New Speed Limit on M50

mobpd

http://www.rulesoftheroad.ie/rules-for-driving/speed-limits/speed-limits_on-roads.html

Clearly states that the speed limit on a motorway is 120km

Zoney

mobpd:

Read that page again. Those are the "default" limits - you can of course have lower, even on a motorway (or indeed higher than default on non-motorway, e.g. 120 km/h limit on N2).

amacachi

Some of the M1 has an 80km/h speed limit and has had for quite a while. It's not a new thing.

xabi

amacachi wrote: »

Some of the M1 has an 80km/h speed limit and has had for quite a while. It's not a new thing.

Are you talking about the N1?

L1011

xabi wrote: »

Are you talking about the N1?

I don't think ANY of the N1 has an 80km/h limit (50/60 in the city, 120 at the border).

The M1 has an 80km/h limit at the M50 merge.

Bluetonic

MYOB wrote: »

The M1 has an 80km/h limit at the M50 merge.

Indeed part of the M1 also has a 60km/h - the section which runs from the airport roundabout to the airport interchange, all 3/4 of a km. It's had this 60km/h since the M1 extension (Balbriggan to Airport) opened 5 or so years ago.

mobpd

Zoney wrote: »

mobpd:

Read that page again. Those are the "default" limits - you can of course have lower, even on a motorway (or indeed higher than default on non-motorway, e.g. 120 km/h limit on N2).

Who wrote the Rules of the Road? Our esteemed bureaucrats in the RSA. On the page given where it has a nice picture of a motorway and a sign showing 120km/h, it then does give some reasons underneath why a local authority might impose a different limit. But the reasons we have been given by the RSA for setting 100 km/h on the M50 match none of those listed in the Rules of the Road.....

Joseph Kuhr

The new surface is not fit for 120kmph. And the road was badly designed from the start with dangerous cross winds and sharp bends. Personally I do not call it a motorway. Its a dual carraigeway with motorway style ramps (and yes a dual carraigeway can have 3 lanes)

Besides that, as long as Irish people continue to drive like idiots they'll continue to be told what to do by the powers that be.

btw, the M7 also has a 100kmph limit so it seems this will be the norm from now on.

L1011

Joseph Kuhr wrote: »

The new surface is not fit for 120kmph. And the road was badly designed from the start with dangerous cross winds and sharp bends. Personally I do not call it a motorway. Its a dual carraigeway with motorway style ramps (and yes a dual carraigeway can have 3 lanes)

Besides that, as long as Irish people continue to drive like idiots they'll continue to be told what to do by the powers that be.

btw, the M7 also has a 100kmph limit so it seems this will be the norm from now on.

The three lane section of the 7-route is the N7, hence the 100km/h limit. The M7 starts very, very far outside of Dublin after a lengthy near-motorway standard D3AP route - and its 120km/h from there.

Joseph Kuhr

MYOB wrote: »

The three lane section of the 7-route is the N7, hence the 100km/h limit. The M7 starts very, very far outside of Dublin after a lengthy near-motorway standard D3AP route - and its 120km/h from there.

Maybe it was the M9. Was a section of motorway from Kilkenny to Dublin anyways. Most definitely 100kmph.

Tarabuses

Joseph Kuhr wrote: »

The new surface is not fit for 120kmph.

The new surface is a disgrace for a motorway that has had so much money spent on it.

egan007

Would love to be able to reach 100Kmph on the M50.....

godtabh

egan007 wrote: »

Would love to be able to reach 100Kmph on the M50.....

Its fairly easy. Lots of straights to build up speed

Heroditas

egan007 wrote: »

Would love to be able to reach 100Kmph on the M50.....

The section from just south of the toll bridge as far down as the Tallaght exit is the best section of the M50 currently - it is extremely easy to get up to 100kmph - at any time of the day.
Really the worst section of the M50 is the interchanges between Castleknock/Blanchardstown and Ballymun - particularly the traffic merging going south at the Finglas interchange.

L1011

Joseph Kuhr wrote: »

Maybe it was the M9. Was a section of motorway from Kilkenny to Dublin anyways. Most definitely 100kmph.

N9 Carlow Bypass. It has blue signs but its not a motorway - yet. It'll be 120km/h in about two weeks time when the motorway order goes through.

godtabh

I think with all the road works on the M50 and N4 they have left the road in ****.

Where these works have been finished the road is in great condition and I think looks well

Capt'n Midnight

kearnsr wrote: »

I presume you median barriers?

Design constraints such as land take, ground conditions ect would mean that the curve was required.

When was the M50 (the first section/part) first open?

Design constraints such as rezoning land originally set aside for the southern cross section of the M50 so houses could be built on it. IIRC brown envelopes were alleged.

Red Alert

Just to be clear, how exactly should the middle lane be used when there are three lanes? I presume it's case of keep left unless you have reason to be overtaking traffic even when there's three lanes.

Personally I think the 120 km/h limit is fine, I see no reason to go back to 100 km/h. What will compliance be like, considering the 60 km/h limit is ignored by everybody, including the gardai (off lights).

L1011

The middle lane is the first overtaking lane

The outer lane is a second overtaking lane.

You should keep left unless overtaking just as if there was one lane.




God help any of the standard N7 3 lane section drivers coping with the FIVE lane section of the M2 in Belfast!!

hargo

mobpd wrote: »

"Breach of lane driving rule" is a penalty point offence ....but the inept garda dont seem to bother with it...as at end April 2008, of the 631070 penalty notices issued driving in wrong lane on a motorway is recorded 764 times (0.12%)

I think it should be an offence but I believe this only applies to heavy good vehicles.

I was driving on the M50 last month in the left lane which was empty, so was the middle lane and yes i was bold i overtook the long line of cars on the right lane but I wasn't exceeding the speed limit. We don't deserve 3 lanes here yet!!

MYOB

MYOB wrote: »

The middle lane is the first overtaking lane

The outer lane is a second overtaking lane.

You should keep left unless overtaking just as if there was one lane.

+1

in addition,
The left lane (lane one) is the main driving lane, the second lane (lane two) is another driving lane for use when the first driving lane is occupied.
It is also an overtaking lane for traffic in lane one.

Carawaystick

Failure to drive on the left hand side of the road
Un point avant conviction
trois point aprés conviction
according to
http://www.penaltypoints.ie/the_full_list_of_offences.php

apparently it's as serious an offence as driving the qwrong way up a 1 way street
but not as bad as
Driving a vehicle on a motorway against the flow of traffic
2 and 4 points on conviction.

so you can do it 4 times on a Dualler, but only 3 times on a motorway. Jimmy McDaid take note.

blorg

Carawaystick wrote: »

Failure to drive on the left hand side of the road
http://www.penaltypoints.ie/the_full_list_of_offences.php

Failure to drive on the left hand side of the road is not the same as the rule to keep left. I sincerely doubt this would apply to middle/overtaking lane driving.

silly1

Tarabuses wrote: »

The new surface is a disgrace for a motorway that has had so much money spent on it.

I would agree totally - Who is responsible for the quality of the road, I mean what are they being paid to do and if they dont look after the taxpayers money in a prudent way they should be fired immediately. Are we going to have an M50 surface improvement scheme in another two to three years.:cool:

Tarabuses

blorg wrote: »

Failure to drive on the left hand side of the road is not the same as the rule to keep left. I sincerely doubt this would apply to middle/overtaking lane driving.

I've read this a few times but still can't get my head around it. Keep left does not mean the same as drive on the left???

BluntGuy

The reasoning for the M50's reduced speed limit cannot be 'narrow lanes' as they are the international standard 3.5 metre wide lanes which all of our new interurbans are built at. None of the lanes are 'narrow' per se.

The M1 motorway in England was upgraded to four and FIVE lane motorway in many stretches and still has its default speed limit of 115 kmp/h.

I don't mind the speed limit reduction but it is a tad unnecessary considering that during lighter traffic, it may be possible to do 120 safely.

HOWEVER, many european cities have reduced motorway speed limits near the cities, so Dublin isn't an 'exception' to the rule...

I acutally hate the 120 speed limit on our inter-urbans. I was on the M8 between Cashel and Mitchelstown and I felt myself wanting to go up to 160. The road was straight, the surface great and the traffic was light. Instead I felt like I was plodding along despite the fact I was doing 120.

L1011

Is the limit on Cashel-Mitchelstown not still the even stupider 100km/h for the next few weeks?

BluntGuy

MYOB wrote: »

Is the limit on Cashel-Mitchelstown not still the even stupider 100km/h for the next few weeks?

Well I ignored it.

To me, there was simply no reason to stick to 100 kmph. I felt like I was perfectly in the right to do the motorway speed limit. (Although I heard some people were caught 'speeding' on the section doing 120... utter nonsense.)

September 24th can't come soon enough.

Cool Mo D

Tarabuses wrote: »

I've read this a few times but still can't get my head around it. Keep left does not mean the same as drive on the left???

I think failure to drive on the left refers to being on the wrong side of a single carriageway, and failure to keep left means that you're driving in the overtaking lane of a dualler.

Mayo Exile

Originally posted by kearnsr: I think with all the road works on the M50 and N4 they have left the road in ****.

Add the roundabout at the M50/M1 junction. Not too bad if northbound on the M50 looking to get on to the M1 as you have the slip road to avoid it altogether.

But coming off the M1 southbound and getting on to the M50 seems very dangerous. Horrible surface, with lane divisions and associated directions completely worn away off the roundabout itself. A nightmare if you don't know where you are going I would say!