New Cycle lanes!

Deisekickboxing

what a mess the dunmore road is a circus with road markings now ,
what sort of bungling idiots put this plan into effect a bus parking space half the width of the road and a cycle lane nearly as wide as a car lane

someones making a fortune from it all though..

merlante

jayboi wrote: »

Unfortunitly people parking cars are already thinking the same.

This is very simple. There are penalty points and possibly a fine for doing this. All you have to do is enforce it. So when they get sick of catching people speeding on the ORR, maybe they might nab a few people parking in cycle lanes. That would sort the problem out fairly dramatically.

Having said that, the cycle lanes are poor and have left very little space for cars at certain points. Clearly they don't want to widen roads because that costs money and pain. But what they are doing is putting cyclist into conflict with motorists, and there is only going to be one winner there. Particular when cycle lanes are purely theoretical until somebody, sometime gets done for parking, driving in a cycle lane. The usual lack of joined up thinking.

Still, the council are to be commended for trying to doing something positive to make our city a greener place. We are becoming increasingly car bound, and that is no good for the environment, people's outgoings, or, in terms of the sort of sprawl that car-bound thinking leads to, sustainable development and good public transport.

jonnyfingers

The whole of Ireland is useless for cyclists. Every road seems to have potholes, uneven shores or various other hazards. On nice big roads like the outer ring road they expect cyclists to use the footpath without considering how dangerous that is for pedestrians and for the cyclists (I've hit 50 km/h going down one of the big hills on the ORR, any collision with a pedestrian at that speed would cause serious damage to both them and the cyclist), especially when it comes to a roundabout (having to get off the footpath, pass through the roundabout and on to next footpath).

That's especially annoying for me as I have my clipless pedals on the bike all the time.

Most "cycling lanes" seem to have a very poor surface not suited for any type of racing wheel, and as has already been pointed out, planning of a cycling lane seems to end once it reaches a junction or roundabout, leaving the cyclist stuck on the left side of the road (dangerous if you need to turn right).

Irish drivers don't seem considerate of cyclists either, the amount of times a driver has passed me while we're both going through a traffic calming section of road nearly clipping me in the process. :mad:

I was in Cyprus a few years ago on a cycling training holiday. In the main town of Limasol there was a cycle lane running parallel to, but seperate from, the main seaside road. It was a long stretch, at least a few miles, and it was great. It bypassed every junction but had a small exit in case you needed to cross the road at that point. All all the main roads had a perfect tarmac surface also, a pleasure to cycle on. The difference between there and here is astonishing. I hate cycling in Ireland. I always feel I'm taking my life in my hands.

Alright putting some sort of cycle lanes in is at least a step in the right direction. But next time maybe get someone who knows what they're doing to plan it.

Yes Boss

jonnyfingers wrote: »

Alright putting some sort of cycle lanes in is at least a step in the right direction. But next time maybe get someone who knows what they're doing to plan it.

Come on lets be real for a moment - The Council has tried to force a cycle lane onto an already substandard road! That is neither acceptable to the cyclist or the motorist!!

It is a picture in time of the absolute ignorance of people whom spend public money on projects designed by committee's. A joke!!

jonnyfingers

Yes Boss wrote: »

Come on lets be real for a moment - The Council has tried to force a cycle lane onto an already substandard road! That is neither acceptable to the cyclist or the motorist!!

It is a picture in time of the absolute ignorance of people whom spend public money on projects designed by committee's. A joke!!

That's pretty much what I'm saying. The intention to put in cycle lanes is admirable. But the road they tried to force it on just shows the lack of knowledge when it comes to planning something of this sort.

Silverado

I think that this is something with Waterford getting €1.27m for a Green Route on the Dunmore Road and Colbeck St. This involves a bus priority lane initially and then there will be a feasibility study in a Park and Ride system such as the ones in Dublin, Cork and Galway.

Does anyone have any further info on this?

JohnC.

Colbeck Street? That street is practically a stonesthrow in length with two narrow streets leading to it. Would that make much of a difference to anything?

jayboi

Silverado wrote: »

I think that this is something with Waterford getting €1.27m for a Green Route on the Dunmore Road and Colbeck St. This involves a bus priority lane initially and then there will be a feasibility study in a Park and Ride system such as the ones in Dublin, Cork and Galway.

Does anyone have any further info on this?

Would that mean the bus would be free?
I would have no problem getting the bus I knew when it was coming and when i would get to town but the bloody thing is like the lottery and a journey that could be 5-10 minutes takes over 30.

I don’t know why that bus lane is where it is I have never ever in all my years got into traffic on the stretch of road in fact ive only come into traffic on it yesterday as a result of the completely unnecessary traffic lights they put in.

Whole thing gets messed up more by all the parents dropping the children off at the gates of de la salle.

dayshah

jayboi wrote: »

Would that mean the bus would be free?
I would have no problem getting the bus I knew when it was coming and when i would get to town but the bloody thing is like the lottery and a journey that could be 5-10 minutes takes over 30.

Whenever people say the private sector is more efficient than the public sector I always give the example of Kenneally's bus.

I mean, no timetables at the bus stops, and every now and then the bus actually comes early. This means you'd need to wait for the bus at least 5 minutes before its due to arrive (and then it will end up being 10 minutes late). And this is in the evening when the roads are quite.

19.5V

Looks as if when God is holding court cycle lanes are but an earthly thing and not so important as to prevent peolpe from parking as close to the church door as is possible, I think God loves everyone, even those who drive 4x4's

dayshah

19.5V wrote: »

Looks as if when God is holding court cycle lanes are but an earthly thing and not so important as to prevent peolpe from parking as close to the church door as is possible, I think God loves everyone, even those who drive 4x4's

Wow, they manage to block the cycle lane and the footpath!!!

Though I do think the new markings are not very well designed, they are here now. I hope the Gardaí enforce them, and the city council can make a tidy profit by ticketing such vehicles. Then with the money they can invest in better bike and bus lanes.

In fairness though, there doesn't seem to be double yellow line. I assume it is still illegal to park there though.

Yes Boss

dayshah wrote: »

Whenever people say the private sector is more efficient than the public sector I always give the example of Kenneally's bus.

I mean, no timetables at the bus stops, and every now and then the bus actually comes early. This means you'd need to wait for the bus at least 5 minutes before its due to arrive (and then it will end up being 10 minutes late). And this is in the evening when the roads are quite.

Private sector V Public sector efficiency is a none arguement....There is NO incentive to be efficient in the public sector together with NO responsibility!!

It is nearly as badan arguement as Brian Cowen saying he did not contribute to the current contraction!

Creamsoda

That road was dangerous enough already.especially the turn between the church and the mini roundabout at newtown. Iv seen several crashes there in the last few years and I can only see it gettin worse now since they have made the road so narrow there. This is just Waterford City Council at its best, take a bad road and make it worse.

Trotter

Every single time in the last 2 days, I've seen traffic coming over the line at that spot and I've had to swerve left into the bus lane to avoid the traffic thats coming into my lane in the opposite direction.

The cars parked in the bus lane mean that a cyclist has to come out into the already very narrow car lane. That means every driver has to watch the cyclists even more carefully now because they are going to have to come out in front of the cars.

In terms of the schools on the Park Road, its all very well saying that children can now get the bus, and parents cant park on the road at all etc.

What about the parents that don't live on the Dunmore road, have kids in the primary school, and have to collect them every day?

Is everyone now going to put their 5/6/7/8 year old on a bus and wave them off to school alone every day because they cant get near the school to drop or collect them? No.

We now have spent a fortune on a green route that must accomodate cars being parked in the cycle lanes and drop off / collection time for schools. That completely defeats the purpose.

There were better ways to do this.

The mind boggles. :rolleyes:

jonnyfingers

19.5V wrote: »

Looks as if when God is holding court cycle lanes are but an earthly thing and not so important as to prevent peolpe from parking as close to the church door as is possible, I think God loves everyone, even those who drive 4x4's

My girlfriend got a parking fine for parking on the footpath (parked outside our house, it's a narrow road and if you don't park up there it makes it hard for large vehicles such as the wheelie bin lorry to get past). I felt it was harsh as she was the only one on the street to get a ticket. I counted 45 cars parked on the footpath within a mile radius of our house. None of them had tickets on them.

I suspect this rule is not enforced and it seems I'm right by the looks of that photo.

Max Powers

i have to say, i think the cylce lanes arent too bad considering the road would be very difficult to widen and it might encourage a few more people to cycle, not a bad thing.
if only the gardai could do something about the incredibly bad drivers out there who do 3-point turns and park where-ever they like with no consderation for other motorists. I guess they are too busy catching people doing 65km out on the ORR.

wmpdd3

19.5V wrote: »

Looks as if when God is holding court cycle lanes are but an earthly thing and not so important as to prevent peolpe from parking as close to the church door as is possible, I think God loves everyone, even those who drive 4x4's

I was in the exact same position as the pic this evening, except, the bus was in the bus lane on my left, there was 2 cyclists on my right overtaking the parked cars and the cars coming towards me were in my lane trying to avoid the cyclists.

I give up, John's Park road from now on.

dayshah

wmpdd3 wrote: »

I was in the exact same position as the pic this evening, except, the bus was in the bus lane on my left, there was 2 cyclists on my right overtaking the parked cars and the cars coming towards me were in my lane trying to avoid the cyclists.

I give up, John's Park road from now on.

Might make sense to make Newtown road, and that road that leads from Lower Newtown to Passage Road one way.

Though you had right of way in this situation. The cars shouldn't have been in your lane, they should have waited for you to pass before overtaking the cyclists.

Odats

Trotter wrote: »

Every single time in the last 2 days, I've seen traffic coming over the line at that spot and I've had to swerve left into the bus lane to avoid the traffic thats coming into my lane in the opposite direction.

The cars parked in the bus lane mean that a cyclist has to come out into the already very narrow car lane. That means every driver has to watch the cyclists even more carefully now because they are going to have to come out in front of the cars.

In terms of the schools on the Park Road, its all very well saying that children can now get the bus, and parents cant park on the road at all etc.

What about the parents that don't live on the Dunmore road, have kids in the primary school, and have to collect them every day?

Is everyone now going to put their 5/6/7/8 year old on a bus and wave them off to school alone every day because they cant get near the school to drop or collect them? No.

We now have spent a fortune on a green route that must accomodate cars being parked in the cycle lanes and drop off / collection time for schools. That completely defeats the purpose.

There were better ways to do this.

The mind boggles. :rolleyes:

Very good point, plus there's is alot of business' up that way accountants, solicitors, HSE have the adoption agency up that way (Talking at least 50-75 employees in those business with only one having accomodation for employee and client parking being Nolan Farrell & Goff Solicitors), there's a right of way at the back of the St Andrew's Tce houses with parking for maybe two cars per house. Corporation didn't think about it from the business perspective also with those business's paying rates and clients not being able to park outside/near them. Priest in Benildus not the PP but the older lad isn't the most accommodating when it comes to parking either as it is Church property and rightly so especially when there's funerals and mass (an also potential problem especially big funerals) where are the mourners going to park. I think it was sheer madness myself and think that they cannot go back on it now. What I think will happen is the old Maxol garage on the Dunmore Road or the new carpark behind the Uluru will be turned into a park n ride facility. The Maxol garage would take some time and would probably get objections from serial objector. To implement this green route the Corporation haven't put in the supporting infrastructure behind it to make it work.

Poochie05

19.5V wrote: »

Looks as if when God is holding court cycle lanes are but an earthly thing and not so important as to prevent peolpe from parking as close to the church door as is possible, I think God loves everyone, even those who drive 4x4's

Do you not know that people going to mass have special dispensation to park illegally:rolleyes:. It would be a brave traffic warden who would ticket cars while their owners are exercising their divine right!

19.5V

Poochie05 wrote: »

Do you not know that people going to mass have special dispensation to park illegally:rolleyes:. It would be a brave traffic warden who would ticket cars while their owners are exercising their divine right!

Yea I head that some time ago, it may be challanged now that the world has changed outside this particular church, I imagine that this law was ok when we drove ass and carts

I suppose its one of many nod-and-wink agreements with the black and blue uniforms.

Odats

Poochie05 wrote: »

Do you not know that people going to mass have special dispensation to park illegally:rolleyes:. It would be a brave traffic warden who would ticket cars while their owners are exercising their divine right!

The chocolate soldiers have been giving parking fines to people going to mass in Ballybricken for a couple of years as it is all pay n display. Heard of it a good few times.

deisemum

Poochie05 wrote: »

Do you not know that people going to mass have special dispensation to park illegally:rolleyes:. It would be a brave traffic warden who would ticket cars while their owners are exercising their divine right!

There was uproar with old lads and old wans on Billy McCarthy's show a few years ago because they were getting parking fines for parking illegally opposite St. Joseph's & Benildus while they were at 10am mass.

Sully

Its a good idea but just keeping it at that end of the city seems daft. The cork road and quays need this badly but the Dunmore Road seems to be getting all the investment recently.

The new lanes seem awfully confusing, for a while I thought I was in the wrong lane! I guess we will get used to it but the guards need to keep an eye and ticket cars parked illegally or driving in them illegally. Perhaps, for the cycle lane, if a footpath clearly marked out isn't suitable they could ask the council to put dividing pools between the driving lane and cycle lane?

19.5V

deisemum wrote: »

There was uproar with old lads and old wans on Billy McCarthy's show a few years ago because they were getting parking fines for parking illegally opposite St. Joseph's & Benildus while they were at 10am mass.

We all know what "turning a blind eye" to the laws of the state can lead to, especially in the R.C. church

jayboi

Sully wrote: »

if a footpath clearly marked out isn't suitable they could ask the council to put dividing pools between the driving lane and cycle lane?

I actually think the road is too narrow for dividing poles, if a large articulated truck comes against you id say you and him need to enter the cycle lanes the road is that narrow!

After some thought I believe that hole cycle/bus lane thing is an elaborate plan by Fiat to force us all to buy Cinquecentos as their the only cars that can fit on the road properly!!!

dayshah

jayboi wrote: »

I actually think the road is too narrow for dividing poles, if a large articulated truck comes against you id say you and him need to enter the cycle lanes the road is that narrow!

After some thought I believe that hole cycle/bus lane thing is an elaborate plan by Fiat to force us all to buy Cinquecentos as their the only cars that can fit on the road properly!!!

You could put in the poles and maybe ban artics from the road.

Where do artics that use that road go? Probably just out to Lidl/Ardkeen Stores/Tescos. They could take a long detour around the new road maybe.

The poles would make it safer for cylists, and prevent illegal parking.

merlante

Cycle lane on the bend of the Newtown rd. was a carpark when I passed it on Saturday...

If they are going to do this seriously, can't they slap tickets on each and every car until people get the message. At the moment the situation is looking very Irish: the rule says one thing but everyone knows it's fine to do another.

Cabaal

dayshah wrote: »

Wow, they manage to block the cycle lane and the footpath!!!

Its a skill, but something 4x4 drivers are really great at

I hope the Gardaí enforce them, and the city council can make a tidy profit by ticketing such vehicles. Then with the money they can invest in better bike and bus lanes.

No solid white line on the cycle lane so cars can enter it, as for parking...unless Waterford City Council put up a sign showing when its in use and that cars can not park in them during those hours I don't see how anything can be enforced

Daysha

Are there even any signs erected saying that that stretch of road markings towards Newtown is in fact a bus lane? I was driving home for the first time in ages over the weekend so this was all new to me and I couldn't figure out for the life of me what that section was there for.