Most dangerous junctions

luckat

Can we make a definitive list of the most dangerous junctions in Ireland and the solutions? I'll make a start - Dublin junctions, because I'm a Dub; others will be able to talk about other areas.

The Dublin Airport exit and the roundabouts surrounding it. The problem here, I think, is just very bad signposting, and the solution would be to have the correct lanes indicated on the road surface, continuously until people are on the road they want.

Dundrum and the exits to get to Sandyford, Enniskerry, etc. Again, very bad signposting. Just better signs would solve this, I think - when you follow the first signpost going out of Dublin to go to Enniskerry, you come to a roundabout with no sign indicating which way Enniskerry is...!

Right turn to Kilmainham from the Lucan road into town. This really needs an overpass - it's hideously dangerous. Until an overpass is built, an extra set of lights about 50 metres back from the right-hand loop to get on to the correct road would help, as would proper signage and road markings.

There's a turn on to the M50 from Clondalkin which I take occasionally - I can'ty identify it, but it astonishes me every time I hit it, because there's a sign indicating "M50", then nothing until you're *halfway up the feeder road* onto the M50, when you see a sign, cunningly concealed by greenery. Not sure if this is still there, but I expect it is.

Fey!

GALWAY

Magic Roundabout on the Headford Road (the light-controlled one); exit out of the shopping centre has no lights, people constantly go in the left lane to turn right, general mayhem.

Loughgeorge Junction (Roscommon Road coming onto the Tuam Road on the Tuam side of Claregalway); locals use the crosshatch as a merge lane, as it's safer then going from a standing stop into 100kmph traffic!

Shantalla Road onto Seamus Quirke Road; cars blocking the crosshatch, but worse is when people stop for the lights and everyone does everything right, the crosshatch is clear, and some guy on a bike flys down the outside of the line of traffic where you can't see him until your nose is sticking out because of the truck that's first in the queue at the crosshatch! WTF? Pure luck has saved several bikers there.

Squirrel

Dublin: The junction by the Grange Golf Club, going towards Taylor's Lane turning right to head to Whitechurch. Move to the middle of the junction and then a car coming down Taylor's Lane waiting to turn right back towards Rathfarnham moves up so he's directly along side you (as in your drivers window is right by his drivers window) forcing you to have to go up and have a swing to kinda come back on yourself to make your right turn. What is the mentality of these drivers? They should stay further back so they can cross in front of you, and you in front of them when the gap comes.

smash

Walkinstown Roundabout.... not even road markings on it and there's about 6 roads onto it....

unkel

Dublin:

N4/M50 roundabout, but that is to be replaced with a fully free flow junction. The first one in Ireland and no other one is in the planning iirc :rolleyes:

steve06 wrote:

Walkinstown Roundabout.... not even road markings on it and there's about 6 roads onto it....

<wicked>I actually like that one :cool: </wicked>

Seth Brundle

unkel wrote:

Dublin:

N4/M50 roundabout, but that is to be replaced with a fully free flow junction. The first one in Ireland and no other one is in the planning iirc :rolleyes:

Isn't the M50/N7 interchange going free flow also?

mike65

Whoa there! This is perfect Commuting/Transport forum material, so I'll copy this over but keep a copy here.

Here's a fine example of 'the subtly dangerous' junction it looks benign enough until you actually have to use it. The road is a two+one section on the N24 and as you can see there is feck all run-off area for the turn left while the road width dissapears on the right side as the barrier closes in.

This road was redesigned only a matter of months ago and they finished the work just a few weeks back and no-one said "wait!" thats too narrow for safety, which it is when you have a truck doing a 100 up your arse as you slow to turn.



Mike.

seamus

kbannon wrote:

Isn't the M50/N7 interchange going free flow also?

It's supposed to, but I think they're going to see how the N4 goes first.

unkel

kbannon wrote:

Isn't the M50/N7 interchange going free flow also?

No the mad cow will not be fully free flow, only partially free flow. Although there seems to be a lot of confusion about. On the official website, M50.ie, they couldn't even spell the word "motorway" :eek:

The tax man

Squirrel wrote:

Dublin: The junction by the Grange Golf Club, going towards Taylor's Lane turning right to head to Whitechurch. Move to the middle of the junction and then a car coming down Taylor's Lane waiting to turn right back towards Rathfarnham moves up so he's directly along side you (as in your drivers window is right by his drivers window) forcing you to have to go up and have a swing to kinda come back on yourself to make your right turn. What is the mentality of these drivers? They should stay further back so they can cross in front of you, and you in front of them when the gap comes.

I live just off Whitechurch rd and I understand completly what you mean Squirrel. If I do use that junction I tend to stick the nose of my car towards the right just enough to make the oncoming car have no choice but to cross in front of me and not behind.
Most times I'll carry on down the Grange rd and take any of the other left turns back onto Whitechurch rd.

Mad Mike

mike65 wrote:

Here's a fine example of 'the subtly dangerous' junction it looks benign enough until you actually have to use it.
Mike.

Ouch Mike65 - looking at the picture after reading your description is enough to give a driver nightmares. Perhaps that pathetic run off lane is just wide enough to save the front seat passenger as the truck shears off the whole of the drivers side of the car!!!

Squirrel

The tax man wrote:

I live just off Whitechurch rd and I understand completly what you mean Squirrel. If I do use that junction I tend to stick the nose of my car towards the right just enough to make the oncoming car have no choice but to cross in front of me and not behind.
Most times I'll carry on down the Grange rd and take any of the other left turns back onto Whitechurch rd.

I train in Marlay and we meet up at the car-park by the M50 three times a week, and I find it a pain then, must be horrible when people do it more

bazz26

Limerick:

About 3 years ago the NRA build the N21/N20 southern ring road around the south side of the city. One of the overpasses on this duel carriageway is the main N24 Tipperary/Waterford road.

They really made a pig's arse of that junction. Instead of putting two roundabouts at either end of the overpass where the slip roads from the N21/N20 meet, they just placed a few T-junctions with Stop signs. So what you have is traffic including big artic trucks coming off the N20/N21 trying to either go to Waterford/Tipperary or head into the city. In order to do this they have to turn against very busy fast approaching traffic. The speed limit on this overpass junction is 100kph! There have been numerous accidents at this junction.

Some heavy goods trucks avoid using this junction as it is just too dangerous and use the old city route defeating the purpose of the new ring road.

Hats off to the geniuses in the Engineering department of the NRA. :rolleyes:

mike65

That junction is a cut price scandal!

Mike.

LegacyUser

On the M50 southbound the exit for Tallaght is very badly designed....the exit lane is almost on the brow of a small hill so you dont see it till the last minute.......so its very very easy to miss the exit. I wouldnt even try to guess the number of times iv seen people miss the exit and try reversing up the hard shoulder of the M50 so they can use the exit.

Hobbes

The road just off the Finglas road that meets up with Mc Kee avenue. I have seen so many near crashes there its incredible.

Basically the road coming off the Finglas road drives you up to a yellow box and is straight so it gives you the impression that you have right of way, however to the right on the road (which you wouldn't see going that way) it is in fact a roundabout. So often see people speeding through the road part while someone who has right of way on the roundabout is shooting through as well.

http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&om=1&ll=53.397254,-6.304023&spn=0.002105,0.004501&t=h

bkehoe

The junction between the N30 and the N25 in New Ross. Scene of countless accidents and a major bottleneck in recent times.

The N30 joins the N25 at a T junction at the top of a hill, from both sides of which on the N25 is a 2+1 (overtaking lane going up the hill).

There are 2 main problems here - towards the top of the hill, the 'slow lane' either disappearrs completely or gets really narrow. Also, traffic going towards Wexford in the 'slow lane' risks crashing into traffic coming from the N30 as N30 traffic edges out to see if something is coming.

The other problem is the junction. There is so much traffic on the N25 that vehicles on the N30 waiting to turn right (to head to New Ross/Waterford) sometimes has to wait ages to be able to pull out. Things really get bad when there are lorries waiting to pull out, the very type of vehicle the ring road is supposed to help.

Because of the delays people joining from the N30 face, they often get impatient and perform very dangerous manouvers to get onto the N25. A friend of mine was coming along the N25 towards Waterford once and some guy pulled out in front of him and he couldnt stop in time to avoid hitting him. I cannot even begin to count the number of people that I've come close to hitting at that junction. One day when heading towards Wexford, as I was around 75 - 100m from the junction doing approx 90KM/hr, an artic lorry decided to pull out extremely slowly right in front of me (he was turning towards Waterford). I drive a 2.7 tonne Discovery and don't know how I managed to stop (I had to come to a complete stop, and traffic behind me did as well). If the road had to be wet, it would have been a different story.

The council have been mentioning things like roundabouts for years, but so far nothing has happened. I wonder how many more accidents there it will take before something is done. Hate to say it, but it probably won't be till another person is killed that they'll do something.

Anyway, thats my rant over!

Brendan.

el tel

Those converging posts really do remove any scope for an safe avoidance manoeuver

Notice how the dashed yellow lines in the bottom left of the picture and the right turn arrow on the road have been neatly obliterated by a skid marks :eek:

babybundy

that 2+1 sh*t is a joke the pilot scheme for that was on the cork to mallow road they said we avoided 8 head on crashes as we stoped 8 cars from going across to the other side of the road wat about a bloody bike that will drift in to it eventually and loose a limb because of this governments cheap ass solution if i was to slideof a bike and in to some barrier i'd prefer a concrete one road rash broken bones but no amputation

Joeface

totally agree with bazz26 , that junction is terrible , have too use it every evening going home form work, GF sis had a accident there guy drove out from one of the slip roads straight thru a stop sign ..she went head on into the side of him .........crushed knee cap , 6months later she is still out off work and still hobbling around.

also was told that some one died there the day it opened , not sure its true but it wouldnt surprise me

mike65

re:bkehoe, also near New Ross is a nasty junction on the N30 where it goes down the hill on a bend (as heading towards Enniscorthy) at the botom is a turn left which takes you to places like The Rower and up towards Inistogue/Thomastown. Traffic can fairly thunder down the slope so making a turn right across the Enniscothy bound lane hazardous.

Mike.