Galway's traffic issues

xckjoo

Discodog wrote: »

Lots of people have to cross the City. It's logical to stop, buy things & support the local community. You can drive into Oxford, park & shop. You can't just repeat the two wheels good, four wheels bad mantra & expect people take you seriously. Oxford didn't force people to use Park & Ride. It made the service so good that people chose to use it.

Whatever the "solution" people have to cross the river. If you don't build a ring road then you have to have a way to police who is allowed to drive into the city.

That's the key. But I would assume that involved dis-incentivising driving into the centre? Prioritising other modes of transport like buses so it's easier and faster to use them than to drive?


There's already 4 bridges across the river. The figures don't seem to back up the need for an extra one. Some people need to drive, but the majority don't. If we can get them out of the car then the roads are freer for the people with no choice.

what_traffic

xckjoo wrote: »

That's the key. But I would assume that involved dis-incentivising driving into the centre? Prioritising other modes of transport like buses so it's easier and faster to use them than to drive?


There's already 4 bridges across the river. The figures don't seem to back up the need for an extra one. Some people need to drive, but the majority don't. If we can get them out of the car then the roads are freer for the people with no choice.

One way to start achieving this is making far more efficient use of the vast amounts of space used for car storage on our City streets.

what_traffic

Discodog wrote: »

Oxford didn't force people to use Park & Ride. It made the service so good that people chose to use it.

Whatever the "solution" people have to cross the river. If you don't build a ring road then you have to have a way to police who is allowed to drive into the city.

Oxford used Carrot and Stick.
They have a good P&R service - but they also don't have a vast supply of Car Parking in the center (unlike Galway City)
An easier method rather than police - is to remove the supply as well as providing more efficient transport modes.

Johnny_BravoIII

Johnny_BravoIII wrote: »

That's just plain wrong.
Less cars = more people.
More poeple = more trade

Business owners are always react against a reduction in cars only to benefit from the same reduction over time.

Well that’s backwards. Less cars most certainly mean less people and making parking harder definitely puts people off. We have a very large population in co Galway the vast majority of which drives into the city. The harder or more expensive you make parking the less people will travel into the city that’s a simple fact, I already hear plenty of complaints about lack of parking and costs resulting in people not going to town.

The pay parking on Sunday is one thing in particular that is causing people to stay away from town, it has certainly kept me out of town on a number of occasions as feck paying for parking on a Sunday. I often used to get mass and then head to the cellar for breakfast and maybe have a stroll around town after but I rarely if ever do this now due to having to pay to park on a Sunday. Also for people who park up and go out and collect their cars Sunday evening they are no longer able to park for free which is a disgrace and is keeping people out of the city.

jjpep

This thread has more roundabouts than Galway city...

zell12

:rolleyes:

Mrs OBumble

[quote="donvito99;111443718"People who need to bring equipment with them should have significantly easier jobs if private vehicle commuters were forced to find somewhere else to park.[/quote]

People who need to being equipment often enough are simultaneously private vehicle commuters.

Discodog

People who would like to travel to the city, by bus on a Sunday, have to cope with reduced services. So they often have to drive.

Ashleigh1986

If galway city council really wanted to help city businesses they would have free parking at the weekend .
However that doesn't mean people can just abandon their vecihcles anywhere .
No parking whatsoever on foster street or eglinton street with proper signage up would be a start .
Wait until the Xmas market comes.... Watch out for the abandonment of vecihcles all along from garveys corner to fibber magees which are connected to the market .
Another fxxked up place leading up to Xmas are the car parks at st pats school and Connacht tribune car park .

xckjoo

Did ya all miss the quote from GCC about the new bike racks:

Research indicates that per square metre, cycle parking delivers 5 times higher retail spend than the same area of a car parking space.

Car traffic doesn't translate into spending in shops. There's loads of research out there that backs it up. Footfall is what gets the money changing hands. Make the city a nicer place to spend time walking around and more money will be spent.

I'd say the split will only get worse as online shopping continues to get bigger too.

Ruhanna

Discodog wrote: »

You can't just repeat the two wheels good, four wheels bad mantra & expect people take you seriously.

You can't mention the two wheels good, four wheels bad mantra and expect people take you seriously about being stuck in traffic while sitting in a car.

There are thousands of people moving about the city and crossing the river every single day, and they are not causing any traffic problems because they don't drive. They must be made the priority.

It's time to wake up and smell the climate.

Your Face

Ruhanna wrote: »

You can't mention the two wheels good, four wheels bad mantra and expect people take you seriously about being stuck in traffic while sitting in a car.

There are thousands of people moving about the city and crossing the river every single day, and they are not causing any traffic problems because they don't drive. They must be made the priority.

It's time to wake up and smell the climate.

Cyclists slow down traffic and many don't abide by the rules of the road, that's a traffic issue.
I say this as a someone who cycles and drives.
I also don't see why anyone should be given a priority.
We share the roads, we don't own them.

John_Rambo

Your Face wrote: »

Cyclists slow down traffic

Do you find it's cyclists or cars that cause the gridlock and traffic jams that slow down traffic in Galway?

xckjoo

Your Face wrote: »

Cyclists slow down traffic and many don't abide by the rules of the road, that's a traffic issue.
I say this as a someone who cycles and drives.
I also don't see why anyone should be given a priority.
We share the roads, we don't own them.

Don't see many lines of bikes and buses blocking up the roads at peak times.

We do share the roads. That's why priority should be given to the things that move the most amount of people in the most efficient way possible. And the roads around the centre of town should be shared in a way that the most vulnerable user (people walking) aren't in the least amount of danger of getting killed by the most lethal user (people driving cars).

flazio

Weekends, run Park and rides from industrial estates that are closed for the weekend. Mervue for example.

BrokenArrows

With the current layout of the city and the bridges currently available it is almost always quicker to go through the city when traveling say from salthill to doughiska for work. Best case scenario its about the same as crossing at the N6, and because through the city is the shortest route by distance they will prioritize this.

Google maps doesnt help either as it almost always directs people through the city, so people like myself who use maps even though i know the city will always take the maps advice regarding traffic conditions and so will tourists.

xckjoo

xckjoo wrote: »

Did ya all miss the quote from GCC about the new bike racks:

Car traffic doesn't translate into spending in shops. There's loads of research out there that backs it up. Footfall is what gets the money changing hands. Make the city a nicer place to spend time walking around and more money will be spent.

I'd say the split will only get worse as online shopping continues to get bigger too.

I would have major reservations about those findings, they simply make no sense. Remove cars and you have far less people in the city and the amount spent by cyclists compared to drivers would be tiny of that you can be sure.

The population of co. Galway is about 260k knock off 80k for the city (which is being very generous as cycling wont suit the majority of them either) that leave 180k people the vast majority of whom require cars to shop in the city. You might as well be taking about helicopters as bikes for those 180k and in reality about 90% of those in the city too.

I've never spent a cent from a bike in the city anyway and I've spent a lot coming from a car (driven myself or dropped off in the case of going to pubs).

Discodog

Gwen Shallow Raccoon wrote: »

I would have major reservations about those findings, they simply make no sense. Remove cars and you have far less people in the city and the amount spent by cyclists compared to drivers would be tiny of that you can be sure.

The population of co. Galway is about 260k knock off 80k for the city (which is being very generous as cycling wont suit the majority of them either) that leave 180k people the vast majority of whom require cars to shop in the city. You might as well be taking about helicopters as bikes for those 180k and in reality about 90% of those in the city too.

I've never spent a cent from a bike in the city anyway and I've spent a lot coming from a car (driven myself or dropped off in the case of going to pubs).

Especially as there are a lot of things that can only be bought in the City. People drive in from all parts of the County.

Making it harder to shop in Galway will just increase the amount of online shopping.

Discodog

BrokenArrows wrote: »

With the current layout of the city and the bridges currently available it is almost always quicker to go through the city when traveling say from salthill to doughiska for work. Best case scenario its about the same as crossing at the N6, and because through the city is the shortest route by distance they will prioritize this.

Google maps doesnt help either as it almost always directs people through the city, so people like myself who use maps even though i know the city will always take the maps advice regarding traffic conditions and so will tourists.

Three times this week I will do exactly that. The existing ring road, especially after it was reduced in width, becomes a car park. I will spend around 3 hours this week, in the City centre, because there isn't any alternative.

Discodog

Ruhanna wrote: »

You can't mention the two wheels good, four wheels bad mantra and expect people take you seriously about being stuck in traffic while sitting in a car.

There are thousands of people moving about the city and crossing the river every single day, and they are not causing any traffic problems because they don't drive. They must be made the priority.

It's time to wake up and smell the climate.

I mention it because there are, for want of a better word, extremists who just want to ban cars. I probably smelt the climate a lot earlier than most. I support the pedestrianisation of the City but you can't just magic cars away.

Cities like Oxford did it because there was a plan. Our Council & Government have no concept of what a plan entails.

Your Face

John_Rambo wrote: »

Do you find it's cyclists or cars that cause the gridlock and traffic jams that slow down traffic in Galway?

Willfully ignorant post there.
I neither stated nor implied that.

Its a combination of issues, which is seemingly too complicated a concept for some to understand.

xckjoo

Gwen Shallow Raccoon wrote: »

I would have major reservations about those findings, they simply make no sense. Remove cars and you have far less people in the city and the amount spent by cyclists compared to drivers would be tiny of that you can be sure.

The population of co. Galway is about 260k knock off 80k for the city (which is being very generous as cycling wont suit the majority of them either) that leave 180k people the vast majority of whom require cars to shop in the city. You might as well be taking about helicopters as bikes for those 180k and in reality about 90% of those in the city too.

I've never spent a cent from a bike in the city anyway and I've spent a lot coming from a car (driven myself or dropped off in the case of going to pubs).

I'm not having a go here, but that's because you can't see past driving from door-to-door as a means of getting places.

The majority of the spending isn't from the people who are heading into town for one specific thing. It's the casual browser that wanders around the town and picks up bits and pieces, grabs a coffee, newspaper, lunch, etc. Tourists are an obvious example, but it's true of most locals too. Very few people are going to come in from the country for one thing on a Saturday, but they'll come in for an afternoon of wandering around if it's an enjoyable experience. That's falling off in the city because driving in is such a pain and there's no better alternative. And you can just order things online (usually for cheaper) so why go through the pain?

The park-and-ride type setup would make both the travelling into town and the time spent in town a more enjoyable experience. Obviously the research has shown that cycling has a similar benefit. Probably partly because you can fit a lot more bikes in that single car spot, but if you spend any time in town on the weekend, you'll see plenty of bikes loaded with shopping bags.

John_Rambo

Your Face wrote: »

Willfully ignorant post there.
I neither stated nor implied that.

Its a combination of issues, which is seemingly too complicated a concept for some to understand.

Do you not think your post is ignorant? Complaining about cyclists holding up traffic when it's clear that the motorised traffic is holding up traffic?

It's not that complicated surely?! The cyclists just cycle safely on by the gridlock, zero emissions, zero wear and tear to the roadways, zero danger to other people and easing the burden on the tax payers with their healthy hearts and lungs!!

Cant see how you find that complicated at all.

Laviski

xckjoo wrote: »

I'm not having a go here, but that's because you can't see past driving from door-to-door as a means of getting places.

The majority of the spending isn't from the people who are heading into town for one specific thing. It's the casual browser that wanders around the town and picks up bits and pieces, grabs a coffee, newspaper, lunch, etc. Tourists are an obvious example, but it's true of most locals too. Very few people are going to come in from the country for one thing on a Saturday, but they'll come in for an afternoon of wandering around if it's an enjoyable experience. That's falling off in the city because driving in is such a pain and there's no better alternative. And you can just order things online (usually for cheaper) so why go through the pain?

The park-and-ride type setup would make both the travelling into town and the time spent in town a more enjoyable experience. Obviously the research has shown that cycling has a similar benefit. Probably partly because you can fit a lot more bikes in that single car spot, but if you spend any time in town on the weekend, you'll see plenty of bikes loaded with shopping bags.

park and ride useless unless you have bus lanes on all arterial routes in and out of city. At present we don't have anything like that.
-before you say it the ones we do have are just sections on one part of the road with the exception of the one in westside where people are wanting it to be a dual carriageway.
Most of all - none of these bus lanes actually reach the city center.

Simple as, two new bridges are needed to be built and this will facilitate in turning existing roads to accommodate bus lanes or converted to bus lanes entirely. This is the bridge for outer bypass and a new road bridge from cathedral to courthouse (if they build a footbridge its f*in stupid and a waste of money as will solve nothing.)

once outer bypass is done we could have dedicated buslane from knocknacarra/rahoon to all the way to biarhill junction. In turn, eyre sq /egllington street / foster street into a bus/taxi only road. Something inventive will still need to be done for bohermore rd and college rd, make one side normal traffic and the other bus lane from opposite direction. ( as we know one way as tried before while it was successful it lead to people speeding and some resident complaints of their convenience)
Tuam rd needs bus lanes and dublin road need to look at connecting existing outbound bus lanes and extending it further out to junction at galway crystal.

outer ring road will facilitate making public transport run more efficient and in turn making cars journeys to the city center undesirable (but not impossible)

xckjoo

xckjoo wrote: »

The park-and-ride type setup would make both the travelling into town and the time spent in town a more enjoyable experience. Obviously the research has shown that cycling has a similar benefit. Probably partly because you can fit a lot more bikes in that single car spot, but if you spend any time in town on the weekend, you'll see plenty of bikes loaded with shopping bags.

Park and ride is very unappealing in general but it’s particularly so for anyone going shopping. The last thing people want is to be dragging bags around town and then onto a bus never mind that it’s not even physically possible if someone wants to do some clothes etc shopping and then do a full shop in tesco.

When I’m in town shopping I will drop stuff back to the car periodically as I don’t want dragging bags around especially if going for food etc.

Food shopping anyway other than with a car is absolute hardship pure and simple, I see people dragging 3 or 4 shopping bags along every so often and I feel sorry for the poor sod particularly if they are getting soaked.

donvito99

Gwen Shallow Raccoon wrote: »

Park and ride is very unappealing in general but it’s particularly so for anyone going shopping. The last thing people want is to be dragging bags around town and then onto a bus never mind that it’s not even physically possible if someone wants to do some clothes etc shopping and then do a full shop in tesco.

When I’m in town shopping I will drop stuff back to the car periodically as I don’t want dragging bags around especially if going for food etc.

Literally thousands of people manage to shop and get the bus home in Dublin (and all over the country) every weekend and have done so for generations and there are no issues.

"The last thing people want is to be dragging bags around town" how else are you supposed to shop? Do you want someone to drive the car behind you and chuck the bags in like a bin lorry or something??

flazio

Tesco do deliveries now. It's even free if you're over 65.

donvito99

donvito99 wrote: »

"The last thing people want is to be dragging bags around town" how else are you supposed to shop? Do you want someone to drive the car behind you and chuck the bags in like a bin lorry or something??

No I do exactly as I explained above, drop stuff back to the car every so often.

flazio wrote: »

Tesco do deliveries now. It's even free if you're over 65.

I personally don’t shop in tesco never liked it but regardless of that I’d have no interest in deliveries as they never get it right from what I’ve seen, wouldn’t pick the fruit or veg I would etc. We did a big drink order once and they couldn’t even get that right, arrived with about half less than half the stuff, charged more than the price was on the day we ordered on some of it etc, useless.

Nox, regardless of whatever changes are made, I expect you will drive as far into the city center as humanly possible.

You know what, that's ok.

But, don't be surprised when you are charged through the nose for the privilege.

Gwen Shallow Raccoon

Gwen Shallow Raccoon wrote: »

Park and ride is very unappealing in general but it’s particularly so for anyone going shopping.

Yet again evidence to the contrary given the very successful p&r in Galway during peak shopping season