City just crazy

McTigs

xckjoo wrote: »

I feel ya. I've been doing a similar commute and the bus reliability can be heart breaking. Nothing worse than running out the door of work to catch a bus, only to be standing there 30+ mins waiting. I could have done that at my desk in comfort! It won't change until there's more bus lanes though. Having the bus sitting in the same traffic as everyone else defeats the purpose.


Cycling takes me 12mins door-to-door though! Every morning I'm tempted to drive, I remind myself of that. But I appreciate it's not for everyone and can be pretty miserable in the winter.

I cycle to work everyday too, rain hail or shine, 10 mins door to door..... even in the rain it's better than sitting in traffic.

Once you have the gear and a decent bike the rain doesn't matter much, cycling into a headwind is way worse.

Ashleigh1986

Another shocking traffic light is the one at Jurys . This should be replaced with a raised pedestrian crossing like you see on the continent . This traffic light and also the previous 2 coming from the harbour hotel cause major issuses at times .

youngrun

Ashleigh1986 wrote: »

Another shocking traffic light is the one at Jurys . This should be replaced with a raised pedestrian crossing like you see on the continent . This traffic light and also the previous 2 coming from the harbour hotel cause major issuses at times .

Think this is fine as is?! Tourist /historic area, should be slow or no traffic
How high would it be? Would need to be a few metres above double decker bus height surely, would be huge objections.

Ashleigh1986

Another area needing changing , is going from the harbour hotel to past Jurys hotel.
The 3 sets of lights you pass should all be replaced with raised pedestrian cross.
I'm hearing the city council are going to bring back the one way system
going in one way at Lough atalia and outbound on college road .
The mistake they made was not putting in speed cameras all along each road ,
to stop people from speeding .
I hear these cameras will be installed next time .

benjamin d

Ashleigh1986 wrote: »

The 3 sets of lights you pass should all be replaced with raised pedestrian cross.

Do you mean raised as in a walkway bridge over the road? Or raised as in a zebra crossing on a speed ramp type thing?

If you mean a bridge then you are totally wrong. In the city centre ALL traffic infrastructure should be 100% focused on pedestrian desire lines and everything else comes after. Going from the bottom of Quay street to the Spanish arch via a 50m detour and two flights of steps is absurd.

McGiver

Gracelynn Whining Rainbow wrote: »

Cars should be considered first by a distance imo as it is the most important and most used transport and always will in a place like Galway city and county (from where thousands commute into the city and surrounds everyday). A few people being able to cross the road a bit easier is meaningless in a city transport plan.



A waste of valuable road space it what they would be. Go into eyre square if you need to see flowers and benches.



I wouldn't be so sure, many people who park up for the weekend are out in the cities pubs and clubs spending lots of money.

The whole Europe is moving completely opposite direction. And in most cases the traffic in their cities works very well, compared to Galway. So your assumptions can't be correct.

McGiver

benjamin d wrote: »

Nonsense. Cars should be the last consideration on urban roads. Pedestrians first, then public transport and cyclists, and finally cars. Progressive urban planning is getting rid of cars everywhere they don't absolutely have to be. Cities are for people, not cars. They're ridiculously inefficient as a means of transporting people, environmentally and spatially.

Hear hear. Plus pollution from diesel exhausts. Petrol is much better, but almost all cars are diesel...

Ashleigh1986

What I mean is a clearly marked , lite up pedestrian crossings raised up by a foot or so to slow cars/ buses as they approach .
Proper signage in place warning vehicles as they approach these crossings .
At the moment it's a complete free for all where people cross the road in galway city .

McGiver

nuac wrote: »

How about encouraging some employers to set up in those various satellite towns?

Impossible and on the contrary offices should be built in the city centre (provided multistory parking places are built as well). This would also encourage train and public transport usage.

Quay Street, Jurys and The Spanish Arch is the oldest part of the city and attracts lots of (all?) Tourists and pedestrians.

Why not get rid of the lights and kerbing entirely and let people cross at will between flood street and jury's?

McGiver

Ashleigh1986 wrote: »

Another shocking traffic light is the one at Jurys . This should be replaced with a raised pedestrian crossing like you see on the continent . This traffic light and also the previous 2 coming from the harbour hotel cause major issuses at times .

You would see more underpasses being used in Europe than overground.

McGiver

youngrun wrote: »

Think this is fine as is?! Tourist /historic area, should be slow or no traffic
How high would it be? Would need to be a few metres above double decker bus height surely, would be huge objections.

Underpass sorts that out.

benjamin d

Ashleigh1986 wrote: »

What I mean is a clearly marked , lite up pedestrian crossings raised up by a foot or so to slow cars/ buses as they approach .
Proper signage in place warning vehicles as they approach these crossings .
At the moment it's a complete free for all where people cross the road in galway city .

Completely agree.

Pedestrians should have right of way at all times, particularly in Galway where the entire city centre is a short walk. If that annoys drivers enough to leave the car at home then happy days.

Ashleigh1986

I agree Benjamin d ....pedestrians should have right of way .
However let them cross at designated crossings and NOT the free for all .
Drive from the courthouse to up pass paddy powers in eyre square.
Count how many times you will have to stop for people just walking out in front of you . Pedestrians should walk on footpaths and only cross on roads to get to another footpath .

McGiver

McGiver wrote: »

Impossible and on the contrary offices should be built in the city centre (provided multistory parking places are built as well). This would also encourage train and public transport usage.

The city centre should have as little office space as possible its much better to build it outside the cities making commuting to work much easier and having businesses closer to and more accessible for people living rurally and in small towns/villages etc. Places like where the apple data centre was to be built could not be more ideal. Big site, lots for space for parking, plenty of space for building new roads to/from the site, no traffic issues, very close to the motorway meaning large areas of the country and beyond are within easy and hassle free commuting distance etc etc.

City centre should be for shopping, pubs, restaurants and other entertainment. The whole discussion is about getting traffic out of the city, creating the jobs outside the city is the way to go about this. Couple this with a bypass and the city centre will be relieved of lots of work going traffic leaving more space for those who do work in the city or come into the city for pleasure.

Its also not impossible its actually fairly common particularly for bigger MNC who need large premisses for manufacturing, R&D etc.

xckjoo

Ashleigh1986 wrote: »

What I mean is a clearly marked , lite up pedestrian crossings raised up by a foot or so to slow cars/ buses as they approach .
Proper signage in place warning vehicles as they approach these crossings .
At the moment it's a complete free for all where people cross the road in galway city .

Like the little one between Monroes and Maguires/Ravens Terrace? That does sound like a good idea. But I think I'd extend it to be the whole road from Wolfe Tone bridge to ~Boojum. Give the pedestrian right-of-way, but allow continuous flow of traffic (at low speed) when clear.

Ashleigh1986 wrote: »

I agree Benjamin d ....pedestrians should have right of way .
However let them cross at designated crossings and NOT the free for all .
Drive from the courthouse to up pass paddy powers in eyre square.
Count how many times you will have to stop for people just walking out in front of you . Pedestrians should walk on footpaths and only cross on roads to get to another footpath .

Don't really agree with you here Ashleigh. It's a city space built for humans, not for cars. Pedestrians should always have right-of-way within the city. Cars should be given low speed and low priority.



Have we not all seen Terminator? You gotta watch out for those machines

xckjoo

Gracelynn Whining Rainbow wrote: »

The city centre should have as little office space as possible its much better to build it outside the cities making commuting to work much easier and having businesses closer to and more accessible for people living rurally and in small towns/villages etc. Places like where the apple data centre was to be built could not be more ideal. Big site, lots for space for parking, plenty of space for building new roads to/from the site, no traffic issues, very close to the motorway meaning large areas of the country and beyond are within easy and hassle free commuting distance etc etc.

City centre should be for shopping, pubs, restaurants and other entertainment. The whole discussion is about getting traffic out of the city, creating the jobs outside the city is the way to go about this. Couple this with a bypass and the city centre will be relieved of lots of work going traffic leaving more space for those who do work in the city or come into the city for pleasure.

Its also not impossible its actually fairly common particularly for bigger MNC who need large premisses for manufacturing, R&D etc.

Not traffic issues in Athenry due to fewer cars using the roads. Cars=Traffic. No two ways about it. Why people want to cover the country in roads, I'll never know.

Mrs OBumble

Ashleigh1986 wrote: »

I agree Benjamin d ....pedestrians should have right of way .

You lads need to travel more.

If there was free pedestrian movement here the road would grind to a halt anytime there was a good number of pedestrians. And yes, that includes buses and other shared transport - which should always have priority over individuals of any mode.

xckjoo

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

You lads need to travel more.

If there was free pedestrian movement here the road would grind to a halt anytime there was a good number of pedestrians. And yes, that includes buses and other shared transport - which should always have priority over individuals of any mode.

Why? I'd put peoples "personal safety" far, far above "speed of movement" as a priority. I don't think that's an unusual way of thinking.



We're not talking about people strolling across motorways here. We're talking about free and safe movement in a city environment. If you want to drive around fast and without worry of hitting people, go to a racetrack.

DirtBanjo

pmason wrote: »

This city has gone completely mad with traffic. Its really gone well past a joke and the council seem to be doing nothing. 1hr 10min to get home yesterday evening which should have been only 40mins and an hour to get to work this morning. Long queues out to Briar Hill every evening. Everyone trying to get out of the city and cant. I just wonder what are those engineers doing in them council offices everyday. One simple thing that could improve briar hill alone would be to extend the slip roads going to Carnmore and Doughiska and create another job for that cops that sits there in the sun waiting to catch people trying to get home to collect kids etc....

WAKE UP GALWAY TD'S & ENGINEERS AND TAKE YOUR HEADS OUT OF THE SAND!

2 hours to go from Knocknacarra to Abbeyknockmoy yesterday evening

benjamin d

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

You lads need to travel more.

If there was free pedestrian movement here the road would grind to a halt anytime there was a good number of pedestrians. And yes, that includes buses and other shared transport - which should always have priority over individuals of any mode.

I've travelled plenty thank you very much.

Its nothing to do with how other cities have done this. It's the fact that the days of the private car ruling all are over. Cities are for living, working, and being in. They are not for driving a single occupant car around in. It's utterly unsustainable and short of banning cars the only way to change that is to make city streets at best irritating and at worst severely bloody difficult to drive around. The day will come that the majority of inner city streets are fully pedestrianised. The reign of the car is coming to an end and cities can soon be reclaimed by those who should rightfully have never given them up.

benjamin d

benjamin d wrote: »

I've travelled plenty thank you very much.

Its nothing to do with how other cities have done this. It's the fact that the days of the private car ruling all are over. Cities are for living, working, and being in. They are not for driving a single occupant car around in. It's utterly unsustainable and short of banning cars the only way to change that is to make city streets at best irritating and at worst severely bloody difficult to drive around. The day will come that the majority of inner city streets are fully pedestrianised. The reign of the car is coming to an end and cities can soon be reclaimed by those who should rightfully have never given them up.

Nonsense of the highest order.

benjamin d

Gracelynn Whining Rainbow wrote: »

Nonsense of the highest order.

Far from it, it's happening already. And as said above I'm sure the reactions when Shop St or Grafton St were pedestrianised were as if the sky was falling in. There are too many private cars on the roads and it's clear to see. Accommodating more cars in cities has been shown over and over again to increase congestion. The logical move is to get rid of cars from city centres.

what_traffic

Gracelynn Whining Rainbow wrote: »

The city centre should have as little office space as possible its much better to build it outside the cities making commuting to work much easier and having businesses closer to and more accessible for people living rurally and in small towns/villages etc. Places like where the apple data centre was to be built could not be more ideal. Big site, lots for space for parking, plenty of space for building new roads to/from the site, no traffic issues, very close to the motorway meaning large areas of the country and beyond are within easy and hassle free commuting distance etc etc.

City centre should be for shopping, pubs, restaurants and other entertainment. The whole discussion is about getting traffic out of the city, creating the jobs outside the city is the way to go about this. Couple this with a bypass and the city centre will be relieved of lots of work going traffic leaving more space for those who do work in the city or come into the city for pleasure.

You sound like a 1970's US Road Engineer? This stuff is bonkers really. Been discredited as a horribly ineffiencint way for people to live, work and move. You essentailly want to create "Doughnut City" out of Galway? Using House prices as a metric, this is not happening yet. The so called "Galway bypass" will end up like the M50 - it aint going to solve the CAR traffic problem.

Mrs OBumble

what_traffic wrote: »

You sound like a 1970's US Road Engineer? This stuff is bonkers really. Been discredited as a horribly ineffiencint way for people to live, work and move. You essentailly want to create "Doughnut City" out of Galway? Using House prices as a metric, this is not happening yet. The so called "Galway bypass" will end up like the M50 - it aint going to solve the CAR traffic problem.

He's the reincarnation of Dev's vision of a primarily rural Ireland, with the addition of a hedonistic city layer for partying and attracting tourists.

what_traffic

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

He's the reincarnation of Dev's vision of a primarily rural Ireland, with the addition of a hedonistic city layer for partying and attracting tourists.

That's a bit harsh on Dev, at least Devs vision had people working outside the door of there own homestead and on there own land and shopping in the local village shop. Don't think using the Car to go everywhere was even on his radar.

Discodog

Ashleigh1986 wrote: »

I never said " it was JUST the lights ". But I'm driving in galway city 10 hours per day over the last 20 years . The lights are a huge factor especially 7am to 10 am and 4pm to 7pm . Other factors are driver behaviour . Total disregard with parking . Allowing on street parking on both sides of the road and expecting roads to be 2 way . Roundabouts at bohermore/ corrib park / castlelawn heights/ corrib great southern all need to be pulled out and a cctv operated at peak times traffic light system put in . They can put whatever sequence they want on lights at non peak times .... But they must be manned at peak times .

Even simple timers would help. For example at the top of Taylors Hill, they need to be 30 - 70 % between 7 & 9 am to allow the majority priority & then reversed in the evening.

what_traffic

You know you have "CAR issues" when you start blaming traffic lights instead of all the "other" CARS on the road at the exact same time as you.
Perhaps some billboards around town with picture of single car occupant stuck in the CAR traffic with the the slogan "I am the CAR traffic" might change the mindset.

Cars are the most horribly inefficent method of moving people in built up urban areas.

gordongekko

xckjoo wrote: »

I feel ya. I've been doing a similar commute and the bus reliability can be heart breaking. Nothing worse than running out the door of work to catch a bus, only to be standing there 30+ mins waiting. I could have done that at my desk in comfort!

I cant understand why they cant turn on the GPS on the busses and give us real time locations so that this doesn't happen.

gordongekko

xckjoo wrote: »

Like the little one between Monroes and Maguires/Ravens Terrace? That does sound like a good idea. But I think I'd extend it to be the whole road from Wolfe Tone bridge to ~Boojum. Give the pedestrian right-of-way, but allow continuous flow of traffic (at low speed) when clear.

The thing at Monroes is a speed ramp not a pedestrian crossing