Galway traffic

Gremlinertia · 21-02-2020 8:45pm

One of the fast food delivery companies had a post up on social media earlier saying they had suspended deliveries due to traffic and would advise when hey were taking orders again.

ben.schlomo · 21-02-2020 8:51pm

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Everywhere?

Parkmore Rd is pretty much empty

The bus got thru the Briarhill junction at the first chance of the lights.

Ballybane Rd is flowing freely.

A very slight queue on Monivea Rd going in to Ballybane Rd.

Have to agree, we got out of town in 20 minutes to the East side at 420. Eglinton/Eyre Square moved fine and that was probably the slowest part of the journey, was expecting a lot worse from the posts on here earlier.

cooperguy · 22-02-2020 12:39am

ben.schlomo wrote: »

Have to agree, we got out of town in 20 minutes to the East side at 420. Eglinton/Eyre Square moved fine and that was probably the slowest part of the journey, was expecting a lot worse from the posts on here earlier.

All you had to do was look at Google maps this afternoon. All the centre of town was dark red. It was a disaster

Storm 10 · 22-02-2020 1:54am

As I said and others all the problems were in the City once you got out it was grand so no point in posting about Ballybane or other places. It took me one hour and forty minutes to get from Westside to Ballybrit at lunchtime .

Mrs OBumble · 22-02-2020 2:43am

Storm 10 wrote: »

As I said and others all the problems were in the City once you got out it was grand so no point in posting about Ballybane or other places. It took me one hour and forty minutes to get from Westside to Ballybrit at lunchtime .

Someone said the problem was was "everywhere". It clearly wasn't.

I had lunch with a friend who travelled from Oranmore to Parkmore . She had no problems.

Ashleigh1986 · 22-02-2020 7:58am

Traffic in GALWAY CITY yesterday was as bad as it gets .
The pedantic posters on this forum are well aware of where the problems were yesterday .
Of course they weren't any issues around parkmore because a lot of workers aren't in that area on a Friday afternoon.
It was choas as I predicted it would be ... Because
Novena / midterm / shocking weather and throw in the damaged road at wellpark.
To many people in galway don't stop and think ...
All the sheep got in their cars because the kids were off school ,and weather was bad to head into the shopping centres .
It happens every single midterm off from school.

Fitz* · 22-02-2020 1:15pm

The cross at the huntsman is half closed again today.

zell12 · 22-02-2020 1:20pm

FitzShane wrote: »

The cross at the huntsman is half closed again today.

Road Fail again?

Laviski · 22-02-2020 1:28pm

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Someone said the problem was was "everywhere". It clearly wasn't.

I had lunch with a friend who travelled from Oranmore to Parkmore . She had no problems.

This thread about traffic within the Galway city forum. If care was taken to look at traffic app it would have shown all routes within Galway city dark red.

Oranmore is in county Galway and so is part of parkmore. maybe crossing the outskirts of the city residential areas and possible briarhill s/c depending on what route was taken.

So poster was correct in saying in what they said. It would be more help is posters in this thread to stay on topic rather than derail such as this example.

ben.schlomo · 22-02-2020 1:38pm

zell12 wrote: »

Road Fail again?

Fully repairing yesterday's issue it seems.

Mrs OBumble · 22-02-2020 2:39pm

Ashleigh1986 wrote: »

Traffic in GALWAY CITY yesterday was as bad as it gets .
The pedantic posters on this forum are well aware of where the problems were yesterday .
Of course they weren't any issues around parkmore because a lot of workers aren't in that area on a Friday afternoon.
It was choas as I predicted it would be ... Because
Novena / midterm / shocking weather and throw in the damaged road at wellpark.
To many people in galway don't stop and think ...
All the sheep got in their cars because the kids were off school ,and weather was bad to head into the shopping centres .
It happens every single midterm off from school.

So it's nothing which a ring-road will fix then: people simply need to catch the bus to the cinema, novena etc

And it clearly wasn't bad everywhere: I named lots of city roads which were just fine.

Discodog · 22-02-2020 2:44pm

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

So it's nothing which a ring-road will fix then: people simply need to catch the bus to the cinema, novena etc

And it clearly wasn't bad everywhere: I named lots of city roads which were just fine.

The ring road would fix a lot - if & it's a big if, it's done properly. All of the Novena visitors, from outside the City, would use the ring road & then use Park & Ride. A proportion of the existing traffic jam vehicles would be out of the City & on the ring road.

Laviski · 22-02-2020 3:14pm

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

So it's nothing which a ring-road will fix then: people simply need to catch the bus to the cinema, novena etc

And it clearly wasn't bad everywhere: I named lots of city roads which were just fine.

Sure could say the road outside my estate was empty and ask what are all the complaints...
Wellpark was blocked so traffic wasnt going to go that way to feed ballybane as you mentioned. Other areas u mentioned are in county galway or part thereof.

Arterial routes were bumber to bumber from city centre

flazio · 22-02-2020 3:15pm

It would depend on how many east side workers take up houses on the westside. I could see it happen that Knocknacara residents would drive out to Barna, or the nearest access to the ring road, and use that to get to work in Parkmore, Ballybrit etc. If it remains single occupancy cars the whole way then the ring road could just become another gridlock.

Mrs OBumble · 22-02-2020 3:19pm

Laviski wrote: »

Wellpark was blocked so traffic wasnt going to go that way to feed ballybane as you mentioned. Other areas u mentioned are in county galway or part thereof.

Arterial routes were bumber to bumber from city centre

I wrote the post while on a Galway city bus 401, travelling thru Galway city.

Every road I mentioned is one that would be jammers if traffic was bad *everywhere*.

Laviski · 22-02-2020 4:23pm

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

I wrote the post while on a Galway city bus 401, travelling thru Galway city.

Every road I mentioned is one that would be jammers if traffic was bad *everywhere*.

What you mentioned is what was on the east side.
Now your saying your on the 401 going thru the centre to the east.

Stick to a story rather than set an example to suit your agenda. Which u now changed.

or obviously you went before wellpark was closed. As the 401 wouldn't have been able to drive through when closed. As you fail to mention that diversion.

Storm 10 · 22-02-2020 5:04pm

Mrs Bumble has a one track mind about traffic in Galway which will never change, lunch in Parkmore with a friend from Oranmore no traffic problems despite posters saying all the problems were in the City Centre ,I had no lunch yesterday because I spent over an hour not going anywhere every road heading out was completely blocked.

Mrs OBumble · 24-02-2020 10:15am

Laviski wrote: »

What you mentioned is what was on the east side.
Now your saying your on the 401 going thru the centre to the east.

Stick to a story rather than set an example to suit your agenda. Which u now changed.

or obviously you went before wellpark was closed. As the 401 wouldn't have been able to drive through when closed. As you fail to mention that diversion.

I have no idea where you got the city centre from.

I will repeat: I was on a Galway CITY bus, travelling along Parkmore, Monivea, Ballybane roads. They are all in Galway city. All were fine. Obviously traffic wasn't bad EVERYWHERE as someone claimed. And it certainly wasn't bad at the usual hot-spots.

Wellpark was reopened by 1:35pm, according to the city council. It was certainly open and moving freely when my bus went along it. So was College Rd.

No matter what happened in the city centre on Friday, I can assure you it was worse on certain wet days in 2007/8 ish, when the issues genuinely were city-wide

John_Rambo · 24-02-2020 5:11pm

Ringroad and Galway traffic being discussed in Ivan Yates show on Newstalk now.

ChewyLouie · 24-02-2020 5:21pm

John_Rambo wrote: »

Ringroad and Galway traffic being discussed in Ivan Yates show on Today FM now.

Newstalk

xckjoo · 24-02-2020 6:29pm

what_traffic wrote: »

Now the mad thing - lets see what figures are produced at the Oral Hearing. Would not be surprised if they are changed again.

Looks like it did change. It's now up to 69% according to the Irish Times/the project director:

Andrew Archer, project director, said private car users are projected to account for 69 per cent of all journeys in the city in 2039, if the ring road is built.
According to projections completed by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), which appear in the ring road’s EIAR, the percentage of people walking in Galway will fall from an estimated 25.2 per cent to 24.5 per cent over the same period, should the project go ahead.
Similar marginal decreases are projected for the percentage of people using public transport, down from 4.3 per cent to 4.1 per cent, and the number of people cycling, down from 3.1 per cent to 2.8 per cent.

Not all doom and gloom. With a few if's and hopes and wishes, we might see a slight shift towards other modes of transport. So if we're lucky we might see a full 6.8% of people using public transport

The project team behind the proposed ring road argued that these projections will be changed significantly if separate initiatives included in the Galway Transport Strategy and the National Planning Framework are implemented in full.
Under these conditions, the percentage of people travelling by cars will be reduced significantly to 56 per cent by 2039. Similarly, the percentage of people walking is projected to grow to 31.2 per cent while the percentage using public transport and cycling is projected to increase to 6.8 per cent and 6 per cent respectively.

Despite the projected decrease in the percentage of people cycling, walking and using public transport if the ring road is build, Mr Archer said the development will create an improved environment for non-car users in Galway.

Discodog · 24-02-2020 6:45pm

Quote:
Andrew Archer, project director, said private car users are projected to account for 69 per cent of all journeys in the city in 2039, if the ring road is built.
According to projections completed by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), which appear in the ring road’s EIAR, the percentage of people walking in Galway will fall from an estimated 25.2 per cent to 24.5 per cent over the same period, should the project go ahead.
Similar marginal decreases are projected for the percentage of people using public transport, down from 4.3 per cent to 4.1 per cent, and the number of people cycling, down from 3.1 per cent to 2.8 per cent.

That has to be totally wrong & utterly bonkers. No wonder our infrastructure is in a mess. I am pretty sure that Oxford experienced the total opposite. This will only happen when they fail to put in efficient Park & Ride.

xckjoo · 24-02-2020 7:05pm

Discodog wrote: »

Quote:
Andrew Archer, project director, said private car users are projected to account for 69 per cent of all journeys in the city in 2039, if the ring road is built.
According to projections completed by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), which appear in the ring road’s EIAR, the percentage of people walking in Galway will fall from an estimated 25.2 per cent to 24.5 per cent over the same period, should the project go ahead.
Similar marginal decreases are projected for the percentage of people using public transport, down from 4.3 per cent to 4.1 per cent, and the number of people cycling, down from 3.1 per cent to 2.8 per cent.

That has to be totally wrong & utterly bonkers. No wonder our infrastructure is in a mess. I am pretty sure that Oxford experienced the total opposite. This will only happen when they fail to put in efficient Park & Ride.

What's most depressing is that this is the director of the project putting forth his best face on why it should be done. He does go on to say that things might improve (a drop to 56% private car usage) IF a load of other things happen, but it doesn't seem like any of those other things are guaranteed to occur and are dependent on a load of other bureaucratic groups getting their act together.

I might be a pessimist (or just an engineer for too long) but I'd expect things to end up worse than the story he's portraying here.

ChewyLouie · 24-02-2020 8:20pm

John_Rambo wrote: »

Ringroad and Galway traffic being discussed in Ivan Yates show on Newstalk now.

https://www.newstalk.com/podcasts/highlights-from-the-hard-shoulder/its-embarrassing-at-this-stage

cooperguy · 25-02-2020 1:38am

xckjoo wrote: »

What's most depressing is that this is the director of the project putting forth his best face on why it should be done. He does go on to say that things might improve (a drop to 56% private car usage) IF a load of other things happen, but it doesn't seem like any of those other things are guaranteed to occur and are dependent on a load of other bureaucratic groups getting their act together.

I might be a pessimist (or just an engineer for too long) but I'd expect things to end up worse than the story he's portraying here.

In fairness, of course that's the case. Adding a ring road will not put people on busses. Only an improved bus network will. You cant improve the public transport without the additional river crossing.

ChewyLouie · 25-02-2020 8:24am

cooperguy wrote: »

You cant improve the public transport without the additional river crossing.

Of course you can, dedicate 1 lane on the double lane roads to public transport, add additional routes and buses. For some single lane roads switch to one way systems and do the same.

I think you mean you can't improve it without inconveniencing the current private car centred solution that isn't scaling.

what_traffic · 25-02-2020 9:15am

xckjoo wrote: »

What's most depressing is that this is the director of the project putting forth his best face on why it should be done. He does go on to say that things might improve (a drop to 56% private car usage) IF a load of other things happen, but it doesn't seem like any of those other things are guaranteed to occur and are dependent on a load of other bureaucratic groups getting their act together.

I might be a pessimist (or just an engineer for too long) but I'd expect things to end up worse than the story he's portraying here.

His numbers and projections sound about right to me - have we seen the same shift in other Irish Citys of similar size to Galway who have "Ring Roads" (Waterford and Limerick) into other modes since those roads were buillt.
Nope.
His 2039 numbers is with modeling the GTS 2016 strategy into the mix.
That has no P&R, minimal cycling infrastructure.
The only major aspect of the GTS 2016 is closing the Salmon Weir Bridge and inner City from College/Rd Forster St to Court House to private car traffic
People on this thread here talk about P&R but there are no concrete plans for any P&R.

xckjoo · 25-02-2020 10:20am

McNeils said on the Newstalk segment that Bus Connect in development for the City and there'd be a Salthill route within the next 2 years. Anybody got a link to info on that?

zell12 · 25-02-2020 12:21pm

BusConnects may involve CPO of gardens and due for completion in 2027
https://www.kildarestreet.com/wrans/?id=2019-04-09a.1319

Can't find any mention of next two years

25-02-2020 1:43pm

Galway was definitely included when Bus Connects was launched but I have only ever seen reports about Dublin.

Bus Connects would be well needed here.
Reorganizing routes into spines, orbital routes and feeder routes, taking parking or front gardens to make bus lanes along those spines.

timmyntc · 25-02-2020 1:45pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Galway was definitely included when Bus Connects was launched but I have only ever seen reports about Dublin.

I think they name checked all the other cities to keep everyone happy.
No concrete plans for anywhere outside the Pale unfortunately.

zell12 · 25-02-2020 4:49pm

This is the eventual plan for Galway
5 routes - all go through University Road, 4 through EyreSq
3 park n rides

ChewyLouie · 25-02-2020 7:33pm

zell12 wrote: »

This is the eventual plan for Galway
5 routes - all go through University Road, 4 through EyreSq
3 park n rides

Where did you get the image from?

That's very uninspiring as a future plan - looks very similar to the current offering. Still nothing going over the Quincentenary Bridge.

cooperguy · 25-02-2020 9:17pm

ChewyLouie wrote: »

Of course you can, dedicate 1 lane on the double lane roads to public transport, add additional routes and buses. For some single lane roads switch to one way systems and do the same.

I think you mean you can't improve it without inconveniencing the current private car centred solution that isn't scaling.

No, I mean you can't do it. What you are suggesting is ludicrous. You will be removing more car capacity than the bus route can add back in again and the city grinds to a halt.

There are too many people commuting from the countryside to the city that buses cant serve (as one example). And with all your additional bus lanes they will still just back up into the bottleknecks over the river without another bridge.

zell12 · 25-02-2020 9:21pm

ChewyLouie wrote: »

Where did you get the image from?
That's very uninspiring as a future plan - looks very similar to the current offering. Still nothing going over the Quincentenary Bridge.

There'll be a bus gate through GUH grounds, bus priority on University Rd, Eglinton St will be bus/pedestrian, etc
Bus routes are already established and serve main population/service/employment centres , why'd you expect them to change much?

cooperguy · 25-02-2020 9:37pm

ChewyLouie wrote: »

Where did you get the image from?

That's very uninspiring as a future plan - looks very similar to the current offering. Still nothing going over the Quincentenary Bridge.

They specifically rule that out, it doesn't serve a big enough portion of the population for a large enough part of the day

donvito99 · 25-02-2020 9:41pm

cooperguy wrote: »

No, I mean you can't do it. What you are suggesting is ludicrous. You will be removing more car capacity than the bus route can add back in again and the city grinds to a halt.

Buses actually add capacity as evidenced at home and abroad. Why is Galway different?

25-02-2020 9:44pm

donvito99 wrote: »

Buses actually add capacity as evidenced at home and abroad. Why is Galway different?

Does this really have to be explained again?

donvito99 · 25-02-2020 9:45pm

Jazmin Harsh Gold wrote: »

Does this really have to be explained again?

Yeah gwan. Tell me how a bus lane will carry less people than an equivalent lane that cars can drive in.

25-02-2020 9:50pm

donvito99 wrote: »

Yeah gwan. Tell me how a bus lane will carry less people than an equivalent lane that cars can drive in.

Because very few people will use the bus so you will have the same level of car traffic trying to get though with much less road capacity = carnage.

donvito99 · 25-02-2020 9:55pm

Jazmin Harsh Gold wrote: »

Because very few people will use the bus so you will have the same level of car traffic trying to get though with much less road capacity = carnage.

Are people's brains degrading in Galway's traffic or something?

ratracer · 25-02-2020 10:00pm

Jazmin Harsh Gold wrote: »

Because very few people will use the bus so you will have the same level of car traffic trying to get though with much less road capacity = carnage.

Except that has been proven not to be true in many places that have had the same traffic issues as Galway.
I hate driving in Galway at any time of the day, any day of the week. The only reason I do it now is because the bus is usually stuck in the same traffic as me.
If there was proper dedicated bus lanes with priority over other traffic, I would happily park in Oranmore and commute by bus into town. I would think a lot of others would also follow suit.

xckjoo · 25-02-2020 10:06pm

cooperguy wrote: »

No, I mean you can't do it. What you are suggesting is ludicrous. You will be removing more car capacity than the bus route can add back in again and the city grinds to a halt.

There are too many people commuting from the countryside to the city that buses cant serve (as one example). And with all your additional bus lanes they will still just back up into the bottleknecks over the river without another bridge.

A single double decker bus can hold about 70 people. How can a car possible compete with that kind of capacity? Think about how much space would be freed up by removing that number of cars from the road

xckjoo · 25-02-2020 10:08pm

Jazmin Harsh Gold wrote: »

Because very few people will use the bus so you will have the same level of car traffic trying to get though with much less road capacity = carnage.

People will use the bus if it gets them around quicker. Not everyone is as married to their car as you are

cooperguy · 25-02-2020 10:08pm

donvito99 wrote: »

Yeah gwan. Tell me how a bus lane will carry less people than an equivalent lane that cars can drive in.

This has been done to death at this stage... In a high density area that is the case because people currently using cars can all just get on buses. The bus routes will not cover the wide area of suburbs and countryside that the car lanes currently do. so you will still have more than half the cars on the road (you need to remove a minimum of 50% of the cars if you get rid of a lane, I think everyone is agreed that traffic is on a knife edge and each lane is at capacity). There is only a couple of river crossings in the city, moving one to bus only (as is planned) wont work until another bridge is built, it would be a complete bottleneck. All of this would grind traffic to a halt

donvito99 · 25-02-2020 10:30pm

cooperguy wrote: »

The bus routes will not cover the wide area of suburbs and countryside that the car lanes currently do. so you will still have more than half the cars on the road. This will grind traffic to a halt

Bus routes already cover wide areas and will cover even larger areas with park and ride (already successful in Oranmore). Galway is no different to any other city on this island or elsewhere - bus lanes will not grind traffic to a halt (it already is at a halt without bus lanes), in fact, they will transport more people in less time than the same space dedicated to cars would.

ChewyLouie · 25-02-2020 10:45pm

cooperguy wrote: »

There are too many people commuting from the countryside to the city that buses cant serve (as one example). And with all your additional bus lanes they will still just back up into the bottleknecks over the river without another bridge.

Park & Ride.

If you live in the countryside or smaller surrounding towns you have lots of advantages - cheaper property, bigger houses, large garden, room for a pony etc.

Just because you can drive to your local shop and pull up and park at the entrance doesn't automatically mean you should be able to drive up to your employment in the city centre and park at the door.

City living means living in expensive small properties surrounded by others. But the advantages to offset that should be an efficient public transport system that allows the city residents to move between home, work and community spaces (shops, parks, pubs etc.). City residents that live and work in the city shouldn't be getting into cars every day.

Galway is a growing city but it's being choked by its insistent pripritisation of cars.

ChewyLouie · 25-02-2020 11:34pm

Very good episode of Eco Eye this evening on "Gridlock". They focus most of the first half on Galway City.

https://www.rte.ie/player/series/eco-eye/SI0000000494?epguid=AI000003356&seasonguid=121405480265

CitizenFloor · 26-02-2020 10:02am

Why does it say Lane closed 10AM-9PM up at the intersection on the Tuam Rd. if there is going to be lads out with bollards closing off the lane at 8AM?

what_traffic · 26-02-2020 10:20am

zell12 wrote: »

This is the eventual plan for Galway
5 routes - all go through University Road, 4 through EyreSq
3 park n rides

That red route will have to be modified - plans now for link road further east in Ballybrit Business Park after Boston Scientific objection at Oral Hearing.

Galway traffic

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