Seamus Quirke roadworks merge

Sponge Bob

what_traffic wrote: »

Interesting PR from MEP Jim Higgins Tuesday,

God knows who wrote it for him, it comes across as borderline incoherent to me as if a longer piece were part copied n pasted .

I agree with the last para on Advanced Stop Lines.

what_traffic

Sponge Bob wrote: »

God knows who wrote it for him, it comes across as borderline incoherent to me as if a longer piece were part copied n pasted .

I agree with the last para on Advanced Stop Lines.

Possibly it is pared down from a longer piece but I would agree with the point he is making re On Road Cycle Lanes and ASL's. ASL's are also very beneficial for Pedestrians with regards to HGV's at Pedestrian crossings. There is a big blind spot in front of the HGV.

Malice

Just in case anyone else was, like me, wondering what an ASL is:

MEP Jim Higgins has also written to the City Council to ask for Advanced Stop Lines to be placed at Junctions as standard throughout the city. These are the red boxes now common in Dublin which allow cyclists making a right turn to get ahead of stopped cars and turn right safely. 'On the continent this measure has been successful for cyclist safety. Any new road surfacing projects in the city should include ASLs as standard' concluded Jim Higgins.

what_traffic

On Galwaynews.ie this morning

MEP CLAIMS CITY CYCLE LANES ARE DANGEROUS
"
January 18, 2012 - 10:24am
MEP CLAIMS CITY CYCLE LANES ARE DANGEROUS
There is a danger that cyclists on the redeveloped Séamus Quirke Road in the city will come into conflict with bus passengers, according to MEP, Jim Higgins.

He claims that in the coming years the bicycle lanes on the Séamus Quirke Road will have to be replaced, similar to the replacement of lanes along by Terryland.

The Fine Gael MEP, is however, welcoming the improved N6 scheme, which provides better safety for cyclists.

He has written to the City Council asking for advanced stop lines to be placed at junctions.

These are red boxes which allow cyclists making a right turn to get ahead of stopped cars and turn right safely.

Speaking to Galway Bay Fm News, MEP Higgins says the cycle lanes at Séamus Quirke Road should be similar to the ones planned for Terryland.

"

biko

what_traffic wrote: »

Interesting PR from MEP Jim Higgins Tuesday, 17 January 2012 14:05 re Seamus Quirke Rd.
Jim Higgins heartened by City Council plans to remove "Unusable Cycle lanes on the N6"

Please use real links like http://www.jimhiggins.ie/ep/news/2011/385-jim-higgins-heartened-by-city-council-plans-to-remove-qunusable-cycle-lanes-on-the-n6q rather than those "could be anything if you click this masked link" yokes.
It's not that I don't trust you, I don't trust anyone...

Thanks

antoobrien

Malice wrote: »

Just in case anyone else was, like me, wondering what an ASL is:

MEP Jim Higgins has also written to the City Council to ask for Advanced Stop Lines to be placed at Junctions as standard throughout the city. These are the red boxes now common in Dublin which allow cyclists making a right turn to get ahead of stopped cars and turn right safely. 'On the continent this measure has been successful for cyclist safety. Any new road surfacing projects in the city should include ASLs as standard' concluded Jim Higgins.

I like the hopelessly optimistic tone of the description of the ASLs - they're mostly used by taxi's in Dublin to get closer to the lights.

Sponge Bob

antoobrien wrote: »

ASL - they're mostly used by taxi's in Dublin to get closer to the lights.

I think compliance in galway (make that Moneenageisha) is pretty good. Enforcement should be a doddle in Dublin, the place is crawling with traffic plod and cameras.

antoobrien

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Enforcement should be a doddle in Dublin, the place is crawling with traffic plod and cameras.

The only time you see plod out is when it's shift change and operation snailspace is on.

The cameras are an interesting misunderstanding though as they've nothing to do with enforcement, rather they're used by the corpo's traffic management center to control flow at peak times.

beardybrewer

what_traffic wrote: »

On Galwaynews.ie this morning

MEP CLAIMS CITY CYCLE LANES ARE DANGEROUS
"
January 18, 2012 - 10:24am
MEP CLAIMS CITY CYCLE LANES ARE DANGEROUS
There is a danger that cyclists on the redeveloped Séamus Quirke Road in the city will come into conflict with bus passengers, according to MEP, Jim Higgins.

He claims that in the coming years the bicycle lanes on the Séamus Quirke Road will have to be replaced, similar to the replacement of lanes along by Terryland.

...
"

Out of curiosity I rode to work from Knocknacarra from the Rahoon Rd to the hospital. I don't think anyone will be riding 15kph+ on those lanes. The swerve around the bus shelter alone will slow you down but you are still entering/reentering traffic at every intersection.

My big question about bike lanes is will they be cleaned? The glass along the bridge can be dreadful. In Galway, you're better off riding on the road which is generally cleaned of glass within a couple days.

what_traffic

newkie wrote: »

Out of curiosity I rode to work from Knocknacarra from the Rahoon Rd to the hospital. I don't think anyone will be riding 15kph+ on those lanes. The swerve around the bus shelter alone will slow you down but you are still entering/reentering traffic at every intersection.

My big question about bike lanes is will they be cleaned? The glass along the bridge can be dreadful. In Galway, you're better off riding on the road which is generally cleaned of glass within a couple days.

Agree 100%
They wont be swept anyhow once the bus lanes are in place it will be cleaner and safer to cycle in them rather than these cycle paths with the chicanes around the bus stops.

Leonard Hofstadter

They're making good progress on the works between the two Rahoon road junctions anyway! Of course there is still a long way to go elsewhere!

Surely it won't take until October next year for the whole thing to be finished? I can't see it all being done by March though (the "new" completion date of course)!

ciotog

Sponge Bob wrote: »

I think compliance in galway (make that Moneenageisha) is pretty good. Enforcement should be a doddle in Dublin, the place is crawling with traffic plod and cameras.

You're right, it's not bad. But you have to be careful, I positioned myself in the ASL to turn right from Doughiska Road onto the Dublin Road this morning and found myself very close to a bus turning left from the Dublin Road. I'm not usually at the front of the queue there so it was a somewhat novel experience for me.

what_traffic

ciotog wrote: »

You're right, it's not bad. But you have to be careful, I positioned myself in the ASL to turn right from Doughiska Road onto the Dublin Road this morning and found myself very close to a bus turning left from the Dublin Road. I'm not usually at the front of the queue there so it was a somewhat novel experience for me.

Good point re positioning. How do you find the other ASL's along the Dublin Road Corridor? I only use them when traffic is very heavy and slow moving - would not filter if only two or three vechicles ahead of me.

ciotog

what_traffic wrote: »

Good point re positioning. How do you find the other ASL's along the Dublin Road Corridor? I only use them when traffic is very heavy and slow moving - would not filter if only two or three vechicles ahead of me.

Rarely use them, to be honest I find most of them more hassle than they're worth. Unless you've seen the light change (so know the timing) you can end up in no mans land trying to filter. You're worse off there and probably pissing off the motorists around you.

what_traffic

ciotog wrote: »

Rarely use them, to be honest I find most of them more hassle than they're worth. Unless you've seen the light change (so know the timing) you can end up in no mans land trying to filter. You're worse off there and probably pissing off the motorists around you.

Agree with knowing the lights sequencing.
I cant think of any ASL though in Galway that have an on-road cycle lane that ends with an ASL? Briarhill would have been a good canidate for ASL's with the cycle lanes on the Monivea Rd as it would shorten the distances to cross the junction
Still not 100% on the Briarhill junction sequencing - I always seem to get a green light going through it so have not had time to stop and observe it.

snubbleste

The stone wall surrounding a green area in a line between B & C has been moved back about 1m from it's previous position and is currently being rebuilt. Was this envisioned in the plan? It doesn't seem to appear that way in this map. How much would the owners get for that strip of land?

Also the wall seperating Gleann Dara from the road has been knocked. What will be going in it's place - fencing, a higher wall, some trees?

biko

I've removed some posts about the tragic accident where a young girl died. The circumstances are still unknown and may or may not be connected to the roadworks so for the time being let's leave it for the Gardai investigation to decide the cause of the crash.

RIP

Iwannahurl

Mods, please delete this post (source: galwaynews.ie) if it is not in keeping with the above:

CALL TO PUBLISH REPORT ON SEAMUS QUIRKE ROAD

January 30, 2012 - 12:21pm

The City Council is being urged to make public an independent report into safety issues at Séamus Quirke Road in Westside.

Councillor Padraig Conneely says a number of issues were raised in the report, which was completed last November.

At a recent meeting of the City Council, Councillor Conneely called for the report to be published but was told by City Manager, Joe O' Neil, that the Council could not publish the report.

Last Saturday morning, 19 year-old Mary Davey, from Coldwood in Craughwell died when the car she was driving hit a wall close to the entrance to Westside Shopping Centre.

Councillor Padraig Conneely says the report into the Séamus Quirke Road improvement scheme needs to be made public.

galwaycyclist

It is recorded in the minutes of the Transport Strategic Policy Committee that one member wished it recorded that, in their view, the current design of the Seamus Quirke/Bishop O'Donnell Rd. scheme is negligent.

It took several goes before the minutes were amended, at that members insistence, to record this view.

fishy fishy

the public have been talking about this road for months, people are scared to drive up there, they are scared to walk up there - there are "footpaths" that cars drive on because there is no indication of any footpath. In a nutshell, it is terrifying. Unless the council walk around with earmuffs on they would have heard how dangerous the place is.

Maybe one day they will start to listen.

Mrs OBumble

fishy fishy wrote: »

the public have been talking about this road for months, people are scared to drive up there, they are scared to walk up there - there are "footpaths" that cars drive on because there is no indication of any footpath. In a nutshell, it is terrifying. Unless the council walk around with earmuffs on they would have heard how dangerous the place is.

Maybe one day they will start to listen.

Well I was walking around the top end of the road yesterday (Dunaras down to Rahoon Rd), and though I had to keep my eyes open to work out where the footpath route went, I can't say I felt any danger of cars mounting the footpath. Among other things, the road surface is so bad that they should not be moving fast enough to get confused.

YMMV.

Sponge Bob

JustMary wrote: »

I can't say I felt any danger of cars mounting the footpath.

I saw one dodderer in a white Micra mounting the cycle lane tarmac (twice) but not the actual concrete footpath. That only 10 days ago in broad daylight.

Joe Tansey told the City Tribune last week that the job will be finished at the end of March. They attributed him in their edition last friday. I don't believe a word of it Joe and neither do you.

fishy fishy

a friend of mine witnessed an entire funeral car line mount the "path" also, in broad daylight.

I have been up there myself both during the day and night, and it is a complete nightmare.

Storm 10

Just passed by about half hour ago and saw a van and car mount the cycle lane oppsite Westside church and back down again off the the high path, where in the world would you find a cycle lane that merges from a cycle lane to a road and back to a cycle lane again in several places, As hard as I try there is not a day that goes by that I nearly mount the cycle lane where it merges with the road..its unreal what is going on there..

Sponge Bob

Stay on the footpath...the CONCRETE bit.....along there and also opposite the ESB substation.

Joe Tansey will have all these safety issues sorted by tomorrow, don't ye worry about it.

ciotog

Storm 10 wrote: »

Just passed by about half hour ago and saw a van and car mount the cycle lane oppsite Westside church and back down again off the the high path, where in the world would you find a cycle lane that merges from a cycle lane to a road and back to a cycle lane again in several places, As hard as I try there is not a day that goes by that I nearly mount the cycle lane where it merges with the road..its unreal what is going on there..

I hope this provides an insight for motorists to why the Galway Cycling Campaign argued against this mix of off road cycle lanes and on road cycle lanes. The Campaign argues constantly against this type of treatment in favour of on road cycling to prevent confusion (and thus unsafe interactions) when cyclists and motorists encounter each other at 'interfaces' like these. On road means that both are required to maintain awareness of their road positioning in relation to each other and develops an expectation that they will have to negotiate their use of the road space as a normal matter of course. The type of interaction this scheme now enforces is one where the unexpected is thrown at both types of road user.

It's further worth noting again that the NTA approved of this design, a quango which is expected to hold road safety as a principle of paramount importance.

Iwannahurl

Presumably the Council, contractors, NTA and others may argue that the scheme is a work in progress and that the finished article will be 'safe'.

When the SQR modifications (I refuse to use the value-laden word "upgrade") are complete, there will be a bus lane between the general traffic lane and the bike path. This will give cyclists the option of using either, as I think may have been mentioned already in this thread.

Will the bus lane also reduce the likelihood/frequency of motorised vehicles mounting the bike path at certain points?

Are there any plans to mark the key sections to make them more visible?

fishy fishy

today padraic conneely has called for an investigation into the road and the safety issues. anyone I know or have been speaking to who has driven up there knows its a nightmare, especially if you are trying to get onto the main road, and as for walking (even with the ped lights) its crazy- frightening to say the least.

snubbleste

Well you have not been conversing with me.
Indeed it is neither a nightmare nor a frightening experience necessitating smelling salts.
I for one shall continue to promenade with deliberate poise and resolute ambition as I meander in my daily quest to survive another day. I regularly observer others as spirited as I, saunter, in a jolly manner may I add, the extreme length of the Seamus Quirke carriageway.

ciotog

Iwannahurl wrote: »

Presumably the Council, contractors, NTA and others may argue that the scheme is a work in progress and that the finished article will be 'safe'.

They may well do but if they're treating it as a work in progress then there is surely still a site safety duty? I'm making that assumption with no construction background so someone may well smack that assumption down, no issues from me if they do.

Iwannahurl wrote: »

When the SQR modifications (I refuse to use the value-laden word "upgrade") are complete, there will be a bus lane between the general traffic lane and the bike path. This will give cyclists the option of using either, as I think may have been mentioned already in this thread.

Will the bus lane also reduce the likelihood/frequency of motorised vehicles mounting the bike path at certain points?

Are there any plans to mark the key sections to make them more visible?

The risk is still going to be there, maybe mitigated but given the ease with which it seems it can happen (and I say that with no slight on people it has happened to) then it would still be a concern.