Galway traffic

ChewyLouie

cooperguy wrote: »

The rest wont be allowed on the road? I imagine travelling from the west side to parkmore would also be possible

Of course they will, just explaining where they're getting their figure.

The new road is often mooted as the solution to "take traffic out of the city". But for 97% of traffic they will either continue to use their old route or will be causing new congestion areas as they try to get out onto the new road from within the city to cross east/west and maybe again getting back in from the new road into the city.

The new road will also lead to induced demand (like every new road ever built) and the new road will slowly fill up and become congested (M50). Many motorist will then try use the old city centre roads to try avoid the congestion until all options become congested again.

The traffic problem then is worse than where we started. For the first few years it will make commuting easier, residential areas will spring up round the outside of the ring road. Barna will become the new Knocknacarra with big estates of 2-car households as it's just a quick spin around to Parkmore or a clear route into the city. When everything gets congested we'll then have more cars than ever and longer commute distances to try extend a reliable public transport network to. We'll hear the same excuses against dedicating lanes on the new road for public transport as we hear now for the Quincentenary Bridge - "insanity", "we need that capacity for cars, it'll make things worse".

pure.conya

donvito99 wrote: »

That figures

yeah there's a never ending supply of absolute dićkheads around, driving out of their way in rush hour traffic to shout down people concerned about our environment

pure.conya

pure.conya wrote: »

yeah there's a never ending supply of absolute dićkheads around, driving out of their way in rush hour traffic to shout down people concerned about our environment

There was zero traffic travelling west to east on the bridge at 6:50pm last night when I passed, the other way was a different story of course. I wouldn’t have driven that way if there was traffic to hold me up. Didn’t have to stop below 80kmh for the fill length of it.

ChewyLouie

Jazmin Harsh Gold wrote: »

There was zero traffic travelling west to east on the bridge at 6:50pm last night when I passed, the other way was a different story of course. I wouldn’t have driven that way if there was traffic to hold me up. Didn’t have to stop below 80kmh for the fill length of it.

You know the bridge is 50 km/hr?

grbear

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

For the distances covered by city buses, its unnecessary.

For regional buses... let's focus on making them accessible first.

My original post was inspired by a conversation at work. A decent amount of us drive to work. In most cases taking the bus into Galway instead would involve driving a few kilometres out of our way in order to be able to park up and get the bus. A few of us would be close enough to a bus route/stop that cycling to a bit to get the bus would be simple enough but no one felt safe about leaving their bike unattended along the side of the road in a spot with little to no security measures. If I was able to easily get my bike onto the bus without holding up other passengers and being an obvious nuisance I'd probably try commuting that way a few times at least.

Galway56736

ChewyLouie wrote: »

We'll hear the same excuses against dedicating lanes on the new road for public transport as we hear now for the Quincentenary Bridge - "insanity", "we need that capacity for cars, it'll make things worse".

That's why the city centre space must be taken from private cars and dedicated to PT only as soon as the new bypass opens.

Its not possible (politically) before it opens as there will be too much opposition from private car users - rightly or wrongly

And, as you say if that city centre capacity is not taken for PT only once the bypass opens... it will be taken by private cars over time and lead us back to the same situation.

John_Rambo

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

The buggy brigade don't make way for wheelchairs, I don't expect t the two wheeler crowd will either.

It's very unusual for people to refuse to make way for wheelchair users in Ireland. I use public transport and have never seen it happen. There's no particular "brigade" as you put it that purposely inconvenience wheelchair users except the drivers that insist on parking in wheelchair only parking spots.

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Yes, you can cover longer distances on a bicycle. That why you don't need to take them on city buses: you can ride the bicycle for the journey.

For the end of journey commute. Very common. On Bus Éireann buses, bicycles will be allowed only if there is enough room on board and this is judged by the driver at the time. Only folding bikes are allowed on buses in Dublin. I used to use a one-wheel for my end of commute, plenty of people using e-scooters.

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

The suggestion that you might need it at the end of your journey is a nonsense when bus routes and stops are designed so that the end walk is only 10 minutes long.

PM me when there's a bus stop them minutes from everyones house in Ireland instead of clogging up the thread.

ChewyLouie

Galway56736 wrote: »

That's why the city centre space must be taken from private cars and dedicated to PT only as soon as the new bypass opens.

Its not possible (politically) before it opens as there will be too much opposition from private car users - rightly or wrongly

And, as you say if that city centre capacity is not taken for PT only once the bypass opens... it will be taken by private cars over time and lead us back to the same situation.

Yet the bypass is pushing ahead and no firm plan for converting existing road space to public transport, improving the routes and providing more buses etc.

Only yesterday on the morning discussion on Newstalk, O'Cuiv (when argueing for the bypass) mentioned that "after a year and a half of fighting we got 3 night buses" for Carraroe.

https://www.newstalk.com/shows/newstalk-breakfast-234855

If it's such a fight to get a few extra buses in the evening out of the city on one route, do you really think they'll be ready to implement a radical overhaul of the public transport network in the city once the bypass opens. No, there will be a lull in traffic for a few year... we'll be told the problem is sorted, that there is no further budget, and we'll drift into the scenario outlined above.

ChewyLouie

ChewyLouie wrote: »

You know the bridge is 50 km/hr?

Yes, ridiculous limit that I competely ignore along with the vast majority of people.

grbear wrote: »

My original post was inspired by a conversation at work. A decent amount of us drive to work. In most cases taking the bus into Galway instead would involve driving a few kilometres out of our way in order to be able to park up and get the bus. A few of us would be close enough to a bus route/stop that cycling to a bit to get the bus would be simple enough but no one felt safe about leaving their bike unattended along the side of the road in a spot with little to no security measures. If I was able to easily get my bike onto the bus without holding up other passengers and being an obvious nuisance I'd probably try commuting that way a few times at least.

I think e-scooters are the answer to this. They are much smaller than a bike so could be folded and just held onto on the bus, I doubt there is any reason to stop someone doing this already. Also bonus of being much easier than cycling.

Zzippy

Jazmin Harsh Gold wrote: »

Swung by that way especially this evening to let a few roars of “build the bypass” but was after 6:30 so must have been over. Extinction rebellion me hole.

You did, yeah. So you're not just a keyboard warrior, you're a drive-by warrior too? What a hero...

ChewyLouie

Jazmin Harsh Gold wrote: »

I think e-scooters are the answer to this. They are much smaller than a bike so could be folded and just held onto on the bus, I doubt there is any reason to stop someone doing this already. Also bonus of being much easier than cycling.

I agree with nox. I think I need a sit down.

Edit: The only reason against doing this now is e-scooters can not currently be legally used on road, footpath or cycle lane.

Mrs OBumble

Galway56736 wrote: »

That's why the city centre space must be taken from private cars and dedicated to PT only as soon as the new bypass opens.

But the city-centre is not where the current problems are.

grbear

ChewyLouie wrote: »

A agree with nox. I think I need a sit down.

Edit: The only reason against doing this now is e-scooters can not currently be legally used on road, footpath or cycle lane.

You do lose the benefit of exercise though which would be, for me anyway, one of the biggest benefits of incorporating cycling into my commute.

I'm not sure how well the wheels on a standing electric scooter would cope with rural roads either so you might have to get something a bit more substantial for that part of the journey as well.

ChewyLouie

ChewyLouie wrote: »

You know the bridge is 50 km/hr?

Oh of course he knows, he just couldn't miss the chance to brag / troll

Galway56736

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

But the city-centre is not where the current problems are.

Fair point I did mean it with regards to taking river crossing for public transport (but i didnt say that :-) )

So maybe bus lane each way on the Quincentenary Bridge - This cant be done without bypass, but should be done as soon as bypass opens.

what_traffic

https://twitter.com/declanvarley/status/1235161482142396416?s=20

cooperguy

ChewyLouie wrote: »

The new road will also lead to induced demand (like every new road ever built) and the new road will slowly fill up and become congested (M50). Many motorist will then try use the old city centre roads to try avoid the congestion until all options become congested again.

The old city roads will have already been converted to add bus lanes and in some cases handed over entirely to public transport.

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

Oh of course he knows, he just couldn't miss the chance to brag / troll

If I wanted to brag I would have given some much more impressive speeds achieved on the bridge and bother na dtreabh etc. I wasn’t trying to any anyway just illustrating how free flowing traffic was.

ChewyLouie

cooperguy wrote: »

The old city roads will have already been converted to add bus lanes and in some cases handed over entirely to public transport.

All reports and suggestions, I'll await a firm plan and a date! Do any of the suggested plans include dedicating lanes of the Quin bridge and BnT to public transport? Or a bus route across the bridge?

ChewyLouie

ChewyLouie wrote: »

All reports and suggestions, I'll await a firm plan and a date! Do any of the suggested plans include dedicating lanes of the Quin bridge and BnT to public transport? Or a bus route across the bridge?

No. The plan is to convert the Salmon Weir Bridge and part of the Headford Road, University Road, Eglinton Street, Hospital to a public transport corridor.

what_traffic

what_traffic wrote: »

https://twitter.com/declanvarley/status/1235161482142396416?s=20

What would the correct term for this be? Does NIMBY hold true here?
For context - he was a former City Council Roads Engineer.
Back in the day he wanted a Dual Carraigeway and multi lane rounadbouts in Westside. Thankfully the Cllr's shot that down.

what_traffic

what_traffic wrote: »

What would the correct term for this be? Does NIMBY hold true here?
For context - he was a former City Council Roads Engineer.
Back in the day he wanted a Dual Carraigeway and multi lane rounadbouts in Westside. Thankfully the Cllr's shot that down.

https://connachttribune.ie/oral-hearing-told-the-proposed-galway-city-ring-road-is-over-engineered/
"
The proposed Galway City Ring Road is over engineered and will have too much of a human impact.

That’ s according to former city engineer Tom Kilgarriff who made submission against the proposed developed on the 8th day of the oral hearing this morning.

Former Galway city engineer Tom Kilgarriff, assisted by consultant Engineer Gabor Molinar argued against the proposed development on a number of legal and design issues.

Mr Kilgarriff said he is in favour of a ring road development but said this one is in the wrong place, it’s over engineered and it will effectively destroy a community of homes.
"

cooperguy

ChewyLouie wrote: »

All reports and suggestions, I'll await a firm plan and a date! Do any of the suggested plans include dedicating lanes of the Quin bridge and BnT to public transport? Or a bus route across the bridge?

No. The Quinn bridge wouldn't provide a service to enough areas to make it a practical route to run all day and if it only runs at commute peak time it wont be a consistent enough service for people to buy into. That's the theory at least.

The alternative plan is to dedicate enough road space through the centre of town to have a reliable frequent service all day.

Mrs OBumble

cooperguy wrote: »

No. The Quinn bridge wouldn't provide a service to enough areas to make it a practical route to run all day and if it only runs at commute peak time it wont be a consistent enough service for people to but into. That's the theory at least.

Long stretches of road with no people living on them don't usually make for good bus routes.

There can be exceptions: We have one in route 409 and the Dublin Rd.

The key difference is that an orbital bus would compete with the very-useful city-centre route, and possible make both so infrequent that they're not really viable.

I'm still unconvinced of the volume of Parkmore workers actually coming from Knocknacarra. People I know who have got stable enough jobs on the east of town have usually moved to the east, or to north or south Galway and beyond.

cooperguy

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

The key difference is that an orbital bus would compete with the very-useful city-centre route, and possible make both so infrequent that they're not really viable.

Ya, that theory makes sense in my head

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

I'm still unconvinced of the volume of Parkmore workers actually coming from Knocknacarra. People I know who have got stable enough jobs on the east of town have usually moved to the east, or to north or south Galway and beyond.

To be honest that's not what I have found. Im amazed at the amount of people who do that cross-city commute. Having said that, a huge amount of the housing built over the last while is on that side of town so its not too surprising a lot of people ended up out there

bfa1509

cooperguy wrote: »

Y
To be honest that's not what I have found. Im amazed at the amount of people who do that cross-city commute. Having said that, a huge amount of the housing built over the last while is on that side of town so its not too surprising a lot of people ended up out there

Most of them are from Barna/Furbo/Spiddal

Mrs OBumble

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Long stretches of road with no people living on them don't usually make for good bus routes.

There can be exceptions: We have one in route 409 and the Dublin Rd.

The key difference is that an orbital bus would compete with the very-useful city-centre route, and possible make both so infrequent that they're not really viable.

I'm still unconvinced of the volume of Parkmore workers actually coming from Knocknacarra. People I know who have got stable enough jobs on the east of town have usually moved to the east, or to north or south Galway and beyond.

Where are the massive line of cars from westside to the top of bother na dtreabh in the morning and return in the evening coming/going from then. The west of the city is a very very popular place to live.

ChewyLouie

cooperguy wrote: »

No. The Quinn bridge wouldn't provide a service to enough areas to make it a practical route to run all day and if it only runs at commute peak time it wont be a consistent enough service for people to buy into. That's the theory at least.

The alternative plan is to dedicate enough road space through the centre of town to have a reliable frequent service all day.

Well if most of the traffic getting across town takes the Quin bridge (which I think is true) and that road isn't changing with the public transport plan.... why not just implement the changes to the city centre now first. It's regularly said that we need to build the bypass first, that won't be built for many years yet, if ever.

what_traffic

ChewyLouie wrote: »

Well if most of the traffic getting across town takes the Quin bridge (which I think is true) and that road isn't changing with the public transport plan.... why not just implement the changes to the city centre now first. It's regularly said that we need to build the bypass first, that won't be built for many years yet, if ever.

What if it works!
City Council did something similar same with SQR/BOD, they got told by ABP and Cllrs to put in Bus Lanes back in 2003, 9 yrs later started to build it. Money was like confetti back then in 2003.
Just a coincidence that the "Outer Bypass" (this was a bypass) hit the rocks end of 00's? (Poor Tom)

cooperguy

ChewyLouie wrote: »

Well if most of the traffic getting across town takes the Quin bridge (which I think is true) and that road isn't changing with the public transport plan.... why not just implement the changes to the city centre now first. It's regularly said that we need to build the bypass first, that won't be built for many years yet, if ever.

because most traffic doesn't go that way, both roads are at capacity.