Galway traffic

what_traffic wrote: »

Thats mostly Mrs OBumble nonsense right there in one sentence. People on bikes need far less space for everything, where is the evidence for your ROTR nonsensical statement.
I say you home town living experience has distorted your perspective - doubt its in Ireland or Europe. Somewhere in car centric USA/Canada?

Nope. Australasia - not saying exactly where.

But after I left, they experimented with bus only lanes in certain streets, and had a series of very nasty accidents involving pedestrians stepping out without thinking.

Unlike many, I've been using public transport extensively since i was a kid. We didn't even have a car (only a family-unfriendly work van) when I was younger.

Deleted User wrote: »

[etc]

Very droll.

This is a collage of a few photos I've taken around Galway city since Christmas



The most interesting is the set of family bicycles outside the former Duffys. They really illustrate the challenge of cycle parkiing: between the clip-on kiddie-bike and the cargo trailer, they need more than just racks. To park them takes about the same space as to park a car. And there is NO allocated space for them anywhere.

The motor cycles in Eyre Square are a pretty regular thing - sometimes they appear to be having a rally to show off their wheels, other times, solo ones have no allocated parking. Again, no allocated space, but they at lease choose a footpath with plenty of alternatives for pedestrians.

The woman who rode My Little Pony to right outside the AIB was really quite a sight to behold: at least she had all the right safety gear on, and went fairly slowly through the pedestrianised street. But I have no idea why she thought it was ok for her to be there in the first place.

And the person who sprawled right over the footpath in Eglinton St is just an a**hole. The road is blocked off. S/he could SO easily have parked on the other side of the pole, and let the pedestrians use the footpath. It ain't rocket science - and is similar to what I see elsewhere in the city pretty often.

Deleted User wrote: »

Mr's B will be happy to see the school streets initiative has led to a massive increase in the numbers cycling to Scoil Iognaid. So much so that the council have had to install additional bike parking stands

https://twitter.com/kevigi/status/1371394640327368707?s=20

Delighted that they've got proper parking.

Interested that the usage-restriction is "pedal cycles only" - meaning no scooters and no battery-assisted two-wheelers. The latter are a fast-growing category, as the line between bicycle and motorbike is blurring more and more.

But I guess that since it's an all-Irish-language school, instructions in English can just be ignored always.

Thargor wrote: »

What are we supposed to be seeing thats so bad in that collage anyway? The little truck? Blocking access to that tree? Is it supposed to be a "bikes are just as bad" type thing? Swap out cars for any of the vehicles in the pics and the argument collapses slightly, apart from the little truck obviously.

It's a response to a set of photos that someone else posted. Their was sarcastic: I interpreted it as saying that two-wheelers aren't an issue here. Mine illustrates that there are issues:
The rise of three-wheel delivery vehicles (my guess: we'll see more of these)
Increasing use of two-wheelers leading to increasing cases of the footpath being blocked by them.
Pure stupidity in the way some cyclists and bikers park (they're as bad as some car-drivers)
Long-standing lack of motorcycle parking
The rise of bicycle-based food delivery services and the challenges these workers face in accessing restaurants quickly, while keeping their vehicles secure.

I'm not going to try quantifying these: the council pay researches for things like that. Simply pointing out the issues and that we need to plan for all modes, not pretend that some don't exist or that some are perfectly behaved.

Deleted User wrote: »

Great example of induced demand;

I know the Bikebus do scooter counts as well, not sure if walking count are done though.

Deleted User wrote: »

It should be parents doing the school run and people commuting to/from town and getting their shopping. Electric bikes make this much more (physically) accessible.

The cycle to work scheme should be turned on its head too.

Agree, its a bit of smoke screen - its gets a lot of PR coverage but the cost of it to the state is practically nothing. I would flip it so that just have no VAT on all kids/teenagers bikes instead. Make the lightweight kids bikes more affordable and in time create a decent second hand fleet market in them.

GY A1 wrote: »

Nice to see this funding
But
Half of what the city got for the full county,
A fraction for a massive area ,

How does that compare to other counties with large urban areas, like Cork, Limerick etc? Similar split or did the rural areas get a larger proportion?

GY A1 wrote: »

Nice to see this funding
But
Half of what the city got for the full county,
A fraction for a massive area ,

A massive low-density area. You get better bang for the buck by spending in areas where density is higher.

Also, many people living in the county come to or through the city for work, study or healthcare. They will benefit while they're here.

[Deleted User] wrote: »

The funding for rural projects was announced today

Full list here

Galway County Council €6,193,000

The package appears to be heavily biased in favour of footpaths. The default should be for shared foot/cycle paths (where physically possible).

If a road is busy enough that it needs a footpath to keep cars away from pedestrians for safety, then it’s almost invariably busy enough that it needs a cycle path to keep cars away from cyclists.

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

And what will keep the two-wheelers away from the pedestrians?

I'm in favour of grade separated paths, but it needs to be for all three modes, not just two. Shared footpaths are a nightmare for all concerned.

Shared cycle/foot paths usually work well provided both sets of people take a modicum of care (and the overall path area is wide enough).

Separate (or separated) cycle and foot paths are of course better but that just won’t be possible in many places.

I’d much rather have a default of shared foot and cycle paths than the current default which is to have no cycle path in any form.

Can anyone confirm that works on the Menlo roundabout are due to commence shortly?

Laviski wrote: »

i think the correct question is when is the roundabout ready to be removed

serfboard wrote: »

Can anyone confirm that works on to remove the Menlo roundabout are due to commence shortly?

Does that help? Now, do you have an answer?

Deleted User wrote: »

Well they're due to be completed by the end of September...
https://galwaybayfm.ie/galway-bay-fm-news-desk/works-on-kirwan-roundabout-set-to-reach-completion-in-third-quarter/

September 2023?