Common Sense Speed Limit Increase - M1

AndyBoBandy

Noticed they have increased the speed limit on the M1 Northbound from the M50 interchange up as far as the Airport interchange from 80km/h to 100km/h.... which makes absolute sense as it was a painfully slow stretch of motorway at 80km/h, which then increased to 120km/h as you passed the airport....

Dare I say it that common sense prevailed here?

Southbound has not changed and it still goes from 120km/h down to 80km/h at the Airport interchange, which makes sense in fairness as you enter the shuffle zone between the airport and the M50 interchange, which is a mecca for swift multi lane changes... (2+ lanes changed in 1 movement)

Edit: Southbound has also increased to 100km/h from the airport interchange down as far as the Coolock exit just before the tunnel where it then goes to 80km/h.

Wishbone Ash

The reason it hasn't changed southbound is that if it were 100km/h, trucks would not be legally able to enter the port tunnel as they can only legally access lanes 2 and 3 where the speed limit is 80 or under.

magicbastarder

it doesn't reaclly make much difference, does it? max 15s difference in journey time.

brianc89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119515902#Comment_119515902

I don't think it's about journey time....

On any road, there is a natural tendancy to drive at certain speeds, depending on the road quality and traffic conditions.

On that stretch of road, 80km/h was just wrong. Almost all drivers drove quicker. Adhering to 80km/h was more likely to lead to an incident.

I think that entire stretch from the tunnel should be 100k in the fast lane and 80k on others increasing to 100k on all lanes from M50 junction northbound.

Wildly Boaring

Fairly sure they've changed southbound a little too.

Does the 80 only start at the M50 now?

AndyBoBandy

yes, southbound is also increased to 100km/h from the airport down as far as the Coolock exit just before the tunnel…

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119515847#Comment_119515847

I thought the restriction was on the outermost lane, so lane 2 of a 3 was legal? That was definitely the case when the ban came in, and I don't think it changed when the speed limits were changed at various points.

Lane 2 leads to the lane that truckers are meant to be in in the tunnel so a lane 3 ban would be irrelevant.

edit: latest amendment to the relevant regs - s33 of the Road Traffic Regulations 1997 - still says outermost lane only. So unless the statutebook website is missing a change, they are allowed in lane 2 of a 3 lane road, regardless of the limit.

I’ve noticed a few more changes too on the m50. The off ramp from M50 to N3 has changed from 30 to 40 and in the opposite direction the stretch from the N3 to the M50 northbound that went from 80 suddenly to 50, is now 60.

Again, fairly minor but as said above, fairly common sense as there were some major speed changes (80 down to 30) that just weren’t logical, or adhered to.

Dravokivich

It's the complete opposite of common sense as far as I'm concerned. You've 1 road splitting into 3 distinct exits there with little margin for error on the narrow hard shoulder. It was just a cop out to raise the limit instead of enforcing it. It's a poor precedent to set as it only encourages people to go faster to see if it teases a higher limit again.

AndyBoBandy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119519073#Comment_119519073

I do agree that inbound/southbound it should probably not have increased, as when you pass the airport interchange, you then have 2 lanes from the airport interchange merging into the M1, and then within less than 1km, it's splitting out to M50/Malahide/City, and the amount of lane changing that goes on there is mental at the best of times!!!

Northbound though it is 100% justified to increase from 80km/h to 100km/h in the section that they did. The only issue I see there is the airport bound traffic going from a 100km/h zone to a 60km/h fairly sharpish zone as opposed to going from only 80km/h to 60km/h.. as that's a well known spot for camera vans.... but alas, teh limits and laws are in place so anyone caught there can only blame themselves

brianc89

Why can't Ireland be the same as Europe and allow variable speed limits in each lane? The 'fast' lane could have a 20km/h higher limit on a lot of these roads we're discussing.

It's absolutely ridiculous that we have to set one number that applies to all the lanes including the leftmost lane where huge numbers of lane changes are occurring.

Wildly Boaring

I got hammered by a couple regular posters for saying this should be variable in particular southbound.

Southbound could be variable from airport to tunnel.

100kph be perfect at 3am or even mid-day

50kph necessary at 8am.

bikeman1

Are there not variable speed limits on the N11? Something like 60 in the bus Lane and 80 in the non bus lanes?

brianc89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119521625#Comment_119521625

Yeah there are. I think some of the bus lane is physically separated from the main road but not all for sure.

I wonder if the M50 will have different limits in each lane when they finally launch their new speed system (using the new overhead electronic signs).

Larbre34

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119519073#Comment_119519073

Nah.

These limits needed reviewing badly, they were a joke.

Although you can see on the M50/N3 J6 the kind of muppetry we are dealing with in the running of the roads and motorways.

As somebody mentioned earlier, the 30 limit on the on/off ramps has been upped to 40, but only the signs have been changed, not the road markings for same, so now they're contradictory.

And its not like conditions haven't been perfect for burning off and remarking thermoplastic paint at night.

Just basic sloppiness that we have become used to in the operating of our main roads, that Christ knows we have paid enough for.