Those big new electronic road signs

dulpit · 05-12-2012 05:31PM #1

Does anyone know who decided to put up those big new electronic road signs in town (one by Finn's Corner, another by the Mardyke bridge). They're big, they're bloody distracting and they strike me as a frightful waster of money.

Ridiculous...

lostinsuperfunk · 05-12-2012 05:35PM

I presume they are exempt from planning requirements, as road signage. They are a bit OTT.

calnand · 05-12-2012 06:29PM

It looks awful outside Electric, surely there was somewhere else they could have placed it

flo8s967qjh0nd · 05-12-2012 06:44PM

Thank You!
Glad I'm not the only one who thinks that these are ridiculous. I've spotted 3: one at junction of South Mall and Grand Parade; one near the side of the Opera House; one at the top of the Mardyke.
In all three locations they look terrible, ugly and distracting. Amazing that someone has spent money on them. Their value in terms of road safety must be negligible. More of a distraction than anything else.

Oafley Jones · 05-12-2012 08:02PM

Vivian Plump Gasket wrote: »

Thank You!
Glad I'm not the only one who thinks that these are ridiculous. I've spotted 3: one at junction of South Mall and Grand Parade; one near the side of the Opera House; one at the top of the Mardyke.
In all three locations they look terrible, ugly and distracting. Amazing that someone has spent money on them. Their value in terms of road safety must be negligible. More of a distraction than anything else.

I have to agree that they're very distracting and bright... almost dangerously so when all the bulbs are on.

murphym7 · 06-12-2012 09:46AM

Have not seen them yet, what information is on them?

dulpit · 06-12-2012 10:09AM

murphym7 wrote: »

Have not seen them yet, what information is on them?

Notice about wearing seat belts, and not to use mobiles while driving. That's about the extent of it really..

Spindle · 06-12-2012 12:32PM

They seem to have been turned off now, City council must have plenty of money to waste.

deRanged · 06-12-2012 08:33PM

this is my favourite helpful message:

new automated road signs in Cork by Brian Clayton, on Flickr

also, there's a roadsign hidden behind it that could have been useful.

MrFrisp · 06-12-2012 10:28PM

deRanged wrote: »

this is my favourite helpful message:

new automated road signs in Cork by Brian Clayton, on Flickr

also, there's a roadsign hidden behind it that could have been useful.

As I just posted on the Motors Forum Thread..

"Other road users??

You mean the one I just crashed into while reading a big sign warning Me to look out for them???

"
.

Steoob · 07-12-2012 01:24AM

You think they would put something useful on it like traffic info or remaining parking spaces. Imagine if you knew to avoid the link because of an accident or something. Nope. No live information, may aswell have just painted "wear a seatbelt" on the wall

Solair · 07-12-2012 01:51AM

I wonder if these are just test messages?

The signage could start providing useful information about traffic and car parks.

TheChizler · 07-12-2012 02:03AM

Looks like the roads department came in under budget this year...

A lot of unnecessary and quick projects seem to be popping up lately.

im invisible · 07-12-2012 02:38AM

deRanged wrote: »

also, there's a roadsign hidden behind it that could have been useful.

ah its only telling you to turn left to get onto Patrick St. and shur everyone knows where that is

Solair · 07-12-2012 10:32AM

The sign its covering up is actually the one for the city orbital routes which were setup a few years ago. I'm not sure they really worked out as planned.

To be fair, those VMS (Variable Message Signs) can be quite useful for getting information out about traffic, diversions, major road works, parking, festivals etc..

They're probably a decent investment and they're commonly used in a lot of continental cities and work very well.

I strongly suspect that the messages being displayed at the moment are just holding message / default test messages.

It looks like the signs can display quite a wide range of colours too so they should be able to do quite a lot with them.

There's a similar setup on the approach roads to Dublin City Centre too and that's been in place for a couple of years at least.

gobnaitolunacy · 07-12-2012 03:10PM

deRanged wrote: »

this is my favourite helpful message:

new automated road signs in Cork by Brian Clayton, on Flickr

also, there's a roadsign hidden behind it that could have been useful.

No sh*t, really??

Thought I had the road to myself.

Flesh Gorden · 08-12-2012 01:54AM

The basic message is:

"Let us warn you about the dangers of distractions while driving, by distracting you while driving"

I'm just waiting for someone to hack into the things and put up something like this:

Which at this time of year would be very helpful for driving on Patrick's Street

opus · 08-12-2012 10:01AM

Oafley Jones wrote: »

I have to agree that they're very distracting and bright... almost dangerously so when all the bulbs are on.

Spotted the one on the Mardyke last week when I scarily realised that I'd cycled through the junction from Mardyke Walk to Dyke Parade without looking cause I was reading the sign :eek: Luckily I was hugging the left hand side of the road.

goldie fish · 09-12-2012 12:42PM

Their use will become much clearer when the new road system happens in the new year. All the locations where the signs are erected are on, or on approach to, changed road layouts.

dulpit · 09-12-2012 01:39PM

goldie fish wrote: »

Their use will become much clearer when the new road system happens in the new year. All the locations where the signs are erected are on, or on approach to, changed road layouts.

New road systems?

Xantia · 09-12-2012 03:50PM

Similar to the signs on the 6 lane highway that is limited to 100 kph at the run up to the red cow in Dublin

Their imagination is limited when you get 'information' like

'everyone suffers when you speed'

goldie fish · 09-12-2012 09:43PM

dulpit wrote: »

New road systems?

Yup. Did ye not see it in the paper last week? McCurtain street going 2 way, Merchants quay going from 3+1 to 2+2. No traffic on Pana other than Bus and taxi at certain times.

Flesh Gorden · 09-12-2012 10:15PM

All here:

http://www.eveningecho.ie/2012/12/08/e9m-a-year-to-be-spent-on-cork-transport-upgrade/

number10a · 09-12-2012 10:23PM

Flesh Gorden wrote: »

All here:

http://www.eveningecho.ie/2012/12/08/e9m-a-year-to-be-spent-on-cork-transport-upgrade/

That says they're planning to get rid of the Wilton Roundabout and replace it with traffic lights. I always thought that it works quite well on its own. What's this obsession with getting rid of roundabouts lately??

charlemont · 09-12-2012 10:26PM

number10a wrote: »

That says they're planning to get rid of the Wilton Roundabout and replace it with traffic lights. I always thought that it works quite well on its own. What's this obsession with getting rid of roundabouts lately??

Some of the councillors have a sick fetish for traffic lights..

Solair · 09-12-2012 10:37PM

They're being put up in preparation for the declaration of the Corkonian Republic after xmas ... shhhh!

rebel.ranter · 10-12-2012 02:06AM

number10a wrote: »

What's this obsession with getting rid of roundabouts lately??

It's all in the aid of pedestrian safety. Apparently it is safer to put pedestrian crossings on crossroads rather than roundabouts. Same thing happened with roundabout on Skehard Road.

Back on topic: The messages on those signs are ridiculous right now, maybe if they are telling people about the status of access to Patricks St to private vehicles then maybe it would make sense. However could the money for this not be diverted to a more needy cause, what with all the recent budget cuts & austerity measures?

Solair · 10-12-2012 07:30AM

A similar VMS system went into Dublin a couple of years ago and it mostly shows information about random stuff like car parks, road works, diversions, and the odd bland safety information message or a reminder not to waste water...

They are VERY bright though. I find them quite distracting at times.

The ones I've seen in France tend to be dot-matrix displays and are not usually bright at all.

goldie fish · 10-12-2012 07:56PM

You want to hit an irish driver over the head before he/she will notice something.

Those big new electronic road signs

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