Cyclist on the Ennis Rd Motorway

gambithh

anyone else notice a large increase in them lately?
I withnessed as near a miss as iv ever seen yesterday.
a cyclist was cycling inbound to limerick coming up on the hard shoulder before the sixmilebridge merge in lane.
a car in front coming from SMB accelerated to 120kmph to mearge with the inbound motorway traffic ,white at the same time an arctic truck was driving in the slow lane.As the unaware cyclist hard shoulder suddenly became the merge in lane THE CYCLIST GOT STUCK BETWEEN THE TWO.he wobbled and was pulled left and right but managed to keep going somehow.

Another lunatic cycling last week, just down from the same spot forced a car doing a left hand turn out to the caherdavin exit to stop dead on the slow lane of the motorway as he calmly cycled along the hard shoulder past the caherdavin exit and continued back inside the hard shoulder up towords the toll booth.

how anyone has not been killed is a mystery.

Clareman

Sorry, but I can't figure out where you are talking about and if it's in Limerick?

There's no motorway between Shannon and Limerick so anyone can use the road, i.e. Motorway restrictions are not in place, so the Ennis road is not a motorway.

RikkFlair

People don't seem to realise that, and it took me a while to realise it too. 120kph on that stretch of road is well over the limit as its not a designated Motorway, because of its older design (1970s I think?)

gambithh

sorry if i wasnt clear,if you were coming from sixmilebridge/Cratloe direction,its the slip road right as you enter the motorway heading into limerick city.its a 120kmph limit with motorway signs etc. has all the signs no cyclists allowed,no slow moving traffic etc.

Poxyshamrock

The reason the Limerick to Shannon part can't be upgraded to Motorway is due to the numbers of houses with driveways facing on to the dual-carriageway.

Chances are too, the cyclists on this road are experienced and know what they're doing.

Clareman

1 of the main reasons it's not a motorway is because of a lack of an alternative route, as motorways have restricted access (no bikes, L drivers, etc.) those other road users have the right to an N grade road to travel on, I can't imagine the Old Cratloe road being upgraded anytime soon, so the road will remain as a normal Dual carriage way.

Clareman

gambithh wrote: »

sorry if i wasnt clear,if you were coming from sixmilebridge/Cratloe direction,its the slip road right as you enter the motorway heading into limerick city.its a 120kmph limit with motorway signs etc. has all the signs no cyclists allowed,no slow moving traffic etc.

At the Radisson or the way to the tunnel? That sign isn't for a motorway, it's saying what is and isn't allowed through the tunnel/toll

Clareman

Poxyshamrock wrote: »

The reason the Limerick to Shannon part can't be upgraded to Motorway is due to the numbers of houses with driveways facing on to the dual-carriageway.

I remember seeing a report into that, it wouldn't actually take that much to having those houses made compliant, I think it's something to do with the angle the exit comes onto the motorway, i.e. you can't be stopped coming on, you have to get up to speed. I believe there was some investigation into looking into making the road a motorway and the main stumbling block was the alternative route, there was of course loads of other concerns.

source

gambithh wrote: »

sorry if i wasnt clear,if you were coming from sixmilebridge/Cratloe direction,its the slip road right as you enter the motorway heading into limerick city.its a 120kmph limit with motorway signs etc. has all the signs no cyclists allowed,no slow moving traffic etc.

Limerick to Shannon is dual carriageway at 100kph. Shannon to Ennis is motorway at 120kph, cyclists are permitted on dual carriageways which motorists seem to forget.

bazz26

Yep, M18 motorway only starts about 1 mile past the Hurler's Cross heading towards Ennis/Galway.

sav1980

OP - in both those examples of "lunatic cycling" you've given, it actually sounds like it was the car drivers in the wrong. Cycling on the hard shoulder of dual carriageway - not motorway btw - is perfectly legal, cars breaking the speed limit, not taking due care when coming off slip roads and not paying due attention to other road users is not.

Clareman

sav1980 wrote: »

OP - in both those examples of "lunatic cycling" you've given, it actually sounds like it was the car drivers in the wrong. Cycling on the hard shoulder of dual carriageway - not motorway btw - is perfectly legal, cars breaking the speed limit, not taking due care when coming off slip roads and not paying due attention to other road users is not.

Little bit of a bug bear of mine, so I do apologise if I come across as confrontational or abusive, I'm not and I'm not directing my rant at you.

It's up to EVERYONE on the road to understand their responsibility, whereas car drivers can get away with breaking the rules and going above the speedlimit/veering into other lanes or whatever, cyclists can't, so it's up to the cyclist to be aware of their surroundings. It's all too simple to blame just 1 person or group of people, but it's EVERYONEs responsibility to ensure they get home safely, be that the car/artic driver being aware of others on the road as well as the cyclist knowing their own limitations. It's all well and good saying that someone was in the right or obeying the rules of the road, but if it's bike vs. car there is only ever going to be 1 winner unfortunately.

Personally, getting up on a bike frightens the bejaysus off me, all the lorries going past at high speed, bad conditions of hard shoulders, etc. etc., so I don't go out on the road, because I know I'm not able for it.

Insect Overlord

There was an excellent thread in After Hours over the weekend about cyclists and motorists.

After a bit of back-and-forth between the two poles the middle ground eventually came to the fore, with both sides admitting that people in general can be idiots. :pac:

As Clareman said, it's up to motorists and cyclists both to be aware of the rules, and to apply them. Respect and courtesy between the two groups goes a long way too.

concussion

While that stretch of road is accessible to cyclists, dual carriageway slip roads are the few places where cyclists should give up their right of way due to the high speeds at which traffic is moving on both sides of them.

When cycling on the dual carriageway and approaching a slip road where traffic is joining, the safest method is to cross from the hard shoulder to the left side of the slip road as soon as possible, ceding right of way to any joining traffic, and then continue down the slip road and along the hard shoulder. This eliminates the situation described above and takes very little time. Of course it is not feasible if cycling in a group such as with a club but these generally avoid dual carriageways anyway.

HattieMcDoogal

I saw this tweet from the AA last night and thought of this thread :-)

I'm assuming this was people returning to Limerick from the race course after Student Race Day.

"@aaroadwatch: LIMERICK: Several people are walking in the southbound lane of M20 Adare/Limerick Rd heading north at Patrickswell. http://t.co/yzeqWreJaQ"

So dangerous!

gambithh

concussion wrote: »

While that stretch of road is accessible to cyclists, dual carriageway slip roads are the few places where cyclists should give up their right of way due to the high speeds at which traffic is moving on both sides of them.

When cycling on the dual carriageway and approaching a slip road where traffic is joining, the safest method is to cross from the hard shoulder to the left side of the slip road as soon as possible, ceding right of way to any joining traffic, and then continue down the slip road and along the hard shoulder. This eliminates the situation described above and takes very little time. Of course it is not feasible if cycling in a group such as with a club but these generally avoid dual carriageways anyway.

yes id agree 100% with this,appologies i was under the impression that the road was upgraded to motor way all the way up to the tunnel and not just a dual carriageway but it wouldnt effect the two dangerous events in the above,just makes me wonder why cycling isnt banned on this strech.

HattieMcDoogal wrote: »

I saw this tweet from the AA last night and thought of this thread :-)

I'm assuming this was people returning to Limerick from the race course after Student Race Day.

"@aaroadwatch: LIMERICK: Several people are walking in the southbound lane of M20 Adare/Limerick Rd heading north at Patrickswell. http://t.co/yzeqWreJaQ"

So dangerous!

yes ,i was working out there in security yesterday.it was madness.

Cookiemunster

gambithh wrote: »

yes id agree 100% with this,appologies i was under the impression that the road was upgraded to motor way all the way up to the tunnel and not just a dual carriageway but it wouldnt effect the two dangerous events in the above,just makes me wonder why cycling isnt banned on this strech.

The M7 motorway ends at the Rosbrien interchange and then becomes the N18 dual carriageway as far as Shannon where the motorway starts again.
However between the Dock Road Junction and the junction at the Radisson restrictions do apply as to who is allowed to travel through the tunnel. These are basically the same as motorway restrictions (no pedestrian, cyclists, tractors etc.), however the speed limit is only 100km.

thesimpsons

gambithh wrote: »

yes id agree 100% with this,appologies i was under the impression that the road was upgraded to motor way all the way up to the tunnel and not just a dual carriageway but it wouldnt effect the two dangerous events in the above,just makes me wonder why cycling isnt banned on this strech.
.

no need to ban cyclists from using public roads - u just need to be aware of all road users. I cycle this route regularly if coming from Sixmilebridge - the only alternative is Old Cratloe Rd which isn't great for cyclists either, cars trying to squeeze past you within inches of handlebars

concussion

gambithh wrote: »

yes id agree 100% with this,appologies i was under the impression that the road was upgraded to motor way all the way up to the tunnel and not just a dual carriageway but it wouldnt effect the two dangerous events in the above,just makes me wonder why cycling isnt banned on this strech.

The 100 km/hr speed limit, the "end of motorway" blue sign and the green national road signs indicate that you it is no longer on a motorway. Cycling isn't banned for the express reason that it is a national road. Even though the cyclist continuing straight is in a dangerous position, it is still up to the merging vehicle to yield to him. A bit of give and take is needed here...the cyclist is entitled to continue straight on but should really cede priority as described in my previous post in this particular situation. The merging driver needs to cede ROW to ALL vehicles on the dual carriageway and make accomodation for the cyclists slow speed.

Cookiemunster

concussion wrote: »

Cycling isn't banned for the express reason that it is a national road.

Read my post above. Cyclists can be banned from a national road and are banned between the Dock Rd and Radison junctions.

thesimpsons

is that because its a private road though , still under control of Roadbridge?

Cookiemunster

thesimpsons wrote: »

is that because its a private road though , still under control of Roadbridge?

No. Pedestrians, cyclists etc are not allowed through the tunnel. Therefore they aren't allowed past the last juntions before the tunnel. The are allowed on the road between the Rosbrien junction and the Dock Road junction which is also under the control of the Roadbridge.

thesimpsons

Cookiemunster wrote: »

No. Pedestrians, cyclists etc are not allowed through the tunnel. Therefore they aren't allowed past the last juntions before the tunnel. The are allowed on the road between the Rosbrien junction and the Dock Road junction which is also under the control of the Roadbridge.

dunno so

concussion

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Read my post above. Cyclists can be banned from a national road and are banned between the Dock Rd and Radison junctions.

Hi Cookiemunster,
I know that there are restrictions on traffic passing through the tunnel, my post is in reference to the Sixmilebridge stretch that the OP it's asking about. It's a standard dual carriageway and so open to all road users.