lights out on motorway exit and entrance ramps

channelsurfer2

anyone know the reason why the lights are not on at certain exits of the m4m6 and m7?
was coming home a few nights this week and its quite noticable for example at the kilbeggan tyrellspass and rochfordbridge ones. lights are on at certain ones so looks like a policy to turn em off where they consider exits arent major ones.

howiya

Old article about it here.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/lights-switched-off-at-motorway-junctions-in-bid-to-cut-electricity-bill-by-1m-a-year-1.3721543

beauf

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/more-drivers-die-on-motorways-with-street-lights-switched-off-v9tg37srm

I wonder that stats they'll invent here around them here.

magicbastarder

do they use proper reflective shades on them? my understanding is that ideally you should not be able to see the light (as in the lightbulb) until at most a couple of hundred metres away - that what you should be seeing is what the light is illuminating. it's more efficient (less light wastage) and means your eyes will be better adjusted to what you should be looking at.

screamer

To save money is the real reason. They’re not even putting lights on new junctions now which have a lower traffic volume.

punisher5112

I think it's great as it means others actually have to turn their lights on so you can actually see them coming around the bends and so on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyrmWOaX0es

listermint

screamer wrote: »

To save money is the real reason. They’re not even putting lights on new junctions now which have a lower traffic volume.

Theres f'all money powering LED lights on junctions.


Light pollution however is a big thing

punisher5112

listermint wrote: »

Theres f'all money powering LED lights on junctions.


Light pollution however is a big thing

These all nearly have sodium bulb fittings.

The big round ones up so high also.

beauf

Quality of light these days is very poor..

GM228

Have a look at the TII publication on the issue.

IE 222

If they put in better quality cat eyes it shouldn't be an issue. They've upgraded some sections on the M7 between J14 & 15 recently and you can really notice the difference between old and new. The junctions are very clear and probably more noticeable than using lighting. The new sections light up like a runway although the new blacker road surface, which will fade, helps a lot with this.

punisher5112

IE 222 wrote: »

If they put in better quality cat eyes it shouldn't be an issue. They've upgraded some sections on the M7 between J14 & 15 recently and you can really notice the difference between old and new. The junctions are very clear and probably more noticeable than using lighting. The new sections light up like a runway although the new blacker road surface, which will fade, helps a lot with this.

Road studs as they call them are needed badly on many many roads.

They replaced them on the N11 and M11 around a year maybe nearly 2 ago and most have now failed.

There is a difference at different sections where the traditional 2 eye reflector was replaced with a full with one strip reflector which imo are so much better and last many many years and still reflect back good light.

The ones that fail from traffic going over they squeeze down and crack and the 2 eye reflector units pop out.

IE 222

punisher5112 wrote: »

Road studs as they call them are needed badly on many many roads.

They replaced them on the N11 and M11 around a year maybe nearly 2 ago and most have now failed.

There is a difference at different sections where the traditional 2 eye reflector was replaced with a full with one strip reflector which imo are so much better and last many many years and still reflect back good light.

The ones that fail from traffic going over they squeeze down and crack and the 2 eye reflector units pop out.

Yeah the M7 new ones are the full strip as opposed to the old 2 eye ones, very noticeable southbound were the long bends after J14 start to straighten out. They should all be upgraded to the strip ones.

Do they need to replace the whole unit or can they just replace the reflector. Obviously damaged or squished down ones would need replacement.

_Kaiser_

It's a penny pinching exercise pure and simple.

It's also very dangerous to be honest with the varying lengths of exit lanes/merges, stopping distances, visibility etc.

Of course "reasons" have been trotted out (one of them being it doesn't impact night vision of drivers staying on the mainline - nonsense.. How do these people cope with oncoming traffic or when they get to an urban area? Absolutely fine is how!), but the bottom line is money as usual.

channelsurfer2

thanks for the replies. The junction at kilbeggan is awful -- your up on the exit before you know it in the dark as the cats eyes are virtually invisible. Personally i feel its a penny pinching exercise.

road_high

I don’t like the lack of lights on junctions especially in ones that were previously well lit. If they want to save money on lighting publicly it’s the last place they should have started- try public buildings that are often only used a few hours per day

uck51js9zml2yt

road_high wrote: »

I don’t like the lack of lights on junctions especially in ones that were previously well lit. If they want to save money on lighting publicly it’s the last place they should have started- try public buildings that are often only used a few hours per day

Try living in rural Ireland where a lack of lights on roads is an everyday occurance. As for junctions, we have green bollards to tell us where to turn!

Del2005

channelsurfer2 wrote: »

thanks for the replies. The junction at kilbeggan is awful -- your up on the exit before you know it in the dark as the cats eyes are virtually invisible. Personally i feel its a penny pinching exercise.

There's several massive blue signs before the junction, do they not warn you about it?

beauf

Lamar Substantial Page wrote: »

Try living in rural Ireland where a lack of lights on roads is an everyday occurance. As for junctions, we have green bollards to tell us where to turn!

It's a bit different when you have complicated junctions, multi lane traffic and fast merging traffic.

road_high

Lamar Substantial Page wrote: »

Try living in rural Ireland where a lack of lights on roads is an everyday occurance. As for junctions, we have green bollards to tell us where to turn!

I’m all the time in rural Ireland! Motorways are completely different due to their fast paced traffic and more complicated layouts etc. They’re aren’t that many junctions and they should be lit in so far as possible to aid motorists and road safety

channelsurfer2

Del2005 wrote: »

There's several massive blue signs before the junction, do they not warn you about it?

yes they do.. but its the merging lane that's the offending piece in the dark your up on it before you know it....

https://www.google.com/maps/@53.3582753,-7.4863846,3a,47.9y,253.49h,82.49t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sO6f7mouS21YYt9GFfx7UOg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Jamie2k9

channelsurfer2 wrote: »

yes they do.. but its the merging lane that's the offending piece in the dark your up on it before you know it....

https://www.google.com/maps/@53.3582753,-7.4863846,3a,47.9y,253.49h,82.49t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sO6f7mouS21YYt9GFfx7UOg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Hence the 300/200/100m warning signs before all junctions, you should be adjusting your speed plus there is a lot of signage i.e. the big blue one where the exit lane starts...

If the cats eyes are bad contract TII.

beauf

The number of crashes on stretches of motorways where lights have been switched off or fail to work has almost doubled in less than a decade, according to an official report.

Research shows that casualties on fast-moving roads with unused lighting have jumped by 88.2 per cent since 2010.

Working well it seems.

magicbastarder

source?

beauf

magicbastarder wrote: »

source?

UK.

No one has need to back up their opinions thus far. No real need to start now.

beauf

beauf wrote: »

UK.

No one has need to back up their opinions thus far. No real need to start now.

Well in that case.....

The number of crashes on stretches of motorways where lights have been switched off or fail to work has almost halved in less than a decade, according to an official report.

Research shows that casualties on fast-moving roads with unused lighting have decreased by 88.2 per cent since 2010.

Source: Its a secret

beauf

Or you can just Google the quoted text.

It's a bit like the news. Do you do some research to see if it true? Do you see look to see what the experience of the issue was anywhere else? Are there any studies with data on the issue?

beauf

beauf wrote: »

Or you can just Google the quoted text.

It's a bit like the news. Do you do some research to see if it true? Do you see look to see what the experience of the issue was anywhere else? Are there any studies with data on the issue?

You posted the stat, the onus is on you to provide the source. It's quite simple really but you seem to be struggling with the concept

beauf

The lights are being turned off. I just spent a few minutes researching it and not accepting the reason given at face value. I thought by not giving a link people might actually do some research aswell.

I was wrong.

In my experience when challenging decisions made by someone in authority, might be bus stops, bus lanes or junction design or traffic lights etc. It's usually worthwhile checking the research and other countries experience.

punisher5112

Will they be removing the poles etc?

channelsurfer2

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Hence the 300/200/100m warning signs before all junctions, you should be adjusting your speed plus there is a lot of signage i.e. the big blue one where the exit lane starts...

If the cats eyes are bad contract TII.

actually now you say it they must have just cleaned the cats eyes as they are much more visable this weekend than when I first posted it. It;s amazing the difference.