Quincentary bridge and University Rd roadworks

Sniipe

extraice wrote: »

was passing Galway shopping centre early on two day , the area of grass out side the SC from roundabout on way to woodkey is all barriers ... is this more roadwork two come ?

out side -> outside
woodkey -> Woodquay
two day -> today
two -> to

(sorry, but I couldn't reply without fixing those. I'm not a pedant. Perhaps txt speek is cooler and too cool for me)

Does anyone know what is going at the shopping center/centre?

Malice

snubbleste wrote: »

Yes there is. There is a private dwelling on that road.

Are you referring to this? If so, isn't that just offices?

And Sniipe, you need to take your pedanticity here .

Before anyone says it, yes I'm aware pedanticity isn't a word.

antoobrien

snubbleste wrote: »

Yes there is. There is a private dwelling on that road.
As pointed out, it is heavily used by cyclists.

6 years using that entrance (often on a bike) I always thought that the college owned that building.

snubbleste wrote: »

If we were going to go to your logical conclusion, all entrances to the University grounds would be closed except for one.

Could you point out where I said anything even like that? All I've said is that there's no need for a right turn here with a proper junction less that 100m away.

what_traffic wrote: »

But there was nothing stopping anybody turning right there in the past i.e Cyclists or Motorists. As it is a Cul de Sac for motorists there is very few right turns here anyhow. The facility should be retained or a new one provided to cater for cyclists who wish to turn right into the University.

There's a junction about 15 seconds up the road on a bike already proviging this service. Would you rather the college close the main entrance, rip up the grass area on front of the quad and put roads in a place where there is not enough physical space for a full right turn junction?

extraice

Sniipe wrote: »

out side -> outside
woodkey -> Woodquay
two day -> today
two -> to

(sorry, but I couldn't reply without fixing those. I'm not a pedant. Perhaps txt speek is cooler and too cool for me)

Does anyone know what is going at the shopping center/centre?

sorry but my spoken english is good but typeing is not good been spanish ... but try to improve it

galwaycyclist

antoobrien wrote: »

There's a junction about 15 seconds up the road on a bike already proviging this service. Would you rather the college close the main entrance, rip up the grass area on front of the quad and put roads in a place where there is not enough physical space for a full right turn junction?

<Sarcasm switch on>

Yeah you're right - they tried the same thing with the pedestrian crossing - sure can't the peds go up the road if they want to get to Wards?

And you know what? They did!

<Sarcasm switch off>

Retract sarcasm following clarification re zebra crossings

antoobrien

Iwannahurl wrote: »

"Little need" or "no need" for whom?

Cyclists, I'm going blue in the ace with the 100 yards thing

Iwannahurl wrote: »

My recollection of entering the University at that point regularly as a cyclist was that it was very convenient for accessing various parts of the campus. I also recall that it was a route used by significant numbers of cyclists.

Cyclists entering at the main gate are routed through a very convoluted internal one-way system.

The last time I came in the main entrance way, you came in, passed the quad and could go left or right. Left brought you up around the back of the maths building, right either past the tennis courts (now parking) or back towards the entrance.

I'm troubled that anyone that gained entrance to NUIG as a student or works there as staff could find said one way system convoluted.

Iwannahurl wrote: »

Once again you appear to be drawing conclusions about what cyclists want or need based on what you say are the requirements of motorised traffic.

I wouldn't know what the requirements of motorised traffic is on this road because I rarely use it in a motor vehicle. In fact I stay away from it like the plague when in the car. If you read my first post on this issue, I was commenting on general road use, with some specific comments regarding - which I'm still coming from. You simply saw the fact that I dealt with the motoring issue 1st and assumed that I'm pro car and anti bike, instead of looking at the reasons I supplied for not needing a right turn there.

My opinion is based on my experiences of having cycled to college for 6 years, on a daily round trip of 12 miles, using all of the entrances to the college. I'm also taking into account incidents I have been involved in that occurred in areas of high car use - including being put over my handlebars on two occasions, so get off the high horse.

My thinking on it is quite simply this, most cyclists will be coming from a distance of over a mile, another 100 yards to a junction that is liad out to accommodate a right turn won't kill me, but there's a greater chance that a motorist at a badly laid out one will (down to space - I don't think there's enough there to accommodate everyone safely).

Iwannahurl wrote: »

This latest clueless right-turn prohibition on cyclists must have been done for traffic flow reasons. Who cares about discommoding cyclists when the freer flow of motor cars is at stake?

It's clueless to you because you don't seem to recognize that a right turn in Ireland is potentially (maybe inherently) dangerous as it crosses another traffic stream - meaning the potential for a collision is greater. It's even more dangerous for cyclists.

I'll summarize your argument against this change in a sentence: it's not enough that a safe and reasonably convenient junction is provided, it must also be the 1st junction that is convenient to cyclists.

I doubt you'd be at all put out if this right turn was used by staff that mostly drove.

galwaycyclist

antoobrien wrote: »

It's clueless to you because you don't seem to recognize that a right turn in Ireland is potentially (maybe inherently) dangerous as it crosses another traffic stream - meaning the potential for a collision is greater. It's even more dangerous for cyclists.

Exactly! So if it is likely that cyclists are still going to be turning right at this junction as they have for generations - then some kind of turning lane should be provided where they can have a clearly marked waiting area with a clearly defined space that oncoming and following traffic should avoid.

antoobrien

galwaycyclist wrote: »

<Sarcasm switch on>

Yeah you're right - they tried the same thing with the pedestrian crossing - sure can't the peds go up the road if they want to get to Wards?

And you know what? They did!

<Sarcasm switch off>

I refer you to this post:

antoobrien wrote: »

For pedestrian access I suggest a Zebra crossing with appropriate traffic calming measures as this is a natural pedestrian crossing point and can be used for access to the Cathedral & the park.

which is referring to a response to my first post on the issue.

antoobrien

galwaycyclist wrote: »

Exactly! So if it is likely that cyclists are still going to be turning right at this junction as they have for generations - then some kind of turning lane should be provided where they can have a clearly marked waiting area with a clearly defined space that oncoming and following traffic should avoid.

There is a turning lane, 100m up the road.

what_traffic

antoobrien wrote: »

There's a junction about 15 seconds up the road on a bike already proviging this service. Would you rather the college close the main entrance, rip up the grass area on front of the quad and put roads in a place where there is not enough physical space for a full right turn junction?

What are you talking about? You are losing the argument here - so you go off on this tangent about ripping out stuff. Daft argument to me making. All I am saying is that they should retain the previous road markings. Look at the following Google maps for that section of road if you cant figure this out.

http://maps.google.ie/maps?q=university+road,+galway&hl=en&ll=53.276146,-9.059944&spn=0.000006,0.007607&sll=53.401034,-8.307638&sspn=3.943649,15.578613&vpsrc=6&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=53.276112,-9.059839&panoid=XKVFlgKsieHRES5jKteY_g&cbp=12,298.32,,0,22.5

antoobrien

galwaycyclist wrote: »

Exactly! So if it is likely that cyclists are still going to be turning right at this junction as they have for generations - then some kind of turning lane should be provided where they can have a clearly marked waiting area with a clearly defined space that oncoming and following traffic should avoid.

By that logic, we shouldn''t provide pedestrian lights anywhere because most people won't bother waiting for "the green man"

antoobrien

what_traffic wrote: »

What are you talking about? You are losing the argument here - so you go off on this tangent about ripping out stuff. Daft argument to me making. All I am saying is that they should retain the previous road markings. Look at the following Google maps for that section of road if you cant figure this out.

I'm quite well aware of the former road markings thanks, I did spend two stints in the college, dodging cars on my bike many a time at this very entrance.

what_traffic

antoobrien wrote: »

I'm quite well aware of the former road markings thanks, I did spend two stints in the college, dodging cars on my bike many a time at this very entrance.

What do you mean by dodging cars on your bike at this very entrance?

KittyeeTrix

extraice wrote: »

sorry but my spoken english is good but typeing is not good been spanish ... but try to improve it

That's no problem at all extraice, most of us realised from your posts that English was not your first language so no need at all to apologise....:)

Iwannahurl

antoobrien wrote: »

Cyclists, I'm going blue in the ace with the 100 yards thing

The last time I came in the main entrance way, you came in, passed the quad and could go left or right. Left brought you up around the back of the maths building, right either past the tennis courts (now parking) or back towards the entrance.

I'm troubled that anyone that gained entrance to NUIG as a student or works there as staff could find said one way system convoluted.

I wouldn't know what the requirements of motorised traffic is on this road because I rarely use it in a motor vehicle. In fact I stay away from it like the plague when in the car. If you read my first post on this issue, I was commenting on general road use, with some specific comments regarding - which I'm still coming from. You simply saw the fact that I dealt with the motoring issue 1st and assumed that I'm pro car and anti bike, instead of looking at the reasons I supplied for not needing a right turn there.

My opinion is based on my experiences of having cycled to college for 6 years, on a daily round trip of 12 miles, using all of the entrances to the college. I'm also taking into account incidents I have been involved in that occurred in areas of high car use - including being put over my handlebars on two occasions, so get off the high horse.

My thinking on it is quite simply this, most cyclists will be coming from a distance of over a mile, another 100 yards to a junction that is liad out to accommodate a right turn won't kill me, but there's a greater chance that a motorist at a badly laid out one will (down to space - I don't think there's enough there to accommodate everyone safely).

It's clueless to you because you don't seem to recognize that a right turn in Ireland is potentially (maybe inherently) dangerous as it crosses another traffic stream - meaning the potential for a collision is greater. It's even more dangerous for cyclists.

I'll summarize your argument against this change in a sentence: it's not enough that a safe and reasonably convenient junction is provided, it must also be the 1st junction that is convenient to cyclists.

I doubt you'd be at all put out if this right turn was used by staff that mostly drove.

`

My recollection of the internal UCG/NUIG one-way system was that it was, for a mode of transport like cycling, unnecessarily convoluted for the route/s that I usually took.

Regardless of there being another right turn 100 metres or so up the road, removing this right turn from those cyclists for whom it is currently convenient is unfair and counterproductive.

Is that so hard to understand?

What possible reason could there be for taking this long-used convenience away from cyclists? If they use it and derive even small benefit from it, why not just let them continue to do so?

With regard to the (alleged) removal of the right turn for cyclists, the question must be asked: cui bono?

It is also highly likely that, even if banned, cyclists will continue to use the right turn if it is a genuinely convenient route. Failing to recognise this reality, and to accommodate cyclists' wishes, would be culpable ignorance IMO.

The City Council should be going out of its way to accommodate and encourage cyclists, rather than further restricting them (if that is what is planned).

Students and staff who cycle to NUIG are doing the university and the city a favour, and they deserve to be supported in that. If that means maximising their convenience, then so be it.

And no, I am not in the least bothered by the removal of this right turn from motorists. This is the university campus where lack of car parking was the biggest student complaint a couple of years ago, and where the staff unions used their muscle not for the defence of academic ideals or social capital but because they wanted to be able to park closer to their offices.

galwaycyclist

antoobrien wrote: »

There is a turning lane, 100m up the road.

In case its not obvious, the turning lane at Wards shop is also a staging area for cyclists crossing University Road to go down the canal. It is also the logical entry and exit point for the proposed Dangan Greenway which should eventually reach Clifden. It is likely that a proportion of the leisure cyclists using the greenway would also like to follow the route, via the canals, to its logical conclusion at the Claddagh basin.

Iwannahurl

galwaycyclist wrote: »

In case its not obvious, the turning lane at Wards shop is also a staging area for cyclists crossing University Road to go down the canal. It is also the logical entry and exit point for the proposed Dangan Greenway which should eventually reach Clifden. It is likely that a proportion of the leisure cyclists using the greenway would also like to follow the route, via the canals, to its logical conclusion at the Claddagh basin.

What are the implications of that for cyclists turning right into NUI Galway from the Cathedral side?

Assuming that is indeed what the Council is proposing...

antoobrien

Iwannahurl wrote: »

Regardless of there being another right turn 100 metres or so up the road, removing this right turn from those cyclists for whom it is currently convenient is unfair and counterproductive.

Is that so hard to understand?

Yes quite frankly it is hard to comprehend how taking out a potentially dangerous right turn in favour of something that close is inconvenient, unfair and counterproductive. Maybe it's because I had to travel 6 miles to get to that point and I know that its only another 10 seconds or so to get to a junction where there actually is room for everyone to see what's going on.

Iwannahurl wrote: »

What possible reason could there be for taking this long-used convenience away from cyclists? If they use it and derive even small benefit from it, why not just let them continue to do so?

With regard to the (alleged) removal of the right turn for cyclists, the question must be asked: cui bono?

Safety, I though an anti car evangelist like yourself would be able to spot that a mile away. Or have you ever actually tried to turn right there when traffic is moving?

Iwannahurl wrote: »

And no, I am not in the least bothered by the removal of this right turn from motorists. This is the university campus where lack of car parking was the biggest student complaint a couple of years ago, and where the staff unions used their muscle not for the defence of academic ideals or social capital but because they wanted to be able to park closer to their offices.

For somebody who is inferring ignorance of non motorists needs you might want to figure out what motorists actually use this road for - a very small minority of staff and students will have parking in this area, whom have an alternative access. As has been stated before, this is mostly just used for deliveries.

Personally I'd prefer if the college could buy up the houses on Newcastle road at the junction to Snipe Ave and open up that as a 4 way junction (and close off Distillery road & the other back Entrance to right turning motor traffic).

antoobrien

snubbleste wrote: »

Yes there is. There is a private dwelling on that road.

Malice wrote: »

Are you referring to this? If so, isn't that just offices?

Yes Malice this "private residence" is in fact Garryowen House, which until recently was home to Social Sciences Research Centre.

antoobrien

galwaycyclist wrote: »

In case its not obvious, the turning lane at Wards shop is also a staging area for cyclists crossing University Road to go down the canal.

This can be catered for with (what I find to be perfectly acceptable when cycling to work in Dublin), a pedestrian crossing point (yes I know I'm going to get it in the neck for that).

galwaycyclist wrote: »

It is also the logical entry and exit point for the proposed Dangan Greenway which should eventually reach Clifden. It is likely that a proportion of the leisure cyclists using the greenway would also like to follow the route, via the canals, to its logical conclusion at the Claddagh basin.

Since I don't see it as an inconvenience to travel 100m to the main entrance in order to turn right, this is the first suggestion that makes sense as to why a right turn could be kept.

If I may be so bold as to inquire, where can I obtain the suggested plans for this greenway as it's the first time I've heard mention of it (I'm from the east of town, so I wouldn't pay attention anyways).

what_traffic

antoobrien wrote: »

I'm quite well aware of the former road markings thanks, I did spend two stints in the college, dodging cars on my bike many a time at this very entrance.

Will ask again:
What do you mean by dodging cars on your bike at this very entrance?

antoobrien

what_traffic wrote: »

Will ask again:
What do you mean by dodging cars on your bike at this very entrance?

Being quick on my pedals, having eyes on the back of my head while trying simultaneously trying to keep an eye on what's coming at me and in general timing the dash across the road between cars - but then I used to try to get in for 9 am lectures on occasion

Malice

antoobrien wrote: »

Yes Malice this "private residence" is in fact Garryowen House, which until recently was home to Social Sciences Research Centre.

Interesting, I thought the SSRC was based down the road by the AIB Bank.

what_traffic

antoobrien wrote: »

Being quick on my pedals, having eyes on the back of my head while trying simultaneously trying to keep an eye on what's coming at me and in general timing the dash across the road between cars - but then I used to try to get in for 9 am lectures on occasion

So was this just specific to this entrance? I presume your above cycling techniques would be used to execute the right turn into the main entrance to NUIG as well; or any such similar junction for that matter?

antoobrien

what_traffic wrote: »

So was this just specific to this entrance? I presume your above cycling techniques would be used to execute the right turn into the main entrance to NUIG as well; or any such similar junction for that matter?

Less needed at the main entrance due to you the properly laid out junction and generally lower traffic speeds

antoobrien

Malice wrote: »

Interesting, I thought the SSRC was based down the road by the AIB Bank.

They are now (it does say was) though I don't know when they moved.

Sponge Bob

what_traffic wrote: »

cycling techniques

In Galway these generally involve sailing through red lights or mounting pavements and scattering peds if a red light appears up ahead.

?Cee?view

antoobrien wrote: »

Yes Malice this "private residence" is in fact Garryowen House, which until recently was home to Social Sciences Research Centre.

Sorry Anto, agree with most of what you're saying here, but you're wrong on this one.

This is a private house. It's the very first house on the right at this entrance. I've been in it many times. The father of the lady of the couple who live there was the manager of the IMI, which was where the College Bar is now. It's been in the same family since being built.

I know the owner well and I'll put money on his continuing to turn right regardless of what any sign says.

antoobrien

churchview wrote: »

This is a private house. It's the very first house on the right at this entrance. I've been in it many times. The father of the lady of the couple who live there was the manager of the IMI, which was where the College Bar is now. It's been in the same family since being built.

I stand corrected.

snubbleste

antoobrien wrote: »

I stand corrected.

So, then this many posts later, what is your position on the removal of the right turn markings at that junction?