Task force proposal to sort traffic ‘debacle’

McTigs

what cycling ban? are there roads cyclists are barred from? this is news to me. what roads?

i'm not being thick, it's an honest question, i've never heard of this.

Sponge Bob

shop street

galwaycyclist

McTigs wrote: »

what cycling ban? are there roads cyclists are barred from? this is news to me. what roads?

i'm not being thick, it's an honest question, i've never heard of this.

Shop st, Mainguard st, Abbeygate st, Western side of Eyre Square all have unworkable cycling bans on what was always a key cycling route through the city.

The alternative is to go down the Docks or divert via the Cathedral and Nuns Island. It was pointed out to the City Authorities in 1999 that banning cyclists like this was unworkable and wholly contrary to best practice.

Iwannahurl

And it was pointed out to them twenty years previously, in an official report, that one-way streets should be kept open for cyclists.

Iwannahurl

Sponge Bob wrote: »

There is nothing wrong with providing for cyclists once the Bypass is built and the key traffic removed, for now there is very little room and the cycling ban in the city centre should be lifted.

I don't want to enter into a Bypass debate here, but I have to strongly disagree.

The corollary, which you may not have intended, is that there IS something wrong with providing for cyclists in the absence of a Bypass.

This is mistaken and counterproductive, IMO. Tackling traffic congestion cannot be put on hold for several years while waiting for the GCOB, and there is much that should and could be done in the meantime.

Sponge Bob

No, something can be done absent a bypass, not very much though.

Iwannahurl

Political will is needed.

Cycling is part of the solution, not part of the problem. So delaying measures that promote cycling is just shooting ourselves in the foot.

Sponge Bob

Grand, off with ya after the bypass is finished. For now I will do what I always do , watch out for unlit cyclists dodging and wobbling dangerously thru the November traffic.

what_traffic

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Grand, off with ya after the bypass is finished.

It's probable the city wont have that choice. It will need to come up with other small scale solutions.
Will know for sure this Thursday if GCOB is really a viable prospect in the near future - ie the next decade.
Irish Times today: Metro North will not get go-ahead

MINISTER FOR Transport Leo Varadkar has given a strong indication that the flagship public transport projects, Metro North and Dart underground, will not get the green light from Government.
Mr Varadkar made the admission when he ruled out any new significant road and rail projects for the next five years.
Speaking in Co Clare, Mr Varadkar told delegates at a tourism conference: “We are not really going to have any new significant road and rail projects in the next five years. The concentration is going to be on maintaining assets as they are now.”
.
..
...
The final decision on the capital and infrastructure projects will be announced on Thursday following a special Cabinet meeting on the budget.
Mr Varadkar’s spokesman said the Minister has always said not all the major Department of Transport projects would proceed because of the State’s straitened economic circumstances.
But Mr Varadkar had made the argument among Cabinet colleagues that at least one should continue.

let that one be the bypass, dear god let it be the bypass

Iwannahurl

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Grand, off with ya after the bypass is finished. For now I will do what I always do , watch out for unlit cyclists dodging and wobbling dangerously thru the November traffic.

Deleted User wrote: »

let that one be the bypass, dear god let it be the bypass

I don't think sitting in our stationary or slow-moving cars, praying for a Bypass and tut-tutting at cyclists as they pass us by, is much of a response to Galway City's congested traffic. Even the most wayward pedal-pushers are part of the solution, not part of the problem.

The GCOB may well turn out to be priority infrastructure for the Government, which would be very impressive given that they have pulled the plug on the likes of Metro North. I don't know what other proposed infrastructure may be competing for funds elsewhere in the country, but even if the GCOB is first in line for all that expensively borrowed money, it won't be operational for several years (and will probably be tolled also?).

IMO sitting behind our collective steering wheel and grimly waiting to be rescued from the tedium is not a rational, constructive or sustainable approach. Something else has to be done, and something else can be done even before the Bypass eventually materialises.

Sponge Bob

Walking is a nice way to travel I find and is not at the whims of City Transport Planners. You never see walking commuters whinging and complaining in this forum either, fair play to the dacint oul divils.

Iwannahurl

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Walking is a nice way to travel I find and is not at the whims of City Transport Planners. You never see walking commuters whinging and complaining in this forum either, fair play to the dacint oul divils.

Wrong on both counts.

Walkers and bus users, also part of the solution and not the problem, have been sorely neglected for decades. A key point, missed by the car lobby and by the "planners", is that the substantial cohort of active commuters and PT users in Galway City deserve a much better level of service. Council often refer to their obligation to provide for the needs of all road users, but their interpretation of what that means has often been very questionable, IMO.

There is irony -- or something of that nature -- in the tendency for car commuters to complain by turns about traffic congestion, the lack of appealing transport alternatives, and even modest proposals to improve transport alternatives (usually on the grounds that such measures are "punitive").

The change in direction towards sustainable transport policies has been very slow and erratic (some of the key studies were conducted a decade ago and more, and many policy recommendations got no further than the documents they were printed in) and it is self-evident that for many years the only big game in town has been the promotion and facilitation of private car use.

Sponge Bob

Sponge Bob wrote: »

You never see walking commuters whinging and complaining in this forum either, fair play to the dacint oul divils.

I walk to work so for balance I will throw in a few gripes.

It is difficult to cross at roundabouts as there can be a constant flow of cars exiting it and it can be difficult to judge what they are going to do.

Even at the entrances to rdbs it can be difficult if traffic is flowing and cars aren't stopping. Also crossing two lanes can be dangerous. Cars stopped at entrance to a rdb sometimes are only looking at traffic on the rdb and don't spot you.

Those flashing amber left turning lights are dangerous - I was crossing the Tuam road at the entrance to Liosbaun earlier this year and had a green man to cross. A car exiting from the Liosbaun had to brake hard not to hit me.

Drainage annoys me too.

Iwannahurl

Deleted User wrote: »

Drainage annoys me too.

Or lack of same, to be exact.

http://www.galwaynews.ie/7145-039shame039-council-action-over-flooding

Sponge Bob

Drainage in Galway ...of all places ...is vital. There are 2 classes of problem.

1. Blocked drains, particularly from leaves in October / November and also from construction debris in times of yores not so much now.

2. Crap or subsided road design leading to ponding.

The ones particularly affected are peds who get drowned, cyclists to a lesser extent along with motorbikes and car drivers who end up unfairly blamed for some (not all) of the inevitable fallout.

The 'transportation' unit should have a team to deal with the top 10 of these every week as they are an ongoing safety and personal problem in Galway....mainly coz it rains like. That one at the golf course for starters.