Leopardstown entry onto M50 southbound

bemusedobserver

I commute on the N11 every day from Gorey to Dublin and back. Today I thought I would try to get onto the M50 southbound via Leopardstown but there was no soutbound exit so I continued onto Carrickmines hoping there was a southbound exit there (yes I agree I should have researched this before I tried it out The only way I could think of was to take northbound exit and get off at the next exit to go southbound.

Please tell me there is a better way. Thanks.

The Sisco Kid

Please tell me there is a better way

This is a bugbear of mine!

you could either...
1. Brave the Industrial Estate and get all the way through it until you get to the Drummartin Link Road and Sandyford M50 junction south (this could take 30mins on a bad day)
2. Wait for the new roundabout to be built off the Hillcrest Road. This will enable you to go from Leopardstown past Bewleys, over the M50 and turn right as if you are going to follow the Motorway northbound. At the next roundabout there will be a right turn onto the Sandyford M50 junction.
3. Go down Torquay Road through Foxrock Village down Brighton Road and right onto Glenamuck Road where I think you can go south on the M50 (but maybe not yet)
or 4. Go Northbound but this means you'll have to go all the way to Scholarstown before you can turn around - about an 8-10 mile roundtrip!

bemusedobserver

Thanks Sisco Kid. Good it wasn't that I was stupid and couldn't figure it out. What a joke! One of the busiest commuter zones in the city and you can only go northbound. I will stick with the N11 for the moment

BrianD

bemusedobserver wrote:

Thanks Sisco Kid. Good it wasn't that I was stupid and couldn't figure it out. What a joke! One of the busiest commuter zones in the city and you can only go northbound. I will stick with the N11 for the moment

Is the objective not to facilitate commuter traffic?? Afrerall, it is a national primary route and not supposed to be a commuter rat run.

The Sisco Kid

But it wouldn't hurt to have a southbound exit. At the moment it's only half a junction.

Alun

The link road and roundabout allowing you to get on and off from Leopardstown are due to be finished in October AFAIK.

bemusedobserver

BrianD wrote:

Is the objective not to facilitate commuter traffic?? Afrerall, it is a national primary route and not supposed to be a commuter rat run.

Are you saying that the Gov should have a policy not to facillitate commuter traffic and that commuters should not be using national primary routes?

By the way my understanding of a rat run is a small back road that commuters use to avoid going on congested national primary routes

BrianD

The M50 policy should not be to encourage its use as a convenience to commuters. This has obviously fallen by the way side given the number of junctions "south" of Exit 11 that are serving suburban areas and giving them access to the m-way. The reason for the M50 is to facilitate traffic that does not need to enter Dublin city by providing a bypass.

Zaph0d

BrianD wrote:

The reason for the M50 is to facilitate traffic that does not need to enter Dublin city by providing a bypass.

The M50 is a semicircular road to knowhere. It connected desolate places like outer Ballinteer with north finglas via neilstown. If it were really a bypass it wouldn't have any junctions.

Once it was decided to build it, huge quantities of car dependent warehouse shopping, office parks & battery housing were attracted to the party. Carrickmines ultraboring office-retail-fiesta is next.

It clearly isn't a bypass, that's why it fills up at peak commuting hours. It's our very own edge city that we built despite knowing that this pattern of development has been well tested in the US and UK with inhuman results.

M50 is the spine of an obese life spent driving slowly between work in Cherrywood, a 300K cardboard house in Lucan and bathroom accessory shopping in Blanch.

Well at least they're adding a new lane. Once that's done, everything will be rosy.

DubTony

bemusedobserver wrote:

I commute on the N11 every day from Gorey to Dublin and back. Today I thought I would try to get onto the M50 southbound.....

BrianD wrote:

it is a national primary route and not supposed to be a commuter rat run.

BrianD wrote:

The M50 policy should not be to encourage its use as a convenience to commuters. This has obviously fallen by the way side given the number of junctions "south" of Exit 11 that are serving suburban areas and giving them access to the m-way. The reason for the M50 is to facilitate traffic that does not need to enter Dublin city by providing a bypass.

The N11 is also a national primary route. So should our hard pressed commuter from Gorey find a few R roads to drive to Dublin on? Maybe he could take in the picturesque villages of Aughrim and Avoca, and stop for breakfast in Rathnew or Bray.
That'd make him a tourist and I suppose then it'd be ok for him to use the M50 !!!!
And as for all those sponging bastards who live south of Junction 11. They don't pay insane amounts of road tax every year. They don't pay over 50% in tax when they buy a new car. They don't pay riduculous amounts of excise and VAT on every litre of petrol they buy. Let them use the back roads and side roads. Let them wait in line outside schools and at every set of lights. Force them to drive to Newlands cross and on through Strawberry beds and through Finglas to get to their jobs in Airways Ind. Est. Better again, make them buy a house in Santry so they won't have to use the M50.

The idea of the M50 being a feasible by-pass was always wishful thinking. Ring roads around cities always get busy. London's M25, Manchester's M60. Even I-95 past Jacksonville in Florida gets delays. The damned thing should have been built to a higher standard and not some crappy 1940's design. Roundabout junctions on a city ring road? FOR F**CKS SAKE!!!! The idiots were told it wouldn't work when the plans were drawn up and again when they put traffic lights on the poxy roundabouts. It should have been built with 3 lanes on each side. It should have been built without a stupid gridlock causing, maney grabbing operation right in the middle of it. It should have been built with freeflow junctions.

And for some strange reason the traffic is my fault because I live too close to it.
Get off the stage.

Victor

DubTony wrote:

And for some strange reason the traffic is my fault because I live too close to it.

Of course, traffic delays are only caused by the guy in front. For someone else, you are the guy in front.

DubTony wrote:

And as for all those sponging bastards who live south of Junction 11. They don't pay insane amounts of road tax every year. They don't pay over 50% in tax when they buy a new car. They don't pay riduculous amounts of excise and VAT on every litre of petrol they buy. Let them use the back roads and side roads. Let them wait in line outside schools and at every set of lights. Force them to drive to Newlands cross and on through Strawberry beds and through Finglas to get to their jobs in Airways Ind. Est. Better again, make them buy a house in Santry so they won't have to use the M50.

Yes, let them buy a house in Santry or use public transport (it might be better if we didn't spend €5bn a year on cars).

bemusedobserver

DubTony wrote:

The N11 is also a national primary route. So should our hard pressed commuter from Gorey find a few R roads to drive to Dublin on? Maybe he could take in the picturesque villages of Aughrim and Avoca, and stop for breakfast in Rathnew or Bray.
That'd make him a tourist and I suppose then it'd be ok for him to use the M50 !!!!

That gave me a real laugh. Well written