N25 Toll Plaza

wmpdd3

Some guests who have booked to stay on that side of the river for the weekend have been calling for clarification. They are not happy, could result in cancellations if there are rooms available in Tramore / Dunmore etc.

Gadgie

I'm pretty annoyed about this. I live in Ferrybank and work on the industrial estate. I also usually visit my parents in Dunmore at the weekend.

Now, in addition to adding several miles onto my journey, I have to pay for the privilege? Not happy.

fricatus

Max Powers wrote: »

I think rice bridge being closed is a tiny inconvenience we should gladly welcome for the millions and visitors that will come to Waterford City.

You're dead right about that, and I agree 100%. However you're missing the point, which is that people were told "OK, Rice Bridge will be closed, but you'll be able to use the other bridge for free if you've to get to work, do deliveries etc."

This promise has been reneged on, and that's what people are p155ed off about. Had the city council kept their traps shut, sure, people would have whinged about Rice Bridge being closed, but they would have grudgingly accepted it in the end (IMO...)

Hoffmans

Gadgie wrote: »

I'm pretty annoyed about this. I live in Ferrybank and work on the industrial estate. I also usually visit my parents in Dunmore at the weekend.

Now, in addition to adding several miles onto my journey, I have to pay for the privilege? Not happy.

whos going to stop me goin about my business, i pay road tax this entitles me to drive the roads ,as they say its illegal to otherwise, under our constituion they cant stop anyone drivin the bridge if they want....

Aquos76

Just wondering, have the city council applied for a temperory closure of the bridge for the dates in question, I remember seeing a submission in the local papers a few weeks back for the temporary closure of colbeck street to facilate the opening of the Viking quarter, the submission also contained alternative routes.

Cabaal

Hoffmans wrote: »

whos going to stop me goin about my business, i pay road tax this entitles me to drive the roads ,as they say its illegal to otherwise, under our constituion they cant stop anyone drivin the bridge if they want....

You pay MOTOR TAX, which is added to a general fund like many other taxes and is not specifically earmarked for roads. Anybody that pays ANY tax has just as much right to use roads as you do.

Lets hope they do close the bridge just so we can see your name in the paper for acting the tit when Gardai stop you and likely detain you for failing to obey a Gardai and trying to drive over pedestrians who are walking on the bridge :pac:

200motels

It's the counsel's fault for stating for the past few months that the new bridge would be toll free, well the company who run the tolls have said no agreement had been entered into with our inept counsel.

dohertykkwdpd

Hoffmans wrote: »

whos going to stop me goin about my business, i pay road tax this entitles me to drive the roads ,as they say its illegal to otherwise, under our constituion they cant stop anyone drivin the bridge if they want....

The by-pass is a private road, owned by a private company, paid for by private money. The people who will stop you going about you business are the owners of that road who don't care if you have been inconvenienced.

Waterford hosted the tall ships in 2005 when there was no by-pass and people managerd just fine. Now Waterford CC have decided to close the bridge, its Waterford CC that should be answering the questions not CRG.

CRG did try to negotiate with Waterford CC but they said that they had no money to pay the toll. The private car parks on the key are given compensation when the key is closed and they cant open so why do people think it should be any different for a toll road.

Wateford CC anounced that the toll would be free to try and force CRG's hand because they will not get 'brownie points' if they don't. CRG did the wright thing by trying to negotiate but Waterford CC wern't intrested.

dayshah

dohertykkwdpd wrote: »

The by-pass is a private road, owned by a private company, paid for by private money.

:rolleyes:

Chiparus

Will cyclists be banned from using Rice bridge?

I believe they are banned from using the toll bridge?

Cabaal

Chiparus wrote: »

Will cyclists be banned from using Rice bridge?

I believe they are banned from using the toll bridge?

Doubt they would be in the same manner as you could cycle down the quays, common sense would be a factor however. Obviously cycling down the quays at 40km/hour not slowing down and paying attention won't make the Gardai and others a fan of you

Worse come to worse you could dismount and just walk across the bridge sure

Cyclist are banned from the toll bridge alright

Cabaal

dohertykkwdpd wrote: »

The by-pass is a private road, owned by a private company, paid for by private money.

dayshah wrote: »

:rolleyes:

Well "technically" its correct, public finances were not used to fund the initial actual building of the road. So it wasn't public money as in tax's, government funding etc.

Trick of the Tail

Cabaal wrote: »

Lets hope they do close the bridge just so we can see your name in the paper for acting the tit when Gardai stop you and likely detain you for failing to obey a Gardai and trying to drive over pedestrians who are walking on the bridge :pac:

Well a Garda can arrest you for failing to obey them while acting in the course of their duty.

A Garda's duty is to uphold the law. There is no law that has been passed to close the bridge. There MAY be a temporary by-law, but I'm not sure if the Gardai are charged with upholding by-laws, or whether any infringement has to be dealt with as a private prosecution by the issuing authority.

Now of course they might detain you for allegedly Acting in a Manner Liable to Cause a Breach of the Peace.

That's IF the City Council have acted correctly in closing Rice Bridge, which is by no means certain.

However, its obvious that the CC and the Tall Ships organisers were acting without authority when they publicised that the Suir Bridge would be toll-free. Its not the bridge ops' fault, its the CC and the organisers who are at fault here.

A.

munchkin_utd

200motels wrote: »

It's the counsel's fault for stating for the past few months that the new bridge would be toll free, well the company who run the tolls have said no agreement had been entered into with our inept counsel.

Quote of the thread!

When this came up a few months back I scoured the net looking for an official statement and none was forthcoming apart from a throwaway remark from a senior guard.
On the official website that had minute details on all aspects of the organisation - not a dickybird - because it wasnt a done deal.

Such a potentially massive move by a private profit making company to forfeit their revenues on the busiest weekend in the history of Waterford - come on, thats too good to be true to be doing out of the good of their heart!!
Its perfectly within their rights that the company charge as per normal.

Will the pubs in Waterford be selling pints for free? Or shops giving "essentials" like food and water for free?
Nope. They will be raking it in good time and so long as theres no rip off price increases then fair play to them.

Chiparus

munchkin_utd wrote: »

Quote of the thread!


Will the pubs in Waterford be selling pints for free? Or shops giving "essentials" like food and water for free?
Nope. They will be raking it in good time and so long as theres no rip off price increases then fair play to them.

I don't have to drink in the Waterford pub, I do have to get to the other side of the river.

cococoady

munchkin_utd wrote: »

Will the pubs in Waterford be selling pints for free? Or shops giving "essentials" like food and water for free?
Nope. They will be raking it in good time and so long as theres no rip off price increases then fair play to them.

You can't compare the bridge to a pub.
The accessibility to a bridge is a necessity but going to a pub isn't.

200motels

cococoady wrote: »

You can't compare the bridge to a pub.
The accessibility to a bridge is a necessity but going to a pub isn't.

I think your missing the point of the members comments, all he was saying is all businesses are there to make a profit, the toll bridge employ people so have to pay them, so Why not charge when there's lots of traffic about. It's our inept counsel fault for not doing a deal.

cococoady

200motels wrote: »

I think your missing the point of the members comments, all he was saying is all businesses are there to make a profit, the toll bridge employ people so have to pay them, so Why not charge when there's lots of traffic about. It's our inept counsel fault for not doing a deal.

I agree that it's the councils fault. They should never have said that the toll would be lifted when a deal wasn't in place.
Something has to be sorted out tho.
You can't expect people who use the Rice Bridge on a daily basis to have to pay the toll.
The council will have to come to some sort of arrangement to get this sorted.

Knightfall

Nothing will be done about it. We can all moan away here to our heart's content but at the end of the day Rice Bridge will be closed, the toll bridge won't be free and we'll all have to just cope! Not idea, but that's life!

jonnyfingers

Knightfall wrote: »

Nothing will be done about it. We can all moan away here to our heart's content but at the end of the day Rice Bridge will be closed, the toll bridge won't be free and we'll all have to just cope! Not idea, but that's life!

If everyone shows up to the toll plaza and refuses to pay it won't take long before the traffic jam caused will force them to open the barrier.

It's disgraceful to close a free bridge and not provide another free alternative.

Cabaal

jonnyfingers wrote: »

If everyone shows up to the toll plaza and refuses to pay it won't take long before the traffic jam caused will force them to open the barrier.

It's disgraceful to close a free bridge and not provide another free alternative.

Fiddown bridge is an alternative, its been used before in fairness in much the same way as Rice bridge has been used as an alternative for when Fiddown bridge has been closed for works etc.

Yes not ideal but it could be used as a de-tour if people don't want to spend 1.80, though petrol wise the toll would make more sense.

People seem to be forgetting that it is really only for a few days

dayshah

jonnyfingers wrote: »

If everyone shows up to the toll plaza and refuses to pay it won't take long before the traffic jam caused will force them to open the barrier.

It's disgraceful to close a free bridge and not provide another free alternative.

I could do that, but I doubt the view of the tall ships will be great from the traffic jam.

I want to get rid of the Toll, but a protest before the tall ships would be far more effective.

STIG83

The bridge is only closed for a few days, it not the end of the world.

Chochese

Chiparus wrote: »

I don't have to drink in the Waterford pub, I do have to get to the other side of the river.

There's a bridge in Fiddown. Sorted.

echosound

While it might be annoying and an inconvenience, it is only for a few days. The outbound lanes of Rice bridge will be open to buses/taxis going into and out of town, so there is the option of public transport if necessary.

It was a pain in me hole getting in and out of work the last time the tall ships were here, my journey went from a 10 minute drive in the car to the guts of an hour between getting a bus and walking, but somehow I managed to survive to tell the tale.

The Fiddown bridge was completely closed for a week (or more, can't remember specifically) in recent months for necessary repair work, meant anyone who normally used that bridge had to either go up to Carrick and cross there, go miles out of their way into Waterford city centre for rice bridge, or cough up the fare for the toll bridge. Again, a complete pain in the hole but most people found a way to get to where they needed to go even if it involved a few extra bob in tolls and fuel. If getting to your destination is not worth 1.90 or whatever it is, for the sake of a few days, it's probably not that important to you to get there in the first place.

TBH the fault lies completely with the council for jumping the gun and announcing the lack of tolls before they had a deal in place. If they hadn't raised the issue in the first place, people would have grumbled a bit and just got on with things. I know I did get a bit disgruntled when I heard the tolls were to be in place after all, but really, it's not worth getting incensed about, or missing out on getting into work etc over.

STIG83

Id call people who are whinging about how to get to work during TTS a good complaint TBH.

munchkin_utd

200motels wrote: »

I think your missing the point of the members comments, all he was saying is all businesses are there to make a profit, the toll bridge employ people so have to pay them, so Why not charge when there's lots of traffic about. It's our inept counsel fault for not doing a deal.

100% what I was meaning

The toll bridge is a commercial company.
The tall ships organizers expected them for some reason to instead act like a charity.
This is not how businesses operate, whether a pub or a toll bridge company or whether they are selling essential or discretionary items. They are there to make a profit for their shareholders and owners.

marlin vs

People seem to forget that Fidown Bridge WAS a Toll bridge not too long ago i used to use it, and it was called the Hapenny Bridge.

dayshah

Anyway, what times will Rice Bridge be closed? I doubt its 24 hours.

Cabaal

echosound wrote: »

The Fiddown bridge was completely closed for a week (or more, can't remember specifically) in recent months for necessary repair work, meant anyone who normally used that bridge had to either go up to Carrick and cross there, go miles out of their way into Waterford city centre for rice bridge, or cough up the fare for the toll bridge. Again, a complete pain in the hole but most people found a way to get to where they needed to go even if it involved a few extra bob in tolls and fuel. If getting to your destination is not worth 1.90 or whatever it is, for the sake of a few days, it's probably not that important to you to get there in the first place.

As bridges go Fiddown seems to close a lot, I used to come that way to Waterford before the M9 opened and perhaps 4 months before the M9 opened Fiddown bridge was closed for about 10 days.

Somewhat annoying but again not the end of the world.