Skehard Road Roadworks/Upgrade

chalkitdown1

Just saw today that they finally started working on this. Looks like they're widening the whole stretch & adding an extra lane (among other things) from the top of the hill all the way to the Mahon link road.

http://www.corkcity.ie/news/mainbody,77337,en.html

Badly needed. That road is a bloody nightmare at rush hours. We'll soon be able to get into the traffic jams around Mahon Point a lot quicker!

clerk

There's parts of the plan l can follow, for example l presume the wall across from the off license in SuperValu will come down and the road can be widen there because there is space behind it.

But also there are parts l can't fathom, there is a house very close to the road across from the entrance to Mahon Industrial Estate, how there is room for a bus lane there is beyond me. Also, across from the fuel station there is a business premises near to the road so again how an additional lane fits there is beyond me.

Also, the plan in the link states there are putting in an additional bus lane and widening the footpaths as well ! Are there compulsory purchase orders involved or what ?

TheChizler

A couple of CPOs of front gardens involved all right. Details on the council website.

I'm not sure really how beneficial the bit by Supervalu will be, where they removed all the mature trees. Once you get to the junction with Woodvale Road (where the new bus lane starts) you get through in the next traffic light cycle anyway, so no huge benefit for the bus there. It won't block traffic while loading passengers i suppose. The right turn lane for Supervalu will help a bit but there's only ever 1 or 2 cars queueing there. Could they have sorted that with painted lanes in the junction to encourage cars to move out and not block the lane?

GavRedKing

I think its handy that there will be a left hand lane to head down towards Blackrock GAA at the new junction, will mean the traffic flows a bit better. Anytime I've seen a traffic jam at the Supervale set of lights, I've went through the Woodvale estates and come out on Beaumont road and went through Blackrock that way, its a bit of a detour to get home to Mahon but it avoids that junction which can be a nightmare.

Going to the gym in Dennehys, anytime from 8am onwards that road is busy heading towards Mahon Point so it should solve a few problems.

clerk

TheChizler wrote: »

I'm not sure really how beneficial the bit by Supervalu will be......The right turn lane for Supervalu will help a bit but there's only ever 1 or 2 cars queueing there. Could they have sorted that with painted lanes in the junction to encourage cars to move out and not block the lane?

I think having an additional lane towards Blackrock GAA will let the traffic flow a bit better. Also, it was wicked blind for pedestrians coming from the other direction around that corner and you always get the odd jay walker mental case so with the new set up visability should be much better I'd imagine.

The right turn for Supervalu will help a bit as well in my opinion as sometimes cars going for Supervalu have traffic going to Mahon Point blocked up. I take your point about "painted lanes" there as well, makes sense alright but they have a new solution now it appears.

Neither of these are Nirvana in terms of sorting the Mahon Point traffic itself but they both make sense to me.

That gaff across the road from the entrance to Mahon industrial estate I am still intrigued by. The road narrows there, the footpath is not huge and then a wall and the house is near enough to the wall so how they sort that out is beyond me. Once you get past that tight turn there is plenty of room to widen the road for a good few hundred yards and then the business across from the fuel station is bang in the way as far as I can see. It'll be interesting to see what they do with those 2 bits.

namloc1980

clerk wrote: »

That gaff across the road from the entrance to Mahon industrial estate I am still intrigued by. The road narrows there, the footpath is not huge and then a wall and the house is near enough to the wall so how they sort that out is beyond me. Once you get past that tight turn there is plenty of room to widen the road for a good few hundred yards and then the business across from the fuel station is bang in the way as far as I can see. It'll be interesting to see what they do with those 2 bits.

They're CPOing a portion of the garden of that house and a strip of the Texaco garage to accommodate the wider road layout.

clerk

namloc1980 wrote: »

They're CPOing a portion of the garden of that house and a strip of the Texaco garage to accommodate the wider road layout.

Interesting.

Taking some land off the garage might work, didn't think of that, taking some land on the other side.

Not sure how much of that garden can go, the house is pretty close to the wall as far as I can tell.

namloc1980

clerk wrote: »

Interesting.

Taking some land off the garage might work, didn't think of that, taking some land on the other side.

Not sure how much of that garden can go, the house is pretty close to the wall as far as I can tell.

It's close but not that close looking at the overhead on Google maps. They're also CPOing a strip in front of the credit union.

snotboogie

Any truth that this is the first step in making way for a BRT?

namloc1980

snotboogie wrote: »

Any truth that this is the first step in making way for a BRT?

Hope not. One way bus lane on the Skehard Rd would be a crap BRT.

beer enigma

Great to see the improvements, but rather sad to see all the mature trees with blue crosses on them...I hope it doesn't turn out too sterile

Clamball

Will this improve traffic coming along the Skehard road from the well road/Boreenmanna road direction. Often stuck 10 minutes on the skehard road waiting for the lights at scally's to let a few cars through going north. I know I could go all around the houses, but it is school time, and kids and housing estates, just not worth the risk in my opinion.

Plus how are they going to handle traffic heading down clover hill lane past the golf club. Almost every second car heads down there in the mornings.

GiftGrub100

Now if only they put a traffic circle or as we Irish call them a Roundabout in front of Scallys and took away all the traffic lights, the level of holdups would disappear as no further hold ups nearby. Thus allowing traffic to move.


Oh! Hang on that's what was there before !

AugustusMinimus

GiftGrub100 wrote: »

Now if only they put a traffic circle or as we Irish call them a Roundabout in front of Scallys and took away all the traffic lights, the level of holdups would disappear as no further hold ups nearby. Thus allowing traffic to move.


Oh! Hang on that's what was there before !

I have no doubt lights were put in here to reduce throughput so that there was less cars queueing at the CSO office. They did the same thing by removing the Roundabout at the Silver Quay pub.

They did an awful job outside Scallys. Still looks terrible to this day.

TheChizler

GiftGrub100 wrote: »

Now if only they put a traffic circle or as we Irish call them a Roundabout in front of Scallys and took away all the traffic lights, the level of holdups would disappear as no further hold ups nearby. Thus allowing traffic to move.


Oh! Hang on that's what was there before !

Aren't non-signalled roundabouts only beneficial in low-flow situations? With rush hour traffic throughput is usually less than a signallized junction. Traffic from the arm just after a low flow arm will usually get priority on the entire roundabout and hold up any arm they pass, just look at the roundabout at the end of the N40 Douglas West exit; the Douglas road is commonly backed up half a mile while you're guaranteed to get through the roundabout very quickly when coming from the N40 (they're actually replacing that roundabout with light soon, won't improve overall traffic flow I'm betting but it will make it fairer).

beer enigma

TheChizler wrote: »

Aren't non-signalled roundabouts only beneficial in low-flow situations? With rush hour traffic throughput is usually less than a signallized junction. Traffic from the arm just after a low flow arm will usually get priority on the entire roundabout and hold up any arm they pass, just look at the roundabout at the end of the N40 Douglas West exit; the Douglas road is commonly backed up half a mile while you're guaranteed to get through the roundabout very quickly when coming from the N40 (they're actually replacing that roundabout with light soon, won't improve overall traffic flow I'm betting but it will make it fairer).

I have to admit that I was totally against the removal of the roundabout at the top of the Well Road, but the 'intelligent' lights are actually doing a good job from what I've seen. With the additional housing and apartments going in on Temple Hill, traffic on the Skehard road will only increase. I wouldn't be surprised if the other development on the old Lovetts site kicks off again soon as well.

TheChizler

beer enigma wrote: »

I have to admit that I was totally against the removal of the roundabout at the top of the Well Road, but the 'intelligent' lights are actually doing a good job from what I've seen. With the additional housing and apartments going in on Temple Hill, traffic on the Skehard road will only increase. I wouldn't be surprised if the other development on the old Lovetts site kicks off again soon as well.

I've noticed no real additional delay, if all lights could be as intelligent as these we'd be doing well!

AugustusMinimus

TheChizler wrote: »

Aren't non-signalled roundabouts only beneficial in low-flow situations? With rush hour traffic throughput is usually less than a signallized junction. Traffic from the arm just after a low flow arm will usually get priority on the entire roundabout and hold up any arm they pass, just look at the roundabout at the end of the N40 Douglas West exit; the Douglas road is commonly backed up half a mile while you're guaranteed to get through the roundabout very quickly when coming from the N40 (they're actually replacing that roundabout with light soon, won't improve overall traffic flow I'm betting but it will make it fairer).

It’s not the Roundabout which is the issue here it’s the lights 20m up the road which are the issue.

Before the Shopping Centre was done up and lights installed, there were little or no tailbacks on this Roundabout.

TheChizler

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

It’s not the Roundabout which is the issue here it’s the lights 20m up the road which are the issue.

Before the Shopping Centre was done up and lights installed, there were little or no tailbacks on this Roundabout.

I agree those lights are the cause of the whole tailback situation, but the roundabout is the cause of the unfair situation of one tailback being so long and the other so short. Lights will give South Douglas Road vehicles a chance to get through.

AugustusMinimus

TheChizler wrote: »

I agree those lights are the cause of the whole tailback situation, but the roundabout is the cause of the unfair situation of one tailback being so long and the other so short. Lights will give South Douglas Road vehicles a chance to get through.

I agree. If the lights are slightly out of sync with the present set of lights however it will cause complete chaos.

I also think SRR traffic will still get priority to ensure there is no traffic queuing on the SRR.

boardsuser1

I very very vaguely remember there being no lights at the junction outside Super Valu, it was nearly 25 years ago though.

The well road roundabout is gone roughly 10 years now.

I much preferred it.

What’s next?

Every roundabout in the city will be removed and be replaced with traffic lights?

AugustusMinimus

Cork Truck Driver wrote: »

I very very vaguely remember there being no lights at the junction outside Super Valu, it was nearly 25 years ago though.

The well road roundabout is gone roughly 10 years now.

I much preferred it.

What’s next?

Every roundabout in the city will be removed and be replaced with traffic lights?

Which is the Well Road Roundabout? The one beside the Silver Quay pub is only gone about 4 years.

I’m Fairly certain the one outside Scallys was removed in the early to mid 2000s.

boardsuser1

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

Which is the Well Road Roundabout? The one beside the Silver Quay pub is only gone about 4 years.

I’m Fairly certain the one outside Scallys was removed in the early to mid 2000s.

I call it the well road roundabout, locals may know of it differently, if you are coming from scally’s heading in the direction of Boreenmanna road, the traffic lights that are there today, you can swing left also and head off down towards Douglas.

Could’ve swore that was removed in 2008.

Is the one at Scally’s gone that long?

I didn’t venture down that area at all from 1994-2006 hence the lack of memory of it.

TheChizler

This thread chronicled it: https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=71890519

boardsuser1

TheChizler wrote: »

This thread chronicled it: https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=71890519

Seems alot longer :eek:

xabi

Cork Truck Driver wrote: »

Seems alot longer :eek:

I was surprised it was that long ago, seems like only yesterday to me.

boardsuser1

Today's Echo

http://www.eveningecho.ie/corknews/Work-begins-on-key-Skehard-Road-junction-2f645e58-0a5c-4a29-b517-3aabdf745aaf-ds

Are they removing front gardens to do this or what is the story?

Nerdlingr

Yeah, dont know why they got rid of the roundabout that was at Scallys in the first place. Trafiic was flowing freely through there at the time. ...but as is more and more the case which road 'improvements' they usually end up breaking something that isnt broke.

GavRedKing

I didnt think there was that much space behind that wall actually.

TheChizler

Cork Truck Driver wrote: »

Are they removing front gardens to do this or what is the story?

All the land acquisitions, FYI.

http://www.corkcity.ie/media/ProposedLandAcquisition.pdf

boardsuser1

TheChizler wrote: »

All the land acquisitions, FYI.

http://www.corkcity.ie/media/ProposedLandAcquisition.pdf

Wilton road is next for all of this.

TheChizler

Cork Truck Driver wrote: »

Wilton road is next for all of this.

Isn't the signalised junction supposed to be a requisite for the shopping centre upgrade? It was a few years ago anyway.

boardsuser1

TheChizler wrote: »

Isn't the signalised junction supposed to be a requisite for the shopping centre upgrade? It was a few years ago anyway.

The residents don’t want it.

What I was referring to was from Dennehys cross to the Wilton roundabout on both sides.

Remove gardens in the same manner as Skehard Road.

Is part of the petrol station forecourt also being removed?

blindsider

That's my recollection also.

The Wilton RD roundabout really is a pinch-point now, what with Aldi and Lidl traffic on top of the hospital.

If the SC is re-developed, they will need to do sth, but a signalised junction doesn't seem to be the answer. Too much traffic, too little space, too little expertise. The current roundabout isn't even marked properly.

Also, Dennehy's Cross would benefit if traffic heading west couldn't turn right. Straight and left only....? Inconvenient for a few I'm sure, but something needs to give.

chalkitdown1

Drove through these works today on the way to Mahon. The whole place is a bit of a disaster zone at the moment, as is to be expected. Can't wait for it to be finished.

I thought they were supposed to be widening the road coming down the hill going towards Supervalu, though? It looks like they've instead widened the footpaths to a ridiculous degree and are sticking to 3 lanes (two traffic lanes and a bus lane?) when there's clearly room for 4. Bit disappointing, that. I thought there was gonna be a bus lane on either side.

The new pushed-back wall at across the way from Supervalu looks pretty awesome, though. Really nice stonework.

Patrick 1959

I thought they were supposed to be widening the road coming down the hill going towards Supervalu, though? It looks like they've instead widened the footpaths to a ridiculous degree and are sticking to 3 lanes (two traffic lanes and a bus lane?) when there's clearly room for 4. Bit disappointing, that. I thought there was gonna be a bus lane on either side.

The new pushed-back wall at across the way from Supervalu looks pretty awesome, though. Really nice stonework.[/QUOTE]

Agree totally with you, the road is narrower now and on the right hand side coming down the hill has two footpaths-with a green area between them . What a waste of money and room for a continuous Bus lane on both sides of the Skehard

TheChizler

chalkitdown1 wrote: »

I thought they were supposed to be widening the road coming down the hill going towards Supervalu, though? It looks like they've instead widened the footpaths to a ridiculous degree and are sticking to 3 lanes (two traffic lanes and a bus lane?) when there's clearly room for 4. Bit disappointing, that. I thought there was gonna be a bus lane on either side.

Apart from match days when is there ever traffic going Westwards after Supervalu? There's the occasional hold up due to the faulty traffic lights at Silverdale Drive, apart from that I've never had an issue going that direction.

chalkitdown1

TheChizler wrote: »

Apart from match days when is there ever traffic going Westwards after Supervalu? There's the occasional hold up due to the faulty traffic lights at Silverdale Drive, apart from that I've never had an issue going that direction.

At rush hour in the evening there are sometimes backlogs towards Mahon because as the busses have nowhere to pull in, people get stuck behind them while they pick up 20+ people at each stop and you can't overtake them because of all the traffic coming in the other direction towards Mahon. I've been sat behind the same bus for 20 minutes along that road.

That route is only going to get busier as Cork grows. It would've been great future planning to have a bus lane going both ways but we're not too good at that future planning stuff in this country, unfortunately.

Watch them rip the street up again in 20 years to add that westward lane.

TheChizler

chalkitdown1 wrote: »

At rush hour in the evening there are sometimes backlogs towards Mahon because as the busses have nowhere to pull in, people get stuck behind them while they pick up 20+ people at each stop and you can't overtake them because of all the traffic coming in the other direction towards Mahon. I've been sat behind the same bus for 20 minutes along that road.

By Maxol and SuperValu yes, but beyond the SuperValu stop to the West it doesn't back up. No massive benefit in a dedicated bus lane going westwards there.

barry181091

They have wrecked the actual road itself, are they planning on redoing? All I see them doing is skimming off a few inches and replacing with some macadam. Surely they would have gone a bit deeper and put down proper new layers.

xabi

barry181091 wrote: »

They have wrecked the actual road itself, are they planning on redoing? All I see them doing is skimming off a few inches and replacing with some macadam. Surely they would have gone a bit deeper and put down proper new layers.

If they don’t it will look like a right botch job. I read on the council site for the project that they will “resurface where necessary”. The whole thing from one end to the other needs to be resurfaced

Clamball

chalkitdown1 wrote: »

I thought they were supposed to be widening the road coming down the hill going towards Supervalu, though? It looks like they've instead widened the footpaths to a ridiculous degree and are sticking to 3 lanes (two traffic lanes and a bus lane?) when there's clearly room for 4. Bit disappointing, that. I thought there was gonna be a bus lane on either side.

The new pushed-back wall at across the way from Supervalu looks pretty awesome, though. Really nice stonework.

Patrick 1959 wrote: »

Agree totally with you, the road is narrower now and on the right hand side coming down the hill has two footpaths-with a green area between them . What a waste of money and room for a continuous Bus lane on both sides of the Skehard

Now that the Skehard road is almost finished, I am very disappointed as well. What is with the superwide footpath, where are the cycle lanes, and why not have bus lanes at either side given that the foot paths could have been much narrower. There are so many cyclists on this road I would be happier to have dedicated cycle lanes for them. It seems a lot of work and not a lot of benefit.

TheChizler

Clamball wrote: »

Now that the Skehard road is almost finished, I am very disappointed as well. What is with the superwide footpath, where are the cycle lanes, and why not have bus lanes at either side given that the foot paths could have been much narrower. There are so many cyclists on this road I would be happier to have dedicated cycle lanes for them. It seems a lot of work and not a lot of benefit.

Cycle lane hasn't been painted all the way yet, if you look up by Park Hill they've started lane markings and have continued the cycle lane that ends by the Silver Key. It's a combined cycle/bus lane going west towards SuperValu. I don't think there's a need for a dedicated bus lane going east from SuperValu, the next regular tailback is all the way up Boreenmanna Road. How would a bus lane help significantly?

The works are by no means almost finished as well.

cantalach

Clamball wrote: »

Now that the Skehard road is almost finished, I am very disappointed as well. What is with the superwide footpath, where are the cycle lanes, and why not have bus lanes at either side given that the foot paths could have been much narrower. There are so many cyclists on this road I would be happier to have dedicated cycle lanes for them. It seems a lot of work and not a lot of benefit.

My understanding is that these very wide paths immediately adjacent to the road will be part cycle lane. You'll notice that on much of the route closer to SuperValu there is a second narrower footpath proper running closer to the houses. That said, until the red paint and lines go down, we won't really know for sure!

beer enigma

cantalach wrote: »

My understanding is that these very wide paths immediately adjacent to the road will be part cycle lane. You'll notice that on much of the route closer to SuperValu there is a second narrower footpath proper running closer to the houses. That said, until the red paint and lines go down, we won't really know for sure!

I was told that as well.

The road, even with the works looks very narrow for three lanes, especially as one will have the buses trundling down - I can see a good few wing mirrors biting the dust after its finished.

TheChizler

cantalach wrote: »

My understanding is that these very wide paths immediately adjacent to the road will be part cycle lane. You'll notice that on much of the route closer to SuperValu there is a second narrower footpath proper running closer to the houses. That said, until the red paint and lines go down, we won't really know for sure!

The plans are on the council website.

https://www.corkcity.ie/news/mainbody,71964,en.html
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Fabio

It's a disaster as far as I am concerned. A completely missed opportunity to scale back the footpaths a little and have an extra bus lane with a few more inches of width on each lane for cars and trucks.

Has anyone taken a look at the radii of the turns? The one by Supervalu is no fun for a bus or truck to navigate, it's far too tight. Ridiculous.

TheChizler

Fabio wrote: »

It's a disaster as far as I am concerned. A completely missed opportunity to scale back the footpaths a little and have an extra bus lane with a few more inches of width on each lane for cars and trucks.

Maybe it's a missed opportunity if you're trying to promote the use of private vehicles and trucks in the area. The wider footpaths really open it up for pedestrians IMO, walking down before you'd be dodging cars parked across the path and reversing out of driveways without looking.

People keep saying they should have put a second bus lane in, can anyone explain what the benefit of this would be?

Nerdlingr

So they're gonna put the cycle lane on the footpath , like they have down past the chemist along towards the cso??? Dopey or what.
Why not just a normal cycle path on the road and shorten the footpath?
I think the bus stop by the new wall they built doesnt have the capacity for the bus to pull in (i may be mistaken) so the bus is going to be stopped on the road near the traffic lights holding up traffic. Its the same on the Supervalu side no? no capacity to pull in?
I remember years ago they had a roundabout at Supervalu and the whole thing just flowed perfectly...the days before Mahon point so obviously not a s much traffic... but it just seems they cut up the old road (going eastward), a load of old trees, to make a two lane road that becomes a one lane at Supervalu anyway.

TheChizler

Nerdlingr wrote: »

So they're gonna put the cycle lane on the footpath , like they have down past the chemist along towards the cso??? Dopey or what.

I don't believe so. They've painted some of the road markings on the section with the final tarmacked surface and they've continued the on-road cycle lane that goes up to the Silver Key. The plans above have the lanes on the road as well.

j8wk2feszrnpao

TheChizler wrote: »

Maybe it's a missed opportunity if you're trying to promote the use of private vehicles and trucks in the area.

You mean those private people who paid tax on the vehicle, pay tax on fuel, pay motor tax, insurance.......
Less of the "private" rubbish. They are public roads, used and paid for by the public.