Moneenageisha traffic lights V old roundabout?

yer man!

I know this has probably been discussed to death on here in the past but did the old roundabout work better than the current traffic light controlled system? I know some engineering lecturers in NUIG who think it's just a disaster altogether.

ronnie3585

yer man! wrote: »

I know this has probably been discussed to death on here in the past but did the old roundabout work better than the current traffic light controlled system? I know some engineering lecturers in NUIG who think it's just a disaster altogether.

It has been discussed to death and it is a complete disaster.

amiable

Surely those lights were put in for all those bad drivers who couldn't use the roundabout efficiently

doolox

They do not work well if there is a dominant flow in one straight through direction which block traffic trying to enter a right angles to the strong or dominant flow. Roughly equal but intermittent flows in all directions work best in roundabouts where each road gets a turn to enter the roundabout. You do not get this on some roundabouts because of rush hour traffic usually from an outlying road which affects the traffic trying to enter from its right which never gets a chance to get onto the roundabout because there is little or no traffic emerging from the city centre ( usually) to block the constant flow of traffic from the suburbs. The opposite affect happens in the evening with the traffic to the right of the Bohermore road getting no chance to get onto the rdbt so that lights are needed to break up the constant flow and give every road a chance.

yer man!

doolox wrote: »

They do not work well if there is a dominant flow in one straight through direction which block traffic trying to enter a right angles to the strong or dominant flow. Roughly equal but intermittent flows in all directions work best in roundabouts where each road gets a turn to enter the roundabout. You do not get this on some roundabouts because of rush hour traffic usually from an outlying road which affects the traffic trying to enter from its right which never gets a chance to get onto the roundabout because there is little or no traffic emerging from the city centre ( usually) to block the constant flow of traffic from the suburbs. The opposite affect happens in the evening with the traffic to the right of the Bohermore road getting no chance to get onto the rdbt so that lights are needed to break up the constant flow and give every road a chance.

Huh, well now I know, thanks

Cathal01

The roundabout was more efficient, and I have to say it was the one spot in Galway that drivers were actually on the ball. With the lights you have about 0.5 seconds before the light goes red again, you usually have some f**king eejit in front of you who takes about 5 mins to get their car back into gear and the handbrake down and accelerate! The lights are just bull**** but the ineptitude of drivers around Galway is just as infuriating.

Galway K9

Cathal01 wrote: »

The roundabout was more efficient, and I have to say it was the one spot in Galway that drivers were actually on the ball. With the lights you have about 0.5 seconds before the light goes red again, you usually have some f**king eejit in front of you who takes about 5 mins to get their car back into gear and the handbrake down and accelerate! The lights are just bull**** but the ineptitude of drivers around Galway is just as infuriating.

Sorry Cathal i dont agree i feel with lights you have fair leeway so far as that when lights go green a majority of traffic gets by where with roundbout you were waiting for ages for one car to get out.:)

Also same can be said about a driver at a roundabout not jjust traffic lights

skelliser

doolox wrote: »

They do not work well if there is a dominant flow in one straight through direction which block traffic trying to enter a right angles to the strong or dominant flow. Roughly equal but intermittent flows in all directions work best in roundabouts where each road gets a turn to enter the roundabout. You do not get this on some roundabouts because of rush hour traffic usually from an outlying road which affects the traffic trying to enter from its right which never gets a chance to get onto the roundabout because there is little or no traffic emerging from the city centre ( usually) to block the constant flow of traffic from the suburbs. The opposite affect happens in the evening with the traffic to the right of the Bohermore road getting no chance to get onto the rdbt so that lights are needed to break up the constant flow and give every road a chance.

WTF!:eek:

Galway K9

agreed

snubbleste

It has been discussed to death and it is not a complete disaster.

CrowdedHouse

I'm only an occasional user of this junction, rarely at rush hour, but I find the lights better than the roundabout

Dunjohn

I think it's improved the flow on the Dublin Road and the hill directly across from it (Moneenagiesha Road?). Back in the bad old roundabout days it wasn't uncommon for cars to get stuck on those roads, back up the roundabout, and block the exit for Lough Atalia or the entrance from Mervue.

Coming off the Mervue Road was always extremely slow and I don't notice any great difference there, but at least you're guaranteed a green light eventually.

Lough Atalia road was always a disaster but now it's even worse. I've been backed up as far as the Harbour Hotel. This has a lot to do with the junction at College Road, with cars coming down College Road and easing into the yellow boxes, and then not being able to move for five minutes. Then, when the traffic on Lough Atalia finally gets a chance to get out two or three green lights later, they do the same and pile as many cars into the yellow box as possible. With the roundabout, at least the line of traffic was kept moving so there was a decent chance that the yellow boxes would clear before the lights changed.

sgthighway

Hard to call but I think the lights work great. The roundabout was great too but they have widened up some of the roads into/out of it now. If you are coming down Monivea Rd; they can be a bit slow.

celtictiger

It's an unmitigated disaster. The old roundabout was far more effiicient. Very rarely would you have the backed up traffic that you have now in every direction. Whoever is responsible should be named, shamed and sacked. We know that won't happen tho.

The traffic lights are much much safer for pedestrians.
Darting across the lanes of the roundabout was always risky.

biko

Def the lights are better, the RB was a major PITA.

Amhran Nua

Deleted User wrote: »

The traffic lights are much much safer for pedestrians.
Darting across the lanes of the roundabout was always risky.

And it's right next to a school too.

dloob

The routes and times I take through the junction seem to have improved since the lights went in.
Only problem can be when traffic is very heavy coming up lough atalia and college road and it's a complete mess where they meet.

Only one set of lights let's people continue to turn left(coming down the Dubin Road) when the traffic from that side is going.

The lights don't repeat this for any other side though, even when it's safe to do so

996tt

traffic lights only work if you have some restrictions on turning right.

yer man!

Stick a bypass around galway and it wouldn't matter anymore.

galah

traffic lights are much better - if it weren't for the idiot drivers running red/organge lights, then blocking the junction in the yellow boxes.

Was stuck there yesterday, actually - coming from Monivea Road, wanting to go straight down Lough Atalia - lights went green, but because some numbnut turning right form Lough Atalia blocked the junction, only about 3 cars got through every time - it took me 4 turns of the lights to finally get through, and I was only as far back as the wellpark exit. Very frustating, and totally unnecessary.

So, if people finally learnt how to drive properly and not squeeze in when the lights are already red, or block the junction, the junction would work properly as well...

Mrs OBumble

celtictiger wrote: »

It's an unmitigated disaster. The old roundabout was far more effiicient. Very rarely would you have the backed up traffic that you have now in every direction.

I spent most of 2008 catching the HP bus home: the trip down Monivea Rd / Wellpark was generally very slow due to backed up traffic.

I've been doing the same trip again for the last couple of months, and it's been heaps faster with very few queues (except for one day last week).

Of course there's been a recession hit in between ...

But as a pedestrian, I'd say that anyone who thinks the RAB was better must be smoking some mighty drugs.

yer man!

What does everyone think of the idea to replace the headford road roundabout with a signal controlled junction like this one?

Dunjohn

Hmm, that one has five exits with only three at right angles. The layout would be mental. Bad idea, I think. It may be tough to navigate but it doesn't really block up badly, does it?

TheCosmicFrog

Is there any truth to the rumor that these lights have a self-learning algorithm in them? I remember hearing a rumor that the council splashed out on lights with artificial intelligence. Not AI in the Hollywood-sense, just a traffic flow coordination algorithm. Would make a lot of sense. Might also explain why the lights were such a disaster in the beginning and seemed to gradually improve over time.

Dunjohn

I'm pretty certain that's the case, Galway Bay FM mentioned it frequently back at the beginning. In between swear words, admittedly.

Madame Razz

Traffic lights are better. It's still desperate there at rush hour, but only a bypass would sort that.

Worst bottleneck in Galway now is along the docks where that hoarding is STILL up and blocking a traffic lane. It creates chaos in that area and along out Lough Atalia. They really need to take that down:mad:

celtictiger

It's great for pedestrians - even the invisible ones that are crossing when all the cars are at a standstill waiting for them to cross. I don't know what time of the day or night some of ye are visiting the Moneenageesha but nine times out of ten I'm twiddling my thumbs polluting the air around me waiting in traffic. The roundabout was a thing of beauty compared to the system in place now. Named, shamed and sacked I say again.

pleasant Co.

celtictiger wrote: »

The roundabout was a thing of beauty compared to the system in place now.

No it wasn't, I don't know how many years you're going back to remember the roundabout as anything other than chaotic.

biko

The RB was only good for people coming from Lough Atalia and going up Dublin road. They'd enter the RB when there was no exit space and simply block traffic from Wellpark and double journey time going from east to west.

Maybe the lights could be better programmed but they're miles better than letting motorists block each other and just adding to the general road rage.