The M50, North bound in the mornings

Citizen Jake

We all know that the M50 is a car park at the best of times but lately I've been noticing that travelling from south to north (I get on at Leopardstown and jump off at the Red Cow exit) any time between 7am and 8am has been busier than usual - I'm talking about tailbacks from Dundrum up as far as the Toll Bridge. I know this is usually the case at 5pm in the evening but until recently if I hit the M50 before 7.30am any morning it was a clear run to my exit. Now I run into a backlog of traffic at Dundrum. :mad: This morning entered the motorway after Leopardstown and picked up a nice cruise speed within the 100kmph area and suddently had to brake hard :eek: because I caught up with a traffic jam. Any one else notice this latest phenomenon (wasn't like this last year even with kids back at school) or am I spouting old news at this stage. What's causing this?

BrianD

I have always noticed that traffic seems to slow down significantly between Exit 12 and 10 (cookstown) when heading northbound for no obvious reason. It then speeds up a little before you hit the toll Q.

Maccattack

i get on at the red cow roundabout and off at the airport exit. absolute nightmare.

theres a kind of slip road type set up at this turn off. recently the gards in their ultimate wisdom have decided to set up camp there to stop people going into the shoulder. this has caused tailbacks all the way back to the toll booth. How does this help me the motorist mr police man?

Another phenomenon is people slowing down to look at accidents or some dude whos pulled onto the grass coz he's run out of petrol or whatever. it shouldnt affect the traffic one bit. but people must stop for a gawk.

Ivan E

Yes I am with you there. I get on at Sandyford and go as far as the Red Cow. I have been doing that route since April. Before that, I was working in Ballycoolin taking the same route as far as Blanchardstown and going through the dreaded toll bridge.

I have generally found that the M50 is fine if you are going North bound in the morning and south bound in the evening. Its still busy but you do move and there are particular bottle necks.

My journey on average was taking 40 mins or so. But in the last 2 weeks its taking over an hour.

I have no idea why. I presume that there is extra capacity on it because of the completion of it. Of course what they did with the easi pass didn't help either.

I have bit the bullet at the moment and started heading in early. Its not so much as issue in the evening but I am fed up with the morning. I leave at 7 now and it takes 30 mins.

Guy:Incognito

Maccattack wrote:

theres a kind of slip road type set up at this turn off. recently the gards in their ultimate wisdom have decided to set up camp there to stop people going into the shoulder. this has caused tailbacks all the way back to the toll booth. How does this help me the motorist mr police man?
.

Because if somone breaks down and has the audacity to stop in the hard shoulder (yes thats what its for, its not a slip road) then it will cause holy hell with an entire lane trying to merge back in from somewhere they shouldnt have been. It's also illegal to drive in the hard shoulder.

ando

Maccattack wrote:

recently the gards in their ultimate wisdom have decided to set up camp there to stop people going into the shoulder.

how dare they

Turner

Those damn gards, were forever getting reports here of them out and about doing their jobs!!! :eek: :eek:

Would they ever go and eat some doughnuts

Snaga

The last week along this section (Sandyford -> Tallaght exit) has been extremely bad, the rain isnt helping Im sure.

Not to mention the folk ripping down the hard shoulder, up and off the ballyboden exit and back down the other side only to cause major slowdowns as they remerge back into the main flow.

Ivan E

It's all fair and well the Garda doing part of what they are meant to, I agree fully with that. But you'd think someone would have the cop on to use the traffic police constructively and try and get them to somehow try and help ease the problem rather than sit there and watch it waiting for someone to find an illegal way around it.

It's the same with the speed traps, rather than use it in areas where it may actually be effective in dealing with dangerous driving in dangerous areas, they are waiting to catch you out.

You look at Operation Freeflow and how effective it originally was. By having Gardai posted at serious bottle necks and organising the traffic effectively, it did work and the traffic moved. Of course then they cut it back and its next to useless now.

I use to get caught at Tallaght but after that I would get a clear run to the Toll Bridge. Nowadays I get off at the Red Cow and I can see the traffic all backed up as I cross over. I am regularly hitting traffic pretty much once I get on the M50 in the last few weeks.

seamus

BrianD wrote:

I have always noticed that traffic seems to slow down significantly between Exit 12 and 10 (cookstown) when heading northbound for no obvious reason. It then speeds up a little before you hit the toll Q.

Yep. It's strange. There's not ever any reason for it. You don't find congestion at the N3 slip-road onto the M50 even at the busiest times. For some reason, one person must just slam on, every day, and stop the whole system. Even at 10pm, if there's more than a certain number of cars, you will always find a queue coming up to the N3 sliproad.

testicle

Snaga wrote:

Not to mention the folk ripping down the hard shoulder, up and off the ballyboden exit and back down the other side only to cause major slowdowns as they remerge back into the main flow.

I admit to doing this. Most people that do it are getting off at Tallaght anyway.

Alun

testicle wrote:

I admit to doing this. Most people that do it are getting off at Tallaght anyway.

Then your user name is an appropriate one. I, and most of the people here, hope you get caught.

testicle

Why? Nothing illlegal. I'm getting off at Tallaght anyway.

Alun

testicle wrote:

Why? Nothing illlegal. I'm getting off at Tallaght anyway.

"Ripping down the hard shoulder" is what I was referring to, which is illegal the last time I looked. And skipping traffic by getting off at an exit and getting back on the other side, although not strictly illegal, is antisocial, and should be made punishable by removing those things your user name refers to.

RicardoSmith

If there Guards had been doing their jobs all along, people wouldn't have been bunhopping up the sliproads all along. All over the dublin people break buslanes and junctions, and roadsigns, queue switch because the quards aren't enforcing the rules. Every so often they do token guesture for public relations.

The road system is a joke. Yes theres lots more cars, but the road system is crippled because of absymal road planning, crazy junctions, and the reduction of lanes in every direction. Theres about 50% less lanes into dublin, and across it than there were 10 yrs ago. None of these things are designed to ease traffic they are all designed to reduce throughput.

All this is costing us a fortune, both in taxes to create this mayhem, and in the costs because everything is gridlocked.

testicle

Alun wrote:

"Ripping down the hard shoulder" is what I was referring to, which is illegal the last time I looked. And skipping traffic by getting off at an exit and getting back on the other side, although not strictly illegal, is antisocial, and should be made punishable by removing those things your user name refers to.

No hard shoulder there. Either way, you're just jealous, because you never thought of it

Crazy Newbie

Here is what is happening.... It the whole bottle neck thing.

Before the tallaght exit heading North is the knockloyon one. I live about a 2 miniute drive from that exit near the woodstown shops. That two minute drive is about 20 minutes in the mornings between 8-9 down to the volume of traffic coming from firhouse/tallaght/ballycullen/the mountain road. That does not include all that traffic colliding with the traffic coming to the m50 enterance from the knocklyon side/marley park....

So basically we are all joining the m50 at that exit. After that exit is the tallaght one. Now... a lot of cars heading north are trying to leave at the tallaght one.. and we are all trying to join from the knocklyon one... its the same slip road.. and it makes the traffic sluggish. Also once a lot of people join the m50 at knocklyon.. their next move is to get into the inside lane... and this just creates the sluggish flow... but thats not all...

Then we have the traffic joining the M50 off the tallaght exit going north... and they just "ease" their way into the first lane.. causing more sluggishness.. and the on comming traffic tries to get into the inside lane to avoid this.. causing more sluggishness back down the line on the inside lane...

And what do the people who join the M50 from the tallaght exit do once they are on the M50?.. thats right... try and ease their way into the inside lane... more slow driving... more cars breaking....more sluggish ness.

I have had pleanty of time to study all this "flow" Thats why about 500 yards after the Tallaght exit the traffic flow becomes more steady and picks up again. Even down to the red cow exit.. which is not actually that bad to get off. Fuk knows what happens after that and thank god I don't have to know

What they really need to do is extend the slip road on to the M50 from the tallaght exit... by a fair bit. Like make it three time the length at least. Or make it a lane all the way to Ballymount. It would ease the whole "Stop/start" thing there with people trying to get on. It wouldn't cure it due to the knocklyon exit thing but it would help a fair bit as the blockage betwwen the two would clear or flow "away" better.

Me? I am just leaving at 7:30 from now on... fed up with it tbh. oh and I wish those twats would build those double height traffic lights at the EP mooney junction.

RicardoSmith

What they needed to so is NOT zone/build shopping centers and half a dozen industrial parks at every exit/entry point. They should have built those another 10 miles out. The M50 is serving the traffic that it creates itself.

The only solution is to go early, then when you get off the M50, stop grab breafast/coffee and read the paper and have some quality time before you start your day. Obviously not everyones shedule permits this. We leave at 7 just to get out of D.15 in reasonable time. After 7.20 it takes about 15mins to get out of the estate and another 10mins to get through Castleknock. Before that it takes 5 mins.

The cities a shambles.

Ivan E

Crazy Newbie wrote:

I have had pleanty of time to study all this "flow" Thats why about 500 yards after the Tallaght exit the traffic flow becomes more steady and picks up again. Even down to the red cow exit.. which is not actually that bad to get off. Fuk knows what happens after that and thank god I don't have to know

It was fine before the Tallaght exit and it was fine after that exit too. The difficult bit was getting onto the M50. As each section was added on, the bottle neck of getting on was moved down further southwards.

But in the last few weeks, you could get on at Sandyford and pretty much hit a standstill before you hit the Dundrum connection. And it seems to be backed up all the way through now.

Just seems that the capacity has doubled in the last few weeks on that side for some reason.