Dublin has too many traffic lights

KingBrian2 · 21-10-2015 10:28pm #1

There are way too many traffic lights in the city. When your travelling via bus every 5 seconds lights go red, it is ridiculous the amount of times this happens. Denizens of Dublin there must surely be a lot less lights installed around the city, they make it impossible to use public transport agree or disagree.

sonny.knowles · 21-10-2015 10:33pm

KingBrian2 wrote: »

There are way too many traffic lights in the city. When your travelling via bus every 5 seconds lights go red, it is ridiculous the amount of times this happens. Denizens of Dublin there must surely be a lot less lights installed around the city, they make it impossible to use public transport agree or disagree.

We should all ignore them like most cyclists seem to do, works for them I guess.

poisonated · 21-10-2015 10:37pm

That's funny, I was taking a taxi the other day and the taxi man said the same thing. It wasn't until he said it that I really noticed.

Sam Russell · 21-10-2015 10:43pm

It is not the number of traffic lights that is the problem, it is the fact that they are incorrectly phased. I think it has been changed in recent years, but going north on the N11 at Blakes/Stillorgan lights - when you get a green (first car) and no matter how fast you drive, the next light at Oatlands School turns red in your face. Prior to your arrival, the light has been green for ages with no traffic. That is typical at most lights in Dublin.

There is a complex traffic light system in Dublin - it just does not work.

jimmycrackcorm · 21-10-2015 10:46pm

sonny.knowles wrote:

We should all ignore them like most cyclists seem to do, works for them I guess.

You can be sure that far more car drivers run red lights than cyclists. After all, I don't think the first red light camera was installed on the Lucas line due to cyclists...

Stheno · 21-10-2015 10:46pm

Sam Russell wrote: »

It is not the number of traffic lights that is the problem, it is the fact that they are incorrectly phased. I think it has been changed in recent years, but going north on the N11 at Blakes/Stillorgan lights - when you get a green (first car) and no matter how fast you drive, the next light at Oatlands School turns red in your face. Prior to your arrival, the light has been green for ages with no traffic. That is typical at most lights in Dublin.

There is a complex traffic light system in Dublin - it just does not work.

100% agree with this, it's how the lights are phased imo that causes chaos

Greenmachine · 21-10-2015 11:50pm

I don't know about in the city, but certain in the suburbs. So many road where a zebra crossing would much better than lights. If there is no one standing there, carry on. If there is someone standing there come to a stop and let them cross.

It feels kind of alien when you go to other countries and you see all the zebra crossings. This is areas that see much more road traffic and less pedestrian, and the kicker in some of these place; segregated pathways, one area for cyclists, and one for pedestrians a lot of the time.

Must admit to being frustrated by cyclist at times, but we could do more get people on their bikes. Even if these kind of tracks were only stipulated in lower density rural area. You could potentially maintain the rural feel of an area,with integrated parks, etc. Somehow I think, something like that would be too progressive for some.

endacl · 21-10-2015 11:54pm

sonny.knowles wrote: »

We should all ignore them like most cyclists seem to do, works for them I guess.

Do you have an alert set up for the phrase 'traffic light'?

newacc2015 · 21-10-2015 11:57pm

There is 1690 according to the new RSA poster. Most of them are at junctions where they are needed. The problem with a lot of them is they are phased badly. Eg the 3 on lesson street took years to be phased that you get green on all three at once.

Skatedude · 22-10-2015 12:07am

There are traffic lights near me that take up to 8 minutes (I actually timed them) to change for pedestrians no matter how many dozens of times you press the button, been like that for years despite complaints.
Others seem to change so quick that only 1 or 2 cars can get through, It seems like they have no clue what they are doing.

mark085 · 22-10-2015 2:04am

theres a road around my way that has 10 sets within 1 kilometer
and them imtech lads who programme them seem to make a bolox of each1

sonny.knowles · 22-10-2015 7:45am

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

You can be sure that far more car drivers run red lights than cyclists. After all, I don't think the first red light camera was installed on the Lucas line due to cyclists...

I very much doubt it, as a city centre pedestrian I have rarely seen a motorist ignore a red light whereas I see it everyday from cyclists.

traprunner · 22-10-2015 8:29am

sonny.knowles wrote: »

We should all ignore them like most cyclists seem to do, works for them I guess.

Let's get a dig in at cyclists. Sure why not? It's their fault there are so many traffic lights and everything else road related. :rolleyes:

traprunner · 22-10-2015 8:31am

sonny.knowles wrote: »

I very much doubt it, as a city centre pedestrian I have rarely seen a motorist ignore a red light whereas I see it everyday from cyclists.

How many end up in collisions or fatalities?

I'm not condoning it but i don't see how your comments about cyclists have anything to do with the the subject of the thread.

I was in Spain last week in 7 different towns/cities. They seem to promote zebra crossings rather than lights on many quieter junctions. One of the main problems I've seen in Dublin is traffic let near the city centre. It doesn't happen in many places in Spain.

GreatDefector · 22-10-2015 8:38am

Anyone who knows supervalu Lucan will know the roundabout with a light a roundabout and a 4 more sets before you can get to Lucan village. Traffic is bottlenecked and it's desperate and a waste

Combine the 2 lights and roundabout into 1 set of lights.

Now, take a look what's going into fonthill, the exact same thing!

Another disaster is belgard road. Lights, go for 100m, stop for lights, go for 100m, lights, rinse, repeat.

Definitely some lights should be part time. A smart light made of LED's that converts to a stop sign at certain times off peak would definitely help the flow

Pete_Cavan · 22-10-2015 8:47am

KingBrian2 wrote: »

There are way too many traffic lights in the city. When your travelling via bus every 5 seconds lights go red, it is ridiculous the amount of times this happens. Denizens of Dublin there must surely be a lot less lights installed around the city, they make it impossible to use public transport agree or disagree.

For me, a big problem when on the bus is when the bus lane is also a general left turning lane with a filter light. The bus intending to go straight through the junction can be held up, sitting behind cars waiting for the green arrow to allow them to turn left while the cars in the next lane are streaming through the junction. Where the bus lane is a left turning lane, the left turning traffic should be allowed to move out of the buses way to keep the bus moving. This would probably mean resignalling the lights to have the green man for pedestrians at the same time across each road of the junction and probably longer time for pedestrians. I would not see this as a big issue if all traffic is stopped, the main objective should be to prioritise buses to make their journey's as fast as possible compared to cars.

LeinsterDub · 22-10-2015 8:52am

Pete_Cavan wrote: »

For me, a big problem when on the bus is when the bus lane is also a general left turning lane with a filter light. The bus intending to go straight through the junction can be held up, sitting behind cars waiting for the green arrow to allow them to turn left while the cars in the next lane are streaming through the junction. Where the bus lane is a left turning lane, the left turning traffic should be allowed to move out of the buses way to keep the bus moving. This would probably mean resignalling the lights to have the green man for pedestrians at the same time across each road of the junction and probably longer time for pedestrians. I would not see this as a big issue if all traffic is stopped, the main objective should be to prioritise buses to make their journey's as fast as possible compared to cars.

Turn left on red would be helpful here

zl1whqvjs75cdy · 22-10-2015 8:57am

Turn left on red would be such a simple idea to implement, and would cost no money. But Jesus could you imagine the chaos for the first couple of weeks? Best done in the summer when the traffic is lighter I think.

sonny.knowles · 22-10-2015 9:46am

traprunner wrote: »

How many end up in collisions or fatalities?

Why is this relevant?

traprunner · 22-10-2015 9:51am

sonny.knowles wrote: »

Why is this relevant?

Because you were making the irrelevant point about cyclists. I was just following up on it to try and clarify where you were coming from.

seamus · 22-10-2015 9:58am

donkeyoaty0099 wrote: »

Turn left on red would be such a simple idea to implement, and would cost no money. But Jesus could you imagine the chaos for the first couple of weeks? Best done in the summer when the traffic is lighter I think.

Actually I disagree that summer would be best; in September you'll have a tonne of people take to the roads who haven't done much driving in the previous 3 months and won't be as savvy about the rule as others. Cue frustration, gridlock and anger all over the place.

I would suggest maybe late Spring, after the clocks go forward. The days are brighter, but the traffic still heavy.

Bray Head · 22-10-2015 10:18am

There are more traffic lights in Dublin than other places in Ireland and in comparable cities in Europe. They also seem to be particularly more conservatively sequenced.

Zebra crossings seem to have been done away with too. This annoys me as a driver but makes me feel much more comfortable as a pedestrian.

This helps with making Dublin both congested but also quite safe. It's a trade-off.

Ashbx · 22-10-2015 10:28am

donkeyoaty0099 wrote: »

Turn left on red would be such a simple idea to implement, and would cost no money. But Jesus could you imagine the chaos for the first couple of weeks? Best done in the summer when the traffic is lighter I think.

Not sure that would work. The red light is there because usually there is a pedestrian crossing which has its green light. I can think of a number of junctions where this is the case.

Sam Russell · 22-10-2015 10:33am

In France, they use a rule that they can turn right providing they give way to pedestrians.

qweerty · 22-10-2015 10:50am

I was in the traffic management centre in Dublin Civic Offices as part of an Open House tour. Guy seemed very proud of the systems they had in place, with different phases depending on the location, time, traffic level, etc. He said that the lights on the quays at Grattan bridge were purposely out of phase to discourage speeding. I was thinking it seemed such a senseless of way of doing that.

Sam Russell · 22-10-2015 11:12am

qweerty wrote: »

I was in the traffic management centre in Dublin Civic Offices as part of an Open House tour. Guy seemed very proud of the systems they had in place, with different phases depending on the location, time, traffic level, etc. He said that the lights on the quays at Grattan bridge were purposely out of phase to discourage speeding. I was thinking it seemed such a senseless of way of doing that.

With idiotic thinking like that, no wonder the lights are causing huge delays.

I was on a Luas that had to wait five minutes at lights going from Museum to Heuston. Idiotic. Luas should get a green on arrival - they know where they are at all times and when they will arrive at lights.

Bray Head · 22-10-2015 2:02pm

Sam Russell wrote: »

In France, they use a rule that they can turn right providing they give way to pedestrians.

I've lived in countries where this is the rule.

As a driver it undoubtedly speeds things up. As a pedestrian it makes me feel a lot less safe.

I have no doubt it contributes to Dublin being a safer city for pedestrians than, for example, Paris.

larchill · 22-10-2015 2:33pm

The same idiocracy occurs outside of Dublin on the N2 north of Ashbourne. Lights @ the turnoff for Rathoth. There's mayhem here in the mornings heading south & again in the evenings going north. When the confounded things are out of action there's no problem - one just sails through. Its a national problem, not just a Dublin one. This is not helped by our parochial politics.

plodder · 22-10-2015 4:35pm

larchill wrote: »

The same idiocracy occurs outside of Dublin on the N2 north of Ashbourne. Lights @ the turnoff for Rathoth. There's mayhem here in the mornings heading south & again in the evenings going north. When the confounded things are out of action there's no problem - one just sails through. Its a national problem, not just a Dublin one. This is not helped by our parochial politics.

This reminds me of the Malahide roundabout in Swords. They put lights on it before the M1 was built and the traffic was really chronic. They were needed then, but, they should have switched them off after the motorway opened. There is a particular problem with motorists approaching these roundabouts on a green light at speed from the "main" road and you have traffic stopped on the roundabout at lights. It's really crazy.

Giblet · 22-10-2015 7:38pm

"Cyclists run red lights!"

"Hey so do motorists!"

Ah, so it's ok then.

Subpopulus · 22-10-2015 7:47pm

Bray Head wrote: »

There are more traffic lights in Dublin than other places in Ireland and in comparable cities in Europe. They also seem to be particularly more conservatively sequenced.

Having moved back to Dublin from Cork recently I've definitely noticed that the lights are more sluggish in here. When in Cork I noticed that when pedestrian lights go amber they change to red within about 4/5 seconds. Most of the ones in dublin stretch that out to 10-12 seconds. There are also a lot of fairly idiotic lights in places like the Georgian Quarter that have long phases for very little traffic so you end up sitting around for ages with no traffic moving through the opposing set of lights. They could easily make the phases twice or three times as fast.

Spanish Eyes · 22-10-2015 8:00pm

Is there anyone out there who travels down the North Quays?

I actually laugh now and have a mantra.... "See a bus - go Red". This is at the Hapenny Bridge.

EVERY TIME. I honestly have never been on a bus that got through on a green light there!

And to think there are up to 80 people on that bus. But anyway, just thought I'd share that likkle bit of frustration with you all.

KingBrian2 · 22-10-2015 9:08pm

In Dublin the Bicycle is the best most mobile way to travel and navigate the streets and roads. I'll grant you on a wet day buses can do the trick, that does not take away from the fact that with the amount of lights on the road traffic is gridlocked. When that Luas line in fully built only then will the free space be opened up to allow greater flow. Right now though keep using the Bike if and when you can. Pedestrians are no better than cyclist although I have seen too many cyclists given fellow recreational cyclists like myself a bad name.

BOHtox · 23-10-2015 12:45am

How there isn't a pedestrian crossing from Bishop street to Kevin Street and vice-versa is beyond me. The pain access point from Patrick street, where a dozen buses must stop, and you put your life in your hands every time you make the run across.

wotswattage · 23-10-2015 6:57pm

Some lights will never ever turn green for cars unless you drive forwards past the painted stop line into the 'bike zone'. These were all created without moving the under-road sensors back to where the cars now have to stop... Great engineering!

KingBrian2 · 23-10-2015 9:16pm

wotswattage wrote: »

Some lights will never ever turn green for cars unless you drive forwards past the painted stop line into the 'bike zone'. These were all created without moving the under-road sensors back to where the cars now have to stop... Great engineering!

Never knew that.:eek:

26-10-2015 10:07pm

Athlone is also bad for overzealous use of lights.
The local council refurbished all the junctions on the bypass recently, previously they were all Yield signs which were a pain as traffic was simply too heavy for the simple minor road joining a major road priority system. So they went to the extreme of putting traffic lights at each and every junction.

All they do is generate queues, one set were recently knocked out and the traffic flows much better now, there really should be some mini-roundabouts placed at the secondary junctions and just lights where they are really needed.

26-10-2015 10:08pm

wotswattage wrote: »

Some lights will never ever turn green for cars unless you drive forwards past the painted stop line into the 'bike zone'. These were all created without moving the under-road sensors back to where the cars now have to stop... Great engineering!

Joined up planning at its best. :rolleyes:

Stephen15 · 26-10-2015 10:17pm

Yeh another thing I would say is stop putting up all the expensive standalone padestrian lights and putting in padestrian crossings where if you put out your foot the cars would have to stop another thing I would is at padestrian lights you only have to stop where you would only have to stop if there were people crossing. This is the case in most of Europe but knowing Irish drivers atitude towards padestrians and cyclists this would never work unfortunately.

KingBrian2 · 27-10-2015 5:59pm

Motorists are sensible when it comes to traffic lights they let pedestrians cross when it is safe, the problem is it must be a nightmare being stuck in traffic. Thank god I don't drive, walk, cycle or get a helicopter is the fastest way across the city. The sooner helicopters are used around this city the better.:D

seamus · 27-10-2015 6:11pm

KingBrian2 wrote: »

Motorists are sensible when it comes to traffic lights they let pedestrians cross when it is safe, the problem is it must be a nightmare being stuck in traffic.

You would think so, but drivers in heavy traffic do very strange things. Especially when a light has just turned red and they're already late for work. The amount of people I've seen drive straight through a group of crossing pedestrians is unreal. They even get pissy when peds with right-of-way walk in front of their cars and stop them from going.

Stephen15 wrote: »

Yeh another thing I would say is stop putting up all the expensive standalone padestrian lights and putting in padestrian crossings where if you put out your foot the cars would have to stop another thing I would is at padestrian lights you only have to stop where you would only have to stop if there were people crossing.

There are zebra crossings around, but it's an issue of balance. If you put these up on roads which experience exceptionally heavy vehicular and pedestrian traffic, you'll have gridlock. Think about having a zebra crossing at the Ha'penny bridge crossing on the Dublin quays. It would be absolute chaos as the flow of pedestrians would be near-constant.

A better strategy* would be to have standard pedestrian crossings which went though a red/amber/green sequence during heavier hours, and then revert to pelican crossings with constant flashing amber for everyone the rest of the time.
Though I'm not sure if the latter is available as an option under current legislation.

*Not on the quays, but other roads like Rathmines

sdanseo · 27-10-2015 6:17pm

Pedestrian only lights should be outright banned and replaced by zebra/pelican crossings or footbridges, subways etc.

There is no excuse for traffic lights on or within 200m of a roundabout, yet we seem to have a love affair with putting them there, especially pedestrian lights right beside all four arms of a roundabout leading to chaos.

27-10-2015 7:19pm

sdanseo wrote: »

Pedestrian only lights should be outright banned and replaced by zebra/pelican crossings or footbridges, subways etc.

There is no excuse for traffic lights on or within 200m of a roundabout, yet we seem to have a love affair with putting them there, especially pedestrian lights right beside all four arms of a roundabout leading to chaos.

On some roundabouts, traffic lights help by delaying traffic flowing in one arm which allows traffic to enter another arm.

Sometimes at busy times traffic can back up on an entrance that is after the busy one as there is a constant stream of vehicles joining.

SPDUB · 28-10-2015 9:10am

seamus wrote: »

A better strategy* would be to have standard pedestrian crossings which went though a red/amber/green sequence during heavier hours, and then revert to pelican crossings with constant flashing amber for everyone the rest of the time.
Though I'm not sure if the latter is available as an option under current legislation.

The feeder junction for St Mary's Rd opposite Our Lady's Hospital in Crumlin works like that at night .It only goes to Red if a car comes up Kildare Rd and then goes back to flashing Amber .

Carawaystick · 28-10-2015 1:54pm

sdanseo wrote: »

Pedestrian only lights should be outright banned and replaced by zebra/pelican crossings or footbridges, subways etc.

There is no excuse for traffic lights on or within 200m of a roundabout, yet we seem to have a love affair with putting them there, especially pedestrian lights right beside all four arms of a roundabout leading to chaos.

How should people walking cross the roundabout junction so?

crushproof · 29-10-2015 11:02am

Uproar from the safety crowd if the lights started being replaced by zebra crossings. Same as the turn on red idea (although to be fair I had a few hair raising crossing experiences of that in Canada).
Controversial I know, but I think cyclists should be allowed run pedestrian red lights (with due care for pedestrians of course). Obviously not lights at junctions but at single pedestrian traffic lights I see no issue, I'd treat it the same as motorists using the flashing amber light.

franer1970 · 29-10-2015 11:19am

Pedestrian crossings that go red for no good reason - as if the button is stuck in - do my head in.
One on Essex Quay in Dublin did it for years. Regular as clockwork when I came down Capel St, crossed Grattan Bridge and turned right it would be red. I was rejoicing when it was finally fixed a few months ago.
Proximity to Civic Offices makes me think it was deliberate set up by DCC - it handily allowed vehicles to exit from Fishamble St.

monument · 29-10-2015 8:04pm

Dublin mainly have a high level of traffic lights because it has a high level of motor traffic. Lower the amount of motor traffic and then you can lower the amount of traffic lights.

There's a number of recent Dutch examples of traffic light removal after motor traffic was reduced.

Sam Russell wrote: »

With idiotic thinking like that, no wonder the lights are causing huge delays.

Stopping speeding is more important that having free-flow.

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

Is there anyone out there who travels down the North Quays?

I actually laugh now and have a mantra.... "See a bus - go Red". This is at the Hapenny Bridge.

EVERY TIME. I honestly have never been on a bus that got through on a green light there!

And to think there are up to 80 people on that bus. But anyway, just thought I'd share that likkle bit of frustration with you all.

How many people do you think cross the Hapenny Bridge every day?

D.L.R. · 29-10-2015 11:57pm

franer1970 wrote: »

Pedestrian crossings that go red for no good reason - as if the button is stuck in - do my head in.
One on Essex Quay in Dublin did it for years. Regular as clockwork when I came down Capel St, crossed Grattan Bridge and turned right it would be red. I was rejoicing when it was finally fixed a few months ago.
Proximity to Civic Offices makes me think it was deliberate set up by DCC - it handily allowed vehicles to exit from Fishamble St.

Quite. And pedestrian crossings that stay red for a stupid amount of time. I'd love if we had more of those pelican crossings with the flashing orange beacons - you can just drive on through when its clear.

Waiting at an idiot-programmed red light for no good reason can be exasperating.

We should also absolutely introduce the "amber before green" you see in many other countries.

Sam Russell · 30-10-2015 11:28am

monument wrote: »

Stopping speeding is more important that having free-flow.

It is a very blunt instrument used badly. If I set off as the first car from a light (as a normal driver) and travel at or close to the speed limit up to the next light which turns red in my face, then it would be expected that the next time I will exceed the speed limit to get to the next light before it turns red in my face.

Proper design will get the next light to turn from red to green just before I arrive to encourage me not to exceed the speed limit. If this was normal, then so would obeying the speed limit - and traffic would flow freely. It is idiotic to use the traffic lights as some kind of blunt speed enforcer.

traprunner · 30-10-2015 11:40am

Sam Russell wrote: »

It is a very blunt instrument used badly. If I set off as the first car from a light (as a normal driver) and travel at or close to the speed limit up to the next light which turns red in my face, then it would be expected that the next time I will exceed the speed limit to get to the next light before it turns red in my face.

Proper design will get the next light to turn from red to green just before I arrive to encourage me not to exceed the speed limit. If this was normal, then so would obeying the speed limit - and traffic would flow freely. It is idiotic to use the traffic lights as some kind of blunt speed enforcer.

Why would it be expected? Only an idiot would drive like that.

Dublin has too many traffic lights

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