Our roads are like the 1960's now

Tacklebox

Has anyone noticed that our road's from the motorways to secondary road's are a disgrace.
Compared to maybe 12 year's ago, you'd see road's resurfacing regularly.

Potholes, dips rough sound's, as if you're driving on constant bump's and water where there never was water ?
The levels are atrocious, it's not hard to get a rake and taper off tar.

It's definitely something to do with engineer's lacking foresight and planning ability.
Probably graduates who haven't even a driving license are on the job as engineers.
You can't beat the old school engineer's.

We've a huge supply of limestone quarries, quite a few closed down.

There's no excuse.

Well, over the boarder, the roads are solidly better quality. But soon that state will no longer be in the EU.
I'd prefer to have poorer roads and stay in the EU myself.
No doubt the shinnerbots will descend on this thread soon enough after my post.

amcalester

The money is being used building and maintaining the motorways.

biko

It has always been the case that the roads in NI are better than the roads in ROI, that's how you know you had crossed the border



Road with white line is Republic of Ireland, where the white line stops is Northern Ireland.

ohnonotgmail

Deleted User wrote: »

Well, over the boarder, the roads are solidly better quality. But soon that state will no longer be in the EU.
I'd prefer to have poorer roads and stay in the EU myself.
No doubt the shinnerbots will descend on this thread soon enough after my post.

It used to be the case when driving from dublin to belfast that the roads would improve coniderably once you crossed the border. that is no longer true.

Cina

biko wrote: »

It has always been the case that the roads in NI are better than the roads in ROI, that's how you know you had crossed the border



Road with white line is Republic of Ireland, where the white line stops is Northern Ireland.

Has it? Try driving Sligo to Enniskillen and telling me that.

I've always found the roads, in general, to be much better here.

I mean there isn't even a proper motorway between their 2 biggest cities!

Tacklebox

biko wrote: »

It has always been the case that the roads in NI are better than the roads in ROI, that's how you know you had crossed the border



Road with white line is Republic of Ireland, where the white line stops is Northern Ireland.

It's not hard to spot the difference is it ?

I know grip is important, but the tyre's should be gripping onto the road and not the road gripping onto the tyre's.

The level of creativity and experience is quite evident at whomever is responsible for our road's.

JupiterKid

Our roads, whilst there may be maintenance issues, are still immesureably better than the dire 1980s and certainly the 1960s when there were virtually no dual carriageways or bypasses, let alone motorways.

The state of the roads here in the 1980s were truly awful and I would argue worse than the 1960s when they were probably maintained better.

A big reason for the nosedive in the standard of road conditions between the 60s and the 80s was the lack of funds to local authorities for maintenance, a lot having to do with the abolition of domestic rates in the late 70s.

Ireland has gone from having the worst standard of roads in Western Europe in the 80s to now having one of the highest density of motorway per head of population, largely achieved between 1995 and 2010.

bear1

It used to be regarded that the north had better quality roads but it's not the case now.
If you believe the roads are now of 1960s quality then I think you'd need to check what the roads actually looked like back then.

Tacklebox

bear1 wrote: »

It used to be regarded that the north had better quality roads but it's not the case now.
If you believe the roads are now of 1960s quality then I think you'd need to check what the roads actually looked like back then.

Ok maybe I'm over compensating with my post, but seriously the road's are quite shabby.

JupiterKid

The roads in the North and their level of maintenance are significantly worse now than back in the 1980s. This is obvious to anyone that travels up North on a frequent basis.

This is one of those cases where an exaggerated comparison ruins the point.. If you believe a decade to be enough, then just say that.

Cina

In fact I'd argue that the difference in our roads shows how much has been invested in ours since the Celtic Tiger, and how little has been invested in theirs. Look at the motorways and dual carriages and whatnot we've built in comparison. I really don't understand how anyone who drives up North thinks NI has better roads.

Sure as soon as you cross the border on the M1 you lose the motorway. They haven't even built a motorway since the 70's!

Tacklebox

[Deleted User] wrote: »

This is one of those cases where an exaggerated comparison ruins the point.. If you believe a decade to be enough, then just say that.

Ok I'll edit my post, thanks for pointing that out to me.

Sorry for ruining the point, I'll flatten it out for YOU

Kermit.de.frog

I complain about the roads here a lot but I think we have better roads than in the north - especially the main roads which are better looked after and maintained here as well. It's chalk and cheese travelling the M1 to the border and then in to the north. Much lower standard on the other side.

The M1 is of the high quality you would expect between two of the biggest cities of an island. It's not replicated on the other side!

Secondary roads from my experience are closer in quality but i'd say they are generally better here with some exceptions of course.

Tacklebox

Tacklebox wrote: »

Ok I'll edit my post, thanks for pointing that out to me.

Sorry for ruining the point, I'll flatten it out for YOU

Actually do I need a mod to change my original post ?

PringleDemon

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

It used to be the case when driving from dublin to belfast that the roads would improve coniderably once you crossed the border. that is no longer true.

True story , the roads in the west of Ulster are a mess and wont be getting any better soon .

Pherekydes

PringleDemon wrote: »

True story , the roads in the west of Ulster are a mess and wont be getting any better soon .

I dunno, I found Donegal's roads ok. Lots and lots of donuts, though.

Billgirlylegs

JupiterKid wrote: »

Our roads, whilst there may be maintenance issues, are still immesureably better than the dire 1980s and certainly the 1960s when there were virtually no dual carriageways or bypasses, let alone motorways.

The state of the roads here in the 1980s were truly awful and I would argue worse than the 1960s when they were probably maintained better.

A big reason for the nosedive in the standard of road conditions between the 60s and the 80s was the lack of funds to local authorities for maintenance, a lot having to do with the abolition of domestic rates in the late 70s.

Ireland has gone from having the worst standard of roads in Western Europe in the 80s to now having one of the highest density of motorway per head of population, largely achieved between 1995 and 2010.

I think the lack of public funds was proven over more than one expensive tribunal to be due to widespread tax evasion by the business "community"

smurgen

The state of cork roads are atrocious. Private companies constantly digging the roads and refilling with shoddy patchwork is an absolute farce.it simply shouldn't be allowed.i also wonder why the rsa don't make so much noise about the state of our roads? Has to be a contributing factor to a number of accidents.
Also the damage done to our cars because of potholes etc is infuriating. What's the point in having an nct if your car is driving on an unsuitable surface?

mad muffin

Op must have driven through my town. Where the roads are ripped up and patch. Ripped up and patched on and on. They look like a patchwork quilt. Badly made one at that.

Tacklebox

mad muffin wrote: »

Op must have driven through my town. Where the roads are ripped up and patch. Ripped up and patched on and on. They look like a patchwork quilt. Badly made one at that.

Was that Ennis lol

goose2005

Cina wrote: »

In fact I'd argue that the difference in our roads shows how much has been invested in ours since the Celtic Tiger, and how little has been invested in theirs. Look at the motorways and dual carriages and whatnot we've built in comparison. I really don't understand how anyone who drives up North thinks NI has better roads.

Sure as soon as you cross the border on the M1 you lose the motorway. They haven't even built a motorway since the 70's!

Only Protestants get motorways...

Das Reich

I went to Enniskellen and Besfast and I can't see this difference that people are talking about.

bennyineire

I drove up to Enisskillen last year from the Midlands. So went from Cavan to Eniskillen, the road from Cavan to the border to Eniskillen is one of the best primary single carraige roads in the country. The difference on the other side was quite shocking TBH.

The road from Eniskillen Derry via Omagh wasn't much better and thats the main trunk road for that side of Nortern Ireland. And don't talk to me about the secondary roads, they were like boreens compared to the roads down here.

I like most people here was lead to believe that the roads in the North were superior to the Republic but I think this was from listening to people say this in the 80's when I was a kid. They may have been better in the 80's but they are far from it now

JupiterKid

The road system up North was definitely far superior to the Republic back in the 1980s. They built their motorways and dual carriageways in the 1960s and 70s and had very ambitious plans but the Troubles put a stop to all that.

Since then, we in the Republic have not only caught up but now hugely surpassed the North. In fact, the quality of road surface up North has deteriorated in the past 20 years.

OP doesn’t know what he's talking about...

goose2005

biko wrote: »

It has always been the case that the roads in NI are better than the roads in ROI, that's how you know you had crossed the border



Road with white line is Republic of Ireland, where the white line stops is Northern Ireland.

twould bring a tear to a glass eye

Trigger Happy

There are a lot of good things about the 60s, 70s and 80s in Ireland but the state of the roads in not one of them.
And let’s not mention the road fatalities and general lack of safety.

lawred2

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Well, over the boarder, the roads are solidly better quality. But soon that state will no longer be in the EU.
I'd prefer to have poorer roads and stay in the EU myself.
No doubt the shinnerbots will descend on this thread soon enough after my post.

That's not true... They are not 'solidly better quality'.. the road to Belfast north of the border is a death trap.

And I've seen just as much poor maintenance up there as down here

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I think two things are abundantly clear: The OP has no idea what the roads were like here in the 60s and doesn't travel Northern Ireland roads very often nowadays.

CrabRevolution

"The roads up north are all better than in the Republic" is one of those thoughtless clichés that have managed to hang on a decade or 2 after they stopped having any truth in them.

Like when people cite "flatscreen TV" as a luxury, as though most people are still buying CRT TVs.

Or "England always say they're gonna win the World Cup", when in reality 2010 was the last time I remember any of this famous baseless optimism from England fans or media.

buried

Theres a road near me on a straight stretch and its like exactly like this feickin Tour De France mountain picture graph over a three mile stretch. I don't know how some boy racer ladeens haven't bounced all over it and flipped their speedy gonzalezwagonz straight to the moon.

I must live in one of, if not the wealthiest council area in the country and it never ceases to amaze me just how ****ing awful the roads are.

There seems to be no accountability, or no control over the various people who dig up roads, fill in the hole and then within six months it has sunk and formed a pot hole.

We’ve got a nice shiny €35m euro library though and the council is very good at painting white lines down the centre of footpaths and congratulating itself on the number of cycle lanes it has “built”, but get in a car and it’s like a very bad rickety roller coaster. And don’t get me started with the councils obsession with building fuxking speed ramps....

And they wonder why 4x4s are so common.

Cee-Jay-Cee

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Well, over the boarder, the roads are solidly better quality. But soon that state will no longer be in the EU.
I'd prefer to have poorer roads and stay in the EU myself.
No doubt the shinnerbots will descend on this thread soon enough after my post.

This is BS. I live in a border county and travel in NI several times every week. Northern Ireland have spent fúck all on their roads in the last 20 years. There used to be a time when travelling through the North was pleasurable but now it’s an absolute nightmare, the surface might be good but the roads have never been upgraded and are the same width today as they were a few decades ago. Main roads have no hard shoulder, are narrow and traffic is very heavy and slow. I hate travelling through NI, it’s like entering the 1970’s.

The J Stands for Jay

Aegir wrote: »

And they wonder why 4x4s are so common.

Small penises

Tacklebox

Just got my car back from a full service, ironically the road's feel better again.

My bushings were nearly metal on metal.

Feels like a new car, it's only 3 year's old, bought it second hand.

Have it a year, I knew something wasn't right.

Capt'n Midnight

biko wrote: »

Road with white line is Republic of Ireland, where the white line stops is Northern Ireland.[/IMG]

one thing I miss abroad are the way the little reflectors at the side change from white to green when there's a side road ahead.