Tall Ships Race - Traffic Plans

AdMMM

Okay, I only heard about this today but the traffic plans seem to be ridiculous! Now I think they have further updated the plans, but I was unable to find any article on either the Waterford City Council website or the News & Star website so thos article (dated April 26th) may be out of date!

Announcing details of the plan which features extensive use of Park & Ride facilities, Lar Power, Director of Services – Transportation & Infrastructure, Waterford City Council said that the arrangements will help ensure public safety and allow emergency services to operate effectively during what promise to be some of the busiest days Waterford has ever experienced with direct economic benefits estimated at over €20m.

“We’ve been working with our Garda colleagues for several months on preparing the traffic management plan for The Tall Ships’ Races and are now satisfied that the arrangements being put in place will allow us accommodate the massive influx of visitors from all over the country and overseas for this spectacular event. We do, however, also acknowledge that there will be a degree of adjustment required by motorists and it is for this reason that we are outlining details well over two months in advance.”

Supt Michael McGarry, of An Garda Síochána, who has worked closely with Waterford City Council on dealing with the logistical challenge presented by The Tall Ships’ Races added, “The plan that we are now setting out was only finalised after a considerable review period and after all of the main scenarios that may unfold in July were mapped out.

“One of the difficulties with Waterford is that we only have a single river crossing in the city and, given this and the need to close off the south quays, we have to temporarily divert through traffic over some of the older residential areas of the city. With the co-operation of motorists, residents and business people, we can however minimise disruption and help Waterford make the best possible impression with visitors during this prestigious event while also ensuring that local people can safely and comfortably enjoy this unique occasion.”

A traffic control cordon taking in Bridge Street, Summerhill, Military Road, Morrison’s Road, Cannon Street, Ashe Road, Inner Ring Road, Richardson’s Folly, Upper Grange Road and the Outer Ring Road will operate around the city from 6.45am-11pm daily on Wednesday- Friday, July 6-8 with lesser restrictions in place on the morning of Saturday, July 9 as the tall ships depart.

During the period when the cordon is in operation, traffic will not be allowed enter the cordon area without a special residents’ permit to prove they live within the inner city. Exceptions to this include buses, taxis, emergency vehicles and those displaying official disabled person discs.

At the perimeter of the cordon, clearly signed diversions will be in operation with each restricted entry point to the city to be manned by An Garda Síochána. Four Park & Ride sites will be in operation at the Airport Road, Killure; IDA Technology Park, Butlerstown; Purcell lands, Newrath and Belmont Park on the Waterford-New Ross road. Approximately 60 priority buses will continually convey day-trippers and commuters from these sites to dropoff points in the city centre, from where they will be collected later when returning to the secure parking sites.

Local residents living outside the cordon area and working inside it will be required to use public transport or walk to work as they will not be allowed enter the cordon area with their cars. Commuters from outside the city who work within the cordon area must use the appropriate Park & Ride site as they too will not be allowed enter the cordon area with their cars.

Longer than usual journey times can be expected throughout the week to July 9 given the additional volumes of traffic and those travelling to work in areas outside the cordon should also allow extra time for their commute.

The entire perimeter of the cordon will temporarily become a no parking clearway to facilitate through traffic, emergency vehicles and mass transport providers. Car owners who reside on the cordon route and who normally park on the route will be issued with a special permit on application to Administrative Officer, Traffic Section, Waterford City Council, Bishop’s Palace, The Mall, Waterford before Wednesday, June 1. This permit will enable them to park free-of-charge within the cordon area though not on the route itself. It is anticipated that there will be ample parking within the cordon area.

Other designated temporary no parking zones will be in operation throughout the city and will be clearly marked. Any vehicle found parked in such areas will be towed away and returned only on payment by its owner of all costs incurred.

Car owners who reside within the cordon area will also require a special permit to enter and exit the cordon area. Current holders of residents’ permits for the disc parking area as well as holders of current carer and visitor permits will automatically receive their special permit for July 6-9 by post in late June.

Car owners living within the cordon area but outside the current disc parking area can obtain a special permit by applying to Waterford City Council before June 1. Residents of Quarrymount, Grange Heights, Grange Manor and Farran Park estates on the Williamstown Road will not receive permits, as there is no direct route from these estates to the inner cordon. Similar restrictions apply to Ardkeen Village off the Outer Ring Road.

Out-of-town visitors staying at hotels and guesthouses or with relatives within the cordon area can also apply for special permits that will enable them drive into the cordon area. These will be provided on application to Waterford City Council before June 17.

Companies making deliveries to businesses within the cordon area on the dates involved will be issued with a special permit upon application to Waterford City Council before June 1. Businesses receiving such deliveries should advise the delivery companies accordingly.

Businesses located within the cordon area are also advised that their own delivery trucks will need a special permit to enter the cordon area. Again in this instance, permits will be issued on application to Waterford City Council before June 1.

These businesses should also advise their customers to call prior to July 6 to collect goods/materials that will require transport. Substantial city centre shopping should be completed before Wednesday, July 6.

Through-traffic is advised to avoid Waterford city where possible with airlines and ferry companies to be guided accordingly. In addition, motorists whose journeys necessitate passing through Waterford during The Tall Ships’ Races are advised that they can expect lengthy delays – something that should be particularly accounted for by those leaving to catch scheduled flights or car-ferries.

City residents from outside the cordon area wishing to visit the 80+ visiting tall ships and the accompanying festival should do so either by availing of public transport or by walking, as they will not be allowed enter the cordon area with their cars.

Residents from within the cordon area wishing to visit the city centre should also do so either by availing of public transport or by walking, as this will aid the smooth-running of the event.

Visitors to The Tall Ships’ Races from outside the city will be directed to the appropriate Park & Ride facilities for their approach route. Inbound traffic on Rice Bridge will be restricted to one lane while it may also be necessary to similarly restrict outbound traffic for some periods.

The Airport Road will be closed to inbound through-traffic at its junction with the new Outer Ring Road in Killure. Motorists will be advised in advance and diverted accordingly. The Rockshire/Mount Sion Road in Ferrybank will be closed to all traffic other than local traffic and buses. The Ballyrobin Road will also be closed, except for local access. The Mullinabro Road will be closed, except for access to and from the Park & Ride site and local access.

The road at Bishop’s Hall will be one-way, from Milltown Cross towards Smartscastle Cross. The road at Smartscastle will be oneway, from Smartscastle Cross towards Dunkitt Junction. Traffic will not be permitted to exit from Abbey Road on to Fountain Street in Ferrybank.

All car-parks between Rice Bridge and the Tower Hotel on the South Quays will close at 7pm on Monday, July 4 and reopen on Saturday, July 9. On Tuesday, July 5 traffic travelling along the Quays towards the Mall will be restricted to a single lane. Commuters who currently park in the car-parks on the South Quays will be facilitated temporarily at De La Salle College in Newtown.

From Wednesday to Friday, July 6-8, the South Quays will be completely closed to traffic, except for pre-arranged deliveries to businesses before 11am.

Arising from the closure of the Quays, the provision of local and national bus services by Bus Éireann will be facilitated by the provision of a temporary bus depot at the Glen for July 6-8.

To facilitate this, it will be necessary to restrict on-street parking of private cars in the main area of the Glen as this space will be needed for the loading and unloading of buses. Organised annually by Sail Training International (www.sailtraininginternational.

org) to develop and educate young people through sail training,

Links:
http://archives.tcm.ie/waterfordnews/2005/04/22/story17774.asp
http://www.waterfordcorp.ie/notices/wtstraffic.doc
http://www.waterfordcorp.ie/notices/TSRParkRide.pdf

I wonder will it work out?

Mossy Monk

it starts on a wednesday?

Vadrefjorde

FFS thats a bit of overkill!!! I still don't understand it. If i want to drive over the bridge on that wednesday evening to get home then i'll need a permit to prove i live in waterford?? Why is the inner ring road included in this ludicrous plan? :mad:
I work in Larne Co. Antrim and that's the day i'm coming home so to add to my normal 6 hour drive i'm now going to have to crawl around back roads if i can't get across the bridge just to reach Kilcohan :mad:

Trotter

Did anyone truly expect there to be anything but absolute chaos for this event?

In all fairness, we have what I have heard described from one Dublin visitor as a "brutal set of traffic management engineers" in the city. Organising a proper traffic management system for the few days was a bit complicated so... sure shut the place down. Keep the visitors happy... they spend the money, and sure the locals will have forgotten all about it in a week.

It sucks. Festival my a$$, anyone Ive spoken to would rather go away for the few days to avoid the hassle.

angry_fox

That cant possibly work. Alot of people will be ringing up Billy McCarthy about it anyway.

Trotter

It drives me crrrrraaazzyy that so many fellow Waterford people think the solution to all our problems is to ring BILLY MCCARTHY!! He's a DJ!! Why not ring city hall and ask to speak to the person in charge of the mess!

You might not get through but he/she will certainly hear that theres a few unhappy people looking to have a chat!

mike65

Trotter wrote:

It drives me crrrrraaazzyy that so many fellow Waterford people think the solution to all our problems is to ring BILLY MCCARTHY!! He's a DJ!! Why not ring city hall and ask to speak to the person in charge of the mess!

You might not get through but he/she will certainly hear that theres a few unhappy people looking to have a chat!

Billy McCarthy is not a DJ have you heard his show? If ppl light up the switchboard he will get the Council reps on the show to debate the matter.

Mike.

Trotter

Fair enough for the tall ships then maybe its an avenue to vent grievances but for other issues where Waterford itself is getting a rough deal, theres no point in ringing Billy McCarthy. Its too localised a solution to make a difference at national level. Anyway.. Im wayyy off topic.

mike65

Here's a better map than mine



Mike.

Rew

Hmmm im slap bang in the middle of the circus...

Bards

Waterford got the tall ships race back in 2000 on the understanding that all infrastructure would be in place, namely

1.) Waterford City Bypass
2.) North Quays
3.) Outer Ring Road
4.) Motorway almost complete

In order to handle the increased visitor numbers. I am sure Sail Training International would never have awarded Waterford "Host Port Status" if we said that none of the above would be ready in time. So expect chaos.

AdMMM

And I'm betting that the plans will be badly publicised as well, knowing the Council, it will be a Munster Express aanouncement on the day!

I'm slap bang in the middle of the off limits zone, so I won't be affected that much and I'll be able to get a decent lie-in in the morning because there won't be any traffic outside my window at 8am!

I assume that residents in the area are allowed move freely around the off-limits zone?

Trotter

So the road from Tesco Ardkeen to Ardkeen Hospital is closed? Tesco wont like that..

Mossy Monk

looking at that picture i can sense a huge pain in the arse forthcoming

mike65

Something I cant quite tell from the above description is if the Inner Ring Road is open to normal traffic which wishes to go the various estates to the south of it - ie Avondale, Cherrymount, Grange etc.

Mike.

Sooner or Later

Looks like I'll be taking the bus into work.

The parking restrictions seem totally OTT for an event centred on the Quay.

Lawnkiller

As someone who works in the centre of the planned cordon and lives well outside it, I think I'll be taking the bus for those days. TBH, I've seen the plans several times now and they seem to be based on the plan of all the other cities in the Tall Ships race. Cherbourg and Newcastle both have publicised plans to do a 'park and ride systems' for their part and I'm sure Fredrikstad in Norway have something similar planned(Norway generally has lots of good traffic management procedures in place all year round).

So traffic cordons and park and ride plans are not as mad or over the top as they first seem. Waterford's inner city has difficulty coping with the traffic as it stands. But could you imagine trying to get emergency services in to the quay, etc. with all the extra visitors for those few days?

Overall, it doesn't seem so bad for the couple of days it'll be on here.

juliekerin

Maybe I'm looking at the map wrong but how are people meant to get in and out of the City if the bridge and all the roads leading to it are part of the cordon?

Unfortunately some of us will have to work the days the Tall Ships are on, and work in Kilkenny - presuming the bridge etc are closed how am I (and all the other ppl commuting between W'ford and KK) supposed to get to work!?

All looks like a disaster to me- esp the bit about all visitors staying in hotels/guesthouses within the cordons having to register before arriving in Waterford!

Our man in Havana

Will it be possible to get over the bridge and get to the industrial estate for work?

Mossy Monk

stupid city council and their ****ed up traffic plans probably didnt even think about that situation bond

Our man in Havana

Mossy Monk wrote:

stupid city council and their ****ed up traffic plans probably didnt even think about that situation bond

Another days holidays required so!:(

mike65

The Rockshire/Mount Sion Road in Ferrybank will be closed to all traffic other than local traffic and buses. The Ballyrobin Road will also be closed, except for local access. The Mullinabro Road will be closed, except for access to and from the Park & Ride site and local access.

The road at Bishop’s Hall will be one-way, from Milltown Cross towards Smartscastle Cross. The road at Smartscastle will be oneway, from Smartscastle Cross towards Dunkitt Junction. Traffic will not be permitted to exit from Abbey Road on to Fountain Street in Ferrybank.

Seems to me you're truly fecked if coming from the New Ross side, the bridge at Fiddown is going to be chocca!

Mike.

Rew

Faxed in my residents permit request yesterday hopefully they wont make a balls of that...

Our man in Havana

Is this sort of restriction even legal? restricting the city to residents?

Dilbert75

Chillax there a bit peeps - I had that same query about getting over the bridge and to the Ind Est, i.e. travelling along the cordon, so I e-mailed the organisers.

The nice lady in Waterford City Council quickly reassured me that traffic will be able to travel along the cordon, just not cross it. She did say to expect heavier traffic in the evening, however, though with the quays closed, the bottom of Bridge St onto the bridge should be a straight run. To ease your minds further, the Gardai will be on duty at that junction. (Bring a flask of soup and a sleeping bag).

As I understand it, all through traffic will be directed up Summerhill and out onto the Cork Road. The less time you spend on that route, the quicker you'll get places, I guess.

Our man in Havana

That is a relief.

Maharet

Bards wrote:

Waterford got the tall ships race back in 2000 on the understanding that all infrastructure would be in place, namely

1.) Waterford City Bypass
2.) North Quays
3.) Outer Ring Road
4.) Motorway almost complete

In order to handle the increased visitor numbers. I am sure Sail Training International would never have awarded Waterford "Host Port Status" if we said that none of the above would be ready in time. So expect chaos.

Hah! Is anyone surprised? Although in fairness they didn't know that there was going to be a great big Viking site in the middle of the planned route. Still the rest are no where near even starting, never mind finishing! :rolleyes:

So from what ye're saying people will still be able to come in and out of Waterford across the bridge and up summerhill, just not down the quays, right? Cool
I will indeed be expecting chaos!

Rew

Faxed in my permit application and rang to confirm. They have thousands and couldn't tell me if they got the fax. There looking for the car to be taxed to the address which would be grand if it wern't for the fact that I bought the car taxed and its not up till after the tall ships. Its a rented appartment as well so I probably wouldn't use that address anyway. They said they would have to try sort it out once they get to the application.

All sounds a bit disorganised, if they had laid out proper requiremts for an application there would be a lot less messing...

angry_fox

Is it true that people crossing the bridge have to pay a fiver, no matter where they are going?

Rew

Yeah, them wallet inspecters are a bastard...

Our man in Havana

angry_fox wrote:

Is it true that people crossing the bridge have to pay a fiver, no matter where they are going?

That would be unconsitutional as there is no law on the books about road pricing or congestion charges. Do you have a round paper disc on your windscreen? Thats payment enough.