M50 upgrade - Phase II

KevR

AlekSmart wrote: »

The off-ramps in particular require immediate and high profile attention from the Gardai.
These locations were totally ignored by the authorities with the consequences now that drivers see it as acceptable to display their ignorance and "chance-it".
Drivers who,as witnessed by hidef,display contempt for basic motorway regulations must be pursued to the limit.


Currently,in true Irish style,we merely await the serious accident before wondering aloud how it happened.

No doubt when an accident does happen at an off-ramp, people will come out calling for the speed limit to be cut and the M50 littered with speed cameras.

Chris_5339762

I was on it the other day. There was a slowpoke in the middle lane, I was in the left lane ready to come off at the next junction so there was no point in my moving out to the right lane to overtake him.

Man behind me flashing me and getting furious because of my absolute refusal to undertake the slowpoke. All his rage got him nowhere in any case and he'd only have saved 20 seconds if we'd both undertaken.

And later on there was an absolute clown doing 140kmh down the auxiliary lane as well as a bus halfway between the auxilary and left lane not understanding how to drive at all.

D.L.R.

AlekSmart wrote: »

I share Craiginireland`s views here and it`s somewhat incredible to see the manner in which the completion of one of Irelands largest civil engineering projects has been handled.

With the removal of the Restrictions and the transformation overnight from a Special Speed Limit zone into a full-blown (Urban) Motorway I would have expected a VERY hi-profile presence from ALL of the agencies involved,Particularly the Garda Traffic Corps,The NRA and the RSA.

Instead we got.....nothing.

Removing the black sacks from the 100 KPH speed limit signs and collecting most of the traffic cones was the extent of it.

There is little doubt but a Major RTA is imminent on the new M50,within weeks I would say as the very high level of ignorance in relation to disciplinary driving on Motorways continues to be displayed.

The off-ramps in particular require immediate and high profile attention from the Gardai.
These locations were totally ignored by the authorities with the consequences now that drivers see it as acceptable to display their ignorance and "chance-it".
Drivers who,as witnessed by hidef,display contempt for basic motorway regulations must be pursued to the limit.

The most educational method by far is to ensure that the queue jumper is targetted and FORCED to continue on to the Next Exit (something most appear to believe does not exist)
However,before this the offender needs to be VISIBLY reprimanded on the hard shoulder or Garda lay-by.

As a stop gap the NRA needs far more Get-In-Lane flashing signes as well as doubling the frequency of the advance road lane markings.

However NOTHING will work as quickly as VISIBLE policing,which will of course entail some Gardai being removed from highly important Speed Limit enforcement along the Stillorgan Road.

Currently,in true Irish style,we merely await the serious accident before wondering aloud how it happened.

Don't hold your breath for any of that - apart from the inevitable crash and general speed limit reduction getting slapped on. I'm afraid thats the limit of ingenuity in this regime country atm.

Why is it that on the new M50 north to Port Tunnel flyover, the driving lane merges into the overtaking lane rather than the other way round.

Were our road designers trained in the US and occasionally forget which side of the road we drive on? :rolleyes:

It's things like this that make lane dicipline so bad, as on that flyover the driving lane appears to be the one on the right not the left!

ardmacha

The off-ramps in particular require immediate and high profile attention from the Gardai.
These locations were totally ignored by the authorities with the consequences now that drivers see it as acceptable to display their ignorance and "chance-it".
Drivers who,as witnessed by hidef,display contempt for basic motorway regulations must be pursued to the limit.

I absolutely agree that the full opening of this road was the time for campaign of enforcement, to set an orderly tone for the operation of the new layout. A few extra Gardai, an RTE camera crew, headlines on the Evening Herald etc. Once the lazy and the inept have been corralled into the proper lane then harsher measures against the louts becomes easier.

As most of the acting the maggot takes place in the vicinity of on and off slip roads this is the place to concentrate resources. Surely fixed cameras can be placed here in addition to visible enforcement.

Also road markings can be looked at. In France there are long "hazard" dashes on lanes near exits, implying that you should not change lanes from the outside lines at this point. Such markings might make enforcement easier.

Redsoxfan

Legally, there's nothing stopping drivers from 'merging' late, is there? Or can it be said than cruising along Lane 3 and then stopping to 'pull in' constitutes dangerous driving?

It's hard to see how this sort of behaviour can be effetively policed-Gardai can hardly be expected to loiter in the driving lane to direct traffic to proceed rather than pull in?

Does this issue arise in other countries? How is it policed? Is the problem that we have a bus stop far too close to the J7 exit onto the N4 and this causes problems? Ditto for the Liffey Valley exit and the fact that 3 lanes start before the M50 exit when perhaps the 3rd lane of the N4 should start with the M50 exit? I dunno, I'm no engineer, but could the N4/M50 junction have been better designed? Land availabilty was probably an issue?

burger1979

Do people think that they could put in plastic bollards in between the lanes when they split on the N4 off ramp coming off the M50 northbound? say as soon as the aux lane splits into 2 then put them in between the lanes on the dividing line and this could stop cars from skipping? bollards could be refelctive red with a relfective white band near the top and be flexible, so that should they be hit they simple bend over and then reflex back into shape when what ever moron has hit them gets off them? the only other suggestion i have is a sniper on the cold cut bridge with a high powered rifle and big bullets that would cause a lot of spatter on the inside windscreen :D

ardmacha

Or can it be said than cruising along Lane 3 and then stopping to 'pull in' constitutes dangerous driving?

Dangerous driving might be bit harsh. Better to have a not too serious offence that is in fact enforced. Could a new offence of ignorant driving be established.

Redsoxfan

ardmacha wrote: »

Dangerous driving might be bit harsh. Better to have a not too serious offence that is in fact enforced. Could a new offence of ignorant driving be established.

Indeed-but just what is that offence? Driving without due care etc?

I'm am just as annoyed and frustrated by this carry on as anyone I'd say-I had a a run-in with a wanker in a Landrover last week who tried to pull in in front of me from the hatched area on the J7 off ramp last week (driving in the hatched area is an offence as it stands). He couldn't get in, so he pulls in behind me and then into the hard shoulder from where he pulled in in front of me. I've seen worse on the M50 itself, where the behaviour is not just pig ignorant, but downright dangerous.

Maybe it's a worthy topic for the new show on Newstalk or one to bring to the attention of Conor Faughnan? At least it might bring the issue to light...

mysterious

Redsoxfan wrote: »

I dunno, I'm no engineer, but could the N4/M50 junction have been better designed? Land availabilty was probably an issue?

The N4 was cheaply designed. There is plenty of land there to build a better interchange. The Redcow interchange is built on tighter qaudrants and space. The N4 imo could of built a 3 tier slip very easily rather than hving two very tight loops. This would free up a lot of space.


The NB to to city and lucan exit coming from The redcow side, should be widened more, to facilitate proper weaving. The Redcow has 3 lanes for a good bit separated fromt he Mainline. The N4 has only one lane and then divides into two abruptly close to the interchange.

Irish and Proud

mysterious wrote: »

The N4 was cheaply designed. There is plenty of land there to build a better interchange. The Redcow interchange is built on tighter qaudrants and space. The N4 imo could of built a 3 tier slip very easily rather than hving two very tight loops. This would free up a lot of space.


The NB to to city and lucan exit coming from The redcow side, should be widened more, to facilitate proper weaving. The Redcow has 3 lanes for a good bit separated fromt he Mainline. The N4 has only one lane and then divides into two abruptly close to the interchange.

...I think the fact that the N4 between J1 (M50) and J2 (Fonthill) is only 3 lanes each way is nothing short of ludicrous. The same would go for the eastbound on-ramp to the N4 at Fonthill. Access to the Fonthill Road (and Liffey Valley SC) on the N4 westbound should be like the Monastery Road slips at the Red Cow in reverse. Also, there should be a 3rd tier flyover from the Fonthill Road to the N4/M50 junction, splitting into extended carriageways for the N4 City, M50 North and M50 South. Would love to see that from the air - the Deadman's Inn would have to live up to its name in making way for the expanded highway complex - would be worth it though!

Regards!

cargo

Looks like the 2nd lane over the freeflow from M1 SB to M50 is opening in the am. Should help a lot with merging for the M50 flyover when coming SB. Also stops Airport traffic having to force it's way out into traffic when the on-ramp comes to an end (merge lane) Now the aux lane will be available to those wanting to just go to M50 SB/Anti-clock whatever.

From http://m50.ie/index.php?page=airport-interchange-m1---j3-m1-m50-interchange

Airport Interchange M1 - Junction 3 M1/M50 Interchange Temporary Traffic Management Removal.

From 06:00AM 16th February 2010 there will a change to the traffic layout. All Temporary Traffic Management will be removed between Airport Interchange M1 to Junction 3 M1/M50 Interchange. All lanes will be open to traffic travelling between these two Junctions.

manc

manc wrote: »

I think before they sign off there need to be a review off the exit ramps before there are some serious accidents with cards stopped on the lanes of the M50 to merge or going from stopped into moving traffic, resulting in only the 2 right hand lanes being clear.

In the mornings when I go past heading southbound from the N4 junction the M50 exit ramps are not to bad, with some delays at Ballymount and Leopardstown, latter being the worse of the two.

In the evenings Northbound, its Firhouse which is not to bad but the N7 and N4 exits are quite bad, easily up to 2 miles tail back in the auxiliary lane which often blocks the next lane to it with cars merging from the main M50 traffic.

The N7 exit is particularly the worst as its auxiliary lane backs up to the Ballymount ON ramp causing cars coming onto the M50 to over take cars in the auxiliary lane and cars merging into the auxiliary lane from the M50 leading to possibly 3 lane with stationary/barely moving cars.


p.s. the M50 is now a pleasure to drive, appart from the above.

Just to add to this post earlier, I have been going a little later in the mornings and I have noticed that Southbound traffic Exiting at Ballymount also backs up to the Redcow causing similar problems to the evening time Northbound between these 2 junctions.

Redsoxfan

I had thought that with the schools being off that this week should be ok. But yesterday evening the M50/N4 was as bas as it was last week. I have a bad feeling that this is going to become the norm. I am surprised I haven't seen people using the hard shoulder yet.

kdouglas

It seems the problem with the M50/N4 off-ramp congestion is caused by the merge as you come around to join the N4, this is primarily due to people in the left-hand lane coming from the n4/city not moving over to leave room for joining traffic coming from the M50. Perhaps it would help to put signage/traffic cones or some other form of system in place to get more people to move over to the middle lane and allow a better free-flow of traffic coming from the M50?


(I find it ironic that this problem is caused by people NOT sitting in the middle lane of a 3 lane carriageway as I've come to expect)

Just goes to show how bad some of the lane markings really are!
There should be a continous lane there for merging traffic at that point, the N4 left lane westbound should become the middle lane where the merge with the M50 north traffic occurs.

celticbest

cargo wrote: »

Looks like the 2nd lane over the freeflow from M1 SB to M50 is opening in the am. Should help a lot with merging for the M50 flyover when coming SB. Also stops Airport traffic having to force it's way out into traffic when the on-ramp comes to an end (merge lane) Now the aux lane will be available to those wanting to just go to M50 SB/Anti-clock whatever.

From http://m50.ie/index.php?page=airport-interchange-m1---j3-m1-m50-interchange

Airport Interchange M1 - Junction 3 M1/M50 Interchange Temporary Traffic Management Removal.

From 06:00AM 16th February 2010 there will a change to the traffic layout. All Temporary Traffic Management will be removed between Airport Interchange M1 to Junction 3 M1/M50 Interchange. All lanes will be open to traffic travelling between these two Junctions.

I Used the new Layout this morning for Junction 1 M1 to the M50SB, I came onto the M1 at J2 (Airport) and there was no signage to say that the Auxiliary lane was now opened and as a result of this there were cars & lorries cutting across to the Auxiliary lane at the last second, (myself included) when you realised it was now opened.

MGT is it possible to get some signage put in place for the next little while to let people know that the lane is now opened ?? Also is it possible to get a drawing of the finished junction layout as it currently stands. Thanks.

manc

kdouglas wrote: »

It seems the problem with the M50/N4 off-ramp congestion is caused by the merge as you come around to join the N4, this is primarily due to people in the left-hand lane coming from the n4/city not moving over to leave room for joining traffic coming from the M50. Perhaps it would help to put signage/traffic cones or some other form of system in place to get more people to move over to the middle lane and allow a better free-flow of traffic coming from the M50?


(I find it ironic that this problem is caused by people NOT sitting in the middle lane of a 3 lane carriageway as I've come to expect)

Comming from the City Westbound on the N4 before the M50/N4 Junction there are only 2 lanes and these 2 become the 2 left hand lanes after the M50 Junction so they are already full before the N4 has 3 lanes. What happens is the Southbound traffic on the M50 adds the Righthand lane to the N4 Westbound on/after the M50/N4 junction.

As far as I can see there are possibly 2 changes that could happen...
1) merger the traffic on the M50/N4 junction somehow so as the left lane of the N4 after the M50/N4 junction can be used for merging traffic off the M50.

2) leave the N4 as is and remove all/some of the bus lane between the M50/N4 junction and Liffey Valley entrance the traffic flows there now, thus leaving a longer merge lane from the M50. Possibly even remove the bus stop and use the one a little further down at the driving entrace to LV.

Also use the unused hard shoulder as you come from the M50 to the N4.


I'm guessing the problems at Ballymount Junction and Redcow are to do with traffic lights or similar to above for N4.

kdouglas

That bus stop does cause a lot of hassle too, people coming from n4/city getting off at liffey valley cause a bit of a slow down because they are merging across the m50/n4 merge, but when there is a bus everything just comes to a stand still because the bus is far too close to the merge.

I'd like to see the bus lane removed (I cant imagine it really serves much of a purpose here) and the merge for m50/n4 extended.

M50 Traffic MGT: Perhaps this could be experimented with using temporary signage on the M50/N4 exit indicating "Merging Traffic; Use Bus Lane" ? and perhaps some traffic cones to direct N4 city westbound traffic across to the middle lane?

SomeGuyCalledMi

kdouglas wrote: »

It seems the problem with the M50/N4 off-ramp congestion is caused by the merge as you come around to join the N4, this is primarily due to people in the left-hand lane coming from the n4/city not moving over to leave room for joining traffic coming from the M50. Perhaps it would help to put signage/traffic cones or some other form of system in place to get more people to move over to the middle lane and allow a better free-flow of traffic coming from the M50?


(I find it ironic that this problem is caused by people NOT sitting in the middle lane of a 3 lane carriageway as I've come to expect)

I often travel from M50 southbound to Liffey valley. Its very tricky to get across all those lanes of traffic. Lots of trucks need to do it too. Im sure its part of the problem. The only solution I see it to build the separate Liffey Valley exit.

cargo

celticbest wrote: »

I Used the new Layout this morning for Junction 1 M1 to the M50SB, I came onto the M1 at J2 (Airport) and there was no signage to say that the Auxiliary lane was now opened and as a result of this there were cars & lorries cutting across to the Auxiliary lane at the last second, (myself included) when you realised it was now opened.

MGT is it possible to get some signage put in place for the next little while to let people know that the lane is now opened ?? Also is it possible to get a drawing of the finished junction layout as it currently stands. Thanks.

Came down the M1 and went freeflow to M50 through the new layout this am. Great stuff although it was just after 6:15 so traffic was fairly light. Much more room to get in lane and less traffic having to move about as well.

p4ddyv

manc wrote: »

Just to add to this post earlier, I have been going a little later in the mornings and I have noticed that Southbound traffic Exiting at Ballymount also backs up to the Redcow causing similar problems to the evening time Northbound between these 2 junctions.

I seen that this morning at 8.20am, people changing lanes like lunatics trying to move ahead quicker.

I also noticed this morning that the inside lane was moving quicker than the overtaking lane! all the morons who think its OK to sit in the outside lane plodding along while the inside lane was whizzing by...

I don't care now though, its knocked an hour off my return journey to work everyday.

p4ddyv

M50 Traffic MGT: Why is the newly finished slip at Sandyford/Beacon Court not open yet? It looks finished.??

bigbadbear

p4ddyv wrote: »

M50 Traffic MGT: Why is the newly finished slip at Sandyford/Beacon Court not open yet? It looks finished.??

It's not finished. there's ducting and ESB works to be done there

Davy

Junction 5 finglas is well on track now. The N2 outbound to M50SB slip open a few days, and the N2 inbound to M50NB is very nearly ready.

The concrete beams over the n2 inbound for the new freeflow slip also went in last night.

And the old roundabout at junction 3 is now finished and cones gone, about time!

Heroditas

Davy wrote: »

And the old roundabout at junction 3 is now finished and cones gone, about time!

Does that mean the new freeflow slip when exiting the M50 NB towards the Naul road is completely open now?
Sweet!

Steviemak

Heroditas wrote: »

Does that mean the new freeflow slip when exiting the M50 NB towards the Naul road is completely open now?
Sweet!

I assume he means J4. If so that is good news.

Davy

No i mean J3 as in M50/N32 roundabout. Ballymun slip is J4 sorry

oddiot

cargo wrote: »

Came down the M1 and went freeflow to M50 through the new layout this am. Great stuff although it was just after 6:15 so traffic was fairly light. Much more room to get in lane and less traffic having to move about as well.

...and it's excellent coming from the airport and going to M50 south... if you just stay in the left lane from the M1/airport roundabout and do nothing, you end up on lane 1 of M50 south without merging or weaving. I saw a lot of hasty lane changes by drivers panicking with the new layout, but that will ease in a few days.

Steviemak

Davy wrote: »

No i mean J3 as in M50/N32 roundabout. Ballymun slip is J4 sorry

Pity - i was hoping the J4 freeflow slip to Naul Rd was open.