RANT WARNING: Race Week Street Closures

Fey!

We're definitely back to that wonderful time of the year where the streets are full of drunks and the traffic is backed up around the city centre.

I have no issue with the glass free area and the streets being blocked to stop the aforementioned drunks getting run over.

My issue is with the lack of diversion signage.

For the last number of years Galway Corporation, and the Latin Quarter have been asked to put up legible diversion signage on Spanish Parade, Wolfe Tone Bridge, Dock Road and at the entrance to Flood Street to warn drivers about Cross Street being closed, the the hours which it would be closed for. They've also been asked to put up signage on the barriers at Cross Street instructing drivers how to get off the Cross Street/Augustine Street loop.

They seem to forget that race week, above all other weeks, is a time when we have a large number of visitors to the city who don't know their way around and rely on maps and satnavs to find their way. Even a large number of locals don't know how to get around the diversion.

Unfortunately there are no signs of any kind.

The traffic from the Cross Street/Augustine Street loop feed out onto Merchants Road, then back onto the one lane mess that is Dock Road.

Three years ago a local (not pub or restaurant) business offered the council, through Cllr Declan McDonnell and the GCBA, to pay to get these signs made. They were told by Galway Corporation that they couldn't as "it wouldn't be right for a local business to be seen to be putting up signage that the corporation should be putting up".

That year the corporation put a sign at the fire station traffic lights and at Spanish Parade, but unfortunately they were left face down on the ground, so couldn't be seen. They also stuck a polyboard sign to Wolfe Tone Bridge, but it was put as far away from the traffic as possible, with the printing to small to be seen if parked beside it, never mind passing it in traffic.

The chairperson of the Latin Quarter was asked about possible signage last week, but chose to ignore it.

Kieran Hayes and Joe Tansey of Galway Corporation feel themselves too important to reply to written correspondance from the general unwashed.

Galway Corporations roads department say that responsibility lies with the environment department, who close the roads. Environment blames roads.

Now we also have Dominic Street closed. At least they have basic diversion signage up. Unfortunately some of those signs point into the street that they've closed.

The Gardai have done very good work around the racecourse, but unfortunately don't deal with traffic issues in the city itself. In Eyre Square the taxis block the pedestrian crossings and junctions, forcing pedestrians into traffic and traffic into other traffic. This happens all year round, but this week is exacerbated by the increased traffic volume.

Hopefully Supt. Skehill will get the corporation to deal with the signage for next year; they certainly won't listen to the business community.

Sorry about the long rant. I'm just annoyed that yet again this situation arises for the want of e200 worth of signage.

Hopefully the local papers will continue to lift stories off boards and look into this!!

Amhran Nua

Well said, the intransigence of the corporation is pretty much par for the course from what I've seen.

Mrs OBumble

Not a lot of point putting up signs when almost one in every five people cannot read them.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0420/1224295067032.html

(am ducking now .... )

Seriously though, I'd be very surprised if they could get adequate signage in those areas, and get it installed (ie pay for worker hours) for E200. E2000 I might believe.

Perhaps if ye all didn't make such a mess of the streets, they could divert a bit of the cleaning budget towards signs.

Fey!

@JustMary; the e200 is accurate; it's only a handful of basic signs. It's the amount I was quoted 3 years ago.

e2000 would be accurate if left to someone not bothered about budgeting.

As for the street cleaning, that's done by the pubs. Each year at race week you'll see the owner of Buskers out at 3am sweeping up, and again at 10am hosing the place down. Staff in each pub do the same job.

snubbleste

It's not just the streets. This footpath is effectively closed unless you are under 80cm. No signs up diverting pedestrians or warnings that the footpath is closed.

Zzippy

snubbleste wrote: »

It's not just the streets. This footpath is effectively closed unless you are under 80cm. No signs up diverting pedestrians or warnings that the footpath is closed.

That's a bit pedantic! Come on, you just have to walk around it - ok, if we're being really pedantic, its a cycle lane you have to step onto, but how many bikes do you see whizzing along there??

Mrs OBumble

Fey! wrote: »

@JustMary; the e200 is accurate; it's only a handful of basic signs. It's the amount I was quoted 3 years ago.

e2000 would be accurate if left to someone not bothered about budgeting.

As for the street cleaning, that's done by the pubs. Each year at race week you'll see the owner of Buskers out at 3am sweeping up, and again at 10am hosing the place down. Staff in each pub do the same job.

How much time would it take to install a bunch of signs like that, and remove again afterwards? Even assuming you're only paying the installer minimum wage (very unlikely), it'd easily clock up a few hundred.


Re the cleaning, sure the pubs do some outside their premises. But I'm sure the owner of Buskers (or wherever) won't be around the corner two blocks away, dealing with the pool of vomit left by someone who he'd been plying with drink all evening.

Fey!

JustMary wrote: »

How much time would it take to install a bunch of signs like that, and remove again afterwards? Even assuming you're only paying the installer minimum wage (very unlikely), it'd easily clock up a few hundred.

Putting them up, and taking them down might take an hour in total. Storage would cost nothing, as the person who offered to have them made them would have stored them.

JustMary wrote: »

Re the cleaning, sure the pubs do some outside their premises. But I'm sure the owner of Buskers (or wherever) won't be around the corner two blocks away, dealing with the pool of vomit left by someone who he'd been plying with drink all evening.

He won't do 2 streets away, but he'll do from the end of Kirbys to Yes Flowers and down the laneway, then hose it all down. Each pub (actually, each business) is responsible for outside their own premises. The corpo send a street sweeper down in the morning.

I'm not saying that the pubs do everything, but they do their best to make the place (barely) tolerable for people for the next day. While Friday morning looked like a bomb site, the rest of the week the place was OK in the mornings.