Catastrophic condition of roads in Cork city (pic heavy thread)

Diabhalta · 08-01-2019 7:55pm

City of Mishima in Japan, just south of Tokyo (roughly the same size as Cork pothole city).

This is how roads should look like in Cork. Western road, Grand Parade, Cronin's field etc. etc. All the main roads.. Of course they are not 100% perfect (that junction on left hand side at 0:53 seems a bit bumpy). Also at 1:36 there is a bit of cracked surface outside that car dealership. But it's all still acceptable. Cork is in bits, the whole place is rubbish. It's disgusting.

If I could I would let the Japanese run the roads department. Because that's what Cork needs. Money and capable people. That would solve the problem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwsXIkseVxA

Odelay · 08-01-2019 8:14pm

Diabhalta wrote: »

City of Mishima in Japan, just south of Tokyo (roughly the same size as Cork pothole city).

This is how roads should look like in Cork. Western road, Grand Parade, Cronin's field etc. etc. All the main roads.. Of course they are not 100% perfect (that junction on left hand side at 0:53 seems a bit bumpy). Also at 1:36 there is a bit of cracked surface outside that car dealership. But it's all still acceptable. Cork is in bits, the whole place is rubbish. It's disgusting.

If I could I would let the Japanese run the roads department. Because that's what Cork needs. Money and capable people. That would solve the problem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwsXIkseVxA

You seem to know all about road engineering, why don’t you apply to join cork county council and run the roads department?

Diabhalta · 08-01-2019 8:15pm

Odelay wrote: »

You seem to know all about road engineering, why don’t you apply to join cork county council and run the roads department?

I'm not an engineer.

Dr_Colossus · 08-01-2019 8:50pm

Great thread OP and great work taking and updating photos. I'm not Cork based but can relate with the state of the roads in Dublin, disgraceful.

cavemeister wrote: »

These roads remind me of Boston.
I asked a guy once why they were so bad and he explained that they have freezing cold winters followed by very warm summers, it's basic freeze-thaw-action at work.

2018 was the closest to Boston weather I can remember in a long time.

Could be a factor!

Could be but the farcical condition of our roads didn't happen within the year, this is the result of years of neglect, ineptitude and indifference by the city and county councils.

I remember a conversation I had years ago with a German engineer who was exasperated with the condition of our road network. When quizzed as to what the Germans do differently he said city councils plan resurfacing sections every 10 years which are well marked in a calendar for the year prior so any work to services are done in that preceding month. Once the road is resurfaced that's it, you can't go uprooting it again without a special bond requiring a proper repair and resurface.
Here on the other hand you can dig a hole or worse a trench across or along a section of road and back fill it with a pot of tar and a few slaps of a shovel and off you go. No ownership, responsibility or pride in any work performed and often so called repair jobs leave the roads in a worse condition that they were in originally.

corks finest · 08-01-2019 9:08pm

Odelay wrote: »

Diabhalta wrote: »

City of Mishima in Japan, just south of Tokyo (roughly the same size as Cork pothole city).

This is how roads should look like in Cork. Western road, Grand Parade, Cronin's field etc. etc. All the main roads.. Of course they are not 100% perfect (that junction on left hand side at 0:53 seems a bit bumpy). Also at 1:36 there is a bit of cracked surface outside that car dealership. But it's all still acceptable. Cork is in bits, the whole place is rubbish. It's disgusting.

If I could I would let the Japanese run the roads department. Because that's what Cork needs. Money and capable people. That would solve the problem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwsXIkseVxA

You seem to know all about road engineering, why don’t you apply to join cork county council and run the roads department?

Why not they know fcuk all about it obviously

Poulgorm · 12-01-2019 7:09pm

zilog_jones wrote: »

That's the county council though. The city boundary has officially changed yet, has it? The work started months ago anyway.

As far as I know, it's neither the county council nor the city council. The road to Kinsale is a national route (N71), so it is controlled by the National Roads Authority (or whatever they are called now).

Edit: the NRA is now TII (Transport Infrastructure Ireland).

mikeecho · 13-01-2019 5:47am

Dr_Colossus wrote: »

Great thread OP and great work taking and updating photos. I'm not Cork based but can relate with the state of the roads in Dublin, disgraceful.

Could be but the farcical condition of our roads didn't happen within the year, this is the result of years of neglect, ineptitude and indifference by the city and county councils.

I remember a conversation I had years ago with a German engineer who was exasperated with the condition of our road network. When quizzed as to what the Germans do differently he said city councils plan resurfacing sections every 10 years which are well marked in a calendar for the year prior so any work to services are done in that preceding month. Once the road is resurfaced that's it, you can't go uprooting it again without a special bond requiring a proper repair and resurface.
Here on the other hand you can dig a hole or worse a trench across or along a section of road and back fill it with a pot of tar and a few slaps of a shovel and off you go. No ownership, responsibility or pride in any work performed and often so called repair jobs leave the roads in a worse condition that they were in originally.

Sight inaccuracies there.

If (for example) bord gais / Irish water or virgin media need to dig a trench across or along a road, they need permission from the local council or coperation.

The repair that they do, is inspected by the local corpo/council to ensure it is satisfactory.

However.. this is where the problem occurs, the repair will be flush with the other surrounding surface at time of inspection, and will be signed off on.

Now,....... Fast forward a few months and that near perfect repair has turned into a trench .. well, it was signed off on .. so the corpo/ council has no comeback on the utility company.

There should be inspections immediately after the work is done,c and again 3 months later.. imo

corks finest · 13-01-2019 12:48pm

mikeecho wrote: »

Dr_Colossus wrote: »

Great thread OP and great work taking and updating photos. I'm not Cork based but can relate with the state of the roads in Dublin, disgraceful.

Could be but the farcical condition of our roads didn't happen within the year, this is the result of years of neglect, ineptitude and indifference by the city and county councils.

I remember a conversation I had years ago with a German engineer who was exasperated with the condition of our road network. When quizzed as to what the Germans do differently he said city councils plan resurfacing sections every 10 years which are well marked in a calendar for the year prior so any work to services are done in that preceding month. Once the road is resurfaced that's it, you can't go uprooting it again without a special bond requiring a proper repair and resurface.
Here on the other hand you can dig a hole or worse a trench across or along a section of road and back fill it with a pot of tar and a few slaps of a shovel and off you go. No ownership, responsibility or pride in any work performed and often so called repair jobs leave the roads in a worse condition that they were in originally.

Sight inaccuracies there.

If (for example) bord gais / Irish water or virgin media need to dig a trench across or along a road, they need permission from the local council or coperation.

The repair that they do, is inspected by the local corpo/council to ensure it is satisfactory.

However.. this is where the problem occurs, the repair will be flush with the other surrounding surface at time of inspection, and will be signed off on.

Now,....... Fast forward a few months and that near perfect repair has turned into a trench .. well, it was signed off on .. so the corpo/ council has no comeback on the utility company.

There should be inspections immediately after the work is done,c and again 3 months later.. imo

You've hit the nail on the head,road sinks after repair, but the bloody council knows this and let's bord gais etc away with it

13-01-2019 1:29pm

mikeecho wrote: »

Sight inaccuracies there.

If (for example) bord gais / Irish water or virgin media need to dig a trench across or along a road, they need permission from the local council or coperation.

The repair that they do, is inspected by the local corpo/council to ensure it is satisfactory.

However.. this is where the problem occurs, the repair will be flush with the other surrounding surface at time of inspection, and will be signed off on.

Now,....... Fast forward a few months and that near perfect repair has turned into a trench .. well, it was signed off on .. so the corpo/ council has no comeback on the utility company.

There should be inspections immediately after the work is done,c and again 3 months later.. imo

It's sickening when a road is re-done after 15/20 years and within weeks is being dug up again. A system of permission based on a calendar and high fees for works outside of certain windows should be introduced. But that would be hassle.

corks finest · 14-01-2019 6:59am

Deleted User wrote: »

mikeecho wrote: »

Sight inaccuracies there.

If (for example) bord gais / Irish water or virgin media need to dig a trench across or along a road, they need permission from the local council or coperation.

The repair that they do, is inspected by the local corpo/council to ensure it is satisfactory.

However.. this is where the problem occurs, the repair will be flush with the other surrounding surface at time of inspection, and will be signed off on.

Now,....... Fast forward a few months and that near perfect repair has turned into a trench .. well, it was signed off on .. so the corpo/ council has no comeback on the utility company.

There should be inspections immediately after the work is done,c and again 3 months later.. imo

It's sickening when a road is re-done after 15/20 years and within weeks is being dug up again. A system of permission based on a calendar and high fees for works outside of certain windows should be introduced. But that would be hassle.

We've councils being run all wrong,lived in the north of Ireland a long time,they fix a pothole once,once only,bye bye pothole,once called to local council ref same in carrigaline,asked about repair and have they a person actually going round and logging road conditions I got an incredlous look off the one behind the counter and got a firm no,then asked so you're depending on locals to complain? Yes says she,I'm complaining weekly says I,and yet the road leading to my estate has 15 plus potholes fort the last 9 year's,,,no answer from her

Diabhalta · 14-01-2019 6:01pm

corks finest wrote: »

We've councils being run all wrong,lived in the north of Ireland a long time,they fix a pothole once,once only,bye bye pothole,once called to local council ref same in carrigaline,asked about repair and have they a person actually going round and logging road conditions I got an incredlous look off the one behind the counter and got a firm no,then asked so you're depending on locals to complain? Yes says she,I'm complaining weekly says I,and yet the road leading to my estate has 15 plus potholes fort the last 9 year's,,,no answer from her

it's clear that the people are the major part of the problem here.

If you are working in some company/business and you're not reasonably efficient, the management will have a talk with you and if there's no impovement you will get a warning etc. Then if you don't improve they will fire you and you are replaced by somebody else, who is gonna do their job properly.

It should be the same with the council. If a member of the public comes back 3 times to complain about one pothole and the poor repairs done somebody should be held accountable for not doing their job properly. One warning, second and that's it... you're fired.

btw. Yellow vest protest is very relevant to the situation in Cork regarding the roads. It's one of the many pieces in the puzzle. In this whole mess that we have to live in. Extortionate car insurance premiums, third world country roads... and the list goes on and on..

edit: The situation around Bus Éireann in Cork is bad as well, the buses are constantly late or not showing up, and that's happening for years and years now.. So the only solution is to replace the people who are unable to solve the problem and let somebody else to do the job. I would suggest learning from Germany in this case. If they are not able to do it by themselves, then some extensive training and mentoring abroad will definitely help. Sure the council (or I don't know who) rang England for help when they wanted to change the lights on Kinsale road roundabout so why not ringing Germany?

Diabhalta · 14-01-2019 6:15pm

Today's Evening echo... says nothing about resurfacing the roads, which isn't a surprise. It's almost like everyone is pretending everything is fine with the roads. Population is set to increase by 50% by 2040. Well, that's a lot of extra cars driving on the roads. Will the roads be in reasonable condition by 2040? I doubt it.

Cork will get Luas, cork will get cycle lanes, cork will go back to a two-way system on MacCurtain street (which makes no sense btw.) but the roads are perfectly fine right?

Diabhalta · 14-01-2019 6:29pm

Comments under articles like this never disappoint. What a circus this place is.

corks finest · 14-01-2019 6:54pm

Diabhalta wrote: »

corks finest wrote: »

We've councils being run all wrong,lived in the north of Ireland a long time,they fix a pothole once,once only,bye bye pothole,once called to local council ref same in carrigaline,asked about repair and have they a person actually going round and logging road conditions I got an incredlous look off the one behind the counter and got a firm no,then asked so you're depending on locals to complain? Yes says she,I'm complaining weekly says I,and yet the road leading to my estate has 15 plus potholes fort the last 9 year's,,,no answer from her

it's clear that the people are the major part of the problem here.

If you are working in some company/business and you're not reasonably efficient, the management will have a talk with you and if there's no impovement you will get a warning etc. Then if you don't improve they will fire you and you are replaced by somebody else, who is gonna do their job properly.

It should be the same with the council. If a member of the public comes back 3 times to complain about one pothole and the poor repairs done somebody should be held accountable for not doing their job properly. One warning, second and that's it... you're fired.

btw. Yellow vest protest is very relevant to the situation in Cork regarding the roads. It's one of the many pieces in the puzzle. In this whole mess that we have to live in. Extortionate car insurance premiums, third world country roads... and the list goes on and on..

edit: The situation around Bus Éireann in Cork is bad as well, the buses are constantly late or not showing up, and that's happening for years and years now.. So the only solution is to replace the people who are unable to solve the problem and let somebody else to do the job. I would suggest learning from Germany in this case. If they are not able to do it by themselves, then some extensive training and mentoring abroad will definitely help. Sure the council (or I don't know who) rang England for help when they wanted to change the lights on Kinsale road roundabout so why not ringing Germany?

Agree with all you stated, problem being in Ireland, civil servants don't get sacked p.s. I was going into or ringing carrigaline co council for nigh in 7 plus years,they eventually redone the whole road( 130 metre's) 2 months back

Diabhalta · 16-01-2019 9:38pm

well that's the drain cover on strawberry hill completely gone now.

EdgeCase · 17-01-2019 12:45am

The road conditions are bad but just on a point on the traffic lights: they didn't "ring England" for "help". The traffic light system in Cork is supplied by a UK division of Siemens that used to be a British company called GPT-Plessey. The city traffic system is managed by a system called UTC with software called SCOOT.

It's one of the most commonly deployed traffic management platforms in the world. So of course if they're implementing a complex junction like Kinsale Road roundabout, they'll be dealing directly with Siemens and their Irish agent.

Councils don't do these things in house. They're far too technical.

As for the state of the roads, they definitely need to coordinate rollouts of infrastructure.

The whole place is being ripped up for water mains and you'd think they might use the opportunity to get Siro, Virgin and Eir to lay whatever fibre they need.

corks finest · 17-01-2019 8:37am

Diabhalta wrote: »

well that's the drain cover on strawberry hill completely gone now.

Nice one, similar one on kilmoney rd upper in carrigaline,last 4 years, still not fixed,road sunk into it

Diabhalta · 12-02-2019 11:43pm

Convent avenue, fixing this is pointless.. resurfacing is the only option. One of the busier roads in Cork, looks like sh*t.

Fella there casually parked on a double yellow line. What a dope.

Diabhalta · 12-02-2019 11:44pm

further up outside Gaol

Diabhalta · 12-02-2019 11:48pm

Ballyhooly road between Dillon's Cross and St. Luke's Cross

the first one is actually quite bad, if you don't know the area or there's a car in the opposite lane you just have to drive over it... stupid.

Diabhalta · 12-02-2019 11:57pm

somewhere in Farranree... what the hell is this?

Popham's road, top to bottom is just cracked and bumpy and horrible..

Diabhalta · 12-02-2019 11:58pm

This place is such a dump!

TheBigGreen · 13-02-2019 11:13am

The T junction at Lee Rd and Sunday's Well Rd is very bad, you're rocking in the car!!

Diabhalta · 05-03-2019 8:42pm

Back in Wilton... few more weeks and it will be competely gone. The reason they didn't resurface it all the way to the roundabout is because they are completely stupid. I wonder if they realise it.

Diabhalta · 05-03-2019 8:44pm

St. Patrick st. Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't they resurface the whole street 1,5 years ago? That's a very bad mileage. New road should last like a decade minimum. But not even 2 years?

Diabhalta · 05-03-2019 8:48pm

Bishop st. outside the St. Finbarre's cathedral. Tourists must be impressed.

right outside the cathedral... it's a matter of time...

further up...

Diabhalta · 05-03-2019 8:49pm

Wanderford's quay opposite the dole office... the worst thing is that there is nowhere to go around this... and what is that thing right in the middle, is that some sort of a joke?

Pops_20 · 05-03-2019 9:44pm

Regarding the Wilton Roundabout, that is an absolute joke. How many weeks did they spend resurfacing that stretch of Sarsfield's road, re-building the centre divide and re-organizing the traffic light layout? I'd hazard a guess and say they spent longer than it took for the road to start to deteriorate. The manhole and drain covers are already sinking.

Why they didn't resurface all the way to edge of the roundabout is a mystery. I would love to hear their reasoning.

Anyway it doesn't matter. That stretch of road will be just as bad as the roundabout itself in 12 months.

Diabhalta · 06-03-2019 5:28pm

473km of roads, 10,000 street lights, nine cemeteries, six playgrounds and 89 bridges to transfer to Cork city in boundary expansion plan

https://www.echolive.ie/corknews/473km-of-roads-10000-street-lights-nine-cemeteries-six-playgrounds-and-89-bridges-to-transfer-to-Cork-city-in-boundary-expansion-plan-ee4a142d-cccc-416a-b6ca-bfb4d88ceccc-ds

"It will open up new opportunities and challenges for Cork and lead to a better level of service."

"We have been working closely with the city council, ensuring they have all the information and resources they need to continue providing a high-quality service to residents."

Are those degenerates for real? Roads are currently completely rotten and it's spreading like cancer. They did very little at the end of last year, now it's March and they did aboslute sweet f**k all with the roads, except the Wilton resurfacing which is s**t as well. Manhole covers already sinking, after turning left from Tesco there's a dip in the road (there nothing they can do about it now, so it will stay like this for the next couple of years till it starts cracking again) and when you get to the roundabout it's same old 3rd world country roads again.

I hope they are proud of their "achievements".

Setting up GoFundMe is probably the only way to do something because they are doing absolutely nothing. What's the story with that horrible bit of the road outside AIB Victoria Cross? How long till that is fixed??? And everything else???

corks finest · 06-03-2019 6:32pm

Douglas road from roundabout at Tesco towards town absolutely a bad joke