Out with the old and in with the new

TangyZizzle

Starting from the Centra end of Rush - the old speed bumps are being destroyed and new ones are being made. They're using a small excavator to drill the old speed bumps and break them into chunks whitch are being thrown into the back of a truck and taken away.
The new ones are made of tarmacadam and are simply being poured and moulded into the shape of speed bumps with white arrows being painted on top of them and cats eyes being placed around them to make them move visible.

Its about fooking time!

eddiem74

Please let these last and work.

I was cracking up with the existing ramps that were there.

Fingers-crossed...

TangyZizzle

These ones look to have a much lower clearance in comparison to the old ones. So I would think that if they do start to break up, drivers wont have to take as much of a precaution to get around them.

Neil_Sedaka

TangyZizzle......................................................................I Love You

TangyZizzle

Keep your trousers on.

Corsendonk

TangyZizzle wrote: »

Starting from the Centra end of Rush - the old speed bumps are being destroyed and new ones are being made. They're using a small excavator to drill the old speed bumps and break them into chunks whitch are being thrown into the back of a truck and taken away.
The new ones are made of tarmacadam and are simply being poured and moulded into the shape of speed bumps with white arrows being painted on top of them and cats eyes being placed around them to make them move visible.

Its about fooking time!

Yeah I couldn't see them last time when they had cats eyes, were covered in red with white lines and had a yellow sign on the path next to it with a speed ramp symbol

On a serious note, the ramps on the Channel rd were built with the same technique as the new ramps you describe and they have sustained damage do not as bad as the Whitestown Rd higher ramps. A weight restriction to go with the ramps might be a more sensible option otherwise FCC constantly having to spend funds allocated to Rush on ramp repair could easily become the Rush Perpetual Ramp fund.

Martron

i would imagine the local farmers would have an issue with weight restrictions....... tractor+a trailer of spuds = ????

Corsendonk

Martron wrote: »

i would imagine the local farmers would have an issue with weight restrictions....... tractor+a trailer of spuds = ????

Are the ramps in disrepair due to:

a)Faulty construction
b)Higher than average wear and tear caused by heavy goods traffic and tractors plus farm machinery.
c)Climate change

indie armada

i would have thought the two years of bad weather(ice/ frost) would have contributed to their disrepair.

Martron

i never once said or implied that the tractors are causing the damage.

( if anything with their wide tires they probably cause less damage than a heavily laden van)

but i am sure if a weight restriction was imposed it would effect the route of local farmers and they would not be happy as if there was a handier route i am sure they would already be using it

it was you corsendonk that suggested a weight restriction . i only added that farmers possibly would not be happy about it. i am fully aware of the destructive properties of weather and the effects that these have on inadequate materials.

Corsendonk

Martron wrote: »

i never once said or implied that the tractors are causing the damage.

( if anything with their wide tires they probably cause less damage than a heavily laden van)

but i am sure if a weight restriction was imposed it would effect the route of local farmers and they would not be happy as if there was a handier route i am sure they would already be using it

it was you corsendonk that suggested a weight restriction . i only added that farmers possibly would not be happy about it. i am fully aware of the destructive properties of weather and the effects that these have on inadequate materials.

I only asked you a question, not implied that you said something that you didn't. And I only asked that question because you have mentioned in many posts that you have a construction background so when you need to know something ask the experts I always say.

Martron

ok thats grand.

well i heard a rumour from a pal of mine in dublin city council and they said that this system of printed asphalt reared its head a few years ago and was never fully tested.( there is another asphalt system which is also red. although nearly twice the price. and as you may notice around dublin there is some ramps which seem untouched this is more than likely the more expensive material) and leads us to the problem we have now.

its all over town. combined with the icy weather ( freeze thaw action, and combined with melt water you have a erosion method called hydraulic action which is when water is rammed into crevasses in the material making the problem worse. ) has just destroyed this material.

it too me seemed like a material with a very fine aggregate but with a very low tar content. not sure it was for main stream trafficed areas. might be grand for carparks.

Corsendonk

Not a fan of speed ramps at all, cop out for drivers and police. Even the tories in the UK have started to change road safety planning in the UK following looking at the Drachten experiment. The UK had 100,000 speed ramps in 2007 according to there Dept of Transport, Rush must be way ahead of them if you factor in head of population. Could we be the European Capital of Speed Ramps?

dcr22B

Great timing for me as I'm collecting my new car tomorrow night and it has a non-speed ramp friendly front spoiler and seriously liquorice strip tyres!

Martron

well the new ones are not too bad i dont think. they are required on that road. as its a long straight road coming into a populated area. i find my speed creeping up on that strip too.

they dont call them sleeping police men for nothing.

whats this expirement you talking about?

Corsendonk

Martron wrote: »

well the new ones are not too bad i dont think. they are required on that road. as its a long straight road coming into a populated area. i find my speed creeping up on that strip too.

they dont call them sleeping police men for nothing.

whats this expirement you talking about?

It works on your subconsious, people who believe their safe take more risks, so if they feel unsafe they drive more carefully.

Wiki

Recently, Drachten received international attention for a traffic experiment known as shared space, a concept pioneered by Hans Monderman. Almost all traffic lights and signs have been removed in the town's centre in an effort to improve traffic safety, based on the theory that drivers pay more attention to their surroundings when they cannot rely on strict traffic rules. Previously the town's centre had an average of 8 accidents per year. Since the new system was introduced in 2003, this has been reduced to effectively 0.[1]

The German town of Bohmte adopted a similar scheme in September 2007.[2]

London Times 2007

Traffic lights, road signs and white lines would be removed from many high streets across the country under Conservative proposals to improve safety and reduce congestion by giving drivers and pedestrians equal status.

Road humps, chicanes and other physical measures designed to reduce the speed of vehicles would be removed and the question of who had priority would be left open deliberately, making drivers more cautious.

The Conservatives are planning to publish a “green paper” on roads this year which will borrow heavily from so-called shared-space schemes in the Netherlands, where pedestrians, cyclists and cars are encouraged to mingle. Kerbs in several Dutch towns have been removed and the boundaries between the pavement and road blurred deliberately to prevent people from assuming they have right of way.

Traffic lights have been uprooted and drivers must negotiate their way across junctions, forcing them to slow down and establish eye contact with pedestrians.

In the town of Drachten, the removal of traffic lights at one major junction has resulted in accidents falling from thirty-six in the four years before the scheme was introduced to two in the next two years. The average time for each vehicle to cross the junction fell from 50 seconds to 30 seconds, despite a rise in the volume of traffic.

Owen Paterson, the Shadow Transport Minister, visited Drachten and other Dutch towns. He told The Times: “There are some great ideas here which I would like to see in Britain. It’s the opposite of the 1960s ethos of separating cars and pedestrians. By removing road signs and traffic lights and changing the appearance of the road, you avoid the impression that areas are designated just for cars.

“The idea is to create space where there is mild anxiety among everyone so they all behave cautiously. No one thunders along at 30mph on a high street thinking that they have priority.” Mr Paterson said that putting up more speed limit signs and painting more lines on the road had failed to make streets safer. “Instead of the State laying down the rules, we need to give responsibility back to road users. It’s about creating an environment where it just doesn’t feel right to drive faster than 20mph.”

Some aspects of the shared space approach have already been adopted on London streets that have high numbers of pedestrians. At Seven Dials in Covent Garden, the road surface has been altered to give it the appearance of a pedestrian area and kerbs have been lowered to encourage people to wander across the street.

In Kensington High Street, almost 600 metres of railings have been removed to allow pedestrians to cross where they want. The results have discredited the belief that railings prevent accidents: in the two years after they were removed, pedestrian casualties declined three times faster than the London average. Traffic engineers believe that drivers are now keeping a sharper eye out for pedestrians because they know that they may cross at any point.

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is planning to introduce shared space ideas to Sloane Square next year. The aim is to encourage pedestrians to make greater use of the square, which is currently marooned by busy roads. A similar scheme is being planned for Exhibition Road.The idea of removing traffic lights was supported in a report published last month by the Institute of Economic Affairs.

Martin Cassini, the report’s author, said: “Removing lights removes barriers to traffic flow and improves behaviour. If you observe a junction where the lights are out of action, there is rarely congestion. People approach slowly, wave each other on and filter in turn. Lights and other controls hamper instead of harness human nature, causing untold delay and harm.”

Slow down

6,000 Speed cameras in Britain

2 million Camera offences recorded in 2004

100,000 The number of speed bumps in Britain

10mph The approximate reduction in speed from speed bumps

12mph The approximate reduction in speed from chicanes

Source: Times archive, Dept for Transport

cowzerp

Sounds funny but after the old ones these are a pleasure to drive on!
About time..

Martron

Corsendonk wrote: »

Traffic stuff

very interesting. would like to see it in action here. However i do honestly believe after driving thoough parts of europe that the driver behaviour there is more suited to this type of experiment.

mind you ...... rush has been running this program for years , with its lack of line marking , blurred pedestrian areas and in some places no footpath at all.

and i think the last major accident was when that person ran into the house near the harbour.

TangyZizzle

Let's not forget the poor young wan who rolled her car in whitestown during the winter.

Neil_Sedaka

Or the separate fatal crashes outside McGees on the Skerries Road

TangyZizzle

Or the young girl knocked down at Golden Ridge on the Skerriad Rd.

This game is no fun.

Neil_Sedaka

No that's true, perhaps best to leave it there.

Anyways, back to the speed ramps....................................Soooooooooooooooooooo much better (although still not perfect and too many of them in my opinion)

I hope they redo the ramps outside Joes too.

Also, what about the general state of the road surface on the Main Street? Shocking so it is!

Martron

hmmmmm maybe the experiment does not work.

as for the road condition. email fingal to state our concerns.

i have i am sure plenty others have.

LeoB

Corsendonk wrote: »

Are the ramps in disrepair due to:

a)Faulty construction
b)Higher than average wear and tear caused by heavy goods traffic and tractors plus farm machinery.
c)Climate change

I think its a combination of all 3.
I remember the ramps being installed at Centra and thought they would not last as the red covering was quite thin.
We still get a lot of H.G.Vs which are going to Skerries and Loughshinny.
Climate change! The weather we had for 5 weeks done massive damage but these ramps had started to break up before the Snow and Ice.

Martron wrote: »

ok thats grand.

it too me seemed like a material with a very fine aggregate but with a very low tar content. not sure it was for main stream trafficed areas. might be grand for carparks.

Agree with you here they are more suited to car parks than roads. As I stated the top red layer was quite thin and got damaged quite easily.

Seems we might have to bite the bullett and instal metal ramps as used in some industrial estates. They can be noisy if not properly installed but I have seen them work well in afew places.

The other major issue is our driving habits and I and a lot of others need to slow down a little.

TangyZizzle

New speedbumps being put down on the Skerries road today.