Galway's traffic issues

grbear

WallyGUFC wrote: »

Claregalway still needs a bypass, even though they said the M17/18 would act as the bypass for Claregalway. It obviously hasn't worked. The village and many surrounding backroads are rammed every morning inbound and every evening outbound. Some people aren't taking the chance of trying to get off the motorway at the clinic because of that mess of a roundabout so they'll get off at Oranmore and come down through Claregalway.

Does it need a bypass or should we be looking at how to increase the number of people from Tuam/Milltown etc. using public transport?

kippy

etxp wrote: »

the M17/M18 made the traffic in Claregalway worse.

It hasn't really.
Traffic outside of rush hours is much quieter in the village and anyone going Sligo/Limerick etc no longer has to go via the village.
If traffic is worse, it's because more people are commuting via the village than there were prior to the motor way.

xckjoo

Ashleigh1986 wrote: »

No etxp removal of roundabouts in your situation wouldn't have an effect on your commute.
But CCTV operated traffic light system especially during rush hours certainly would .
Traffic lights turning green when there's no vecihcles on that artuary is a joke .
Also pedestrian lights coming I when there's no pedestrians to cross is another galway joke .

I can nearly guarantee you that that's down to the lights taking so long to change to a green man that people have just crossed on the red. I can't think of a single pedestrian light in the city that comes on automatically; except for a few at large junctions and they're only green because the light for the cars are red anyway. Pedestrian crossing lights have been continuously getting lower and lower priority over they years.

xckjoo

That Claregalway bypass was touted as a solution to traffic in Galway for years. Now we're repeating history with this new ring road.

kippy

xckjoo wrote: »

That Claregalway bypass was touted as a solution to traffic in Galway for years. Now we're repeating history with this new ring road.

There is no Claregalway bypass.
What history is being repeated?

DuckSlice

kippy wrote: »

It hasn't really.
Traffic outside of rush hours is much quieter in the village and anyone going Sligo/Limerick etc no longer has to go via the village.
If traffic is worse, it's because more people are commuting via the village than there were prior to the motor way.

It has. I lived in Claregalway when the motorway opened(obviously it may have changed since I moved but I doubt it). My morning commute went from 10 minutes up to 20 minutes, and the only change was the motorway opening, so for whatever reason this brought more people through Claregalway.

kippy

etxp wrote: »

It has. I lived in Claregalway when the motorway opened(obviously it may have changed since I moved but I doubt it). My morning commute went from 10 minutes up to 20 minutes, and the only change was the motorway opening, so for whatever reason this brought more people through Claregalway.

It hasn't - there is a serious overall reduction in traffic though the village on weekends and off peak hours. More info here:
https://www.nratrafficdata.ie/c2/calendar_alt.asp?sgid=ZvyVmXU8jBt9PJE$c7UXt6&spid=NRA_000000020172

If there are more cars going through the village at peak hours it is a reflection on the amount of people working @ college - rather than as a direct result of the motor way.
The planned changes for the village will make it lease appealing to commute through I would argue also.
https://connachttribune.ie/traffic-calming-scheme-for-claregalway-set-to-go-out-to-tender/

The high cost of rent and lack of availability of accomodation in Galway is forcing more people to live well outside the city and particularly when it comes to college - more and more students are driving.

There are more vehicles than ever on the roads - until that number starts to reduce there are going to be traffic problems.
https://www.cso.ie/multiquicktables/quickTables.aspx?id=tha10_1

xckjoo

kippy wrote: »

There is no Claregalway bypass.
What history is being repeated?

The M17. The M6.

DuckSlice

kippy wrote: »

It hasn't - there is a serious overall reduction in traffic though the village on weekends and off peak hours. More info here:
https://www.nratrafficdata.ie/c2/calendar_alt.asp?sgid=ZvyVmXU8jBt9PJE$c7UXt6&spid=NRA_000000020172

If there are more cars going through the village at peak hours it is a reflection on the amount of people working @ college - rather than as a direct result of the motor way.
The planned changes for the village will make it lease appealing to commute through I would argue also.
https://connachttribune.ie/traffic-calming-scheme-for-claregalway-set-to-go-out-to-tender/

The high cost of rent and lack of availability of accomodation in Galway is forcing more people to live well outside the city and particularly when it comes to college - more and more students are driving.

There are more vehicles than ever on the roads - until that number starts to reduce there are going to be traffic problems.
https://www.cso.ie/multiquicktables/quickTables.aspx?id=tha10_1

So in the space of a few days of the motorway opening my commute went from 10 to 20 minutes, but it had nothing to do with the motorway? Sure!

There may well be a decrease in traffic at off peak times, but at peak times it is definitely busy. People travelling from north and south are taking the motorway as far as the Roscommon junction and coming in to Claregalway in the mornings. I have no data or articles to back this up, but quite a lot of people working in the Parkmore area have told me they do this.

kippy

etxp wrote: »

So in the space of a few days of the motorway opening my commute went from 10 to 20 minutes, but it had nothing to do with the motorway? Sure!

There may well be a decrease in traffic at off peak times, but at peak times it is definitely busy. People travelling from north and south are taking the motorway as far as the Roscommon junction and coming in to Claregalway in the mornings. I have no data or articles to back this up, but quite a lot of people working in the Parkmore area have told me they do this.

You have no data to back anything you've said up bar your personal experience.
I've the personal experience, backed up with data and some suggestions as to why things are as they are.
I am not suggesting its not "busy".

Again, the Motorway was not intended or suggested as a "bypass" of Claregalway so the difference in traffic levels wouldn't have been huge, particularly at peak hours but there have been major improvements in traffic levels and types outside of the peak hours.

Overall, there are a number of major building projects happening around the city at the moment/about to start. Crown Plaza, McDonaghs, the docks development, the development on bohermore, mervue housing estates etc, that will have a major impact on traffic levels in the city centre over the next number of years and there is very little to negligible efford/money being put into sustainable transport solutions for the city and it's environs.
Traffic is only going to get worse as car ownership increases and an ever increasing number of people converge on a city that simply cannot handle it.

DuckSlice

Must just be me imagining the extra 10 minutes so anyway don't have to do that commute anymore so happy days.

kippy

etxp wrote: »

Must just be me imagining the extra 10 minutes so anyway don't have to do that commute anymore so happy days.

Must be - again, I ain't suggesting that traffic got much/any better during rush hour, just that you cannot blame the opening of the motorway on any perceived increase in commute times at rush hour.

DuckSlice

kippy wrote: »

Must be - again, I ain't suggesting that traffic got much/any better during rush hour, just that you cannot blame the opening of the motorway on any perceived increase in commute times at rush hour.

I can and i will lol:D

Ashleigh1986

In many ways the motorways are getting the vecihcles to the problem areas quicker .
The roundabouts at galway clinic and at the end of Dublin to galway motorway are a problem at rush hours in the morning .

Ashleigh1986

Ashleigh1986 wrote: »

No etxp removal of roundabouts in your situation wouldn't have an effect on your commute.
But CCTV operated traffic light system especially during rush hours certainly would .
Traffic lights turning green when there's no vecihcles on that artuary is a joke .
Also pedestrian lights coming I when there's no pedestrians to cross is another galway joke .

I fear you have over estimated the functional abilities of cctv monitored lights.

There isn't going to be some lad sitting there switching on and off the lights

Also, it will only make a marginal difference. The roads have only so much capacity. Once that's reached its reached. Think of it like water through a pipe, once the flow is maxed out nothing you can do will make more water fit through that pipe.

Galway is the same in that the roads will only accommodate so many cars after which they become clogged

Laviski

Deleted User wrote: »

I fear you have over estimated the functional abilities of cctv monitored lights.

There isn't going to be some lad sitting there switching on and off the lights

Also, it will only make a marginal difference. The roads have only so much capacity. Once that's reached its reached. Think of it like water through a pipe, once the flow is maxed out nothing you can do will make more water fit through that pipe.

Galway is the same in that the roads will only accommodate so many cars after which they become clogged

light sequencing in galway in fact Ireland is a joke. the time once red for the other side is green is far too long which in part of the reason of so many re light jumpers. Another issue is the pedestrian crossings - a lot of lights have islands in them now so if the traffic is red allow them to cross half way, it will overall keep the pedestrian moving and happier for it.

WallyGUFC

kippy wrote: »

Who said that the M17/18 would act as a bypass for Claregalway?

I could very well be wrong but I have a vague recollection of seeing that the Claregalway Bypass was being shelved altogether as it would no longer be needed once the new M17/18 had opened.

etxp

etxp wrote: »

the M17/M18 made the traffic in Claregalway worse.

If true it lends credence to the idea that new roads create more traffic.

Traffic flowing through Claregalway is definitely better though - there are fewer cars on the old N18 so the sequences for those lights are much shorter.

The negative side though is that traffic moved from the Headford road and some more traffic was generated to as people switched routines or modes.

You are probably comparing it to traffic during the slump when things were quieter.

ChewyLouie

Deleted User wrote: »

I fear you have over estimated the functional abilities of cctv monitored lights.

There isn't going to be some lad sitting there switching on and off the lights

Why not? There should be.

Not switching individual lights on/off but monitoring the traffic flow and changing the priority of routes to flush traffic out of clogged up areas.

Log the human interventions alongside the traffic counting data (on-road sensors and CCTV footage) and train an AI model to do the re-prioritisation of routes, so if the system sees a similar pattern of heavy traffic it knows what previous interventions worked to ease it.

Ashleigh1986

ChewyLouie wrote: »

Why not? There should be.

Not switching individual lights on/off but monitoring the traffic flow and changing the priority of routes to flush traffic out of clogged up areas.

Log the human interventions alongside the traffic counting data (on-road sensors and CCTV footage) and train an AI model to do the re-prioritisation of routes, so if the system sees a similar pattern of heavy traffic it knows what previous interventions worked to ease it.

Watch chewylouie .... The usual anti car brigade will be soon on knocking any suggestion .
We must all either cycle or take the bus ..... Blah blah blah

I know there are un automated and un updated traffic lights but why do people think they aren't optimised?

It is difficult to flush out a junction like say the Tuam road (the one I am most familiar with) when there are four busy approaches in the evening - it isn't just one dominant flow.

Tuam Road outbound - workers from Liosbaun and town leaving town.
Tuam Road inbound - workers from parkmore heading back to knocknacarragh.
N6 workers heading each way.

No amount of optimisation can fix that without putting someone else out or potentially blocking somewhere else without building a hugely complicated and expensive flyover.
Even if the flyover existed some of the routes would still be blocked as the next junction is overcapacity.

ChewyLouie

Ashleigh1986 wrote: »

Watch chewylouie .... The usual anti car brigade will be soon on knocking any suggestion .
We must all either cycle or take the bus ..... Blah blah blah

I agree that we should (where possible) cycle or use the bus. I'm talking about optimising the traffic flow, this might also mean giving higher priority pedestrian, bus or bike flow if that's where the hold-up is.

DuckSlice

Ashleigh1986 wrote: »

Watch chewylouie .... The usual anti car brigade will be soon on knocking any suggestion .
We must all either cycle or take the bus ..... Blah blah blah

I use my car everyday, hate cyclists and will come up with nearly any excuse to not use a bus. But if you cant see that we need to reduce the number of cars in use in Galway city then I don't know what to say. Maybe you are blinded by your profession.

There would be more time/space for you to run around with your taxi.

ChewyLouie

Deleted User wrote: »

I know there are un automated and un updated traffic lights but why do people think they aren't optimised?

At most junctions there is little to no traffic at the end of some sequences and big tail backs waiting for other sequences. The backed up approaches changes during the day.

These should be monitored and optimised to give the heavy routes a longer sequence and shorter the sequence for quieter routes.

Ashleigh1986

Ashleigh1986 wrote: »

Watch chewylouie .... The usual anti car brigade will be soon on knocking any suggestion .
We must all either cycle or take the bus ..... Blah blah blah

Anti car brigade lol

How about Pro people movement brigade instead.

As pointed out many times the existing roads only have X capcity. That capcity is exceeded at peak times due to the volume of single occupancy cars.

The only way to get more people transported is by moving those who can, to walking, cycling and public transport. Those who can't, stay in their cars but are deprioritised in favour of the others.

One great example of this is the Quays in Dublin city. Cars used to be favoured but that was changed to reduce the lanes for cars and prioritise buses instead with the end result being a far, far higher number of people transported on buses than cars.

Galway population will increase in population by 50% over the next 20 years. Those extra people cannot be accommodated in single occupancy cars unless they are all supposed to sit in traffic jams for several hours a day, every day

biko

Please try to not name-call "the other side". It's easier and better if everyone are civil.

kippy

Deleted User wrote: »

Anti car brigade lol

How about Pro people movement brigade instead.

As pointed out many times the existing roads only have X capcity. That capcity is exceeded at peak times due to the volume of single occupancy cars.

The only way to get more people transported is by moving those who can, to walking, cycling and public transport. Those who can't, stay in their cars but are deprioritised in favour of the others.

One great example of this is the Quays in Dublin city. Cars used to be favoured but that was changed to reduce the lanes for cars and prioritise buses instead with the end result being a far, far higher number of people transported on buses than cars.

Galway population will increase in population by 50% over the next 20 years. Those extra people cannot be accommodated in single occupancy cars unless they are all supposed to sit in traffic jams for several hours a day, every day

This is 100% correct - and it has to happen - soon.

what_traffic

Deleted User wrote: »

The only way to get more people transported is by moving those who can, to walking, cycling and public transport. Those who can't, stay in their cars but are deprioritised in favour of the others.

One great example of this is the Quays in Dublin city.

Agree.
Any big examples in Galway City since the Galway Transporation Study was published in 2016 ?
Can only think of the removal of 10 meter of Bus Lane outside Regional Garda headquarters on the public transportation front and a few new pedestrian crossings like Siobhan McKenna and raised Zebras along WDR and an extra rack for bikes at Raven Terrace and the Bridge Mills.

cdgalwegian

Deleted User wrote: »

As pointed out many times the existing roads only have X capcity. That capcity is exceeded at peak times due to the volume of single occupancy cars.

The only way to get more people transported is by moving those who can, to walking, cycling and public transport. Those who can't, stay in their cars but are deprioritised in favour of the others.

Extensive park'n'ride outside/along Galway's radial spokes would be an excellent solution to Galway's traffic problem (in conjunction with new outer ring and more centre-pedestrianisation), if adequate bus lanes were put in, for now and for future growth. But do Galway people and council planners have the stomach for the chaos that would ensue? And would 'adequate' happen? And would there be funding for it even if it were agreed in principle?
How about something radical to encourage this; a city driving (/congestion) charge, set for, say, 5 years after extensive bus lanes have started to be put in. Small to start off with, but increasing the more bus lanes are put in- there would be public clamour if they weren't being put in quick enough( or would there- are we too docile?).
There has to be pain in any solution, but I would imagine the bus lane solution would have to wait until the new outer ring magical solution will have been seen as not having been adequate, before any large-scale bus-lane solution occurs.

what_traffic

https://connachttribune.ie/galway-city-ring-road-could-open-in-stages-300/

Brendan McGrath the Chief Executive of the City Council ( should planning be approved for the Ring Road )

“Under the Government’s Climate Change Plan, launched a couple of months ago, it envisages there will be 900,000 electric vehicles on Ireland’s roads by the year 2030. That’s the Government’s target, so when the Ring Road is built, most of those will be electric cars,”