Galway traffic

gordongekko

LostDuck wrote: »

The difference with the Salmon Weir Bridge is that's part of a coherent masterplan and has been publicly available and reviewed with external consultation.

The changes on Dyke Road were just a random ill-thought-out splurge of mobility funding to try discourage the use of Dyke Road.

Government of Ireland... There's a pandemic please avoid public transport.

Galway city council.... There's a pandemic let's force people onto busses but we won't make sure there are enough busses on the route to meet any increase in demand

Mrs OBumble

gordongekko wrote: »

Government of Ireland... There's a pandemic please avoid public transport.

Galway city council.... There's a pandemic let's force people onto busses but we won't make sure there are enough busses on the route to meet any increase in demand

This is indeed the contradiction of implementing public transport reliant changes at present.

But, it's not actually the council's responsibility to organise public transport provision in this country.

what_traffic

CowboyTed wrote: »

Problem is, people didn't use it in anticipated numbers. Now they want to do more, this sounds like doubling down on a failure...

All they did along the N6 (UHG to the Ballybane junction) was to put up some walking and cycling signs and some paint. The tarmac between the footpath and road is a service duct area. That was its purpose for 20/5years after the N6 Dual carraigeway was built and is still the main purpose of it. So no surprise that throwing up signs - some paving and paint has not led to any modal shift. It was never designed for it in the first place.

You still have not shown were all the money City Council have spent on infrastructure in the last 12 years to hit this 20% target?

what_traffic

City Council Engineers have made the National News as well.
https://www.rte.ie/news/regional/2020/0922/1166829-galway-dyke-road/

ratracer

Looks like they’ve just completely thrown in the towel now....

https://twitter.com/galwaycityco/status/1308698353128140806?s=21

I can just picture the Roads Dept this morning..... if those pesky citizens don’t want bollards in one place, they can’t have them anywhere :)

xckjoo

ratracer wrote: »

Looks like they’ve just completely thrown in the towel now....

https://twitter.com/galwaycityco/status/1308698353128140806?s=21

I can just picture the Roads Dept this morning..... if those pesky citizens don’t want bollards in one place, they can’t have them anywhere :)

That sounds like part of the same plan to improve bus travel in the city. I think those bollards were only ever flagged as temporary. Enforcement is the issue though. Can't think of a single time I was on a bus that that lane wasn't mostly filled with parked cars

A consultancy group in The Netherlands is conducting a survey on transport in Galway to help identify how we might solve some issues towards more sustainable options.

Figured folks in this thread would be interested in taking part

Link

Filled it in, found some of it contradictory and not enough options for some questions.

Major miss on not having rural countryside or similar as an option for where you live - commuter towns the only option outside the city.

what_traffic

Jazmin Harsh Gold wrote: »

Filled it in, found some of it contradictory and not enough options for some questions.

Major miss on not having rural countryside or similar as an option for where you live - commuter towns the only option outside the city.

Agree. Could actually feel it lacked a "local" contribution to it based on some of the questions. At least they asked for a follow up call though to discuss(presume will be at random), might get more local nuance from that.

Yeah its not without its flaws but then no survey is ever perfect

LostDuck

"commissioned by an NGO in Galway" - who commissioned it?

?Cee?view

LostDuck wrote: »

"commissioned by an NGO in Galway" - who commissioned it?

I noticed that too. The mystery is a bit strange. Question 22 lists a few of the pro cycling/anti car clubs. It must be one of those.

what_traffic

LostDuck wrote: »

"commissioned by an NGO in Galway" - who commissioned it?

Missed that - would NGO cover political partys?

My guess is its the folks at An Mheitheal Rothar as it comes up a few times in the survey but as I said, a guess

Scienceless

What's the story with the guy who cycles around town and takes pictures of people driving, while he cycles?
Saw him at this last sunday in the city centre. I think he's been mentioned in here before.
Any idea what hes hoping to achieve by doing this?


Moderator edit - this is a private person and will not be discussed in this forum.

?Cee?view

Scienceless wrote: »

Any idea what hes hoping to achieve by doing this?

Some meaning in a pathetic empty life I'd think

Mrs OBumble

Deleted User wrote: »

Yeah its not without its flaws but then no survey is ever perfect

Sure.

But this one is so poor, it's a joke.

Unanswerable questions - like Noxx's above, or the "when you hear motorist in Galway .. tick the words you think" with no option for "None of these".

Obvious missing options eg what deters you from cycling - no option for lack of secure bicycle storage at home and / or work.

A blatantly misleading survey title (it's not about mobility in Galway, it's about bicycles).

Failed to disclose who commissioned the research.






Someone should get about 40% for their college project.

LostDuck

Scienceless wrote: »

What's the story with the guy who cycles around town and takes pictures of people driving, while he cycles?

He was sent here by the motor industry to build up a hatred for cyclists.

Tellyium

I’ve maybe missed a point in this whole thread, but will the bypass not make the centre far more conducive to walk/bike/bus?
If it’s a question of funding, then should we not just be as parochial as the next - take the €1b ‘cos it’s goings to be used for something very similar somewhere very close?
I can’t see why it’s mutually exclusive, in fact I can’t see why removing traffic from the city doesn’t help with sustainable, responsible and traffic free development of a vibrant centre ringed by Lough Atalia, Sean Mulvioy road, Quincintennial Bridge, Lower Newcastle road, St Mary’s road.
Take the money, build the road to service the city and it’s hinterland or see it spent on a similar project elsewhere?
Are we not cutting our nose off to spite our face?

Mrs OBumble

LostDuck wrote: »

We've got to plan beyond Covid.

There will be future waves of pandemics in the future but we should be over the unease now of having to mask up and regularly sanitise. I think higher quality self-protecting masks on buses is a good idea though.

I just remembered about this .. been meaning to come back to it with a keyboard.

Right now, it's pretty much impossible to play beyond Covid: we don't know how long it will last for, but the indications are that it's measured in years, not months.

You faith in masks is touching - but also scary.

Let's be clear: masks are to be used when you are inside (buildings or vehicles) in places where social distancing cannot be maintained. They aren't as good as social distancing: aerosol can and does escape around the edges or through the mask itself if it gets wet. They also have a lot of issues around improper use, and magic-thinking (it's ok, we have masks, we don't need to distance).

That means they can (probably) make shared transport safer than it would be without them. But it is absolutely not as safe as aerosol-containing single-household transport pods (cars or whatever).

I'm saying that having used public transport to travel to a on-site-necessary essential-industry job right throughout. Buses in April were glorious, because there was often only me and the driver. But they certainly ain't glorious now - and even I'm getting more uncomfortable as more people are travelling.


Right now it's simply too soon to be making any major infrastructure commitments, beyond ones that encourage walking and cycling and extreme-localism (eg allowing home-offices and business activities in domestic areas far beyond what planning ever envisaged).

LostDuck

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

You faith in masks is touching - but also scary.

I was referring to N95 respirator masks, not cloth or loose face coverings.

ben.schlomo

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Sure.

But this one is so poor, it's a joke.

Unanswerable questions - like Noxx's above, or the "when you hear motorist in Galway .. tick the words you think" with no option for "None of these".

Obvious missing options eg what deters you from cycling - no option for lack of secure bicycle storage at home and / or work.

A blatantly misleading survey title (it's not about mobility in Galway, it's about bicycles).

Failed to disclose who commissioned the research.






Someone should get about 40% for their college project.

No option for 'irrational fear of bikes' either, scandalous stuff.

what_traffic

Deleted User wrote: »

My guess is its the folks at An Mheitheal Rothar as it comes up a few times in the survey but as I said, a guess

I doubt it somehow - they are very much a hands on group. Unless got funding for it somehow? Because lack of local input to the Survey I feel - I wonder is it even an Irish NGO?

xckjoo

Tellyium wrote: »

I’ve maybe missed a point in this whole thread, but will the bypass not make the centre far more conducive to walk/bike/bus?
If it’s a question of funding, then should we not just be as parochial as the next - take the €1b ‘cos it’s goings to be used for something very similar somewhere very close?
I can’t see why it’s mutually exclusive, in fact I can’t see why removing traffic from the city doesn’t help with sustainable, responsible and traffic free development of a vibrant centre ringed by Lough Atalia, Sean Mulvioy road, Quincintennial Bridge, Lower Newcastle road, St Mary’s road.
Take the money, build the road to service the city and it’s hinterland or see it spent on a similar project elsewhere?
Are we not cutting our nose off to spite our face?

The problem is that just building new roads creates what's known as "induced demand" for its usage. Put simply, if you build a fancy new road, more people will drive because they see a fancy new road. We might see a temporary drop in traffic issues but it'll eventually rebound worse than before.
That's the general problem with building new roads. The problems (IMO) specific to this road is that 1) the report on the proposed road found that it would cater to a very small number of people (low population density west of the city and very few cross city trips in a day), 2) the major bottlenecks aren't being addressed and we'll probably just get people to them faster, 3) the plan literally states that they expect it to cause a drop in the usage of other forms of transport.

If the plan was to build this road and then remove private car usage from the rest of the city I'd be okay with it. But it's just going to be Quincentary Pt.2 and continue the regressive thinking and planning that's gotten us where we are today.

xckjoo

what_traffic wrote: »

I doubt it somehow - they are very much a hands on group. Unless got funding for it somehow? Because lack of local input to the Survey I feel - I wonder is it even an Irish NGO?

Ya I can't imagine An Mheitheal Rothar are commissioning international groups. They don't seem "politically" focused.

The survey was very cycling heavy. I feel like there should be a lot more public transport and walking based questions. And I'm a fan of cycling! :pac:

what_traffic

xckjoo wrote: »

If the plan was to build this road and then remove private car usage from the rest of the city I'd be okay with it. But it's just going to be Quincentary Pt.2 and continue the regressive thinking and planning that's gotten us where we are today.

Would be in the same boat.
City and County Council hand maybe will be forced if central Gov decides. They are afterall the gatekeepers of the money.
Why people still calling it a bypass when even the Engineers responsible for the design and Council are calling it a RING Road? This propasal aint no bypass.
http://www.n6galwaycity.ie/
"N6 Galway City Ring Road
Galway County Council (GCC), on behalf of itself and on behalf of Galway City Council, is proposing to develop the N6 Galway City Ring Road (N6 GCRR) around Galway City.
"

what_traffic

xckjoo wrote: »

The survey was very cycling heavy. I feel like there should be a lot more public transport and walking based questions. And I'm a fan of cycling! :pac:

Ditto. Walking is the un-sung hero of Galway City. The stats for it here are really impressive in certain areas of the City.

biko

When the only tool you have is a bike, then every problem tends to look like a bike path.

xckjoo

what_traffic wrote: »

Ditto. Walking is the un-sung hero of Galway City. The stats for it here are really impressive in certain areas of the City.

It should be the foundation of every plan for city transport.

biko wrote: »

When the only tool you have is a bike, then every problem tends to look like a bike path.

As someone that uses a bike as my main form of transport, some of the cycling crowds wreck my head. There's too much of it being fought for as a special case when it should be part of an overall integrated transport system. Walking, PT, cycling and driving should all be safe, efficient and accessible (probably in that order of priority).

Ruhanna

biko wrote: »

When the only tool you have is a bike, then every problem tends to look like a bike path.

When your view of every problem is through a windscreen, cyclists tend to look like tools (of the devil).