M1 New Section of D3 (three lanes) at Swords

sk8board wrote: »

drove it NB tonight and I'm not sold at all on the lane-merge just after the swords exit .... there were 4 cars, 2 in each lane that was merging, and both the outside lane drivers got caught out badly and had to almost swerve over on top of the 2 of us in the inside lane

is the merge too sudden? It seems to me that there may be a whole new traffic slow-down at this merge

100% agree, the current layout is a pile up just waiting to happen.

Current Layout,



My Proposed alternative layout,



I really thought that my proposed layout above would have been how they would have actually finished the 3rd lane NB & SB, why would any planner have lane 3 merging into lane 2 on a motorway? I would have thought that standard procedure is that lanes are started and dropped at junctions

cantalach wrote: »

Your proposed layout for the northbound carriageway is, unfortunately, equally flawed. It is the layout used on the eastbound carriageway of the South Ring in Cork between the Douglas West exit and the Douglas East exit. See satellite view here. It has been the scene on many accidents over the years and I myself have had numerous close shaves there. They problem is that drivers heading east who are not intent on exiting the dual carriageway don't pay attention to the overhead signs and often only realise at the very last second that they are in an exit lane. They then execute a sudden, panicked lane change with predictable consequences...

Up until last weekend this was the layout at Junction 3 (Dublin Airport) & to my recollection I cannot remember any major collisions occurring here with a similar lane drop to one I have proposed above.



It is still IMHO a far safer option then having lane 3 merging into lane 2 over what is a very short distance with what is more then likely faster moving traffic.

I think the layout especially North Bound is an accident waiting to happen. I hope not a bad one.

I'm not satisfied with the job the contractor did with the new surface. The new lanes especially aren’t exactly silky smooth. Surely the NRA or someone shouldn’t be accepting below standard work? Does anyone actually check these things or do they just hand out tax payer money regardless.

Seen it in Belgium and on the M56 in the UK. Its not a particularly good idea, though; and none of those were directly after a junction either.

MrDerp wrote: »

I shouldn't worry about that. The road layout they've implemented should see to it that the area experiences accordion breaking in anything but light traffic.

From my experience very few drivers in this country like to give way when lanes merge & most sit on the arse of the vehicle in front to ensure there is no room to merge.

Look at the N3 inbound under the new bridge between Aulburn Avenue & the Ashtown roundabout which has a similar layout, the morning commute is a nightmare where people who feel they are in the 'correct lane' (central lane) will not give way to traffic in the right hand lane if at all possible.

I have also seen this lane merge at off peak times were on occasion people race to get ahead of each other before the lane merge.

If a similar pattern occurs on the M1 there is sure to be a major crash as the speeds involved will be much higher given it's a Motorway, a far simpler layout for this would have been a lane drop/pick up at Junction 4 as I have illustrated in a previous post.

Irish and Proud wrote: »

I think the RSA will have to consider a video in relation to mainline lanes that merge/reduce and also, the practice of merging in turn (similar to UK practice). Given that it is a relatively new concept here, I wonder what the Irish laws state in relation to mainline lane merging?

I have just had a quick flick through the ROTR Book and cannot find any metion of merging on Motorways apart from when entering it from a junction......

I drive this both ways every day and while its definitely had a positive effect on traffic flow, esp SB, its still an accident waiting to happen NB.

the biggest issue is having a junction 200 one one side and a lane merge on the other; so you have huge signs on one side of the motorway for the swords exit, and on the other side to tell you you're about to run out of road

... why not push the merge another 200 yards up the road?

it only takes one confused driver in the middle lane to wonder what the hell is going on, and some clown in the outside lane screaming up to the last cm of merge lane, jumping on the brakes and moving over

the flip-side is that, with such a huge % of commuter traffic, people will get used to it - just like the M50 -M1 NB merge layout from Ballymun all the way to the airport junct

Accident this evening heading Northbound with two cars in the third lane just before the Swords exit. Was only a matter of time! Irish people simply cannot drive but the angle of collision looked like a last minute merchant diving for the exit.

amacachi wrote: »

The Northbound exit there and the Southbound exit for the Airport are atrociously tight tbh.

Of course they're tight as the area still has works being carried out on it and the 60km/h limit is still in place. It doesn't excuse crap driving in any shape or form though.

How did the genius that designed this layout not foresee the chaos it would cause.
It's obvious that this layout northbound is not only gonna cause a bottleneck in rush hour, but unfortunately merging the 2 quicker lanes gonna cause many accidents.

Hope they see sense soon and change the layout to merge the slower 2 lanes leaving lane 3 as a constant flow.

F1 fanatic wrote: »

How did the genius that designed this layout not foresee the chaos it would cause.
It's obvious that this layout northbound is not only gonna cause a bottleneck in rush hour, but unfortunately merging the 2 quicker lanes gonna cause many accidents.

Hope they see sense soon and change the layout to merge the slower 2 lanes leaving lane 3 as a constant flow.

I just went back to the Fingal website to check the plans. It looks to me like the original design was for lane 1 to become an exit lane and for lane 2 and 3 to continue on straight.
Either someone messed up, or there was a late change of plans, if it's the latter, I can't believe someone thought what they have built was a better solution and chose it over the original

spacetweek wrote: »

I'm a little confused. I know what the plans said (a lane drop). What have they built in reality? How's it different?

celticbest posted a diagram of what they actually built, essentially the 3 lanes run past the swords exit and then almost immediately lane 3 (the right lane) merges into lane 2 (the middle lane).

Bluetonic wrote: »

Everyone is presuming that this is the final layout, I don't think it is.

Wait and see what the layout is like when the work on the old hard shoulders are complete which may take a few weeks.

Road markings can be easily redrawn, and I think they will.

I really hope your right, as you say we'll just have to wait and see what the final layout will be once all the works are complete.