Galway traffic

ChewyLouie

cooperguy wrote: »

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

There are 4 bridges crossing the Corrib. At the moment none of them have a bus lane. That's 10 lanes for private cars, 0 for buses.

The proposed "Cross City Link" public transport route looks good. I can't find available traffic data, but I think the Salmon Weir Bridge and College Road route carries a relatively small % of the traffic crossing the city.

The Quincentenary Bridge does a lot of the heavy lifting on the north and Wolfe Tone Bridge on the South takes a lot of the Salthill traffic.

I don't think it's unreasonable to push ahead with the Cross City Link, independent of the schedule and approval of the bypass.

cooperguy

ChewyLouie wrote: »

There are 4 bridges crossing the Corrib. At the moment none of them have a bus lane. That's 10 lanes for private cars, 0 for buses.

The proposed "Cross City Link" public transport route looks good. I can't find available traffic data, but I think the Salmon Weir Bridge and College Road route carries a relatively small % of the traffic crossing the city.

The Quincentenary Bridge does a lot of the heavy lifting on the north and Wolfe Tone Bridge on the South takes a lot of the Salthill traffic.

I don't think it's unreasonable to push ahead with the Cross City Link, independent of the schedule and approval of the bypass.

No point in just closing the bridge to private cars, you need to close the roads leading up to it as well. Cant do that without diverting the traffic from the city centre

what_traffic

cooperguy wrote: »

No point in just closing the bridge to private cars, you need to close the roads leading up to it as well. Cant do that without diverting the traffic from the city centre

Chicken and Egg; it aint linear. If Public Transport times dramatically improve as a result of this, why would you drive into the City Centre. So that traffic that you talking about - which is always CAR traffic; will dissipate.
Council would need to reduce car parking in City Centre for non-residents for this to really work though.

Mrs OBumble

cooperguy wrote: »

No point in just closing the bridge to private cars, you need to close the roads leading up to it as well. Cant do that without diverting the traffic from the city centre

Which creates a ****ty quality of life for those of us who actually live in the city centre and practise a minimal car lifestyle.

We need solutions that fix the problems Galway actually has, not the problems other cities have. A fleet of walking school buses (as are now started in Renmore and Doughiska), and actual school buses for secondary schools, would be a good start.



And the statement about 10 private car lanes vs zero bus lanes over the bridges is nonsense. There are 10 all-vehicle lanes. That's cars, vans, trucks, public transport buses, private charter buses, two-wheelers of all engine types and none.

Yes we need more bus lanes and bicycle lanes. But they don't need to go the who length of a,journey to be effective.

ChewyLouie

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

And the statement about 10 private car lanes vs zero bus lanes over the bridges is nonsense. There are 10 all-vehicle lanes. That's cars, vans, trucks, public transport buses, private charter buses, two-wheelers of all engine types and none.

Yes we need more bus lanes and bicycle lanes. But they don't need to go the who length of a,journey to be effective.

These lanes are at capacity because they're mostly occupied by single passenger cars.

The main bottleneck in Galway are the bridges. Public transport needs to get a clear run through at least one of these to be a much more attractive option for those moving around the city.

If you were sitting in gridlock on the Quin bridge, 45 mins into your 7km commute and you knew there were buses sailing through town and over the Salmon Weir bridge and on through to Westside you'd be very tempted to ditch the car.

ChewyLouie

ChewyLouie wrote: »

These lanes are at capacity because they're mostly occupied by single passenger cars.

The main bottleneck in Galway are the bridges. Public transport needs to get a clear run through at least one of these to be a much more attractive option for those moving around the city.

If you were sitting in gridlock on the Quin bridge, 45 mins into your 7km commute and you knew there were buses sailing through town and over the Salmon Weir bridge and on through to Westside you'd be very tempted to ditch the car.

This!

Wompa1

ChewyLouie wrote: »

The main bottleneck in Galway are the bridges. Public transport needs to get a clear run through at least one of these to be a much more attractive option for those moving around the city.

Relative to some of the traffic on the east side of the city, the bridges aren't the worst.

ChewyLouie

Wompa1 wrote: »

Relative to some of the traffic on the east side of the city, the bridges aren't the worst.

This isn't going to make issues in the East any worse though is it?

The bypass isn't going to solve those issues either, there will be new congestion on the East and West city fridges as traffic queues to get on/off the new road.

If anything, the public transport link through the city centre should help as there would be fewer cars heading towards Parkmore from the west and inner city.

Wompa1

ChewyLouie wrote: »

This isn't going to make issues in the East any worse though is it?

The bypass isn't going to solve those issues either, there will be new congestion on the East and West city fridges as traffic queues to get on/off the new road.

If anything, the public transport link through the city centre should help as there would be fewer cars heading towards Parkmore from the west and inner city.

I agree with you but also agree with Bumble earlier in the thread. Traffic in the city centre itself isn't the real problem.

The ring road could be a plus but only if there's also a massively improved public transportation put in place too.

ChewyLouie

But traffic in the city centre is what's congesting the public transport network and making it unreliable and a slow alternative.

An alternative is to dedicate lanes on the Quin to bridge public transport and avoid the city centre but there's a push against that too. I think the cross city link route looks like a good balance. Route all bus routes through that free flowing corridor. You have the advantage of city centre destinations on each route without the disadvantages of the congestion.

I'm pushing different solutions here - a lot of people are saying no to everything. What we have isn't working. Even if a bypass is built, it'll not be done for many many years. As I said, I think it'll ultimately bring more problems than it'll solve.

Can those rejecting ideas please suggest alternatives that will at least get us moving over the next 15 years.

cooperguy

ChewyLouie wrote: »

But traffic in the city centre is what's congesting the public transport network and making it unreliable and a slow alternative.

An alternative is to dedicate lanes on the Quin to bridge public transport and avoid the city centre but there's a push against that too. I think the cross city link route looks like a good balance. Route all bus routes through that free flowing corridor. You have the advantage of city centre destinations on each route without the disadvantages of the congestion.

I'm pushing different solutions here - a lot of people are saying no to everything. What we have isn't working. Even if a bypass is built, it'll not be done for many many years. As I said, I think it'll ultimately bring more problems than it'll solve.

Can those rejecting ideas please suggest alternatives that will at least get us moving over the next 15 years.

The Galway Transport Strategy you post extracts from above, and are advocating for parts of, is something that is planned for within 15 years

ChewyLouie

cooperguy wrote: »

The Galway Transport Strategy you post extracts from above, and are advocating for parts of, is something that is planned for within 15 years

Are you were against dedicating roads to public transport until after a bypass is built? It's unlikely the bypass will be built any time soon.

UsBus

So Clonboo is now the new Claregalway...
Regular tailbacks every morning. Stopped as far back as Corrandulla cross again this morning

DuckSlice

UsBus wrote: »

So Clonboo is now the new Claregalway...
Regular tailbacks every morning. Stopped as far back as Corrandulla cross again this morning

Quicker to go Corrandulla - Claregalway if you need to get into parkmore. Don't know about the city. Before Christmas it used to be quicker to go headford road in as far as ballindooley and cross over to tuam road.

UsBus

Ya might try that cause getting across from ballindooley to McHugh's is not great all for Parkmore

Zzippy

UsBus wrote: »

Ya might try that cause getting across from ballindooley to McHugh's is not great all for Parkmore

Some of the people using that road should learn how to drive. I live there so have to use it; there are several narrow pinch points where cars have to stop and let oncoming cars through, they are too narrow for two cars to pass, but the amount of people charging on through and forcing other cars into the ditch is ridiculous.

DuckSlice

Zzippy wrote: »

Some of the people using that road should learn how to drive. I live there so have to use it; there are several narrow pinch points where cars have to stop and let oncoming cars through, they are too narrow for two cars to pass, but the amount of people charging on through and forcing other cars into the ditch is ridiculous.

Yea they are mental on that road!

I was using this road one Friday afternoon, going from McHugh's to Ballindooley. A car coming towards me had ample space to pull in, i didn't have any space to pull in. But he had to keep coming and try to get past me, I was more or less on the edge of the ditch as it was. He got very angry when he seen there wasn't enough room to get past and had to reverse back to where he should have pulled in.

I took great pleasure in stopping beside him, making he sure he still couldn't pass and calmly asking him why was he getting so angry and if he just pulled in at first he would have been well on his way now, which made him even more angry.

WallyGUFC

Same thing down Cregboy, absolutely lethal at times.

ChewyLouie

That's the problem with city drivers on country roads. They also don't abide by the conventions to acknowledge the other driver as they pass. One finger salute (stranger), two finger salute (acquaintance), full hand (friend, relative or neighbour) or the back of the full spread hand against the glass (good friend)... they really need to teach this in the city schools.

DuckSlice

ChewyLouie wrote: »

That's the problem with city drivers on country roads. They also don't abide by the conventions to acknowledge the other driver as they pass. One finger salute (stranger), two finger salute (acquaintance), full hand (friend, relative or neighbour) or the back of the full spread hand against the glass (good friend)... they really need to teach this in the city schools.

You also need to nearly smash the windscreen for this wave to be done properly.

what_traffic

https://connachttribune.ie/councillor-calls-for-regional-park-and-rides-to-be-set-up-from-county-gaa-facilities/

Worth trialing for Inter County Games in Pearse Stadium and other big "events" in the City at least, not sure how practical though as a general P&R proposal

what_traffic

Galway is Ireland’s Carmageddon and capital of sprawl, author and journalist tells oral hearing
https://www.advertiser.ie/galway/article/113611/galway-is-irelands-carmageddon-and-capital-of-sprawl-author-and-journalist-tells-oral-hearing

The Solutions to Traffic Congestion & the Downs-Thomson Paradox

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQY6WGOoYis

The description of the Downs-Thomson paradox is simplified in this video, but in general, this principal applies. Technically it is possible to meet demand for car traffic, but in practice, this is unaffordable, simply due to the amount of infrastructure required per person carried by car: there is no city that has done this in a sustainable way (as StrongTowns.org is keen to point out). More information can be found at StrongTowns.org, in articles such as this one and this one

There won’t be much traffic issues for the next few weeks. Hopefully this normalises working remotely for many more people and it would help traffic a lot. As someone who works remotely a lot of the time it’s just going to be a normal few weeks work wise for me.

John_Rambo

Jazmin Harsh Gold wrote: »

There won’t be much traffic issues for the next few weeks. Hopefully this normalises working remotely for many more people and it would help traffic a lot. As someone who works remotely a lot of the time it’s just going to be a normal few weeks work wise for me.

Yeah, excellent point.

I'm currently working for a few companies who've had work from home policies since the 9th, one of them is one of the big four social media firms, another a bio-pharma group and a few smaller firms.
There's zero difference in (my) dealings with them since they started working from home, in one case my invoicing has rocketed since the change as they're concentrating on previously neglected parts of their operations.

As you said, this could be the turning point where working from home can be accepted by companies that have antiquated presenteeism obsessions.

On a side note, my previous employers who have an obsession with presenteeism are suffering big time from staff absenteeism, reluctance to turn up to work, force majeureism, panic holiday taking and sick leave.

I'm using the bike for all shopping, runarounds, chemist (new baby in the house), and exercise for the older kids. (not much chance of transfer on bikes traveling at 20kph in fresh air and they don't get near enough to each other when they meet their mates compared to on foot)

Ashleigh1986

They may as well cancel future public oral hearings for galways ring road.
No chance of it now getting government funding .
It could be argued it won't now be needed for at lead a decade or more .
Far more important issues our country will be needing funding for .
With the amount of job loses the amount of traffic on galways roads will be the least of our troubles .

Bobeagleburger

I think a lot of companies will loosen working from home policies when this all blows over.

cooperguy

Ashleigh1986 wrote: »

They may as well cancel future public oral hearings for galways ring road.
No chance of it now getting government funding .
It could be argued it won't now be needed for at lead a decade or more .
Far more important issues our country will be needing funding for .
With the amount of job loses the amount of traffic on galways roads will be the least of our troubles .

What you are advocating is the exact opposite of what an economist would say to do. In times of recession heavy government investment in infrastructure is one of the things that pulls the country out of the slump (as well as prepares the place for when it is up and running again).

Wompa1

John_Rambo wrote: »

Yeah, excellent point.

I'm currently working for a few companies who've had work from home policies since the 9th, one of them is one of the big four social media firms, another a bio-pharma group and a few smaller firms.
There's zero difference in (my) dealings with them since they started working from home, in one case my invoicing has rocketed since the change as they're concentrating on previously neglected parts of their operations.

As you said, this could be the turning point where working from home can be accepted by companies that have antiquated presenteeism obsessions.

On a side note, my previous employers who have an obsession with presenteeism are suffering big time from staff absenteeism, reluctance to turn up to work, force majeureism, panic holiday taking and sick leave.

I'm using the bike for all shopping, runarounds, chemist (new baby in the house), and exercise for the older kids. (not much chance of transfer on bikes traveling at 20kph in fresh air and they don't get near enough to each other when they meet their mates compared to on foot)

If working remotely becomes the norm, do we even need a ring road? :pac:

I have worked from home 100% of the time for 3 years. I haven't been out in public since March 7th. I have become IT support for a bunch of people who have been sent to work remotely. There is a slight risk for work from home from this.

Unfortunately, this is not a good time to measure productivity of those you sent to work from home. Many organizations have rushed a remote access solution to try to support work from home with mixed results. Many have kids at home due to the schools being closed which means at best their attention is divided if not almost entirely consumed with taking care of the kids. Some are not in the best mental state and are worried about loved ones who are in the high risk category.

One good thing for those of who us who are use to working remote. One of the challenges of working remote for a company who mainly employs people in a head office, it will make them more aware of those who are remote. I work remote and on a massive time difference. I get left out of conversations at times. Now that everyone is remote, the communication should flow better to everyone.

Bobeagleburger

I'd say the ring road will be in doubt tbh, or at the very least kicked a few years further down the track