The new trafic mess on the Quay.

Gadgie

Max Powers wrote: »

they are working on the rice bridge section from 7pm-midnight monday to this thurs.

I'm sure the residents of Treacy's are loving that.

7upfree

sparkling sea wrote: »

Causing chaos and framing our city as a building site all summer can't be excused or reasoned away - it was and is inexcusible.

Bad weather; I know we're the gentle county but I wonder how they manage in the Baltic countries or in a typical Irish summer.

Maybe people in Waterford accept to little and never question enough.

You're nearly right. Except for people in Waterford write Waterford City Council.

sparkling sea

Sully wrote: »

Yes but road works in a city centre that are designed to improve it are not something people focus on in their reviews. They focus on the city itself, the shops, things to do, food, service, friendliness, cleanliness and so on.



Waterford has been on its knees well before the road works so business being poor cannot be related to it. It appears that the businesses are in favour of this also.

The point is Waterford is in trouble, its attenton to detail and consideration of all possible negative factors that need to be balanced for the good of the city.
Your right its not something people usually focus unless there is very little of anything else on offer; there is very little of anything else on offer and therefore our planners, council and manager should have considered this.
We all moan about how bad the situaton is here and Waterford doesn't look that attractive at the minute, lots of empty units, buildings in need of a lick of paint, empty streets and shops, very little night life and on and on.

As you have rightly said Waterford was on its knees anyway so why did those in charge not realise that consideration of the timing and the amount of time needed to do the work on quay, could be critical to the overall conscious or subconscious perception tourists take with them of a broken city.

Trick of the Tail

Am I right in assuming that if you drive down Conduit Lane, after coming from City Square, and you want to head up the Quay towards Reginald's Tower, with this lovely new layout you now have to turn left, drive all the way down The Quay, go over the bridge, round the roundabout, back over the bridge then back up The Quay?

How utterly stupid. What to$$ers they are in the city council. Not a shred of common sense amongst them, their brains just full of idealistic notions of a utopian paradise where the sun always shone and there were no cars.

Morons.

Professey Chin

Trick of the Tail wrote: »

Am I right in assuming that if you drive down Conduit Lane, after coming from City Square, and you want to head up the Quay towards Reginald's Tower, with this lovely new layout you now have to turn left, drive all the way down The Quay, go over the bridge, round the roundabout, back over the bridge then back up The Quay?

How utterly stupid. What to$$ers they are in the city council. Not a shred of common sense amongst them, their brains just full of idealistic notions of a utopian paradise where the sun always shone and there were no cars.

Morons.

Theres another roundabout going in at gladstone street so no youre wrong in assuming.

7upfree

Chinpool wrote: »

Theres another roundabout going in at gladstone street so no youre wrong in assuming.

The amazing thing is that the place a roundabout was needed most was at the end of Conduit Lane. Or move the lights from the Clock Tower to Conduit Lane. This is simple stuff really.

Trick of the Tail

Gladstone Street? Oh well, that's OK then.

No roundabouts are needed. The whole project down there is expensive folly and will further destroy the city centre.

And yes, it is simple stuff - and as the council can never get it right, what does that say about them?

Sully

I believe the businesses are in favour of the works. One would assume they know more?

7upfree

Sully wrote: »

I believe the businesses are in favour of the works. One would assume they know more?

Not all businesses.

Trick of the Tail

What businesses? John Hearne's? Kelly's? The rest of the closed-up shops?

Sully

Trick of the Tail wrote: »

What businesses? John Hearne's? Kelly's? The rest of the closed-up shops?

John Hearne's closed well before the Roadworks. Kelly's blamed it on lack of shoppers for a period of time and I doubt any business would have a knee jerk reaction to a few months of road works!

The city centre hasn't been impacted - the car Parks are all still busy and the cars on the quays show people are still heading along the quay!

Trick of the Tail

Are you suggesting that the city centre isn't dying a death?

And that the council's policies are contributing to the burgeoning, vibrant city centre?

Sully

Trick of the Tail wrote: »

Are you suggesting that the city centre isn't dying a death?

And that the council's policies are contributing to the burgeoning, vibrant city centre?

I'm stating that the road works are not the cause of the city centre woes. I'm not so sure its a local issue, possibly more a national issue that has seen Waterford hit hard.

Motivator

Whilst stuck in traffic on the quay the other afternoon an ambulance came down the quay towards the tower hotel, seeing as the city council genius planner's decided to make it a single lane down at the end of the quay the ambulance had nowhere to go as it was bumper to bumper. It was chaotic & I couldn't help but think what would happen that if someone was in a life or death situation in the back of the ambulance & the 5 minutes they were stuck in traffic on the quay was the difference between life & death.

To be honest I'm sick of opening the local papers every week & seeing nothing but bad news regarding local business' & then turning the page over to see this clown of a mayor we have kicking a football around the back field of Katie Riley's. it's an embarrassment, instead of explaining/defending what the city council are doing in the city he's swanning around in his car getting his photo taken at every opportunity. What a farce in fairness.

Stereomaniac

I would agree wholeheartedly with that Sully. Also, I think people are not giving the place enough credit. I think the Spraoi week was as busy as it ever was and Summer was decent overall.

Sully

Motivator wrote: »

Whilst stuck in traffic on the quay the other afternoon an ambulance came down the quay towards the tower hotel, seeing as the city council genius planner's decided to make it a single lane down at the end of the quay the ambulance had nowhere to go as it was bumper to bumper. It was chaotic & I couldn't help but think what would happen that if someone was in a life or death situation in the back of the ambulance & the 5 minutes they were stuck in traffic on the quay was the difference between life & death.

To be honest I'm sick of opening the local papers every week & seeing nothing but bad news regarding local business' & then turning the page over to see this clown of a mayor we have kicking a football around the back field of Katie Riley's. it's an embarrassment, instead of explaining/defending what the city council are doing in the city he's swanning around in his car getting his photo taken at every opportunity. What a farce in fairness.

Since when did all roads have an extra lane for ambulance crews? There more used to dealing with single lane traffic.

Lets be realistic and stop blaming the road works for everything!

Chiparus

Have to say, never held up much at the roadworks, much more holdup at the tower hotel.

I think this will make crossing the road a lot safer and help keep HGVs out of the center.


The works at Bailey new street look very good and it is good to see someone investing in the city center. I think that once the Reginald is rebuilt that corner of the city will be a great place to visit.

wmpdd3

I really hope the island in the middle of the road are like the ones at the tower, ie you can't cross the road using them. If they are planned low it will be a free for all and could be very dangerous.

7upfree

Sully wrote: »

Since when did all roads have an extra lane for ambulance crews? There more used to dealing with single lane traffic.

Lets be realistic and stop blaming the road works for everything!

Let's be realistic and admit they've made a balls of it!:D Anything restricting the flow of emergency vehicles (where they previously had free rein) has to be a failure. Even if they had made two bus lanes (a far better and cheaper idea) it wouldn't have been as bad as this.

7upfree

Sully wrote: »

John Hearne's closed well before the Roadworks. Kelly's blamed it on lack of shoppers for a period of time and I doubt any business would have a knee jerk reaction to a few months of road works!

Your business is not closing. I hope you're always that snug Sully.

7upfree

Sully wrote: »

I'm stating that the road works are not the cause of the city centre woes. I'm not so sure its a local issue, possibly more a national issue that has seen Waterford hit hard.

A national issue??!! Have business rates increased by several hundred percent nationally? Have the other cities blockaded their main arteries during a tourist season?

wmpdd3

I an trying to remain positive but I an listening to tourists complaining about the quay solidly for the last 2 Weeks.

Tourists stay where they know, the come across the bridge and expect to park on the quay and go shopping, when this goes to put they just give up.

think about when cork introduced the one way systems first, I used to avoid town and just go to Wilton.

Trick of the Tail

I'm sure the above is true - but we also should remember that this is not a tourist resort, it's a city of 45,000 people or whatever, and it's they who should be the prime concern in keeping the city centre alive, not the handful of tourists who come once and contribute little to the economy.

However much of an unpopular truth that may be.

And the city council has utterly failed in recent years to encourage local people to use the city centre - in fact seem to have purposefully done the opposite.

Sully

7upfree wrote: »

Let's be realistic and admit they've made a balls of it!:D Anything restricting the flow of emergency vehicles (where they previously had free rein) has to be a failure. Even if they had made two bus lanes (a far better and cheaper idea) it wouldn't have been as bad as this.

I am being realistic. We have never (to my knowledge) designed roads in Ireland to cater for emergency services. Neither was the quay designed that way, both lanes were always busy during the day so its the same experience they are dealing with now with it reduced back to the one lane.

This whole project has been advertised for a long time for public consultation before works commenced. I fully agree and support the works but I do feel that the length of time is taking the absolute piss. I also feel that if it was done during the winter period it would take even longer due to bad weather and the delays would remain the same as schools / colleges are back and traffic increases.

7upfree wrote: »

Your business is not closing. I hope you're always that snug Sully.

I noted the fact you couldn't answer anything I said. That proves my point.

7upfree wrote: »

A national issue??!! Have business rates increased by several hundred percent nationally? Have the other cities blockaded their main arteries during a tourist season?

Did Waterford City Council increase the rates in Waterford? Did Waterford City Council cause high unemployment? Did Waterford City Council cause people not to have money and not shop in Waterford? No. Its a national issue of which Waterford has badly been impacted.

Again this project due to the size and nature of it would cause massive impact regardless of the time of year it was completed. You can't do it during the summer, you can't do it during the run up to Christmas, you can't do it in the New Year the schools are back, you can't do it during the summer tourists are about. So when do we do it?

People can take the bypass if they want to avoid the city centre roadworks. The vast majority of traffic heading down the quay isn't going to the shops or the car parks, its going over the bridge and leaving Waterford. There is nothing stopping these cars from taking a left turn to head up towards City Square Car Park or the street parking along this area or a right turn to pop into the car parks along the quay. Nor is the roadworks stopping people parking in New Street Car Park or the Aldi Car Park up by the forum.

So people are not going down the quay and deciding 'Feck it, its chaotic, ill keep driving through the road works and go to Kilkenny'. When there on the quay, its very easy and straight forward to park up without huge delay.

Therefore, the road works are not impacting on businesses substantially to cause them to close. The two examples thrown about - one closed well before the road works and the other closed shortly after the road works began but didn't blame them road works. They blamed people not shopping locally full stop and it wasn't a knee jerk choice but something considered over a period of time (which is usually the case in business).

Waterford has always, for years, had a problem with people not shopping locally. Roadworks or no roadworks.

wmpdd3 wrote: »

I an trying to remain positive but I an listening to tourists complaining about the quay solidly for the last 2 Weeks.

Tourists stay where they know, the come across the bridge and expect to park on the quay and go shopping, when this goes to put they just give up.

think about when cork introduced the one way systems first, I used to avoid town and just go to Wilton.

As above, nothing stopping tourists parking on the quays, City Square, or anything. All car parks well sign posted so 'I don't know the City' isn't an excuse. A lot tourists are coming in buses to hotels. A lot of tourists I meet here in Tramore have no interest in going into Waterford apart from Waterford Crystal (that's all they know about Waterford) which is frustrating.

Trick of the Tail wrote: »

I'm sure the above is true - but we also should remember that this is not a tourist resort, it's a city of 45,000 people or whatever, and it's they who should be the prime concern in keeping the city centre alive, not the handful of tourists who come once and contribute little to the economy.

However much of an unpopular truth that may be.

And that's exactly what businesses have been banging on about for years. People are shopping online and not shopping locally. The amount of people who leave Waterford and go to Dublin for Christmas shopping is unreal. When businesses close as of late, the finger usually always points at people not shopping locally.

And the city council has utterly failed in recent years to encourage local people to use the city centre - in fact seem to have purposefully done the opposite.

Well business groups and the city council have run numerous campaigns and initiatives in recent years to get people shopping locally and reducing car park pricing and giving discounts and deals during certain periods of the week and day. Local media and digital media have been blasted with this in recent years.

wellboytoo

The plans for the Quays are good and being constructed of quality materials the traffic flows will be better when this job is completed with no left turns onto the Quays end of , all other talk is so much BS.
I really am sick of the whinging on here by one or two in particular leave it out lads or go out in the carpark and sort it out.

fenris

Well I suppose that "quality materials" to look at is important when you are sitting in a line of traffic that exists for no good reason other than some clowns roundabout fetish.

Traffic flowed well before the mess, now it doesn't.


I am sure that the few bob for the contractors was welcome but was it worth the pain and frustration for the rest of us?, I dont think so.

Trick of the Tail

Quality materials? Yea the topsoil was quality alright, that's why there's weeds growing out of it already.

That aside, the whole plan is flawed, the idea a folly and the philosophy behind it crazy.

It doesn't matter how many initiatives the businesses carry out (the best, according to an interview on Today FM is a Facebook page! Way to go!), if you've got a city council intent on forcing their own agenda and fanciful ideas upon the city, spending our money like no tomorrow and making the city centre as difficult and unwelcoming to local people as possible, then it's all doomed.

Face it: Their policies have not exactly caused a massive renaissance in the city's fortunes in recent years, have they?

Motivator

Sully wrote: »

I am being realistic. We have never (to my knowledge) designed roads in Ireland to cater for emergency services. Neither was the quay designed that way, both lanes were always busy during the day so its the same experience they are dealing with now with it reduced back to the one lane.

This whole project has been advertised for a long time for public consultation before works commenced. I fully agree and support the works but I do feel that the length of time is taking the absolute piss. I also feel that if it was done during the winter period it would take even longer due to bad weather and the delays would remain the same as schools / colleges are back and traffic increases.



I noted the fact you couldn't answer anything I said. That proves my point.



Did Waterford City Council increase the rates in Waterford? Did Waterford City Council cause high unemployment? Did Waterford City Council cause people not to have money and not shop in Waterford? No. Its a national issue of which Waterford has badly been impacted.

Again this project due to the size and nature of it would cause massive impact regardless of the time of year it was completed. You can't do it during the summer, you can't do it during the run up to Christmas, you can't do it in the New Year the schools are back, you can't do it during the summer tourists are about. So when do we do it?

People can take the bypass if they want to avoid the city centre roadworks. The vast majority of traffic heading down the quay isn't going to the shops or the car parks, its going over the bridge and leaving Waterford. There is nothing stopping these cars from taking a left turn to head up towards City Square Car Park or the street parking along this area or a right turn to pop into the car parks along the quay. Nor is the roadworks stopping people parking in New Street Car Park or the Aldi Car Park up by the forum.

So people are not going down the quay and deciding 'Feck it, its chaotic, ill keep driving through the road works and go to Kilkenny'. When there on the quay, its very easy and straight forward to park up without huge delay.

Therefore, the road works are not impacting on businesses substantially to cause them to close. The two examples thrown about - one closed well before the road works and the other closed shortly after the road works began but didn't blame them road works. They blamed people not shopping locally full stop and it wasn't a knee jerk choice but something considered over a period of time (which is usually the case in business).

Waterford has always, for years, had a problem with people not shopping locally. Roadworks or no roadworks.



As above, nothing stopping tourists parking on the quays, City Square, or anything. All car parks well sign posted so 'I don't know the City' isn't an excuse. A lot tourists are coming in buses to hotels. A lot of tourists I meet here in Tramore have no interest in going into Waterford apart from Waterford Crystal (that's all they know about Waterford) which is frustrating.



And that's exactly what businesses have been banging on about for years. People are shopping online and not shopping locally. The amount of people who leave Waterford and go to Dublin for Christmas shopping is unreal. When businesses close as of late, the finger usually always points at people not shopping locally.



Well business groups and the city council have run numerous campaigns and initiatives in recent years to get people shopping locally and reducing car park pricing and giving discounts and deals during certain periods of the week and day. Local media and digital media have been blasted with this in recent years.

Where did I mention anything about roads being built purposely for ambulances? The quay is the main traffic point in the city & my point is that they've ballsed it up so bad that the ambulances can't even get down it. Some laugh in fairness.

Sully

Motivator wrote: »

Where did I mention anything about roads being built purposely for ambulances? The quay is the main traffic point in the city & my point is that they've ballsed it up so bad that the ambulances can't even get down it. Some laugh in fairness.

You completely missed my point. Ambulances treat the road like any other road around Waterford. Always did. There was never a dedicated lane or easy access for them!

Nypd

One thing worth noting and it's a major point that's being missed in this whole discussion, when these works were planned they were never intended to run on this long.
The original contractor went bust right ?
City council are hardly to blame for this, they would have originally planned all this to be finished in time for the main tourist season.
If they get the boulevard look right it will be a great addition to the city, lets hope the good works in the Viking triangle and they quays spread through out the city.
It will take a few years but Waterford will bounce back.