Waterford - Tramore Road closed

Sully

Lines are being placed on the road at some stage - hence why the cones are down. Also, it doesn't get the same funding as other roads so while regional and national roads get worked away the spending on this road is limited to local funding which is again restricted into what areas it can be spent on. So I was told anyway!

Sully

Most cones removed today... People complaining about them being a distraction when driving I think.

longshanks

has the road been lined yet or had the cats eyes replaced? it'll be dodgy as **** with people overtaking and not getting back in, especially at night

Sully

longshanks wrote: »

has the road been lined yet or had the cats eyes replaced? it'll be dodgy as **** with people overtaking and not getting back in, especially at night

Nope. They placed cones along the stretch so you couldn't pass out but due to complaints (I think) they were reduced. There are plans to put down lines on it. Looking at it tonight, still an awful lot of loose chippings in the centre of the road which will make passing out a pain.

depaor

I emailed the council to ask when the road would be lined - 'I GOT A REPLY!!!' it said the work on the lines was scheduled to begin today... I havent been on the road yet today - has it started?

Sully

depaor wrote: »

I emailed the council to ask when the road would be lined - 'I GOT A REPLY!!!' it said the work on the lines was scheduled to begin today... I havent been on the road yet today - has it started?

Left early this AM and there was no cones on the road. Was in a bit of a rush but I thought I saw one of the trucks parked up by the bridge. Wont be back till later this evening.

Was with a chap who was commenting on some of the roads we travelled on from Waterford to Tip were being re-surfaced and the Tramore one was ****e. But no funding for that type of road it seems!

JMcL

Being lined at this very moment apparently

depaor

Yip, just drove into Waterford it's almost completely lined already - Finally!

Sully

Ya wasnt done last night on my way home and it looked like they removed the loose chippings that were flying about. At least some progress has been made I guess

CantGetNoSleep

Sully wrote: »

Ya wasnt done last night on my way home and it looked like they removed the loose chippings that were flying about. At least some progress has been made I guess

It is still worse than it was before they touched it in the first place though, no doubt this has cost several thousand

Sully

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

It is still worse than it was before they touched it in the first place though, no doubt this has cost several thousand

Agreed but the surface put there now has seen a bit of an improvement which is better then none! Though for some reason they never fully completed the new road markings.

CantGetNoSleep

Sully wrote: »

Agreed but the surface put there now has seen a bit of an improvement which is better then none! Though for some reason they never fully completed the new road markings.

But doing nothing at all to it would have been better, do you not agree?

Stan Nangle

Sully wrote: »

Agreed but the surface put there now has seen a bit of an improvement which is better then none! Though for some reason they never fully completed the new road markings.

They spent €50,000 making the surface worse that it was before.

A high traffic volume road like that should not have received a tar and chip surface as it is totally inappropriate. I'm not aware of any other Country that uses that cheap and nasty method except on boreens.

The Road Markings is another disaster. There was a broken line the whole length of that road before, but now they have put sections of continuous lines in places where it is perfectly safe to overtake. This will only cause congestion on the road and increase the incidence of dangerous overtaking.

The bit they left unlined at the top of Robin Hill looks like they are planning to put in a ghost island to facilitate right turns. This, again, will cause more problems than it solves.

I'm told that the problem with the inappropriate surface is going to be addressed in the New Year, and given the way the chippings are stripping off the surface, leaving a very slippery bitumen surface, it is only a matter of time before a biker comes off and is injured.

But the biggest farce of all is the signs showing a 25km/h limit that they put on the road just before Christmas. There is no such thing as a 25km/h limit. The 2004 Act clearly sets out the limits that Councils can use, and when and where they should be used. The choices are 30, 50, 60, 80, 100 and 120.

There is no 25km/h limit in the Act.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

mike65

Nope! Local road fiddling depts are clueless.

Sully

Stan Nangle wrote: »

They spent €50,000 making the surface worse that it was before.

A high traffic volume road like that should not have received a tar and chip surface as it is totally inappropriate. I'm not aware of any other Country that uses that cheap and nasty method except on boreens.

The Road Markings is another disaster. There was a broken line the whole length of that road before, but now they have put sections of continuous lines in places where it is perfectly safe to overtake. This will only cause congestion on the road and increase the incidence of dangerous overtaking.

The bit they left unlined at the top of Robin Hill looks like they are planning to put in a ghost island to facilitate right turns. This, again, will cause more problems than it solves.

The road is fairly congested at the moment more so then ever. Iv just decided to go the back road rather then sitting in traffic. The houses Christmas lights on the road didnt help traffic much either!

I completely disagree that the road needed to have that type of surface. It was a lot better before the job then it is now. Now the road is an accident waiting to happen and probably has damaged peoples cars as a result.

I'm told that the problem with the inappropriate surface is going to be addressed in the New Year, and given the way the chippings are stripping off the surface, leaving a very slippery bitumen surface, it is only a matter of time before a biker comes off and is injured.

Any ideas what type of surface, or just a patch up job?

But the biggest farce of all is the signs showing a 25km/h limit that they put on the road just before Christmas. There is no such thing as a 25km/h limit. The 2004 Act clearly sets out the limits that Councils can use, and when and where they should be used. The choices are 30, 50, 60, 80, 100 and 120.

There is no 25km/h limit in the Act.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Might have been old sign - did they use km/h signage on road work signs before all road signs changed officaly? I always wondered how many people pay attention to such limits. Im going to assume the speed limit was implemented due to the placing of the cones. You will notice that the hard shoulder past Robin Hill has its lines removed for a small stretch. At first, we thought they were finishing the job properly but they seemed to have just started then left it as it was.

If this keeps up any more it will look very poor when tourists start arriving into the town.

Stan Nangle

The next time you are near Dungarvan, take a spin out to Clonea Strand.

That is the type of road surface we should have on the Tramore road, but the Council chose to spend the money on a cul-de-sac leading to a small beach near Dungarvan instead of spending it on the main road between Waterford City and the largest Town in Waterford County.

Stan Nangle

As you can imagine, this was a hot topic at the Town Council Meeting last night.

The Council are going to address the issue, but there was disagreement as to when this would happen.

Councillor Blaise Hannigan reported that he brought an independent roads engineer to see the problem and the engineer told him that the job was a disaster and the chips would continue to strip off the surface over the coming weeks.

He wanted the problem fixed in the short term before the road becomes too slippy.

The Council Officials acknowledged that there was a problem with the material they had used to surface the road (and also some other roads in the area), and they admitted that the work was done by Council Staff (not a Contractor).

They were of the opinion that the work would not be done until May.

This would indicate to me that they are planning to do another tar and chip botch job instead of putting down hot rolled asphalt. Tar and Chip has to be done in Summer, whereas hot rolled asphalt can be done at any time (and is being done at South Park, Priest Road today).

Blaise Hannigan made the point strongly that his advice was that the road needed to be resurfaced within weeks, not months, or else it would become a skating rink.

James McCartan asked that they put a proper traffic management plan in place before they resurface the road, but the Council Official gave him some nonsense about Health and Safety (How come every other Council can resurface a road and keep half of it open, but Waterford CoCo can't?).

Fair dues to Blaise and James for getting stuck in on the issue!

Sully

I have to hand it to James, anytime iv seen him speak he doesnt take no for an answer for easily. Some people get fobbed of far to quickly or just accept the answers from those more senior. I was on the road when they re-surfaced it and was wondering why the council were doing the job.

Leaving it to May would be a hazzard regardless of what they do. If they are ignoring the situation until May, can there not be another route people can take to get someone to take the issue more serious?

Fair play anyway to James and Blaise - good to see some councillors getting stuck in and listening to the concerns of the public.

Stan Nangle

Sully wrote: »

Leaving it to May would be a hazzard regardless of what they do. If they are ignoring the situation until May, can there not be another route people can take to get someone to take the issue more serious?

There is an Election in June :eek:

Should focus their minds

Sully

Stan Nangle wrote: »

There is an Election in June :eek:

Should focus their minds

True.. Hopefully that will get them to cop on a bit and do a proper job. Thing is, they may wait until just before the elections to do it which wouldn't be wise!

Stan Nangle

Sully wrote: »

True.. Hopefully that will get them to cop on a bit and do a proper job. Thing is, they may wait until just before the elections to do it which wouldn't be wise!

They are working on the 2009 Budget at the moment. If they don't provide for the work in the budget then it won't happen, and if it doesn't happen I know at least one aspiring Councillor who will make it an election issue.

Psychedelic

Stan Nangle wrote: »

They spent €50,000 making the surface worse that it was before.

Can you tell me the name of the person that gave the okay to spend €50K for road works on a perfectly fine road, and which has now resulted in these problems? It's a disgraceful waste of money so I would love to know what kind of idiot makes such a decision.

Sully

Stan Nangle wrote: »

The next time you are near Dungarvan, take a spin out to Clonea Strand.

That is the type of road surface we should have on the Tramore road, but the Council chose to spend the money on a cul-de-sac leading to a small beach near Dungarvan instead of spending it on the main road between Waterford City and the largest Town in Waterford County.

I wasn't in Dungarvan yet but have noticed the same poor surface has been applied around others Waterford roads. My guess is the stripping of the surface is due to cars breaking on them rather then the general wear and tear from cars simply travelling on it.

Stan Nangle

Sully wrote: »

I wasn't in Dungarvan yet but have noticed the same poor surface has been applied around others Waterford roads. My guess is the stripping of the surface is due to cars breaking on them rather then the general wear and tear from cars simply travelling on it.

The official line is that the binder/emulsion/tar didn't work at Tramore, Drumcannon, Belle Lake and Fenor in the Tramore Area.

On the other hand, the chippings they used in the Tramore area are 5 to 10 times bigger than the chippings they used on recent jobs in the Dungarvan Area - hence the unbearable road noise and damage to tyres.

The stripping could be down to any number of factors: the binder, the chips, the way the machine was set up, the fact that it was done in mid-September when the guidelines say it shouldn't be done after mid-August, or the fact that they let the traffic back on it at full speed before the chips had bedded in.

I think it is probably a combination of all the above.

Sully

They are doing some work on the road today. Started about 11am. Drove past there at 2.30sh and they seemed to be cleaning the road surface and possibly doing some repair work judging by the machinery on the side of the road.

This seems to be the first time since the road was done, or at least in a while, that its been cleaned. I recall the council stating it would be cleaned until a solution was found but they didn't actually seem to be doing any cleaning.

Stan Nangle

I've set up an online petition and I'm hoping to give it to the Mayor before the Town Council Meeting on Tuesday.

The Councillors are getting no hop from the Officials in Dungarvan, so we need to row in behind them and give them the support they need to get this resolved.

Link to the Petition Page

Please pass this on to your friends. The more names on the petition the more leverage the Councillors will have with the Officials.

Stan:

Sully

Stan Nangle wrote: »

I've set up an online petition and I'm hoping to give it to the Mayor before the Town Council Meeting on Tuesday.

The Councillors are getting no hop from the Officials in Dungarvan, so we need to row in behind them and give them the support they need to get this resolved.

Link to the Petition Page

Please pass this on to your friends. The more names on the petition the more leverage the Councillors will have with the Officials.

Stan:

Seem some of the signatures are not showing there Stan?

Stan Nangle

The Town Council Meeting was adjourned on Tuesday, so the issue will now come up at the County Council Meeting next Monday.

Meanwhile, the Transport Minister has announced the allocation of €17 million for Waterford County Council for Regional and Local Roads in 2009 - so they definitely have the money.

Keep signing the petition. The more names we have the more leverage the Councillors will have with the Officials.

The Officials want to wait until May, but this is not acceptable. There are bare patches of tar with no grip. Do we have to wait until someone comes off a motorbike before they realise how dangerous this is?

You have to wonder do the Council have shares in a panel beaters or Windscreen repair Company?

Stan Nangle

That petition site is a disaster. Nothing but complaints from people. Won't be using it again!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch: I handed in the petition to Councillor Anne Marie Power today before the County Council Meeting. She brought the issue up at the meeting and got some answers from the Director of Services, but he is still sticking to his guns that it wont be resurfaced - sorry, won't be surface dressed: they are going to redo the job that went wrong, not do the proper asphalt job! - until May.

Councillor Lola O'Sullivan supported Councillor Power. The other Tramore Area Councillors had nothing to say on the matter.

Not sure where we can go from here!

JMcL

Stan Nangle wrote: »

The other Tramore Area Councillors had nothing to say on the matter.

Not sure where we can go from here!

This'd be the same set of councillors that'll be knocking on our doors over the coming months, tipping the hat, and saying "Ah go on, sure you'll give us an auld vote won't ye". Mass reminding them of this might focus their minds a bit.