Ballina - New Traffic System

finisklin

The second stage of the changes to Ballina's traffic structure is coming into effect on the 29th Sept (next Wed).....some fairly drastic changes that will certainly take getting used to. :eek:

Traffic will now go up Hill street, down O'Rahilly St. and up tone street.....in effect the flow is reversed. However the key result of the changes is that if you wish to go from the Foxford Road area to the Sligo road direction, you won't be able to go down Hill st. This means that cars will have to go through teeling street, pound street and around circular road, dunnes etc. & over the bridge.

More detail here.....

http://www.advertiser.ie/mayo/article/31093

Being implemented at this time of year is a good thing as traffic is quiet (no tourists, few bank holidays bar Halloween), and the recession has reduced traffic considerably anyway. On that point, given that the traffic plan was conceived in the Celtic tiger years (circa 2007-08) would it still not achieve its objectives in the current environment and without the changes? I'm thinking that those objectives are protecting the town centre and making it accessible, ensuring traffic flows and helping the commercial development/efficiency/effectiveness of the region.

As it stands the town centre is very quiet and trade has to be severely affected for retailers. Is this another nail in their coffin? À lot of punters are waiting for the budget and I can see the tumbleweeds coming in 2011.

So how will these traffic changes help the town? Comments welcome.....

Captain Slow IRL

I can't see the traffic being the cause of a quiet town - look at castlebar and sligo, they have 1-way systems in place and both are very busy towns.
We have a poor selection of shops and the majority of shops here are over-priced and have a very poor stock selection. You can't blame the punters for what the shops are lacking.

Hopefully the council have someone who knows what they're doing by implementing these changes and not just taking a blind stab at trying to sort out the traffic problems in the town.

EDIT: I'm just after seeing the map of the new layout in this weeks western people - this is gonna be fun!

Paul4As

Walking along Pearse Street at the minute is great...less traffic...easier to get across the road...seated areas...I've been impressed!!! Definitely has improved the visual look of the main street!!!
If the new road layout means less through traffic entering the town's main shopping streets then that can only be a good thing...combatting those who are using streets solely for shortcuts through Ballina is what you want!
Being from Belfast and living in Ballina...I still wonder why people from Ballina drive in to town...everything is within walking distance...unless it's raining or you are getting frozen food or a large food shop!!!

steph1

http://www.westernpeople.ie/news/story/?trs=eyqlmhmhau

oscarBravo

So, if I'm reading it right, it will end up something like this:



Interesting. Hard to say how it will work until it's been up and running for a while.

finisklin

Captain Slow IRL wrote: »

I can't see the traffic being the cause of a quiet town - look at castlebar and sligo, they have 1-way systems in place and both are very busy towns.
We have a poor selection of shops and the majority of shops here are over-priced and have a very poor stock selection. You can't blame the punters for what the shops are lacking.

Hopefully the council have someone who knows what they're doing by implementing these changes and not just taking a blind stab at trying to sort out the traffic problems in the town.

EDIT: I'm just after seeing the map of the new layout in this weeks western people - this is gonna be fun!

I think I may have opened up a whole other debate that wasn't my intention! My point being that whatever existing business is being done in the "over priced" shops will be affected by the new traffic changes, IMO. The reason being that, as the other poster mentioned Ballina's tendency to park outside the shop their going to. In the case of O'Rahilly street the Post Office is an obvious example.

Definitely will be fun.....it's funny that these changes have been on the cards for well over a year and has been well below people's radar!

Any takers on road rage?:P

Captain Slow IRL

finisklin wrote: »

..........Any takers on road rage?:P

Oh yeah, keep an eye out for me! You'll probably hear the horn before you see me though!

Ilovelucy

It's going to be fun seeing as a lot of motorists still havn't fathomed how to use the bridges properly.

oscarBravo

Ilovelucy wrote: »

It's going to be fun seeing as a lot of motorists still havn't fathomed how to use the bridges properly.

That's not surprising. Most Irish motorists don't read road signs or painted road markings, or use their mirrors. As a nation of drivers, we suck.

astra2000

They have been talking about this for ages. My head is wrecked just thinking about it.

finisklin

The junction at Pearse Street, O'Rahilly St is a nightmare for cars coming from the Pearse Street onto O'Rahilly St. Traffic has been backed up all the way down to Extravision on occasions......though where this traffic is going to is debatable as the council obviosuly don't want punters driving up it.

Is there a possibility that Pearse St could be pedestrianised in the future? Do the planners actually live in the town?

Is this the first symptoms of road rage (venting my impatience on boards)?

oscarBravo

finisklin wrote: »

The junction at Pearse Street, O'Rahilly St is a nightmare for cars coming from the Pearse Street onto O'Rahilly St. Traffic has been backed up all the way down to Extravision on occasions...

I got caught there last time I was in Ballina. It looked like the junction was in an intermediate state, with no traffic lights and no clear idea of who had priority.

I guess the new layout will sort it out, one way or the other (par'n the pun).

nijel

never mind people not being able to understand the one way system around the bridges ! i still see people going the opposite way on the round about for goodness sake :eek: this whole plan seems very drastic i am sure there will be a few accidents...

Kristopherus

oscarBravo wrote: »

I got caught there last time I was in Ballina. It looked like the junction was in an intermediate state, with no traffic lights and no clear idea of who had priority.

I guess the new layout will sort it out, one way or the other (par'n the pun).

So did I. Had to stop to let a big lorry steam by and got rear-ended for my trouble:mad:

oscarBravo

Kristopherus wrote: »

So did I. Had to stop to let a big lorry steam by and got rear-ended for my trouble:mad:

I guess that goes to prove that some Irish drivers don't bother looking out the front of their cars, never mind the back.

When I'm running this country, the number of drivers on the road will immediately be cut by approximately one third.

finisklin

The council closed off Pearse Street for two days last week.....rumour has it that they were examining the possiblity of pedestrianising it!!!

The new lay out is cetainly backing up traffic on the Foxford Road approach to the town.....people havent realised that they can still cut through the town to get to the Sligo road.....via Connolly St, John St, O'Rahilly St & Bridge Street.

I've also just realised that the new traffic system may confuse visitors that are using google maps and the street views as the town centre traffic flows are now reversed!!!! I'm sure the council can write to Google and ask them to come back and remap the town centre. :P

Ilovelucy

Pearse Street was closed to facilitate European Mobility Week.

am i bovvered

I think it should be clearly sign posted that you can now get to the sligo rd through the town as "finisklin" as already stated.
Also I think they should remove the parking from the tesco side of St Patricks NS so there would be 2 lanes coming to the traffic lights, 1 turning left and 1 lane turning right or straight.

oscarBravo

I've edited the OpenStreetMap to reflect the new one-way system. While I was doing that it occurred to me that the N59 doesn't work as currently mapped - it has to go both ways through the one-way system, so it can't just go across the lower bridge.

I've edited it so the N59 from Sligo towards Crossmolina goes via Cathedral Road, the upper bridge and Emmett Street. If someone knows better, they're free to correct the map.

I also re-routed the R294 according to the most logical route I figure it has to take now. On the way back towards Ardnaree, it just follows the N59.

finisklin

Ilovelucy wrote: »

Pearse Street was closed to facilitate European Mobility Week.

Trust the council to even mess that up......only closing for 2 days out of the whole week!

Ilovelucy

finisklin wrote: »

Trust the council to even mess that up......only closing for 2 days out of the whole week!

Your sarcasm aside - mobility week did stretch pass using the roads to highlight mobility. There were activities on the river and walking buses were used. :rolleyes:

finisklin

Are we about to see a U turn from the council? Their mismanagement of this has certainly riled the town.....

http://www.advertiser.ie/mayo/article/31888

Some worthy observations about access for emergency services........The token, knee jerk response of the roundabout at circular road, bohernasup may not be sufficient to sustain this initiative. As this is a quiet time of a year for traffic, it doesn't bode well for bank holidays, Xmas, Easter, etc. Plus, the new traffic lights coming into operation at bunree will surely restore the status quo of the original Downhill lights that backed up traffic to the bridges and beyond.

Moreover, when funerals are taking place on Victoria Terrace it also adds more congestion and delay to the overstretched Foxford Road.

Is the Newport based, town engineer beginning to squirm? At least he doesn't have to put up with his decisions......:P

The traders had a meeting on Wednesday night.....didn't hear what the outcome was.....surely agin the system?

Paul4As

The only way to see if a new traffic initiative or design is going to work is to implement it and monitor it...if it works great, if it doesn't go back to the drawing board! The engineer who is doing these changes hasn't really got a good existing road network to work with.
The roundabout at Circular Rd / Market Street seems like a reasonable idea to try out.
The traffic lights at Bunree / Sligo Rd are a must...maybe part time ones that are operational during busy times. Sod traffic on the Sligo Road...safety at that junction is the most important thing!

oscarBravo

Paul4As wrote: »

The only way to see if a new traffic initiative or design is going to work is to implement it and monitor it...if it works great, if it doesn't go back to the drawing board!

+1

It also needs to be tried for a reasonable length of time. Irish drivers, by and large, tend to ignore road signs, so we need to wait for the new system to be absorbed by some form of collective osmosis.

Then, of course, some people will oppose any change on principle.

finisklin

Paul4As wrote: »

The only way to see if a new traffic initiative or design is going to work is to implement it and monitor it...if it works great, if it doesn't go back to the drawing board! The engineer who is doing these changes hasn't really got a good existing road network to work with.
The roundabout at Circular Rd / Market Street seems like a reasonable idea to try out.
The traffic lights at Bunree / Sligo Rd are a must...maybe part time ones that are operational during busy times. Sod traffic on the Sligo Road...safety at that junction is the most important thing!

Fair comment...however the system wasn't designed to be reversed. It was designed to be permanent. For example, the changes to the one way system in Pearse Street cannot be reversed. Maybe an extreme example, but the current system is only reinforcing a poor planned system in the first instance. The one way around the brdiges is a case in point and was never designed for pedestrians. The difficulty for pedestrian mass goers and crossing has been highlighted consistently by local hacks. What measures have been put in place to slow traffic down? A pedestrian walk way 10 months after it went live!

Traffic between the bridge's can be mad and the speed in which they travel around the corners taking on, on coming traffic making the corner at the same time was never considered fully, IMHO. Not sure if you remember the fuss about the signage at the start of the changes last year, apparently the gardai were never informed of changes where traffic had to give way, yield to the current system of where they have to.

Plenty of fun alright.....lucky that the recession has reduced traffic volumes throughout the day otherwise the celtic tiger flows that the system was designed for would have longed buckled.:p

I'm all for change and anything that will help develop the town.....these initiatives were never designed to be reversed, nor will they.

oscarBravo

finisklin wrote: »

The difficulty for pedestrian mass goers and crossing has been highlighted consistently by local hacks. What measures have been put in place to slow traffic down? A pedestrian walk way 10 months after it went live!

Traffic between the bridge's can be mad and the speed in which they travel around the corners taking on, on coming traffic making the corner at the same time was never considered fully, IMHO.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, but are you suggesting that the town's traffic system should be designed around the fact that people refuse to drive in a safe manner?

finisklin

oscarBravo wrote: »

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, but are you suggesting that the town's traffic system should be designed around the fact that people refuse to drive in a safe manner?

Any new traffic system needs to be properly planned involving and accounting for all users/stakeholders.....the changes last year and this year clearly have not accounted for all road users and importantly how they should use the system. For example, pedestrians have never figured prominently in the current system and the new Pelican crossing's were an after thought. The same point is being made by Cllr Nolan in the Advertiser about emergency services......

The principal group that you are referring to are boy racers, IMO. These are users, albeit unsafe ones who use the emmet terrace and catherdral road as a racing track. Traffic calming and speed restrictors were never envisaged for these roads yet there clearly is a need, as has been pointed out in this forum that the potential for a serious accident is clear.

I am sure the council have thought all this through and have contingency plans for each aspect of it. As I haven't access to these plans and based on what I know regarding changes and the council liasing with the Gardai (or not liaising) it has been higgedly piggedly to date.

In short, this has not been a vote of confidence for the planners/town council. Good, I wanted to nail my colours firmly to the mast in case there was any ambiguity.....:P

Paul4As

finisklin wrote: »

For example, pedestrians have never figured prominently in the current system and the new Pelican crossing's were an after thought. The same point is being made by Cllr Nolan in the Advertiser about emergency services......

The principal group that you are referring to are boy racers, IMO. These are users, albeit unsafe ones who use the emmet terrace and catherdral road as a racing track. Traffic calming and speed restrictors were never envisaged for these roads yet there clearly is a need, as has been pointed out in this forum that the potential for a serious accident is clear.

Agree with all the above big style!!!

Safety of pedestrians should be the priority...they don't have a metal casing around them!!!

Emmet Terrace and Cathedral Rd are a disgrace regarding speeders. They should spend a random day a week there with speed guns or monitoring the behaviour of these Lewis Hamilton wannabes! I'm young and I find it difficult crossing the road there!

oscarBravo

Paul4As wrote: »

Emmet Terrace and Cathedral Rd are a disgrace regarding speeders. They should spend a random day a week there with speed guns or monitoring the behaviour of these Lewis Hamilton wannabes! I'm young and I find it difficult crossing the road there!

If it's that big a problem, they should install permanent speed cameras there.

As for boy racers in general: they're lucky I'm not running this country, because I'd ban the little feckers from driving for five years and confiscate their precious cars. Time the hoodlums discovered that driving is a privilege, not a right.

barleybooley

+1 on harsher punishments for boy racers, it makes my blood boil when you see them pulled up late at night side by side, I don't know why but it does. And as for the donuts outside Mount Falcon, don't get me started.

Anyway, this feckin' one way system has my head melted although one thing that I don't lament is turning at the bottom of Hill Street which was sometimes quite a manoeuvre with a Passat. Anyway, I cannot stand the one way around the river, cars just dart in in front of you, not a care in the world and no one seems to know who has the right of way, or maybe that's just me? And also, a few pedestrian crossings really need to be put in place. I find Ballina just so narrow.

I'd hate to be doing my driving test there now!

finisklin

oscarBravo wrote: »

If it's that big a problem, they should install permanent speed cameras there.

If the joint policing committee can't get the CCTV for the town.....how can they install speed cameras? In the current environment that's not a runner.