New speed limit on M50 -

astraboy

kbannon wrote: »

The road was upgraded to all more traffic flow on it. That is why the lanes are narrower than they were previously.
Were traffic to flow at 120km/h then a greater stopping distance is required.
Take a look at http://vwisb7.vkw.tu-dresden.de/~treiber/MicroApplet/

Never even driven the M50 to be honest, and hopefully I rarely will in the future. From what I heard any speed close to 100kph is unattainable in the rush hours. So it is during quieter hours that people will be caught over the limit, when stopping distances have less relevance due to the dramatic decrease in traffic compared to the rush hours. I just hate knowing people will be caught doing 120(the old limit) when its safe to do so, and all this is under the guise of road safety.

Seth Brundle

astraboy wrote: »

From what I heard any speed close to 100kph is unattainable in the rush hours.

The motorway is relatively empty (at least compared to pre-upgrade) and the speed limit is easily attainable. However, as the stretch between Ballymount and the toll is the only part open with pretty much the rest of the motorway restricted due to roadworks its too short to make a significant impact.

astraboy

Just clicked the link. Looks class! My dad works with the NRA through the council so I must send him this.

craichoe

return guide wrote: »

Why post on something that does not worry you.

You say you went thru the port tunnel, a lot of us had to put up the extra traffic in Dublin so you could do this.

OT ,but building in a wider area is also a major factor in the capitals "meltdown", how does making people travel 2hrs each way to work help.

I dove into Cork, Limerick and Belfast over the last two weeks and the traffic was as bad peak times as Dublin , relatively speaking.

Because some day i'll eventually want to move back home to Cork, and i would mind seeing an economy there when i come back.

Working in Amsterdam (Which is alot more densely populated than Dublin) the only way its survived is because of a very good public transport network, if everyone drove into the city you just couldn't do it. Dublin is heading in the same direction but DOESN'T have any decent infrastructure to deal with this.

Balfa

stevec wrote: »

unlike here, they can undertake.

It sounds like most of your gripe is about the law against undertaking. I'd be happy to see that one go. But I still think people should be fined for hogging the overtaking lane.

alias no.9

I have to say this is a bit of a non issue, for the most part, traffic levels will dictate speed and that will invariably be less than the limit. There are some times of the day when things are pretty clear but even then it's not going to make much difference because the time lost at the toll is a much bigger loss. Without having the full facts, I would buy the narrower lanes, if they are narrower, as a valid reason for the lower limit and particularly the continuous merging lane between lucan and tallaght.

Omcd

Well, my opinon for what it's worth (or not) is that the 100k limit is fast enough until people learn how to drive on a 3 lane road. I'd generally travel as far left as possible (most time lane 1 is not possible due to folks crawling in lane 2, so in effect this means lane 1, 2, or 3) then have to take lane 3 (rightmost) for the Easypass lane for the toll, and then have to get back across to lane 1 for the N3 exit shortly after, so it means a lot of lane changing. Trying to get into lane 2 after the toll from lane 3 is a nightmare, cos you have folks sitting in lane 1 who, dispite me waiting a while with indicator on warning, wont give any indication they are about to head for lane 2 until I'm halfway into lane 2 and I'm seeing their door handles very close up, or you have the muppets who undertake trucks in lane 1 at high speed and then appear from nowhere cutting across lane 2 with no warning as I'm in the process of moving from lane 3 to lane 2. Most times I have to abort and try again. Then you have the added problem that the lanes go from 3 to 2 at the N3 exit creating a tail back, so that gives me even less time to change from 3 to 1 before I encounter that, and the added danger of having to watch at the same time whats going on beside in lane 1 and 2, whats going on far back in lane 1 for the fast undertakers, whats going on behind me in lane 3 in the case some bat out of hell leeming decides to just floor it from lane 3 to 2 past me, and keeping an eye on traffic in front for when it suddenly slows for the tailback (and as for the speedometer, its whats going on around that dictates my speed here, I dont have time to give it a look) - yes I do my best to switch my vision quickly back and forth, but I just cant get around the limitation that I just cannot look in several places at the same time, and my head does not spin exorcist style (I'm still searching for that upgrade..).

Contrary to what some posters have said about not getting the opportunity to 100k let alone 120k, my experience is lane 3 is generally (but of course not always) fairly clear or fairly fast, so if I ever decided that I wanted to stay out there there's a good chance that for the most part I could do whatever speed I wanted in excess of 100k or 120k - if I wanted (which i dont) The problem is the drivers who see nothing wrong with doing 120k + while weaving in and out of traffic in lanes 0 (if we can call the slip lane that), 1, and 2 that is doing 80 - 100k, and add that to morons who dont bother looking or signalling before changing lanes, and the temporary additional theathrics resulting from toll booth lanes (can't wait until they're bulldozed) and 3 lanes going into 2 or whatever. But yes, when 3 lane driving behaviour becomes more disciplined (I wont be holding my breath), its ALL 3/4 lanes and there are no more toll booths in relatively close proximity to junctions, I'd like to see the limit on the M50 being 120k, but for me, timewise, 100k makes no odds whatsoever. There are less queues on the actual motorway itself than before the roadworks started.

I do have major problem with the traffic light junction at Ballymount:mad:, which has added 5 - 10 minutes to my journey (so much for the hype about free flow junctions), and the longer queue at the N3 exit (which I would take to be an indication that traffic is actually now getting down the new section of M50 quicker) which adds a further couple of minutes (probably cancelling out the saving on the new M50 stretch) and adds a new problem of traffic turning left from lane three (rightmost) on the slip road onto the N3 (another typical Irish lane discipline issue). So in total, the new M50 has added 5 - 10 minutes to my journey - thanks NRA et al:rolleyes:.

I could then get on to the issue of the new N3 being downgraded from 100k to 60k with no overtaking of slower moving traffic allowed whatsoever and stupidly tight roundabouts (traffic coming from Trim please dont overshoot your stop line, there isnt room to avoid you without mashing the car on the inside !:mad:) (these will be 'fun' on an icy day !:rolleyes:), which I see as a more contentious issue than 100k on the M50 given its a completely new road built from scratch a few extra feet/inches here and there could/should have been availed of, but I see I've just worn a hole in my soapbox and I'm probably now in the wrong thread anyway...

Steve

Omcd wrote: »

Well, my opinon ............. wrong thread anyway...

+1 (I think)

That was a (without doubt a well (and I mean that) thought out and) valid (within the realms of the M50 (upgrade) issue) post.

drunkdaz

I just don't get the "sure its only 4 minutes" argument. An extra 4 minutes on a 19 minute journey would be an increase of over 20% in journey time, which in road project engineering terms is huge.

Also I think this lower limit will only serve to amplify the whole bunching in the overtaking lane problem.
And with the privitisation of speed cameras on the way I'd say it'd be safe bet they'll try for easy pickings here at night. Doing 100k on a 4 lane road on my journey home at night will be just agony. Its bad enough when I reach the end of the M4 outside kinnegad....

Jip

Omcd wrote: »

and adds a new problem of traffic turning left from lane three (rightmost) on the slip road onto the N3 (another typical Irish lane discipline issue).

That problem is not new, it's as old as the hills, I hate people that do that despite the right lane being clearly marked with a right arrow. I usually take the middle lane which then brings me correctly to the rightmost lane on the N3 westbound and the amount of time I've had to hold my ground to keep people coming around my outside into where I want to be and they look at me as if I'm in the wrong. And I have been known on occasion to purposely stay as wide as I can as long as possible before turning left if I know someone is going to do that. It becomes a big problem too if the car in the middle lane wants to go right around the roundabout because you then have tossbags blocking them in leading to delays in getting off the slip.

edit: keep the language clean!

Omcd

And then there are the trucks that decide they're going around the roundabout from the left most lane without a bother for whoever they might flatten..

Jip

Absolutely, raised that around here before. It's not too bad now coming from the Blanch direction on the N3 to the roundabout as the rhs lane moves just as well as the lhs lane since the works were complete but before when the rhs lane was often backed up you'd always get idiots doing it, particularly those driving the roadstone type tipper trucks. I've come across many accidents due to this around that way.