Cyclist position: 3 lanes into 4

Micilin Muc

A question for Dublin cyclists, or anyone who knows the junction ...

I have problems crossing from Memorial Road, which has three lanes, on to Matt Talbot Bridge, which has four lanes.

Of the four lanes, the two on the left turn left, and the two on the right go straight and also turn right.

As I ultimately want to turn right, what lane should I be in when on Memorial Road where there is three lanes?

shaungil

between lanes 2 and 4 for me on that junction and I go straight on

Micilin Muc

shaungil wrote: »

between lanes 2 and 4 for me on that junction and I go straight on

What about on Memorial Road? What lane do you take?

I take the middle lane on Memorial Road, but more often than not, any vehicles in that lane end up turning left down City Quay which causes problems as they sometimes cut me off.

Beasty

Don't know the junction, but if there are 4 lanes, and the first two go left, the fourth must be right only. 3 and 4 cannot be both right and straight on, otherwise cars in lane 4 going straight on will cut across those in 3 going right

Hence the third lane is probably the only one in which you have the option to go right or straight on, and that's the one I would be in if cycling (again, if you go into lane 4, you will have vehicles cutting across your inside in lane 3)

I would assume you would need to be in the middle lane where it is 3 lanes to allow you to get into the third lane when it becomes 4, unless there are road markings indicating that lane does not go where you want it to.

thebouldwhacker

I don't know the road in question but the rule of thumb is to cycle the same as you drive. If there are a number of lanes going a number of directions get into the correct lane as marked by road signs etc. If it is a dangerous cross I would normally take position in the middle of the lane thus stopping any dangerous passing out maneuvers by cars for a few seconds, if you are happy with the safely level perhaps stay to the side in the correct lane to allow cars pass you.

There is nothing worse that seeing a cyclist staying in the wrong lane until the last minute and then causing aggro by cutting across a number of lanes.

Remember you as a road user have a right to be there and have a duty to follow the rules of the road, this means following lane assignments.

I hope this helps.

irishmotorist

Micilin Muc wrote: »

A question for Dublin cyclists, or anyone who knows the junction ...

I have problems crossing from Memorial Road, which has three lanes, on to Matt Talbot Bridge, which has four lanes.

Of the four lanes, the two on the left turn left, and the two on the right go straight and also turn right.

As I ultimately want to turn right, what lane should I be in when on Memorial Road where there is three lanes?

Where exactly are you talking about? I wasn't sure where Memorial Road was but Google Maps puts it here. Are you talking about coming out of Inchicore and turning right onto the dual carriageway? "From 3 lanes to 4", I gather more that you're talking about down at Heuston Station - you follow the dual carriageway down from the link above down Con Colbert Road to St. Johns Road and then follow the road left at Heuston to the North Quays.....here. Is this right?

If it is this bridge, then what I do is this. It's usually red for some reason when I get here so I'm lined up on the left with a couple of lanes of cars on my right. The reason for being here is that cars in the left most lane sometimes turn right. I start off and even before I'm on the bridge, I've checked and am indicating to the cars that I'm turning right and depending on where the nearest car is to me, I'll start moving right.....still indicating with a fully outstretched right arm. After this, it's no problem and my line takes my straight into the bus lane.

Micilin Muc

Beasty wrote: »

... the third lane is probably the only one in which you have the option to go right or straight on, and that's the one I would be in if cycling (again, if you go into lane 4, you will have vehicles cutting across your inside in lane 3)

I would assume you would need to be in the middle lane where it is 3 lanes to allow you to get into the third lane when it becomes 4, unless there are road markings indicating that lane does not go where you want it to.

This is exactly what I do and because of this I never have any problems with the traffic in lanes 3 & 4 (very few cars use lane 3 to go straight on, but if they do, my early hand signals prevent any cut-offs).

It's the traffic on my left-hand side that make me nervous. There is nearly always a car in the middle lane that will want to use lane 2 to turn left which requires them to be right up my a$$ or pass me out and cut me off.

thebouldwhacker wrote: »

Remember you as a road user have a right to be there and have a duty to follow the rules of the road, this means following lane assignments.

The markings at the junction are too ambiguous to know what the correct lane to take is before the 3 lanes turn into 4!

Micilin Muc

irishmotorist wrote: »

Where exactly are you talking about

The other Memorial Road, down between The Custom House and IFSC!

I think a lot of the bridges in Dublin city centre over the Liffey are dangerous and I feel that the best way of protecting myself is to set off from the traffic lights just before they turn green so that by the time any car is beside me, I'll be neatly in my lane.

shaungil

I generally go up the bike lane in front of IFSC house and then try to move across to the middle, obviously it depends on lights and I've had issues getting across sometimes so if you just keep in the left and cross at the lights.

Very messy and you need to be assertive and hold your lane and indicate well.

Morgan

Beasty wrote: »

I would assume you would need to be in the middle lane where it is 3 lanes to allow you to get into the third lane when it becomes 4, unless there are road markings indicating that lane does not go where you want it to.

+1

markpb

I think it's Memorial Bridge Road and I hate cycling it, especially if you're turning right.

The best bet is to get into lane 2 outside IFSC and move into lane 3 easy. Start indicating right when you're on the bridge to make sure what few cars continue straight don't get a shock. Unless traffic is light, cars will race across the bridge so you need to be able to keep up.

Alternatively you could use the council approved route - stay in the cycle lane, stop at the lights, cross City Quay, wait at the lights, cross Moss St and rejoin Georges Quay. It will take about half a day but you'll get there in the end.

thebouldwhacker

If in any doubt make eye contact with the driver behind you while indicating, this pacifies drivers who may otherwise be impatient. This works a treat at round abouts where getting knocked or squashed is a big danger.

Doctor Bob

The official answer to your query is: Use the segregated cycle track through the junction. You're supposed to stay in the on-road cycle lane crossing the bridge, bump up onto the raised cycle track, cross at the signalised Toucan crossing and rejoin the on-road cycle lane on George's Quay.



Edit: this is what markpb is talking about above. Whatever your feelings on the infrastructure, there are quite a few people who are glad of it. Put it this way- most of us here are experienced on-road cyclists, and look at the responses in this thread. Memorial Road (or Custome House Quay) onto Matt Talbot Bridge onto George's Quay is one of the most dangerous on-road manoeuvres in the whole city. I think it's good to have the choice between dicing with death (I see nobody has mentioned the surface quality yet...) and adding 90 seconds to your journey.

radia

Brings back memories... Used to cycle that way (though going left or straight, not right) daily before I moved house, and still go that way now and again. It's one of those routes where you absolutely need to be assertive and hold your line.

If you're uncomfortable in that situation, and seeing as you're planning to turn right, a possible 'safe' alternative to Doctor Bob/markpb's route illustrated above is to use the cycle track on the other side of the road (the right hand side of Memorial Road and the bridge). You can see it in the aerial view.

Have to confess I never used it myself; on the Memorial Road stretch it has a concrete curb with few entry points, at the Memorial Road/Custom House Quay junction you're meant to go round the corner slightly and use the lights to cross, and the section on the bridge is alongside the footbath so prone to inattentive pedestrians - all three reasons why I find it unappealing and use the road. But it's still probably less stop-start in nature than using the left hand cycle track in the illustration above, as long as you're initially joining Memorial Road from the Gardiner St / Beresford Place direction. If you're originally coming in along Amiens St I'd say the hassle crossing over to get to the right would make it no better than using the left hand cycle track illustrated above.