Minister two hours late due to Galway traffic

celty

From the Sentinel this morning:





Traffic gridlock forces city to come to a standstill

February 21, 2012 - 7:00am Health Minister forced to abandon car and walk to hospital meeting


BY FRANK FARRAGHER AND DARA BRADLEY
TRAFFIC gridlock hit the city again with a vengeance on Friday, forcing Health Minister, James Reilly ‘to leg it’ for the final two miles of his journey to University Hospital Galway (UHG) . . . two hours late for an important meeting.
After being stuck in his ministerial car for nearly two hours on the edge of the city, Minister Reilly, alighted from his vehicle at the Menlo Park Hotel Roundabout at around 5.30pm and walked to the hospital.
He had been due to meet the new CEO of UHG, Bill Maher, at 4pm but the official car got clogged up in one of the city’s notorious traffic jams on the Tuam Road shortly after 3.30pm.
Two hours later, the traffic was jammed solid at the Menlo Park Hotel Roundabout and Minister Reilly, along with his secretary, walked to the hospital where they arrived at 6pm – two hours behind schedule.
The Minister had also hoped to make a ‘drop in’ visit to the Galway Hospice on the Dublin Road later on Friday evening, but this had to be abandoned because of the delay.
There were also reports of key medical personnel not being able to travel between Merlin Park and UHG on Friday because of the traffic snarl-up that went on from mid-day until after 6pm.
Some of the reasons put forward for the traffic snarl-up were the large city funeral that morning, the wet day, and the mid-term school break that often coincides with casual shopping trips to the city. The Nuns Island roadway was also closed for roadworks on Friday.
However the Chairperson of the HSE West, Regional Health Forum, Padraig Conneely, said that the problem of traffic getting completely blocked up in the city was now happening with far too much regularity.
“The traffic was shocking on Friday but this is a regular occurrence and no one seems either to have any answers or to take responsibility.

Imagine what its going to be like with the idiots have gotten their way and the roundabouts are gone! Its going to make Galway into a joke.

hondasam

He should have started walking a bit earlier and he would have being on time if he really wanted to.
Every city has traffic problems, Galway is no different. The only problem I see is if there was an emergency could gardai and ambulance get through.
I would imagine the large funeral and roadworks were to blame.
It can only be a good thing if it is highlighted by a minister.

Storm 10

Guy from the council on Keith Finnegan following the chaos this morning due to lane closures that were not supposed to happen during the changeover of the roundabouts, he said that there were going to have to be some lane closed at times and he also said that people stopping to look at the works going on will cause back ups, what a load of boll..ks, the council said there would be NO lanes closed from 7am to 7pm they are a joke in City Hall.

muppetkiller

Well the idiots in power have decided the best time to do Road Works on the removal of these Roundabouts is between 7am and 7pm too.
In any other country in the world it would be 7pm to 7am.
Muppets.

hondasam

muppetkiller wrote: »

Well the idiots in power have decided the best time to do Road Works on the removal of these Roundabouts is between 7am and 7pm too.
In any other country in the world it would be 7pm to 7am.
Muppets.

We have no money in this country to pay 7pm to 7am. We have to make do with what is happening.

Storm 10

hondasam wrote: »

We have no money in this country to pay 7pm to 7am. We have to make do with what is happening.

Its in the contract according to the last time I heard them on the radio, no lanes closed from 7am to 7pm theY would do the work in the centre of the road like what was done at Briarhill, it worked brilliant.

Panthro

I wasn't late for work because I spotted a thread about how mental the traffic was last Friday, moral of the story is, the minister is clearly not a Boards member when he really should be..mwhahahahaaa!:pac:

Shryke

I was an hour and a half late for the cinema. The next showing was on an hour after that. I just went straight home again. It shouldn't happen that traffic could get so gridlocked. Not for the negligible reasons given. Not so badly. The traffic jam started around the turn off to orammore outside town when I was leaving so it had only gotten worse. When I joined it the tail end was at least near GMIT. Such a waste of an evening, I wasn't in a great mood after it.

Nok1a

hondasam wrote: »

He should have started walking a bit earlier and he would have being on time if he really wanted to.
Every city has traffic problems, Galway is no different.

Its well recognised that galways city (and commuting towns) traffic is the worst in the country and there is no sign of it improving(no infastructure plans in place). http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056092496

Are you even from galway? Have you managed to accumulate 23k posts in less than 2yrs by randomly spamming threads with rubbish that you know little about?

Fuinseog

hondasam wrote: »

He should have started walking a bit earlier and he would have being on time if he really wanted to.
Every city has traffic problems, Galway is no different. The only problem I see is if there was an emergency could gardai and ambulance get through.
I would imagine the large funeral and roadworks were to blame.
It can only be a good thing if it is highlighted by a minister.

galway has a lot of bottlenecks. do the the massive trucks still deliver paper to the Tribune and try drive down Abbeygate street?
it would have been better if the minister for transport has encountered the traffic.
when do they plan to get rid of the roundabout at the menlo park?

has traffic flow improved since they got rid of the other roundabout?

sgthighway

Maybe tomorrow..........

hondasam

Nok1a wrote: »

Its well recognised that galways city (and commuting towns) traffic is the worst in the country and there is no sign of it improving(no infastructure plans in place). http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056092496

Are you even from galway? Have you managed to accumulate 23k posts in less than 2yrs by randomly spamming threads with rubbish that you know little about?

That link is from 2010.
Traffic is not that bad every day in Galway. It is expected that it would be busy at work times same as every city.

Fuinseog wrote: »

galway has a lot of bottlenecks. do the the massive trucks still deliver paper to the Tribune and try drive down Abbeygate street?
it would have been better if the minister for transport has encountered the traffic.
when do they plan to get rid of the roundabout at the menlo park?

has traffic flow improved since they got rid of the other roundabout?

It seems to be working well now after a few teething problems. Deliveries are done very early in the am.

Mrs OBumble

Shryke wrote: »

Not for the negligible reasons given.

The largest funeral that Galway has ever seen (according to at least a couple of people who should be in a position to know) is hardly "negligible".

Fuinseog

JustMary wrote: »

The largest funeral that Galway has ever seen (according to at least a couple of people who should be in a position to know) is hardly "negligible".

who died?

snubbleste

Fuinseog wrote: »

who died?

Council's traffic control centre.

hondasam

Fuinseog wrote: »

who died?

http://www.galwaynews.ie/24373-galway-says-goodbye-sporting-hero

antoobrien

hondasam wrote: »

Every city has traffic problems, Galway is no different.

I was in Mumbai a few weeks ago on business. Despite 88% public transport use they still have massive congestion at peak hours. One local told me that traffic is only bad when it's stopped (told him it reminded me of home, except in Galway the traffic rarely moves).

The think is they have multi lane highways running through the city to take cars, buses etc that don't need to be in a neighborhood out of it.

Also funnily enough, I never saw any pedestrian lights, so you just have to walk across the road while traffic is stopped (it works too, never felt as safe crossing a busy road).

celty

antoobrien wrote: »

I was in Mumbai a few weeks ago on business. Despite 88% public transport use they still have massive congestion at peak hours. One local told me that traffic is only bad when it's stopped (told him it reminded me of home, except in Galway the traffic rarely moves).

The think is they have multi lane highways running through the city to take cars, buses etc that don't need to be in a neighborhood out of it.

Also funnily enough, I never saw any pedestrian lights, so you just have to walk across the road while traffic is stopped (it works too, never felt as safe crossing a busy road).

I've heard that in India they sometimes say, "the traffic is so bad, it's nearly as bad as Galway"

muppetkiller

hondasam wrote: »

We have no money in this country to pay 7pm to 7am. We have to make do with what is happening.

We have 400,000 people unemployed ! We shouldn't have to pay people more money to do night shifts in the current climate, people should be queuing up for these jobs.

hondasam

muppetkiller wrote: »

We have 400,000 people unemployed ! We shouldn't have to pay people more money to do night shifts in the current climate, people should be queuing up for these jobs.

A bit unreasonable imo.

ladhrann

muppetkiller wrote: »

We have 400,000 people unemployed ! We shouldn't have to pay people more money to do night shifts in the current climate, people should be queuing up for these jobs.

No matter how long anyone queues I fail to see how it's a productive activity that will hasten the work.

muppetkiller

ladhrann wrote: »

No matter how long anyone queues I fail to see how it's a productive activity that will hasten the work.

I don't understand your point ?
I'm saying the road-works during the day will increase congestion. It should be done in the evenings when people are not commuting to and fro work.

muppetkiller

hondasam wrote: »

A bit unreasonable imo.

Why unreasonable ? It's perfectly logical. And should be the norm for any road-works in a city center location.
Obviously Road works and other construction efforts not on main roads can be done during the day.

celty

Agree with Muppetkiller.

These kind of works should be carried out at night.

So many people in construction have lost their jobs that there must be any amount who'd be willing to work unsocial hours and the rest of us to get around with the minimum hassle 9 to 5 or whatever hours we work.

Look at the amount of disruption people in the Westside have endured for, what, 16 months now due to the 'revamp' of the SQR. After so much pain, will there be much gain?

The contractors and the Council seem equally unaccountable to anybody.

They can dig up whole chunks of the city, put in traffic lights, make things worse, and all people can do is sit in their cars and fume.

ciotog

celty wrote: »

The contractors and the Council seem equally unaccountable to anybody.

They can dig up whole chunks of the city, put in traffic lights, make things worse, and all people can do is sit in their cars and fume.

No 'seem equally unaccountable" about it - they aren't accountable. There's not a lot that can be done in the short term. Medium term, it's probably a case of breaking the cosy political arrangements of local government. So you have a chance of councillors being willing to dump out city officials.

hondasam

muppetkiller wrote: »

Why unreasonable ? It's perfectly logical. And should be the norm for any road-works in a city center location.
Obviously Road works and other construction efforts not on main roads can be done during the day.

That's not what I quoted.

We have 400,000 people unemployed ! We shouldn't have to pay people more money to do night shifts in the current climate, people should be queuing up for these jobs.

It is unreasonable to expect people to work night shift and not get paid extra.

celty

hondasam wrote: »

That's not what I quoted.



It is unreasonable to expect people to work night shift and not get paid extra.

It's even more unreasonable to dig up huge chunks of the city without giving proper warning to road users or to meet the agreed deadlines. How often have I drived or cycled or walked along the SQR over the past year and seen very little work going on there?

Equally, there was zero advance notice when traffic on the Quincentenary Bridge was closed down to two lanes last year.

This is the 21st century. We have a Government which insists on austerity, squeezing every cent they can out of us workers, and yet the City Council have no qualms about disrupting us during the working day.

They don't give a damn about the real world in which people have deadlines to meet and customers to serve.

Put in big floodflights and I'm sure there are any amount of suitably skilled construction workers who'd be willing to work through the night rather than emigrate or sit at home on the dole. Not all of them (especially those with young families) have the option of Australia or Canada.

If the rest of us have been dragged into this new world, why can't the council be and the people who secure lucrative long-term contracts from them?

hondasam

celty wrote: »

Put in big floodflights and I'm sure there are any amount of suitably skilled construction workers who'd be willing to work through the night rather than emigrate or sit at home on the dole. Not all of them (especially those with young families) have the option of Australia or Canada.

I'm sure these skilled workers will not work through the night for minimum pay.
I agree they should carry out the work at night time or at least do it outside of the busy hours.

muppetkiller

hondasam wrote: »

I'm sure these skilled workers will not work through the night for minimum pay.
I agree they should carry out the work at night time or at least do it outside of the busy hours.

You can rest assured that these workers are on far from minimum pay for one thing, and the other is why is it acceptable for Bar Staff, Guards and Nurses etc to work nights at no extra cost ? This is 2012 every business requires people to work nights on occasion. From IT, 24 hour supermarkets etc it's time to get with the times.

hondasam

muppetkiller wrote: »

You can rest assured that these workers are on far from minimum pay for one thing, and the other is why is it acceptable for Bar Staff, Guards and Nurses etc to work nights at no extra cost ? This is 2012 every business requires people to work nights on occasion. From IT, 24 hour supermarkets etc it's time to get with the times.

People who work nights get paid extra night allowance.
I would assume if the council got rid of the workers they have and got new recruits they would be on minimum pay otherwise what would be the point.