be good to know if the bridge will be closed as I'll need to choose a different route and a know of lot of others will too

The Clam

I've heard that it is going be closed from 9.30am-4.30pm each day and that it is to put lights at the hump back bridge..hopefully its true!

Peppa Pig

tallpaul wrote: »

Saw those signs also. Of course there is nothing I can find on the Kildare County Council website...:rolleyes:

Would that be because it's in county Dublin

Looks like traffic lights, all right

SDCC wrote:

To facilitate traffic signalling works, South Dublin County Council propose to temporarily close Hazelhatch Canal Bridge from Monday 20th February to Friday 3rd March 2017 (Monday to Friday from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.)
Local access will be maintained.
Detour signs will be erected.
Alternative Routes:-
Via
Newtown Road and Lyons Road and vice versa

SDCC

shanev13

The lights are likely to allow for local access along the canal, and also allow for pedestrians who wish to cross the bridge, so overall I would estimate that this change will result in delays for most drivers and especially during rush-hour, when traffic generally flows surprisingly well.

Movie Maestro

Hopefully they can get the sequence right on the lights for the humpback bridge, although I wouldn't bet on it, otherwise we can expect long tailbacks in rush hour just like at Frank O'Rourke's disasterous lights on the Maynooth road:eek:

Buffman

Movie Maestro wrote: »

Hopefully they can get the sequence right on the lights for the humpback bridge, although I wouldn't bet on it, otherwise we can expect long tailbacks in rush hour just like at Frank O'Rourke's disasterous lights on the Maynooth road:eek:

shanev13 wrote: »

I would estimate that this change will result in delays for most drivers and especially during rush-hour, when traffic generally flows surprisingly well.

Yep, probably going to turn the current minimal delay into a long one. I commuted that way for four years and apart from ice and snow, the only traffic issues there were caused by HGVs and other large vehicles getting 'stuck'.

In the short term, while the road is closed, the residents of The Lords Road, Ardclough/Newtown Road and Lyons Road are probably going to get inundated with diverted traffic.

the_syco

Buffman wrote: »

In the short term, while the road is closed, the residents of The Lords Road, Ardclough/Newtown Road and Lyons Road are probably going to get inundated with diverted traffic.

If the lights turn out to be really bad, it may not just be in the short term....

BattlingCheese

Have they been turned on ? Large queue outbound on the hazelhatch road this morning. Back to the tennis club.

Made catching the train a bit of a rush. Saw a few people at station that missed it .

Doodah7

No but I think there may have been a bit of a Mexican stand-off on the bridge that led to long delays both sides. I came up on the end of it heading towards Celbridge and my side was moving so it didn't affect me. But there were a LOT of cars ahead of me going in my direction which is unusual - as in a line snaking over the railway bridge which I've never ever seen before.

Interestingly as part of the works, the Council put in a traffic camera so the bods in SDCC probably had a great view of it. Almost certain to hasten the turning on of the lights with this sort of carry on.

BattlingCheese

thanks tallpaul, I won't change my morning schedule just yet so.

Del2005

tallpaul wrote: »

No but I think there may have been a bit of a Mexican stand-off on the bridge that led to long delays both sides. I came up on the end of it heading towards Celbridge and my side was moving so it didn't affect me. But there were a LOT of cars ahead of me going in my direction which is unusual - as in a line snaking over the railway bridge which I've never ever seen before.

Interestingly as part of the works, the Council put in a traffic camera so the bods in SDCC probably had a great view of it. Almost certain to hasten the turning on of the lights with this sort of carry on.

Where is the camera? I've crossed a few times and can't see it.

What was the point of doing 2 weeks of work to not turn on the lights. I'd assumed that they would of been turned on once installed.

Doodah7

Del2005 wrote: »

Where is the camera? I've crossed a few times and can't see it.

What was the point of doing 2 weeks of work to not turn on the lights. I'd assumed that they would of been turned on once installed.

It is on a pole near the gate into the pub.

I think lights are generally turned on a period of time after completion of works to get motorists to notice that lights have been installed and used to the idea.

Movie Maestro

OP here, was just wondering how this has panned out? Has traffic flow improved at all? Have the lights been turned on yet?

squrm

No, lights are still not turned on

Movie Maestro

squrm wrote: »

No, lights are still not turned on

Cheers for the update, I won't hold my breath

HonalD

Movie Maestro wrote: »

Cheers for the update, I won't hold my breath

If you've no electricity supply to the new signals then they can't be switched on!

Del2005

HonalD wrote: »

If you've no electricity supply to the new signals then they can't be switched on!

They were digging for 2 weeks and it's hardly as if it's miles from a power line.

HonalD

Del2005 wrote: »

They were digging for 2 weeks and it's hardly as if it's miles from a power line.

True but ESBN need to connect supply I presume.

quadrifoglio verde

The pedestrian crossing on the Dublin Road before the Orchard didn't have its lights turned on for a good while. Seems to be what they do.

The surface of the bridge is quite rough in places. Surely while it was closed for two weeks it would have made sense to resurface it as well?

squrm

Lights are now on!

ytareh

Has the mayhem started ? Anything but the briefest of sequences will make these very car unfriendly even at off peak times .Ripe for being broken by impatient motorists in either sense I reckon .

Speedsie

squrm wrote: »

Lights are now on!

It will be interesting to see how this pans out once traffic volumes return to normal.

My mother recalls an attempt at putting lights on in the late 70s/early 80s that only lasted a few weeks.
Traffic in the evenings heading towards Celbridge backed up past Concast, nearly as far as Brunkard's (the green building).

She has insisted the lights were a trial for permanent lights, not just temporary lights for roadworks which also cause issues.

Traffic volumes have increased substantially in the intervening years, but so too has light control technology.

I forsee mayhem.

Speeds

ytareh

Foresee? More like guarantee !

Snoopy1

I got stuck at these the other day at 7pm. The lights are very quick and I was in a row of 10 cars so had to sit for ages

BattlingCheese

Traffic back to the tennis club outbound at 8:15 this morning.

corm500

BattlingCheese wrote: »

Traffic back to the tennis club outbound at 8:15 this morning.

Wow.....bet no one foresaw that happening :cool:

2011abc

Approached these from Newcastle direction around 445pm.The traffic ahead seemed to get a good long run but I didn't make it and was stopped admittedly not for too long .Then three cars ahead got through but the lights changed almost immediately and I was left to scramble through on orange .Theres something funny going on with the sequencing .Would a car coming from canal have caused this ?Anyway report of mayhem at rush hour will keep me well away in morning .

Joe Public

Has anyone sent in their complaint to SDCC? I have

http://www.sdublincoco.ie/index.aspx?pageid=1279&proceed=true&lng=english

2011abc

Posted one or two replies since but kept getting deleted with log in crash etc .

I did send in a complaint to SDCC about these on previously linked form .

They cause very little or no delay at off peak .

They seem to have very 'smart' sensors .

Motorists now naturally drive FAR faster over the narrow blind humpbacked bridge than before ( trying to catch the green light and sure don't they have right of way anyway !) when they tended to gingerly nose over while watching carefully .

If the point of this change was to make pedestrians safer it's clearly a monster fail .

Were they partially to allow canal barge owners cars out ? I would have guessed with a bit of cooperation this wouldn't have been a big deal previously .

I feel sorry for those tackling them at rush hour .Must be hell .Lights on these kinds of bridges are ridiculous ...Monasterevin must be the worst ....idiotic !

The_Pretender

A lot of noise complaints have been made by locals, I'd say it's to do with that.

Joe Public

I got a reply to say they were working on the busy period timings and that the lights were installed for Health & Safety reasons. I know the bridge is scary but never heard of any serious accidents.

Del2005

The_Pretender wrote: »

A lot of noise complaints have been made by locals, I'd say it's to do with that.

I used to blow my horn if going over during the day or early evening, at night I used to flash my headlights a few times. When it was early or late and bright I used to have to slowly try and peak over.

I never use it at peak so don't know how much different it is having more vehicles queuing, especially diesels with their noise and fumes, to before. But if the queues are going much future back then the noise has to be increasing.

quadrifoglio verde

The most frustrating part of the bridge was when two trucks would meet, one either side and they would have a mexican stand off. That situation doesnt happen anymore.

I think the biggest issue though is the location of the lights so close to the bridge. They should have been half way down the bridge on the newcastle side

shanev13

Overall, the lights are not helping the situation.
As previously stated, people now speed over the bridge and often on a "dark-orange" light.

Two solutions:

1. Build a proper bridge with space for two-way traffic.
2. Ban SUV traffic from this route, and from Celbridge bridge.

Joe Public

shanev13 wrote: »

Overall, the lights are not helping the situation.
As previously stated, people now speed over the bridge and often on a "dark-orange" light.

Two solutions:

1. Build a proper bridge with space for two-way traffic.
2. Ban SUV traffic from this route, and from Celbridge bridge.

2 chances

mloc123

shanev13 wrote: »

2. Ban SUV traffic from this route, and from Celbridge bridge.

Germancarfan

presume you mean HGV ?

Even at that it's not practical

2011abc

Hard to believe a safety initiative would result in the near doubling of speeds ! Green light chasing comingfrom Newcastle direction is seeing near motorway speeds approaching this narrow bridge .Unreal the capacity of 'authority' to wreck havoc while fixing something that wasn't broken .What was once a highly dangerous road for pedestrians must now be lethal .

quadrifoglio verde

2011abc wrote: »

Hard to believe a safety initiative would result in the near doubling of speeds ! Green light chasing comingfrom Newcastle direction is seeing near motorway speeds approaching this narrow bridge .Unreal the capacity of 'authority' to wreck havoc while fixing something that wasn't broken .What was once a highly dangerous road for pedestrians must now be lethal .

Are there not pedestrian lights on it as well though if crossing across the road on either side of the bridge

Riskymove

Traffic back to Celbridge GAA today.....crazy.....what a fail again by Councils

Joe Public

It's very frustrating in the mornings when you have a handful of cars coming against you and at the same time sitting in a queue back to the tennis courts.

Riskymove

I sent in a complaint.

they have responded to say that there was an issue with the sensors!

These have been replaced and traffic has improved. I had noticed this morning that there was no backlog of traffic

BattlingCheese

Riskymove wrote: »

I sent in a complaint.

they have responded to say that there was an issue with the sensors!

These have been replaced and traffic has improved. I had noticed this morning that there was no backlog of traffic

Cheers for the feedback but I will wait a few days to be sure. Monday is a fair bit quieter on the roads.

shanev13

Yes, I was referring to HGV traffic (apologies for the mistake).

Both this bridge, and the bridge in Celbridge are not suited to, nor capable of handling large trucks, etc.
They often cause a backlog or delay, and there have been cases of damage to the bridge structure.
There are alternative routes available, via dual-carriageways and motorways.

Not sure why anybody would disagree, but I'd be interested to know more.

mloc123

shanev13 wrote: »

Yes, I was referring to HGV traffic (apologies for the mistake).

Both this bridge, and the bridge in Celbridge are not suited to, nor capable of handling large trucks, etc.
They often cause a backlog or delay, and there have been cases of damage to the bridge structure.
There are alternative routes available, via dual-carriageways and motorways.

Not sure why anybody would disagree, but I'd be interested to know more.

I would agree with that.. certainly for the bridge on main st, no need for HGVs to use it.

mullyboyee

One bonus of these new lights is the chance for people using the pedestrian entrance to the train station to actually be able to cross the road now without having to wait ages for a constant stream of traffic to pass in the evenings.

Riskymove

mullyboyee wrote: »

One bonus of these new lights is the chance for people using the pedestrian entrance to the train station to actually be able to cross the road now without having to wait ages for a constant stream of traffic to pass in the evenings.

i always thought it starnge there was not at least a zebra crossing

Numina

Had tailbacks to the roundabout this morning, the closer I got I could see the lights were on red for an excessive amount of time with no traffic crossing over which got me thinking, and when I crossed over I saw the cause. Some lad has his van parked on the stop line of the traffic light on the northeast side (the pub side) coming off the canal.

With the lights being camera controlled, the camera is looking at the van as if it's traffic and giving it a green light every cycle.

Del2005

Numina wrote: »

Had tailbacks to the roundabout this morning, the closer I got I could see the lights were on red for an excessive amount of time with no traffic crossing over which got me thinking, and when I crossed over I saw the cause. Some lad has his van parked on the stop line of the traffic light on the northeast side (the pub side) coming off the canal.

With the lights being camera controlled, the camera is looking at the van as if it's traffic and giving it a green light every cycle.

Never copped that and was wondering why the lights were nearly always red no matter what direction I came from. Even saw them changing to red from a few hundred metres away and no traffic coming over, then going green again for me.