Moneenageisha Roundabout: Temporary Road Closures

futura123

well considering the mess that is the headford road roundabout did anybody expect they would get it right here??? with expensive / inadequate parking in the city centre and more traffic woes this will discourage even more people from coming into town to do their business.
dont get me started on city centre parking rates btw.... why the hell are they not coming down ?? 2.60 per hour is a rip off

PopeBuckfastXVI

Agree with that Futura, I rarely bother going into town during the day now, only for pints on a saturday night.

Robbo

futura123 wrote: »

dont get me started on city centre parking rates btw.... why the hell are they not coming down ?? 2.60 per hour is a rip off

Shocking rates. I remember when they wanted to put it up to €2.80 when on street parking in Stephens Green or similar in Dublin was "only" €2.50.

At least last Saturday I got free parking because some enterprising rogue thoughtless vandal had jammed the coin slot up. I'd love a Saturday where all machines in town were in the same way, such passive resistance would even give Gandhi a bulge in his nappy.

twinkle_toes

disaster!!! according to the traffic guy on galway bay this morning there was almost fist fights about the right turn only lane off the hill. he suggested a sign and i agree! he shouldnt have to suggest it. them signs should be up first thing to get people used to the situation asap.
as for the whole layout, its like a flippin circus. i left ten mins early this morning at 20 past 8 down the monivea rd. usually on dublin rd by latest 10 to 9. this morning it was after 9. kids teacher not pleased. i notice they've chopped off the two lane system at the end of the monivea rd as well so its an extra unnecessary wait to turn left.

anyone know how you get out of wellpark retail centre now onto the monivea rd? is there a way without footpathing it?

Krieg

Not surprised at the rant. I was waiting at the bus stop this morning and saw the line of traffic. Before the lights turned green, a line of traffic stretches up as far as the school. Id be interested to see the state of the dublin road at 5-6pm

snubbleste

Are there pedestrian-activated lights at the junction?

elyod

padi89 wrote: »

I don't really have an issue with the Headford Road roundabout setup, i was just explaining to you the name.The problem is people just don't have a clue how to use it or even bother to obey it if they do.Despite the fact there are large signs approaching, road marking arrows and lanes marked on the roundabout itself for correct use people still don't have a clue.There really isn't an answer to ignorance, if i had a choice though id have a Garda there lashing out fines left right and center i bet that would sort out the problems fairly quickly

You have 3 lane roads leading onto 2 lane roads and vice-versa. The road marking force you to switch lanes mid roundabout, which is fundamentally just plain wrong.

There are no overhead signs and road markings are no good mid roundabout either. Especially when it's busy and all these markings are cover up by cars.

For someone who has never used the roundabout before its is impossible to use it like it is supposed to be used.

Zzippy

twinkle_toes wrote: »

anyone know how you get out of wellpark retail centre now onto the monivea rd? is there a way without footpathing it?

Good question, it used to be possible to go left and go round the roundabout and back up the road, but thats obviously impossible now. Footpath it is so! :rolleyes:

ronnie3585

elyod wrote: »

You have 3 lane roads leading onto 2 lane roads and vice-versa. The road marking force you to switch lanes mid roundabout, which is fundamentally just plain wrong.

Exactly. It's a fundamentally flawed design. Coming down the Monivea Rd last night at 8pm, thought I would breeze through as Tuesday night at 8 isn't exactly rush hour. However, the traffic was backed up to the shops and bookies just below the IDA park. When I got to the junction the problem was the length of time the lights stayed red but the biggest issue was people being in the wrong lane (the right turn lane when they wanted to go straight on) and trying to get into the right lane or just plain cutting people off. In fairness, it's not signposted at all - this needs to be dealt with. If native Galweigans have this amount of trouble I can't wait to see it when all the visitors arrive for the boat race.

synacron trion

elyod wrote: »

You have 3 lane roads leading onto 2 lane roads and vice-versa. The road marking force you to switch lanes mid roundabout, which is fundamentally just plain wrong.

No you don't. You have 3 and 2 lane roads entering onto a 3 lane roundabout. On the roundabout at any particular exit there is either 1 or 2 lanes bleeding off the roundabout into the exit and they are all marked. The roundabout is actually easy to use if you have the cop on to be in the correct lane when going onto the roundabout.

Would you rather a traffic lighted junction at the headford road roundabout just like there is where Ffrench roundabout used to be?

finlma

Shame on the Council. This formerly free flowing junction has been turned into a chaotic mess. What a total and utter disaster. I for one will be going nowhere near the junction from now on, maybe that was the plan.

Malice

finlma wrote: »

What a total and utter disaster. I for one will be going nowhere near the junction from now on

The problem is though, that junction is unavoidable unless you take a lengthy detour out along the Tuam Road. If you're coming from the city along Lough Atalia you hit it, if you're coming from Prospect Hill or the Sean Mulvoy Road you hit it, if you're coming from the Monivea Road you hit it and if you're coming from the Dublin Road you hit it.

This really is incredible. I'd love to know who was responsible for the proposal, the approval and the design. Did any of them not think that maybe, just maybe, what they were doing wasn't a good idea?

ronnie3585

malice_ wrote: »

I'd love to know who was responsible for the proposal, the approval and the design. Did any of them not think that maybe, just maybe, what they were doing wasn't a good idea?

That's a good question. While I didn't use the old roundabout on a daily commute I did use it very regularly at peak and off peak times and of all the roundabouts in the city centre I found it the most stress free to use. I was a bit surprised when I heard it was being redeveloped. They really should have used all that time and money to try and do something with the magic roundabout.

lampsie

Defo some major teething problems...can't speak for the other roads coming onto the junction, but coming down the Monivea road onto it, looks like the lights are only staying on for a couple of seconds a pop. I drove down that way today (thankfully was turning left into Mervue village), and for an off peak time there was hell of a lot of stationary traffic backed way up
Hopefully it is just teething problems and they'll tinker with the sequence, but I ain't exactly optimistic!
lamps

KevR

I'm a bit surprised at the problems to be honest. I passed through the other night before the lights were switched on and the junction layout didn't seem all that hard to figure out.

Hopefully it should get a bit better over the coming days as people get used to it and the City Council will probably tweek the sequencing of the lights to improve it.

Although, they really should hastily stick up a few signs tonight to eliminate any confusion tomorrow.

snubbleste

more info

For the remainder of this week and through next week, additional work will be carried out on the traffic signals along the Dublin Road, at the junction between Lough Atalia Road & College Road and at the junction between Wellpark Road, Monivea Road & Connolly Avenue. The aim of this aspect of the project is signal co-ordination so as to improve traffic flow..
To facilitate this work, signals at both Renmore Road and Lough Atalia will be switched off for a short period on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of next week, but when switched back on the benefits will greatly outweigh this short-term disruption. Yield signs will be put in place to advise motorists of the junction priority while these minor works are underway - GTU May 12th

didigray

the responsible party for the traffic lights at moneen is Fianna Fail's Frank Fahy. Bualadh bos Fianna Fail.
the grand plan seems to be to facilitate buses on the dublin road.
i live off monivea road and would consider moving house the traffic was so bad this evening(8pm)
better avail of that bike grant......

Malice

I came through the roundabout this evening at 6pm. From the exit beside the Huntsman (to turn right onto the Dublin road) back as far as the exit left just down from Victoria place was bumper to bumper with cars. I was travelling in the other direction (into the city) so I was able to see the tailback. There used to be a certain amount of a backlog at peak times but it was never that bad surely?

Mrs OBumble

malice_ wrote: »

I came through the roundabout this evening at 6pm. From the exit beside the Huntsman (to turn right onto the Dublin road) back as far as the exit left just down from Victoria place was bumper to bumper with cars. I was travelling in the other direction (into the city) so I was able to see the tailback. There used to be a certain amount of a backlog at peak times but it was never that bad surely?

I was on the 6:15pm #9 bus that went up College Rd.

There was a tailback from the lights all the way to City Hall. But even though it looked bad, the queue was moving: the bus left Eyre Square at 6:20, got to Douughiska Rd just before 6:45.

I suspect that things will settle down over the next few days, as they tweak the settings on the various lights and as drivers get used to the new layout.

KevR

Passed from the Monivea Rd side at about 11pm and there was a medium sized queue from that direction then. All other directions were clear.

The sequencing isn't great - the Monivea Rd side doesn't get green for long enough.

However for both cycles of the lights that I observed then, the lights were green long enough for about 10 cars to get through. Of course being in Galway, people take an age to pull off when the light goes green and when they do eventually pull off they go slowly through the junction and/or hesitate in the middle of it when it's clear the other side. Probably only 4 or 5 cars got through on each of the two cycles I saw. Should have been about 10 each time.

The lane markings seemed pretty easy to follow. Although seeing as though there was widespread confusion a few signs wouldn't go amiss.

wet-paint

What a bloody shambles. I was right in the thick of it this evening, at six o clock.
THere's now only one lane goign straight on from cemetary cross out the Dublin Road, unless people in the inside lane just continue straight ahead once reaching the lights. And like the ******* Court house, they've got automatic pedestrian lights, to hold us up even more, when there's nobody using them. Every ****ing cycle, they're on.

A big expensive bus lane all the way up from there to Duggans, and not one bloody bus in it, as they're all held up before they reach Moneen in the first place.

God, it irks the fcuk out of me. How bout a bus lane in the middle of the road that can be used both ways, for both rush hours, instead of just once a day. Traffic now extends down all roads much later in the evening than without. What a load of balls.

KevR

wet-paint wrote: »

And like the ******* Court house, they've got automatic pedestrian lights, to hold us up even more, when there's nobody using them. Every ****ing cycle, they're on.

I said that on here before and got slated by some motorist haters. They said "it's in the middle of town so pedestrians should have priority"; I said "it doesn't give pedestrians any extra priority - they still have to wait the same amount of time as they would if they walked up to the lights and pushed the button like normal. It doesn't give anyone an advantage, it just holds up traffic when there are no pedestrians around"

Webbs

KevR wrote: »

The lane markings seemed pretty easy to follow. Although seeing as though there was widespread confusion a few signs wouldn't go amiss.

The Lane markings are fine if you can see them but the cars are backed up so far that they are obscuring all of the markings, why the hell don't they have overhead signage!!

Came down Lough Atalia to then go up the Dublin Road yesterday at rush hour and it was the worst I have seen it in a very very long time, there is little time for cars to turn right up the Dublin Road where the majority of cars want to go. Admittedly the Dublin Road was clearer than usual but then that is because there are so few cars allowed up the road!! :mad:

Similarly this morning the roundabout was clear and would fly through at the time I come in, but not this morning was met by a sizeable queue up the Dublin Road, surely they can make the left turn onto College Road/Lough Atalia a flashing yellow so that cars can get through without having to wait for ages for a short green light.

I hope to god these are just teething problems!!

KevR

Webbs wrote: »

The Lane markings are fine if you can see them but the cars are backed up so far that they are obscuring all of the markings, why the hell don't they have overhead signage!!

Hopefully they will soon replace the roundabout signage before the junction with other signs that will inform people of what lane to use. That should go a long way to solving the confusion about lanes.

Webbs wrote: »

I hope to god these are just teething problems!!

It should definitely improve somewhat over the coming weeks as the traffic light sequences are tweeked and as people get used to the lanes.

Although I will be steering well clear of this junction and town in general during peak times while the Ocean Race is on..

JoeA3

I got stuck in this fiasco at lunchtime yesterday, traffic backed up the whole of Lough Atalia road, as far back as the Radisson! It's never normally like that in the middle of the day.

Also, anyone else hear about the city centre getting shut down today for some parade? That'll really help!

KevR

JoeA3 wrote: »

Also, anyone else hear about the city centre getting shut down today for some parade? That'll really help!

From AA Roadwatch:

*GALWAY CITY* The top of Eyre Square and Eglinton St are closed until approx 1pm due to a military parade. Local diversions are in place until after the parade. Traffic is very heavy in the area. * Some city bus services are not running from Eyre Square but others are operating from the east side of the square. * There are up to 30 min delays on all approaches to the Moneenageisha junction, where new traffic lights are now in operation (the mini roundabout is no longer in operation).

JoeA3

Yep, tried - and failed - to hit into town before lunch. The whole Eastern bypass (the road that links Flemmings roundabout down to Motorpark) was backed up the whole way... grrrrrrrrr

Malice

synacron trion wrote: »

The roundabout is actually easy to use if you have the cop on to be in the correct lane when going onto the roundabout.

I know this is going off-topic but I firmly belive the magic roundabout is far from easy to use! Being in the correct lane when entering the roundabout is only part of the situation.

Considering you appear to regard yourself as an expert could you enlighten the rest of us as how you would navigate the roundabout in the following scenario:

You're coming off the bridge to turn right to go to the cinema. There are 4 lanes at the first set of lights that you come to. The left slip lane to go towards Menlo, a left turn lane, a straight on lane and a straight on/right turn lane. So, you take the only right turn lane. You then hit another set of lights. This set allows traffic to exit from the Sean Mulvoy road. There are now 3 lanes. A left turn lane to go into Tescos or into Woodquay, a middle lane to go to Woodquay and a right turn lane. Here is the problem: You're in the right turn lane from the first set of lights but you have to cross over into the middle lane in order to get to the Woodquay exit!

Lane changes are easy enough if the road is straight - indicate check your mirrors and blind-spots and if everything's okay, away you go. They are much difficult when the road is curved and choked with cars, most of which don't obey the lane markings.

minxie

Wont be long till theres a serious accident with these stupid
lights just saw a bus nearly getting wrote off as it seems the cars
coming from cemetary cross dont know which lanes to
be in (through no fault of there own) and using both lanes
to exit across to dublin road at the same time... :eek:

i hope to god they put up signs indicating which lanes
to be used....

Madame Razz

Well done Galway city council.....

Another fine mess you've gotten us into:rolleyes: