Who's with me, close m1 slip j3 PERMANENTLY

Madpaddy79

North bound j3 slip road into airside should be closed permanently. It is a danger, even more so now with the third lane, drivers trying to make exit last second. It was never part of the original m1 and it's so close to airport exit. How many thousands of people does it affect when there are rush hour crashes like today. Swords already has an exit further along. North county Dubliners it's in your interest to see it closed for safety. Start lobbing your locals td's / councillors. Why was it put there in the first place, a question that really needs anwsering!

minikin

Nonsense, if we were to close roads on the basis of poor lane selection by some users we would have no motorways. I use it a few times a week, there's not a thing wrong with that exit just some of the last yard plonkers who probably dart in at every exit anyway. Maybe the problem is that they're using a tomtom satnav with older maps? (this exit was only added in last year or so)

Madpaddy79

Agree " bad driving" but does not exclude even worse planning.

qpd

I see a real need for it too, I imagine it takes a lot of swords-bound traffic off the airport roundabout which is also good for people accessing the airport... which means planes aren't delayed waiting for passengers... which benefits the global economy... all thanks to this one little slip road

The Hill Billy

What exactly is your issue with this junction? On what grounds should it be closed? Have there been many accidents? Have these accidents been attributed to the layout or poor driving?

Madpaddy79

So it's ok for people to be hurt, ah sure it's only one little slip!! And believe me, planes do not wait for people stuck in traffic. ( little pet hate of mine ) Swords already has the airport south roundabout and one further north is another. I think swords managed just fine without the one little slip before it was stupidly built!! Close it = free flow.

Madpaddy79

The Hill Billy wrote: »

What exactly is your issue with this junction? On what grounds should it be closed? Have there been many accidents? Have these accidents been attributed to the layout or poor driving?

Drive it yourself at rush hour and see, seeing is believing.

Madpaddy79

Today's example, 3 car collision, backs traffic to Bolton street, closes the port tunnel, and traffic had to que on m50 also. It also caused a 3 car collision 20 minutes later a bit further back. But hey it's only" one little slip " saving the woes of the country apparently. Sorry the globe! Traffic merging from airport slip to the right lanes, straight into traffic merging into the left lanes to get to airside. And traffic trying to merge when 3 lanes become 2. All on one little area.

qpd

You still haven't said what you perceive the problem to be with the junction.
There is nothing wrong with it!

The only dodgy bit of planning in that area is the approval for holywell glen and russells terrace - which mean J3 can never be upgraded to a full bi-directional junction.

It also caused a 3 car collision

Junction 3 must have been speeding, tailgating, checking it's blackberry... doh, stupid junction - should lose its license!

Madpaddy79

qpd wrote: »

You still haven't said what you perceive the problem to be with the junction.
There is nothing wrong with it!

The only dodgy bit of planning in that area is the approval for holywell glen and russells terrace - which mean J3 can never be upgraded to a full bi-directional junction.

It also caused a 3 car collision

Junction 3 must have been speeding, tailgating, checking it's blackberry... doh, stupid junction - should lose its license!

I completely argee with your bad driving side, but you do not expect to stop on a motorway. It's just extremely badly designed and closing the exit northbound will eventually save a life.

qpd

you do not expect to stop on a motorway

Eh, you should... that's the point of leaving a braking distance... being in the correct lane as soon as possible... defensive driving... anticipating things that may happen and allowing yourself the space and time to react to them.

Failure to do this means you're increasing your odds of being in an accident, no matter what road you're on. That stretch is 100km at junction 3 northbound, perfectly safe and necessary place to have the exit!

It's just extremely badly designed

Can you expand on this, it's hardly a scalextric track!

Madpaddy79

If you pop up a map that goes further Back beyond airport exit, it shows their too close. Your clearly familiar with the area, so you should undetstand what I am saying. What your saying is like skidding on black ice and blaming bad driving. Its like when they used to put up a sign dangerous bend ahead, does that stop people, hell no. New traffic measures are put in place these days. Which is what this area urgently requires.

The Hill Billy

I have used & passed that junction in all manner of traffic conditions & still, after reading the OP's comments, fail to see why it should be closed.

Madpaddy79

The Hill Billy wrote: »

I have used & passed that junction in all manner of traffic conditions & still, after reading the OP's comments, fail to see why it should be closed.

I hope your never the one stuck on Bolton street so.

qpd

I use that stretch every day, and use the exit about 3/4 times a week when I have to travel via Swords. It makes a massive difference and is a completely safe piece of road. Some of my fellow road users on the other hand seem to be competing for a podium place or something.

What your saying is like skidding on black ice and blaming bad driving.

The road is not at fault in this scenario either.

-The council may be culpable for not gritting the road.
-The driver may be culpable for not driving in a manner appropriate to conditions. i.e. slow the f down when there's the possibility of black ice (virtually all cars have thermometers with ice alerts these days!) I hear weather forecasters give the odd hint in advance sometimes too.
- If you want to get all abstract, you could blame the ice too but not the road.
That would be like blaming the path for smashing your face in because you've fallen after having a few too many beers.

Sounds like an issue of personal responsibility.

The Hill Billy

Madpaddy79 wrote: »

I hope your never the one stuck on Bolton street so.

That still does not explain why the junction should be closed.

Madpaddy79

Sounds like an issue of personal responsibility

If I wanted a phyciatrist I'd go to another tread, thanks. Now back to the subject of why. Its simply dangerous. If you can't see that, that amazes me!

MugMugs

Do you remember Lissenhall and Pinnock Hill before that junction ? I do. I remember sitting in non moving tail backs.

Close a junction that takes ALL of the Airside traffic ? An exit that caters for ALL traffic south of Swords to get into and out of Airside without crippling the already stretched Swords bypass ?

Lunacy in it's highest form.

Educate the drivers. Implement traffic watches with the Gardai to punish those who abuse and act dangerously at the junction but good god don't close it. That makes no sense !

The Hill Billy

OK. This is going nowhere. Unless you want to offer a a tangible reason as to why the junction should be decommissioned instead of hyperbole I will close this thread as, thus far, it is pointless & just a rant.

It is up to you.

tHB

Davy

Madpaddy79 wrote: »

Its simply dangerous. If you can't see that, that amazes me!

it's the drivers fault, not the junction. It you can't see that, that amazes me

qpd

Now back to the subject of why. Its simply dangerous. If you can't see that, that amazes me!

But it's the general consensus that it's not dangerous, in fact it's completely safe. What isn't safe is the behaviour of those road users who bomb around the roads, not keeping an eye out for hazards, thinking they have force fields protecting them.

I was driving southbound on an unlit section of the M1 about a week ago at night when I copped a very poorly lit van recovery vehicle doing 60kmph on a 120kmph stretch (a double decker bus had to overtake it!) If I had been tailgating or on the phone I would have slammed into either the low loader or the 2xdecker. Had I done so it would have been my fault for not slowing to match the traffic ahead, it wouldn't have been the motorways fault.

I hope you don't close the thread HB as I need to know why I'm risking my life by using this perilous motorway exit... I'm genuinely interested in why you think it's dangerous o.p.

Madpaddy79

The Hill Billy wrote: »

OK. This is going nowhere. Unless you want to offer a a tangible reason as to why the junction should be decommissioned instead of hyperbole I will close this thread as, thus far, it is pointless & just a rant.

It is up to you.

tHB

Closing the tread does not give people time to have a say now does it. I opened a fair discusion only to be silenced ??

I like the educate idea, clearly one other person thinks there's an issue. I do remember the 2 said locations. Was that not before the m1 existed?

MugMugs

Madpaddy79 wrote: »

Closing the tread does not give people time to have a say now does it. I opened a fair discusion only to be silenced ??

I like the educate idea, clearly one other person thinks there's an issue. I do remember the 2 said locations. Was that not before the m1 existed?

Back up your statement so.

qpd

I like the educate idea, clearly one other person thinks there's an issue.

Maybe I read mugmugs post wrong but it sounded like they were disagreeing with your claim that the road was at fault??

...but good god don't close it. That makes no sense !

The Hill Billy

Madpaddy79 wrote: »

Closing the tread does not give people time to have a say now does it. I opened a fair discusion only to be silenced ??

I like the educate idea, clearly one other person thinks there's an issue. I do remember the 2 said locations. Was that not before the m1 existed?

No. You started a little rant & have failed to provide any sort of substance to your argument despite several requests from me & others who are willing to engage in reasonable discussion. Failure to do so keeps this thread in 'rant territory' & that is not the purpose of this discussion forum.

tHB

Madpaddy79

Ok, airport exit to airside is approx 800m. You have traffic doing 100+ coming from town and some merging at airport exit to get to airside, traffic merging coming from airport onto m1 at same spot. So 2 sets merging into each other The additional third lane causes more Unnessicary hard breaking. The exit itself slows traffic down. So no exit = free flowing traffic. So i think it Is a high risk accident spot and when accidents happen it causes much wider Chaos on m50, port tunnel and mad traffic in the city, affecting 1000's of people. Closing one little exit would be more in the interests of the greater good and safety. This is not fun police safety, it's a genuine concern. Last year there was a 7 car pile up here. And to my knowledge there have been several other incidents. The m50 was the same? But since the upgrade that is a hell of a lot less. The exit ramps on the m50 are long, compared to the few meters at the little airside exit and cars crossing 3 lanes to try and make it in time. Driver behaviour will not change quick enough, so action should be taken by the authorities. Things change and roads change, but this exit is lagging way behind when it comes to change. I believe the exit exists only to facilitate the businesses at airside which to me is wrong. Business before safety. No no. Come up with another safe place to put a road to airside. I do not think the gardai can do much here as they wouldnt even have room for an observation spot. I hope this is explanation enough. Yeah traffic will que at the swords north exit, but at least it's longer and on it's own.

The Hill Billy

So all things considered - it is down to poor driver behaviour rather than a poorly planned & constructed exit from the examples given. There is no evidence that the junction itself is at fault. There are other similarly-spaced exits on the M50 & on countless other motorways I'm sure too.

Proper traffic management (eg, appropriate speed limits & signage) would be the answer rather than limit the number of exits from the M1 to Swords from 3 to 2. That, I am sure would just cause additional load on already busy junctions at the Airport & Lissenhall.

Madpaddy79

The Hill Billy wrote: »

So all things considered - it is down to poor driver behaviour rather than a poorly planned & constructed exit from the examples given. There is no evidence that the junction itself is at fault. There are other similarly-spaced exits on the M50 & on countless other motorways I'm sure too.

Proper traffic management (eg, appropriate speed limits & signage) would be the answer rather than limit the number of exits from the M1 to Swords from 3 to 2. That, I am sure would just cause additional load on already busy junctions at the Airport & Lissenhall.

Now your ranting. I dont believe u read my last post correctly, except 2 words "driver behaviour" I think I pointed out alot more on my post. As a moderator passing comment like this, other people will be put off posting due to your position as moderator and not even consider what I am saying, because what you just said does not even reflect what I last posted. It appears to be s very common problem on boards, unfortunately.

Beasty

Madpaddy79 wrote: »

Now your ranting. I dont believe u read my last post correctly, except 2 words "driver behaviour" I think I pointed out alot more on my post. As a moderator passing comment like this, other people will be put off posting due to your position as moderator and not even consider what I am saying, because what you just said does not even reflect what I last posted. It appears to be s very common problem on boards, unfortunately.

the Hill Billy has posted some comments in this thread as a moderator but the post you are referring to is simply doing what boards is set up for - discussing the underlying topic. If you have a problem with anyone's (including moderators from this or any other forum) post, report it, and do not challenge it in-thread.

Now if you want this thread to remain open stick to the topic and post in a constructive and non-confrontational manner

Thanks

Beasty

qpd

Madpaddy79 wrote: »

Ok, airport exit to airside is approx 800m. You have traffic doing 100+ coming from town and some merging at airport exit to get to airside, traffic merging coming from airport onto m1 at same spot. So 2 sets merging into each other The additional third lane causes more Unnessicary hard breaking. The exit itself slows traffic down. So no exit = free flowing traffic. So i think it Is a high risk accident spot and when accidents happen it causes much wider Chaos on m50, port tunnel and mad traffic in the city, affecting 1000's of people. Closing one little exit would be more in the interests of the greater good and safety. This is not fun police safety, it's a genuine concern. Last year there was a 7 car pile up here. And to my knowledge there have been several other incidents. The m50 was the same? But since the upgrade that is a hell of a lot less. The exit ramps on the m50 are long, compared to the few meters at the little airside exit and cars crossing 3 lanes to try and make it in time. Driver behaviour will not change quick enough, so action should be taken by the authorities. Things change and roads change, but this exit is lagging way behind when it comes to change. I believe the exit exists only to facilitate the businesses at airside which to me is wrong. Business before safety. No no. Come up with another safe place to put a road to airside. I do not think the gardai can do much here as they wouldnt even have room for an observation spot. I hope this is explanation enough. Yeah traffic will que at the swords north exit, but at least it's longer and on it's own.

Where to start...

1.
End of Junction 2 merge to start of Junction 3 exit lane is 1,100m not 800m - that's 1,100m that you have AFTER traffic has merged from the left (Airport). If you are in the correct/left/driving lane this distance is irrelevant.

It is possible to be in the correct lane from as far back as the M50/M1 merge so there really is no excuse for traffic coming from the M50 or 'out from town'.... that's 2,800m of 'correct lane' that you have the opportunity to remain in / get into.

Even if you are not in the correct lane (for some mad reason you've decided it's better to be in the 1st or 2nd overtaking lane despite the fact you know you're about to exit the motorway) you still have 1,100m, at a speed of 100km/h gives you 40 seconds, to get into the correct lane.

Point being: you don't have two sets of traffic merging.



2.

The additional third lane causes more Unnessicary hard breaking.

The third lane causes no such thing. Even the fact that the outer overtaking lane ends just north of Junction three is only a factor if you have morons remaining in it until the very last yard (despite the massive 550m, 500m, 450m... lane ending warning signs).

Point being: Inappropriately overtaking morons cause unnecessary hard braking.


3.

The exit itself slows traffic down. So no exit = free flowing traffic.

Absolutely not, if people use it properly... as per rsa guidelines/common sense

When you are leaving a motorway
• You will normally leave the motorway by a slip road to your left, unless
signs say that a lane leads directly off the motorway. You should watch
out for the signs below (300m countdown sign, 200m countdown sign, 100m countdown sign) that let you know that you are getting near
your exit. Move safely into the left-hand lane or lane 1 well before
reaching your exit.

So no exit = free flowing traffic.
Why bother having any exits at all so, just have one end in Dublin and the other in Belfast, that'd be great! Get all those pesky commuters out of the way.

The exit ramps on the m50 are long, compared to the few meters at the little airside exit and cars crossing 3 lanes to try and make it in time.

Again... how is the fact that morons are in the wrong lane anything to do with the safety of this interchange? Morons crossing multiple lanes of traffic at the last minute to grab an exit are dangerous inconsiderate morons... wherever they happen to do it.

Yeah traffic will que at the swords north exit, but at least it's longer and on it's own.

Swords North? Junction 4? Are you serious? You want to combine Swords traffic with all the traffic for Skerries, Rush, Lusk, Donabate, loughshinny???
A traffic light controlled junction... as against the roundabout (without traffic lights) at Junction 3. Madness!

In the next year they will be extending the third lane out as far Junction 4 to relieve the congestion that already exists at that pinchpoint (evidence that the junction can't deal with the existing load nevermind dropping god knows how many more thousand for swords)

It's going to be 'interesting' between J3 and J4 during the next 12 months with a 60km/h limit...

Jimdagym

madpaddy, do you by any chance live in holywell and have a large volume of traffic pass by your front door?