Galway traffic

what_traffic

Kirwin Roundabout looks like it will be removed shortly. Construction works on the Menlo Hotel side as I passed through it yesterday.
Was not 100% sure what was going on - but in todays City Tribune
CITY TRIBUNE End of the road for ‘dangerous’ Galway City roundabout
https://connachttribune.ie/end-of-the-road-for-dangerous-galway-city-roundabout-333/

what_traffic

another story in the same edition
https://connachttribune.ie/ring-road-wont-solve-chronic-traffic/

JCX BXC

Ruhanna wrote: »

The bridge has been there for quite a while. The council has had literally decades to put bus lanes on it. Even longer for the Tuam Road. They didn't bother their arse. Now the solution absolutely has to be another bridge. Idiots.

Yeah but one is not needed. The traffic does move along that route.

The Tuam road however is a different story. Horrifyingly slow at times.

Ruhanna

John_Rambo wrote: »

I love cars too, but we cycle or walk by them most of the time!

My idea of enjoying a car isn't sitting in traffic staring at someone else's bumper.

That's why you should have a mobile phone handy at all times.

Jazmin Harsh Gold wrote: »

It's more to do with alleviating the boredom of sitting in traffic than anyone's fear of missing something online.

Discodog wrote: »

You're not alone. There are plenty of people who don't live in the City but have to travel through it, because they have no choice.

Rather than provide an alternative some here simply want to punish people for driving. Their proposals will cause traffic jams & in their dreams, force people out of their cars. Only it won't work because there isn't an alternative.

So more jams, more cars that don't want to be here, more pollution etc.

Same old same old. It's not a question of punishment. If you insist on driving, then you have no excuse for complaining about traffic. It's like farting in a lift and then blaming the poor provision for ventilation in elevator design.

Cars don't want to be anywhere. What causes traffic jams is too many many people travelling by car, especially cars carrying only the driver. The problem is you. It's not the people on buses. It's not the people who walk to school. It's not the people who cycle to work.

Neither do non-drivers cause pollution, directly or indirectly. That's on you, the car addict.

JCX BXC wrote: »

Yeah but one is not needed. The traffic does move along that route.

The Tuam road however is a different story. Horrifyingly slow at times.

The movement of car traffic has little to do with it, other than as evidence that the space is being wasted on thousands of cars carrying only the driver. Bus lanes over the Q Bridge are needed to provide a direct bus service for bus commuters.

ChewyLouie

JCX BXC wrote: »

Yeah but one is not needed. The traffic does move along that route.

The Tuam road however is a different story. Horrifyingly slow at times.

I'm guessing you're on the Tuam Road at rush hour and pass over the bridge at off-peak times...

The bridge gets a call out on AA Roadwatch nearly every day.

JCX BXC

ChewyLouie wrote: »

I'm guessing you're on the Tuam Road at rush hour and pass over the bridge at off-peak times...

The bridge gets a call out on AA Roadwatch nearly every day.

No, but the traffic moves on the bridge. While there's a high quantity of traffic, it flows significantly better than the Tuam road.

Yamasuki

I'm considering taking up a job offer (location in Dangan IDA Business Park) but have a logistical concern - if I finish work at 4:30 pm, how likely am I to be able to get to Oranmore for 5pm?

From previous experience (6 years ago) I know that I needed to be on the Quincentennial Bridge well before 5pm to make any headway in the traffic heading east. Is this still the case or has the traffic situation gotten worse? This will be a make or break factor on deciding to take up this position.

zell12

Jams have gotten significantly worse since 2014 all along the route. It flares up during the day as well.
Alternatively there is bus 404 or a 40 minute bicycle ride

Ashleigh1986

Yamasuki .... It would be touch and go if you would do that trip in 30 mins .
The weather would be a factor .
University and schools still open would be another .
One day you would make it .... The next I doubt it .
Finishing @ 4:15 pm would make a big DIFFERANCE.

Would it be possible to say hang an extra few metres over the sides of the Quincentennial Bridge and use them as footpaths and cycle lanes with the existing footpaths becoming a bus corridor? Would the bridge be wide enough and strong enough to accommodate six lanes?

The bus lane could be continued up the Sean Mulvoy and Moneenageisha Roads joining the Dublin Road, with private car traffic continuing to have two lanes each way heading out the Headford Road / N6.

Possible negatives would be that the Sean Mulvoy road would be losing a lane possibly and the bridge would look ugly. There would also be a bit of a pinch point at the back of the hospital to the bridge where all the roads meet - Newcastle/Moycullen/Seamus Quirke. Is there space there to widen the road?

JCX BXC

I'd certainly advocate for a bus lane along the Sean Mulvoy road, it's not particularly high capacity (traffic lights at Bodkin let very few out) well before I'd even considering touching the Quincentenary bridge.

cooperguy

Ruhanna wrote: »

Love cars, hate traffic. The car dependant's mantra.

if you're not going to read what's written why are you even on a discussion forum?

I don't "love cars", i use the most logical form of transport for my family.

So if we can generalise from that, the benefit of a new ring road would be that fewer commuters will be tempted to buy a second car, opting instead for the bus? And this will definitely happen, even though "driving a car is massively better than getting the bus"? OK, got it.

I don't know whether you're actively trying to not understand but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and repeat myself using more words.

In the *current* setup for Galway public transport is neither practical or reliable for huge chunks of the population. This is demonstrated by the missing buses and long delays in going anywhere (for example).

That would no longer be the case if you could redirect some traffic on to a ring road and reuse the inner city infrastructure for better planned, more reliable public transport. There is currently too much traffic to arbitrarily remove or reuse lanes at the moment (and critically, not enough river crossings). The additional capacity added to public transport would not be able to account for the reduction in capacity for private transport.

I am one of three few households without 2 cars on my road. I do not want the cost of running one and neither do my neighbors but there isn't an alternative.

A bus service over the Quincentenary Bridge is currently unworkable because there are no bus lanes.

And that is the case because there is nowhere to put a bus lane. A bus lane would reduce capacity on that road a lot more than the bus would add. You can't just have a lane in the bridge either, it would need to continue beyond that. Again removing more capacity from the road than the bus route would add

You have a decent chance if you are leaving at 4:30 I’d say except on a Friday as traffic gets heavier earlier. It’s far better doing east to west in the morning and return in the evening than the opposite.

AndrewJRenko

Ashleigh1986 wrote: »

People will ONLY abandon their cars if...
There's a very realiable bus service .
There's proper bus shelters .
There's correct time at every bus stop letting people know when bus is arriving .
There's bus lanes along the whole route for example knocknacarra to parkmore and same return .
If you don't / can't provide these ..people won't abandon their cars !!!

All carrot, no stick. Let's start with getting motorists to pay the full costs of motoring and see how attractive it is then.

ChewyLouie wrote: »

The frustrating thing is that could be sorted overnight with some line painting.

Line painting fixes nothing. You need heavy enforcement to bring about a total culture change.

Ruhanna wrote: »

Same old same old. It's not a question of punishment. If you insist on driving, then you have no excuse for complaining about traffic. It's like farting in a lift and then blaming the poor provision for ventilation in elevator design.

Great line, I'm going to steal it.

Deleted User wrote: »

Would it be possible to say hang an extra few metres over the sides of the Quincentennial Bridge and use them as footpaths and cycle lanes with the existing footpaths becoming a bus corridor? Would the bridge be wide enough and strong enough to accommodate six lanes?

They've done this on the bridge over the Liffey at Chapelizod to provide space for pedestrians, and it works really well. It's a small-ish bridge, so I'm not sure if the approach is transferable.

ChewyLouie

Before we start fixing the bridge with bus lane can we sort a more pressing issue first...

Why do people keep calling the Quincentenary bridge the "Quincentennial" bridge?

If they build the bypass even the "new bridge" will be wrong.

Discodog

Ruhanna wrote: »

That's why you should have a mobile phone handy at all times.






Same old same old. It's not a question of punishment. If you insist on driving, then you have no excuse for complaining about traffic. It's like farting in a lift and then blaming the poor provision for ventilation in elevator design.

Cars don't want to be anywhere. What causes traffic jams is too many many people travelling by car, especially cars carrying only the driver. The problem is you. It's not the people on buses. It's not the people who walk to school. It's not the people who cycle to work.

Neither do non-drivers cause pollution, directly or indirectly. That's on you, the car addict.

The movement of car traffic has little to do with it, other than as evidence that the space is being wasted on thousands of cars carrying only the driver. Bus lanes over the Q Bridge are needed to provide a direct bus service for bus commuters.

Same old, same old.........assuptions :rolleyes:

I have no choice but to drive.

Jams are caused by authorities providing insufficient space for traffic.

Mrs OBumble

Ashleigh1986 wrote: »

So you were never on a bus in galway city center that was in bumper to bumper traffic trying to get out if city ?????
Also .. Bus drivers options with c.i.e
Drive the country routes with no traffic or
Drive city routes with loads of traffic and dealing with frustrated customers and the buggy brigade .
Which route would you rather do ??
Why is it the " old timers " in c.i.e get to drive the country routes while the new drivers get the city routes ??

Coming back to this now I'm on a proper keyboard.

Of course I was.

Usually it happens because there was a crash way out on the Dublin Rd, Headford Rd, or Tuam Rd, and traffic is backed up from there. Sometimes it happens on a sunny day because traffic is backed up from Salthill to College Rd.

In each of these cases, the city centre is not the cause of the problem. Banning through traffic from it will simply punish inner city residents, and direct even more traffic onto the Quin bridge (see how I avoid calling it the wrong name!).

The only exception is a few Saturdays in December, when the city-centre really is a traffic magnet. Easy solution would be the same park and ride services that should exist year-round from the north and west.

And developing / promoting a proper beach with a promenade on the east side of the city would provide much-needed relief to the summer-time hell-hole which is Salthill.


Oh- and thanks for pointing out that the inaccessibility o fBus Éireann's "country route" fleet is part of the problem: if you have a kid in a buggy, you cannot get on a bus from Moycullen or Oughterard or Claregalway. So you pretty much have to drive. That's just mad.

Ashleigh1986 wrote: »

So Mrs your on a bus at 9:21 am and you comment traffic is light ???
Guess what Mrs ... Everyone is generally already at work .

I got on that bus about 8:45am. Sometimes I get on it between 8 and 8:15am. Whatever. The queues in Monivea /Ballybane Rd (that morning) and Parkmore (most mornings) tell me pretty clearly that not every one is already at work. Again: the city-centre is not the problem.

Discodog

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

All carrot, no stick. Let's start with getting motorists to pay the full costs of motoring and see how attractive it is then.



Line painting fixes nothing. You need heavy enforcement to bring about a total culture change.



Great line, I'm going to steal it.



They've done this on the bridge over the Liffey at Chapelizod to provide space for pedestrians, and it works really well. It's a small-ish bridge, so I'm not sure if the approach is transferable.

Good old extremist approach. Force them off the road without providing any alternatives. Good luck knocking on doors with that one.

How about making bus passengers pay the full cost of their bus ride ? Why should people that never use them have to pay for others to use them ?

xckjoo

Yamasuki wrote: »

I'm considering taking up a job offer (location in Dangan IDA Business Park) but have a logistical concern - if I finish work at 4:30 pm, how likely am I to be able to get to Oranmore for 5pm?

From previous experience (6 years ago) I know that I needed to be on the Quincentennial Bridge well before 5pm to make any headway in the traffic heading east. Is this still the case or has the traffic situation gotten worse? This will be a make or break factor on deciding to take up this position.

Google maps reckons it's 20-60 mins for that trip on weekdays so you might not make that some days. Would you have some leeway on the 5 or is it a hard limit? Or could you take a shorter lunch break and finish a bit earlier?

Ruhanna

Discodog wrote: »

Jams are caused by authorities providing insufficient space for traffic.

Sure, and obesity is caused by clothes that are a few sizes too small.

Discodog wrote: »

How about making bus passengers pay the full cost of their bus ride ? Why should people that never use them have to pay for others to use them ?

Good one.

Bus passengers pay as much tax as the average citizen, then pay their fare as normal.

But now that we're on that interesting subject, let's make motorists pay as well, on every car trip, all the external costs of using private cars: CO2, NOX, particulates, microplastics, fossil fuel subsidies, road construction, road maintenance, sprawl, congestion, road deaths, road injuries, traffic noise, health impacts...

Discodog

Ruhanna wrote: »

Sure, and obesity is caused by clothes that are a few sizes too small.






Good one.

Bus passengers pay as much tax as the average citizen, then pay their fare as normal.

But now that we're on that interesting subject, let's make motorists pay as well, on every car trip, all the external costs of using private cars: CO2, NOX, particulates, microplastics, fossil fuel subsidies, road construction, road maintenance, sprawl, congestion, road deaths, road injuries, traffic noise, health impacts...

Buses cause those too.

Ruhanna

Deleted User wrote: »

Would it be possible to say hang an extra few metres over the sides of the Quincentennial Bridge and use them as footpaths and cycle lanes with the existing footpaths becoming a bus corridor? Would the bridge be wide enough and strong enough to accommodate six lanes?

The bus lane could be continued up the Sean Mulvoy and Moneenageisha Roads joining the Dublin Road, with private car traffic continuing to have two lanes each way heading out the Headford Road / N6.

Possible negatives would be that the Sean Mulvoy road would be losing a lane possibly and the bridge would look ugly. There would also be a bit of a pinch point at the back of the hospital to the bridge where all the roads meet - Newcastle/Moycullen/Seamus Quirke. Is there space there to widen the road?

How can converting an existing lane to a bus lane be regarded as "losing" anything?

It's increasing capacity.

JCX BXC wrote: »

I'd certainly advocate for a bus lane along the Sean Mulvoy road, it's not particularly high capacity (traffic lights at Bodkin let very few out) well before I'd even considering touching the Quincentenary bridge.

An orbital bus route is needed, and the obvious place to put it is on the Q Bridge.

JCX BXC

Yes traffic noise is a massive cost??

It's a bit rich talking about what the "average citizen" pays, when in reality over 50% of people drive and there's almost next to nobody who hasn't relied on private car transport at some time in their lives.

Ruhanna

cooperguy wrote: »

There is currently too much traffic to arbitrarily remove or reuse lanes at the moment (and critically, not enough river crossings). The additional capacity added to public transport would not be able to account for the reduction in capacity for private transport.

And that is the case because there is nowhere to put a bus lane.

A bus lane would reduce capacity on that road a lot more than the bus would add. You can't just have a lane in the bridge either, it would need to continue beyond that. Again removing more capacity from the road than the bus route would add.

What is the evidence that (a) converting general traffic lanes to bus lanes reduces the people-carrying capacity of a road, and (b) that modal switch in such circumstances provides less people-transporting capacity than the status quo?

Numbers please.

Ruhanna

Discodog wrote: »

Buses cause those too.

Sure, but on a lower rate per passenger.

So let's stick with your original idea of making every road user pay, per trip, the full externalised costs of their chosen mode.

Wear and tear on roads is a good one to include, since the impact on the road surface goes up exponentially with vehicle weight.

JCX BXC

Ruhanna wrote: »

What is the evidence that (a) converting general traffic lanes to bus lanes reduces the people-carrying capacity of a road, and (b) that modal switch in such circumstances provides less people-transporting capacity than the status quo?

Numbers please.

Well, I'm not sure you need numbers to figure out a bus lane with a once ever half hour bus is going to be a hell of alot less efficient than if it was a car lane.

Ruhanna

JCX BXC wrote: »

Yes traffic noise is a massive cost??

Rail too.

"The cost of damage caused by the noise generated by road and rail traffic in the European Union was recently estimated at €40 billion, which represents around 0.4 % of the European Union's total GDP."

http://www.noiseineu.eu/en/14-socioeconomic_impact/subpage/view/page/57

Ruhanna

JCX BXC wrote: »

Well, I'm not sure you need numbers to figure out a bus lane with a once ever half hour bus is going to be a hell of alot less efficient than if it was a car lane.

You can't just pluck numbers from the air.

Evidence please.

Ruhanna

Ruhanna wrote: »

Sure, and obesity is caused by clothes that are a few sizes too small.






Good one.

Bus passengers pay as much tax as the average citizen, then pay their fare as normal.

But now that we're on that interesting subject, let's make motorists pay as well, on every car trip, all the external costs of using private cars: CO2, NOX, particulates, microplastics, fossil fuel subsidies, road construction, road maintenance, sprawl, congestion, road deaths, road injuries, traffic noise, health impacts...

They already pay for all this and more and do not get even close what they should In return.

You are getting very close to the flat earther level of nonsense of the person who liked your post and that’s not good for you

donvito99

Jazmin Harsh Gold wrote: »

They already pay for all this and more

Motorists don't even pay for road maintenance, let alone pollution, congestion etc.