A random waffle thread?

James Bond Junior

Liam Helpful Sash wrote: »

General question:
This crowd that bucket collect in the city, 'The Big Issue', surely it's common knowledge at this stage that they're a shower of scammers?!?

I've always thought the hanly centre lads were the same.

phog

Mc Love wrote: »

Shared this in another thread on the cycling forum, but as its Limerick, it does have some relevance here too, and the wheelchair user is completely right.

https://www.limerickpost.ie/2018/09/25/wheelchair-user-threatened-by-reckless-cyclists/

I've seen cyclists cycle through the pedestrian lights on Roches St and the ones near the City Hotel while pedestrians are trying to cross the road. The City Hotel incident was gas altogether as it was a group (~20) that had organised a spin around the city to encourage cycling and they sailed through despite the pedestrian indicating they wanted to cross the road. Some lessons beign handed out to children that day

Mc Love

phog wrote: »

I've seen cyclists cycle through the pedestrian lights on Roches St and the ones near the City Hotel while pedestrians are trying to cross the road. The City Hotel incident was gas altogether as it was a group (~20) that had organised a spin around the city to encourage cycling and they sailed through despite the pedestrian indicating they wanted to cross the road. Some lessons beign handed out to children that day

Yeah thats not great behaviour at all. It's the ones that dont dismount when using pedestrian crossings that really annoy me.

phog

Mc Love wrote: »

Yeah thats not great behaviour at all. It's the ones that dont dismount when using pedestrian crossings that really annoy me.

I generally don't mind cyclists cycling using the pedestrian crossing while cycling across it, what annoys me is the cyclists/drivers that don't give way to pedestrians.

Mc Love

phog wrote: »

I generally don't mind cyclists cycling using the pedestrian crossing while cycling across it, what annoys me is the cyclists/drivers that don't give way to pedestrians.

But its the ones that use it and on the other side use the road, why couldnt they just use the road in the first place.

phog

Mc Love wrote: »

But its the ones that use it and on the other side use the road, why couldnt they just use the road in the first place.

Oh, I thought you meant cyclists that use cycling paths that lead up to pedestrian crossings like those at Groody Roundabout.

I can understand cyclists using pavements but if they do they should be extra extra careful and polite to pedestrians not like the yob in the article above.

zulutango

I agree. If a cyclist must use a footpath they should always give way to pedestrians.

panda100

Mc Love wrote: »

I don't think it's as dangerous as its made out to be. Once you own your lane there shouldn't be a problem. You are a valid road user and should be respected as such. Sure its a narrow stretch for a bike user but once you don't let yourself be bullied on it, you're fine.

Would have to disagree with you there. I cycle over Shannon Bridge regularly ,mainly at rush hour in the morning, and frequently have to get of my bike and walk. I have been sandwiched between lorries and forced off the road by cars passing me by. The main issue with Shannon Bridge though is that it's a main corridor into our city and is constantly busy with pedestrians, yet the footpaths there are so narrow it can difficult to walk two abreast. I can completely appreciate why people cycle on the pavement here especially those with young children cycling t the numerous schools close to this bridge.

Limerick Cycling Campaign did a video about it earlier in the year highlighting these issues:

https://twitter.com/elisaodonovan/status/984431801631469569

JamesBond2010

panda100 wrote: »

Would have to disagree with you there. I cycle over Shannon Bridge regularly ,mainly at rush hour in the morning, and frequently have to get of my bike and walk. I have been sandwiched between lorries and forced off the road by cars passing me by. The main issue with Shannon Bridge though is that it's a main corridor into our city and is constantly busy with pedestrians, yet the footpaths there are so narrow it can difficult to walk two abreast. I can completely appreciate why people cycle on the pavement here especially those with young children cycling t the numerous schools close to this bridge.

Watch this though .The car nearly literally touching the bus so one wrong move u could get squashed. (if the bus was to open its door it would take out the side of the car with it.). get rid of the grass & make it wider. safer for everyone. Cause you be trying to watch the bus beside u, then u see a bike beside u & u trying not to tip him as well with ur mirror if he or u are passing each other. cause of the narrowness of the road.

Mc Love

the trouble with the cyclist in that video is that they are undertaking cars, motorists are more aware of traffic overtaking on the right, and I would have taken that position. Also if a road is tight/narrow, like the Rosbrien road I started cycling to work on, I take the lane, and cars have to overtake me if they need to get past me.
Same when I'm approaching the traffic lights with the childers road junction, I take the natural overtaking position and pass cars on the right as it would be too tight on the left, or I'd be stuck behind traffic.

A cycle lane on the bridge would be great and it would link up with the cycle lane on the condell road.

zulutango

Mc Love wrote:

A cycle lane on the bridge would be great and it would link up with the cycle lane on the condell road.

I think it's an absolute must. There's enough room for safe, segregated cycle lanes in both directions, footpaths and vehicle lanes too. It would be quite easily done and would bring huge benefits.

sioda

zulutango wrote: »

I think it's an absolute must. There's enough room for safe, segregated cycle lanes in both directions, footpaths and vehicle lanes too. It would be quite easily done and would bring huge benefits.

Are we talking about the new bridge here. No way is there space for cycle lanes. Best bet would be remove pedestrian access to the Dock side of the bridge entirely and cycle lane that. Never gonna happen.

sioda

zulutango wrote: »

I think it's an absolute must. There's enough room for safe, segregated cycle lanes in both directions, footpaths and vehicle lanes too. It would be quite easily done and would bring huge benefits.

Are we talking about the new bridge here. No way is there space for cycle lanes. Best bet would be remove pedestrian access to the Dock side of the bridge entirely and cycle lane that. Never gonna happen though.

johnnyryan89

Any chance that the bridge could be widened, even like a boardwalk onto the sides of the bridge for pedestrians and make the paths there two way cycle lanes.

Mc Love

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

Any chance that the bridge could be widened, even like a boardwalk onto the sides of the bridge for pedestrians and make the paths there two way cycle lanes.

I mentioned that before, it's probably the best solution

zulutango

sioda wrote:

Are we talking about the new bridge here. No way is there space for cycle lanes. Best bet would be remove pedestrian access to the Dock side of the bridge entirely and cycle lane that. Never gonna happen though.

There's loads of room! There's three lanes for vehicles on it at the moment. You could keep two (i.e. revert to the original configuration) and switch the third one into a two way cycle lane.

sioda

zulutango wrote: »

There's loads of room! There's three lanes for vehicles on it at the moment. You could keep two (i.e. revert to the original configuration) and switch the third one into a two way cycle lane.

And cause even worse back ups ah come on. If anything remove the bus lane and go two lanes in

JamesBond2010

zulutango wrote: »

There's loads of room! There's three lanes for vehicles on it at the moment. You could keep two (i.e. revert to the original configuration) and switch the third one into a two way cycle lane.

:D:D:D:pac::pac::pac::pac::pac::pac::pac::pac:

zulutango

sioda wrote:

And cause even worse back ups ah come on. If anything remove the bus lane and go two lanes in

Too bad! By law pedestrians, bikes and busses are supposed to have priority on 50kph roads. Cars are supposed to be fourth in the hierarchy.

JamesBond2010

zulutango wrote: »

Too bad! By law pedestrians, bikes and busses are supposed to have priority on 50kph roads. Cars are supposed to be fourth in the hierarchy.

where does it say that ???

JamesBond2010

https://www.cyclemanual.ie/manual/legislation-and-policy/

RhubarbCrumble

Zulutango, if you had your way, none of us would be allowed behind the wheel!

zulutango

JamesBond2010 wrote:

where does it say that ???

Design Manual for Urban Roads and Streets. It was published by Ministers Varadkar and O'Sullivan in 2013.

zulutango

RhubarbCrumble wrote:

Zulutango, if you had your way, none of us would be allowed behind the wheel!

I'm a driver myself. I just think that the city would be a far better place if we had good bus and bike infrastructure.

Mc Love

zulutango wrote: »

I'm a driver myself. I just think that the city would be a far better place if we had good bus and bike infrastructure.

Same I'm a driver but the so-called infrastructure the city has for cycling is piss poor

phog

zulutango wrote: »

I'm a driver myself. I just think that the city would be a far better place if we had good bus and bike infrastructure.

Change the culture of the bus driver too, infrastructure has little to do with buses not running. In my experience the public have little faith in public transport

damowill

phog wrote: »

Change the culture of the bus driver too, infrastructure has little to do with buses not running. In my experience the public have little faith in public transport

I think it has a lot to do with infrastructure. they have little faith because they are unreliable. if there was a dedicated bus lane from the city centre to UL then the bus would never be held up in traffic and chances are, it will be on time & a regular good bus service could be achieved.

If we had bike lanes and bus lanes (& networks) then more people would choose those forms of transport and thereby take cars off the road, which would reduce traffic & improve commute times for those that use cars. Both would also be options for kids going to school and parents would be happy that the kids would be safe.

And I drive, walk, run and cycle throughout the city and can see firsthand how bad the road infrastructure and layout is for cyclists & buses

phog

damowill wrote: »

I think it has a lot to do with infrastructure. they have little faith because they are unreliable. if there was a dedicated bus lane from the city centre to UL then the bus would never be held up in traffic and chances are, it will be on time & a regular good bus service could be achieved.

If we had bike lanes and bus lanes (& networks) then more people would choose those forms of transport and thereby take cars off the road, which would reduce traffic & improve commute times for those that use cars. Both would also be options for kids going to school and parents would be happy that the kids would be safe.

And I drive, walk, run and cycle throughout the city and can see firsthand how bad the road infrastructure and layout is for cyclists & buses

The driver has to turn up before any bus leaves the depot.

mdmix

phog wrote: »

The driver has to turn up before any bus leaves the depot.

iv gotten the bus from town to castletroy a lot over the years and never had any problems in the morning, all buses were on time (7.00-8.15am) as they come from the depot. The issue is the rest of the day when 2-3 busses arrive in castletroy at once because they are all stuck in traffic and take ages for people to get on/off the bus so are stopped for a few minutes at each stop.

If we had an uninterrupted bus lane on this route with the right cashless technology, it could easily be served with one bus instead of 3 and journey times would be less than 15 minutes max regardless of the time of day.

JamesBond2010

mdmix wrote: »

iv gotten the bus from town to castletroy a lot over the years and never had any problems in the morning, all buses were on time (7.00-8.15am) as they come from the depot. The issue is the rest of the day when 2-3 busses arrive in castletroy at once because they are all stuck in traffic and take ages for people to get on/off the bus so are stopped for a few minutes at each stop.

If we had an uninterrupted bus lane on this route with the right cashless technology, it could easily be served with one bus instead of 3 and journey times would be less than 15 minutes max regardless of the time of day.

Some sides of the city are served better than others. used to be in dublin road side of city was no prob but now opposite side of city buses are not as frequent & since they changed bus routes,u could be waiting a while for a bus & even then it might'nt be the one you want. Be nearly handier get a taxi sometimes cause u be in quicker & u be still waiting for the bus by the time it comes.