Dublin Traffic madness

Infernal Racket · 18-12-2019 9:46pm #1

I honestly don't know how people do it every day. I had to drive up to and through the city today from Co. Meath. At 11am traffic was backed up to the new Facebook site at Clonee. Slow all the way in. Eventually made my way to ship street, close to Dublin Castle where traffic just stopped and didn't move for over 20 mins. I pulled a u turn and eventually found a different route to my destination on Barrow Street. Weather was ****e and I know it's Christmas and all but I've had to make this trip a few times in the past and it's always the same. I travel the odd time around the city for various reasons but not every day. I honestly couldn't fathom having to join that rat race every day. I'd end up going all Michael Douglas in falling down and murdering everyone who crossed my path. Do any of you do this every day and how are you not all insane?

pablosd9 · 30-01-2020 8:57pm

Since the new year traffic has worsened in my opinion, m50 northbound exit to Finglas used to be grand in the mornings, now every morning there is big queue of cars, I wonder what that's about

Jonybgud · 30-01-2020 9:00pm

Dublin's a kip......

Andrewf20 · 30-01-2020 9:08pm

Dublin is a nightmare like most major cities. This is the cost of crap public transport and a growing population. I just wish there were more incentives to remove the need for people to go into the city in the 1st place, i.e have large business districts on the outskirts like Saggart, Rathcoole, Clane, Swords or maybe further out.

I find that getting on the push bike is the only way to avoid it if you live within 15-20km of the city centre. The M50 to the city centre is roughly 20mins on a good bike as its mostly downhill from most directions. You can almost roll in at a fairly decent pace and not need shower facilities if you have tail winds.

Even with rain and headwinds its still usually faster than stewing in a car at rush hour. I suspect there are large numbers of people who take the car every morning who could actually cycle.

buried · 30-01-2020 9:12pm

Andrewf20 wrote: »

Dublin is a nightmare like most major cities. This is the cost of crap public transport and a growing population. I just wish there were more incentives to remove the need for people to go into the city in the 1st place, i.e have large business districts on the outskirts like Saggart, Rathcoole, Clane, Swords or maybe further out.

I find that getting on the push bike is the only way to avoid it if you live within 15-20km of the city centre. The M50 to the city centre is roughly 20mins on a good bike as its mostly downhill from most directions.

Even with rain and headwinds its still usually faster than stewing in a car at rush hour. I suspect there are large numbers of people who take the car every morning who could actually cycle.

Exactly this. Pure maniac sauce having all this craic in the centre of, lets face it, a Medieval city, one with with no underground infrastructure.

Cloudio9 · 30-01-2020 9:15pm

buried wrote: »

Exactly this. Pure maniac sauce having all this craic in the centre of, lets face it, a Medieval city, one with with no underground infrastructure.

Exactly not this. Those office parks are the reason the m50 is a nightmare.

buried · 30-01-2020 9:19pm

Cloudio9 wrote: »

Exactly not this. Those office parks are the reason the m50 is a nightmare.

Which office parks? The ones all centered on the M50 all together? That's what the problem is. You need to space out the business parks to different areas that aren't all clumped together. Much much further out and away from what is basically a ring road around a town.

Spanish Eyes · 30-01-2020 9:19pm

But but.... what about Rural Ireland LOL?

I agree traffic and commuting have become the journeys from hell. Is anyone listening though? I don't see much progress or interest in the simple little things like bus lane enforcement, yellow box incursions, dashcams in buses. Wouldn't cost much but might bring immediate results. But no, not even the little things, so I don't have much hope for the big things either.

beggars_bush · 30-01-2020 9:20pm

Well there are people commuting from longford to leixlip everyday and mullingar to Galway every day so, the whole country is gone mad

Effects · 30-01-2020 9:20pm

Jonybgud wrote: »

Dublin's a kip......

Try Galway. Traffic is a lot worse for what is essentially a large town.
And then there's Cork, just one big one way system. It's like larger version of Drogheda.

beggars_bush · 30-01-2020 9:25pm

They could solve an awful lot of issues with the amount of cars coming into Dublin by having reliable park and ride bus facilities at every exit/junction along the motorways coming into Dublin and along the M50.

Let the state build in the infrastructure and then get a private company in to run it using gas posted bendy buses along the bus corridors, with a bus every 10 minutes at peak times

Get a few gardai out on point duty stopping idiots from blocking junctions

Spanish Eyes · 30-01-2020 9:25pm

It's an awful pity that bus lanes and cycling infrastructure were not included on the sides of the M50 separated of course. Now I do realise that there would be issues at entrances and exits from the motorway, but someone with a brain and the money could have sorted it somehow. I can dream can't I?

As it is there is relatively NO circle route on PT to the main hubs off the M50 like Tallaght to Clondalkin to Blanchardstown etc. Even if buses cannot run parallel to M50 there is no alternative for many other than to use M50. I suppose the planners were totally car focused. It's not working.

grounderfill · 30-01-2020 9:27pm

I agree, traffic seems worse since the new year. Sitting in traffic for 1 hr 10 mins this evening, which used to take me 35 to 40 mins in 2003, i started thinking about what was achieved in a positive sense with infrastrucure point of view relating to transport. This was a result of the election looming and being pissed off where the same journey too me an hour this morni g going the opposite direction.

Between FF and FG since 2003 all i've seen is building of houses in West Co Dublin with no roads/infrastructure that can cope. The luas should have been an undetground rail system and just went way over budget.
A japanese company said they would build an under ground rail system for 700 million but would want to keep the proceeds for 25 years.
Would probably have been cheaper than what was built but at least it would have taken the pressure off the system that's already breaking at the seems from the inside out, of the city that is

buried · 30-01-2020 9:30pm

Galway is the exact same too, but its the same infrastructure management. All the businesses in another medieval town around a small ring road on the outskirts or in the centre. At the same time there are 3 motorway trails going to towns 10 or 20 minutes down the road that have literally nothing in the way of anything except a motorway beside them that isn't being utilised.

grounderfill · 30-01-2020 9:33pm

I do believe if the government provide enough of an incentive business would start to move out. Tax incentives that are lucrative enough that companies would actually relocate to the suburbs.
Government departments and agencies also should be looking at moving out to the suburbs. Not decentralisation which hasn't worked as far as i can tell...

BillyBird · 30-01-2020 9:39pm

buried wrote: »

Exactly this. Pure maniac sauce having all this craic in the centre of, lets face it, a Medieval city, one with with no underground infrastructure.

Dublin is a Georgian city, if it had a Medieval layout things would be worse!

But, yes, it is maniac sauce having everything in the centre.

30-01-2020 9:41pm

[BOARDS]Bus. Bike. Etc[/BOARDS]

pablosd9 · 30-01-2020 9:43pm

Effects wrote: »

Try Galway. Traffic is a lot worse for what is essentially a large town.
And then there's Cork, just one big one way system. It's like larger version of Drogheda.

Agreed, lived in Galway for 4 years, worst place I've seen for traffic due to it's layout, basically constant traffic from 8am to 6pm all day, I wonder what do people be at

buried · 30-01-2020 9:49pm

BillyBird wrote: »

Dublin is a Georgian city, if it had a Medieval layout things would be worse!

But, yes, it is maniac sauce having everything in the centre.

It will always be a Viking city to me B, that's why I call it medieval! I love Dublin, love going into it and looking about. Sickens my arse all the noise and traffic spilling all into it, making it hectic and basically ruining the place to go with it.

ChikiChiki · 30-01-2020 9:51pm

We don't invest in decent infrastructure where needed. Quite fond of building motorways out in the middle of nowhere.

buried · 30-01-2020 9:58pm

ChikiChiki wrote: »

We don't invest in decent infrastructure where needed. Quite fond of building motorways out in the middle of nowhere.

We got motorways built out into those places already. You have towns dotted along motorways that are basically 30 or 40 minutes away from Dublin/Galway/Cork etc that have nothing in them. Move some business out to those places. Everybody wins. Whats 30 or 40 minutes when you are sitting in traffic around one town that's costing 180 or more minutes stressing everyone out.

FreeThePants · 30-01-2020 10:07pm

It came out about a year ago that Dublin has the 14th worst traffic congestion in the world. Not in Europe - in the world, so including Japan, China, India, etc and all their mega cities.

It's clear at this point that something needs to be done about congestion, because it is a thoroughly broken system as is and the number of cars on the roads (at least in the congested spots) simply has to go down.

Edit: A bit out there, but how much do subway systems cost to make? To take it to an extreme you could have one from Dublin to Cork (via limerick), another to Galway, and another to Waterford, eventually branching out to have direct routes from Cork to Galway, and Cork to Waterford. The costs would be ludicrous I'm sure but it's passed my mind in a shower thought a few times. Funny enough, depending on where the routes intersect it could even wind up with Athlone being the biggest town/city in Ireland ha!

Dublin Traffic madness

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