Galway traffic

xckjoo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118570641#Comment_118570641

I'd say it's a combination of not attending schools near where they live and not feeling safe letting kids walk due to all the traffic. Bit of loop going on. "I drive them because it's not safe for them to walk because so many people drive their kids to school". It's a pity we don't have the kinds of school bus systems you see in other countries.

timmyntc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118571010#Comment_118571010

It happens all over the country, its the extent which is staggering for those few schools in & around Salthill. They aren't massive schools, but they generate a disproportionate amount of traffic at drop off time compared to similar sized schools elsewhere.

what_traffic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118570979#Comment_118570979

In time perhaps; I agree its a good solution - but for a trial cannot do a CPO just for that.

I think they could have a two-way cycle lane as far a Pollnaroma West (the road is very wide from there to Blackrock) and still keep 2 way traffic along the full length of the scheme.

what_traffic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118571062#Comment_118571062

Not sure about that - I reckon it is fact have two schools side by side on Threadneedle and neither have a "drop off zone" built into them that one sees at Colasite na Coirbe on Ballymoneen Road for example. Is no of car trips really that different?

CowboyTed

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118570641#Comment_118570641

Low Population Density of the City...

Nearly all the main Secondary Schools are in Salthill and thus all the other areas are delivering to them...

Hard to access by cycling because some people want cycle lanes that are on the Prom rather than cycle lanes that service the schools...

What percentage kids in Salthill would use the Prom to goto School on Threadneedle... This is where Dr. Mannix & Lower Salthill would work, it would connect Knocknacarra to the major secondary schools...

timmyntc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118571324#Comment_118571324

Either Kingston road or Salthill would need a cycle lane to cover the school commute from west to east, at least Salthill cycle lane could also be used for recreation, and it doesnt require a CPO to try out.

Most of the school going population live in the suburbs anyways, Knocknacarra/Salthill/Rahoon/Barna. Lower salthill & dr mannix does not help them get to schools in Salthill

Sounds like a lot of folks are unhappy that there isn't a full network of bike lanes. Makes sense.

I agree with a lot of you that we should have a lot more expansive network of bike lanes throughout Salthill and the whole city area.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118570979#Comment_118570979

Yeah they have plans from 2016 that shows a cycleway and two-way traffic but they're not going to CPO for a temporary cycleway.

Gremlinertia

Just an innocent question here, when roads are built motorised vehicles fill them after a time.. Is there the same potential for cycle lanes? I don't know the answer but wondered if if it would be an 'if they build it, they will come' scenario?.

Yep.

But uptake will be limited if they're broken with dangerous junctions like large roundabouts.

ratracer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118573527#Comment_118573527

What’s also worth considering is thinking of a cycle Lane as similar to a bus Lane or tram line. How often do you see them filled up with traffic? Rarely, and if they are, it’s usually caused by something that shouldn’t be there.

But a lot of motorists don’t seem to think that way about cycle lanes. It’s like because there’s no queue of traffic in them, like in the car lanes, they are not being used. I sometimes wonder would those same people like bus lanes to be taken out as they are not full of buses stuck in traffic also.

Similar to how ‘all the cyclists’ break red lights, yet the amount of cars doing same is never mentioned, or all the cyclists with headphones in, but no mention of drivers on the phone while behind the wheel.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118573527#Comment_118573527

What you are referring to is called induced demand and yes it applies to cycling infrastructure but you have to have vastly higher numbers, by a factor of 4-5 I think, to end up with a bike traffic jam.

It does happen though, especially in places with more mature bike infrastructure i.e. Netherlands and places where there is high population + low capacity bike infrastructure + high demand i.e. pinch points.

There are ways around it though, caveat being that not all solutions work for all routes, but things along the lines of making alternate routes with more space, higher capacity, or widening existing infrastructure, or creating things like LTN's where basically the whole road space is shared by cars & bikes, but by design its not possible for cars to reach high speeds and so on.

I think we'll all be long dead and buried before its ever a problem though. You really need a fully connected network to even come close to hitting peak demand for bike infrastructure as the majority will not cycle unless its safe. At the rate Galway is going, it won't have that network until the 2100's

ThePentagon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118570946#Comment_118570946

Is that section pictured in the tweet not going to be one-way for cyclists, i.e. anyone cycling east will still have to share the road with cars as far as Blackrock?

ThePentagon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118573527#Comment_118573527

We'll find out sometime between March and September of this year 😄

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118573844#Comment_118573844

Yeah but there's space for a two-way cycleway as far as Pollnarooma West so I expect most cyclists will use the empty space to pass up on the right and go down by the caravan park to Blackrock.

The council should just officially make this two-way since making car traffic one-way allows the space. What the exec have done is a bit of work-to-rule as they're meeting the minimum requirements to fulfill the motion.

what_traffic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118573656#Comment_118573656

Ya thats right, the capacity load is in multiples.

The two way cycle lane along the prom (which is roughly width of a single road lane) will be able to handle greater load of people than the combined two car/motor traffic lanes beside it.

Be great if it was an issue for the temp Salthill cycleway. Not likely though as people have rightly pointed out in a disjointed network like we have here, bike parking I suspect will be the biggest issue / headache for those who wish to stop along the route, but a cycle toaster stands which can handle 10 bikes - takes up space of 1 car parking space. The efficiency's are beautiful!

Interesting development. I wonder will it up the through traffic or perhaps encourage goods to arrive for Connemara by sea & leave the city alone? https://connachttribune.ie/west-can-be-eus-power-bank/?fbclid=IwAR2hXoLf9JsbX3iZuRlS_csBnSIiBOjN-pz9xZHg2_rQLiMzNVRx599XBmo

xckjoo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118574298#Comment_118574298

Sounds like something that would create a need for a bypass 😁

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118574298#Comment_118574298

Yeah the offshore sector is just starting off here and will take a while to get going. We currently only have a few MW off the East Coast but this is going to ramp up in a pretty big way as we exhaust all the onshore locations.

There are plans for large installations on the Arklow bank, off the Cork coast and, so far, 6GW off the West Coast.

However Rosaveal won't play any major part in the installations as Foynes is getting billions to set up a turbine construction facility.

Rosaveal may get something in the way of support and maintenance though, which would be a more of a long-term employment prospect than the initial installation process.

Looks like 7,500 submissions, which is an unreal amount of public engagement regardless of whichever side of view you stand on this issue.

https://www.advertiser.ie/galway/article/127417/unprecedented-engagement-in-cycleway-proposals-says-lyons

As to whats going to happen next, I see it going one of two ways

1. Trial proceeds as either option 1 or 2, runs for 6 months, reverts back then planning & design for permanent implementation with CPO's to facilitate 2 way traffic
2. They deem 6 months of one-way as too much of an issue (I wouldn't see why, they've done this before e.g. Lough Atalia, Bohermore) and instead go the full planning/CPO route

Only issue I see with #2 is if they implement something with problems in its design, those problems will be left for years. Who those problems might affect (pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, disabled, elderly etc) is anyones guess.

At this stage, with the volume of engagement this has gotten over the last 2 years, I think its only a matter of time as to when (not if) we'll see safe cycling infrastructure along this stretch of road.

9320

Drove to Salthill yesterday afternoon to go to the cinema - hundreds of empty parking spaces at 130-2 and 430-530 - is all the talk of pressure on parking spaces (and why either bike lane option is viewed as a death-knell to Salthill) only to do with weekends? Do shops not do any business during the week?

Mrs OBumble

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118574705#Comment_118574705

Very little business there on weekdays during winter.

Summer is a different story.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118574705#Comment_118574705

The cinema floods that main carpark in the evenings (8-10pm) now - they should be pushed to open up the 250 spaces in Bailey Point which was a condition of the planning.

9320

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118574985#Comment_118574985

Never ever had an issue finding a space there in the evening when going to the cinema.

Probably depends on the night of the week (date nights) and what films are out. On the last Bond release it was pretty full every night for a few weeks.

serfboard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118574324#Comment_118574324

Yep - great news for Ros a'Mhíl, but bad news for the one City "bypassing" bridge.

timmyntc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118576155#Comment_118576155

Most trucks etc going to/from Rosaveel to west of Galway city, would be doing so outside of peak hours and wouldnt be encountering rush hours traffic anyways.

CowboyTed

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118574985#Comment_118574985

This will be a bigger issue as the days lengthen... I have been told that Bailey point car park needs investment to be opened to full capacity... It should have been a no brainer when this plan was proposed but as I said we have crap City Executive... Some people think they do this on purpose to manipulate the system, they don't IMHO, on past performance it is just incompetence, you need certain amount of competence to be Machiavellian...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118576176#Comment_118576176

Not just a river in Egypt….

To be fair though, I do think the case can be made for goods services across the Bay. The required boats are already in situ serving the islands from the city & are laid up during the day. I’d say they’d be only too happy to take goods to Clare. The only question is- where in Clare do we land them?

“The claim that cycle lanes were causing mayhem and disaster for ambulances was manifestly untrue.”

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/feb/13/covid-bike-and-walking-schemes-do-not-delay-ambulances-trusts-say

From the UK, but relevant given some of the claims made recently