The worst junction in Ireland

callaway92

Killaloe/Birdhill anyone?

Isambard

Deleted User wrote: »

I've never encountered it (that I know of) but just out of curiosuity - how is that dangerous? It's a crossroads and looks fairly well marked?


For example, this is the same junction, but the road is in bits, so theoretically it's worse? Or am i overlooking something?

but a Councillor said it was , so it must be.

whiterebel

Be right back wrote: »

The one at the end of the main street? That's a curse. Hate driving it.

Thats the one.

whiterebel

kapisko1PL wrote: »

You can pretty much use the left lane to go around the roundabout as many times as you want and the person on the inside lane has to give way to you if you're in the outside lane if that person wants to get off? It's a pretty common practice in Poland for example where people who intend to leave on exit 3 for example take the left lane and whoever is on the inside has to give way. (That's assuming polish and Irish drive in the same side ��)

But thats the way most drivers in Ireland operate. Right of way is a minor inconvenience.

Cee-Jay-Cee

The junction at Kilross outside Stranorlar on the N13. It’s a T junction but traffic travelling from Derry to Ballybofey/Donegal town direction on the N13 have to stop and give way to traffic coming from or going to Convoy on the R236. It’s the most infuriating junction I know of. A roundabout is so badly needed on it to prevent the long tail backs in the evenings and there is ample room for one but no, Donegal CoCo would rather have a junction where traffic on a national primary route have to stop and give way to traffic on a local regional road.

CrankyHaus

kapisko1PL wrote: »

It's not the case in other countries though, is it? You can pretty much use the left lane to go around the roundabout as many times as you want and the person on the inside lane has to give way to you if you're in the outside lane if that person wants to get off? It's a pretty common practice in Poland for example where people who intend to leave on exit 3 for example take the left lane and whoever is on the inside has to give way. (That's assuming polish and Irish drive in the same side ��)

Why have an inside lane at all then, if anyone taking it will be cut-off by people taking the outside lane?

Wishbone Ash

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

The junction at Kilross outside Stranorlar on the N13. It’s a T junction but traffic travelling from Derry to Ballybofey/Donegal town direction on the N13 have to stop and give way to traffic coming from or going to Convoy on the R236. It’s the most infuriating junction I know of. A roundabout is so badly needed on it to prevent the long tail backs in the evenings and there is ample room for one but no, Donegal CoCo would rather have a junction where traffic on a national primary route have to stop and give way to traffic on a local regional road.

I could never figure out why they haven't put a roundabout their either. It's been the same for the past 40 years and is particularly bad on big match days (although they often put a Garda there to help).

ELM327

Another vote for Walkinstown Roundabout.
I lived just off kylemore road for a few years so it was almost literally on my doorstep.
How there arent more accidents I'll never know. Morons (usually auld ones in k11 micras) going the entire way round in the outermost lane.

galwaytt

antodeco wrote: »

Ah but when you have 3 lanes people are clueless!

Ive had a few near misses on that roundabout from people in the left lane taking the 4th exit.

Left lane: exit 1 and 2
Middle Lane: Exit 3 and 4
Right lane Exit 5 and 6

I don't that place at all, but looking at the link, and then going to Google Satellite view shows me that - like every other roundabout in Ireland - it's the signage thats poor.

You have 3 lanes coming onto the roundabout - but zero info on that on the signage in advance.

The UK is better in that regard, in that the signage indicates the no of lanes.

https://www.google.com/maps/@53.3171562,-6.3330034,101m/data=!3m1!1e3

Silent Running

It's a pity they didn't build the Magic roundabout here, the craic would be mighty.
https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/904hq2/the_magic_roundabout_swindon_england/

The Walkinstown roundabout never really caused me any problems.

Enniscorthy was a bastard until the bypass was opened. Not so much now.

HeidiHeidi

Agree with the semicircleabout (what a brilliant word!) in Donnybrook - I'm a regular there, and no matter which way you approach it there's nearly guaranteed to be some gob****e blocking the whole thing. Drives me nuts!

One I haven't seen mentioned is Kelly's Corner, where the SCR feeds onto Camden Street. There's about 15 feet of footpath, but the traffic lanes are so narrow that buses or trucks (of which there are many at rush hour!!) have to commander both lanes in order to physically get around the corner. It's been made even worse lately with the cycle lane markers they've installed, even cars are squeezing each other out. If we ever get back to full traffic volumes in the winter, it'll be proper gridlock

I have vague memories of driving lessons involving the Walkinstown roundabout.... if you came out of it alive, it made for a fantastic training ground, there's very little else that's quite as intimidating to approach!!

HeidiHeidi

Silent Running wrote: »

It's a pity they didn't build the Magic roundabout here, the craic would be mighty.
https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/904hq2/the_magic_roundabout_swindon_england/

.

:eek: :eek:

joeguevara

Fcuck it. I’m bored with all the serious threads and thought of a family story that kind of (bit of a stretch) fits into this thread. If it happened on father ted people would say it is too far fetched but it’s true.

My dad used to be a financial controller of a bacon factory and took his two weeks holiday at the same time as the builders holiday,so end of July or start of August I think.

I must have been 7, cause it was the year after a family trip to France when I was in senior infants. My father came home on the Friday after work and hitched the caravan up and parents, two grandparents and me and brother set off from North Tipp for Forrest park outside Boyle. My dad literally has no shame and just outside Athlone he decides he is too tired to continue and had the greatest idea to find a space for the caravan for the night. You have to remember that this is mid 80s so no lamps lighting up the road and no lights from houses. So basically all there was were the headlights of a fiat Mira feuri. He found what he thought was a lovely bit of grass on a bend and pulled in the car. No one else was around so why not. He put the stabilisers on the caravan and then the awning tent to the side. My grandparents and mother were in the caravan and da, brother and me in the awning. All good so far.

It was not until a couple of hours later when lights beamed in and seemed to circle the caravan over and over again with every few seconds bottles thrown at the awning. My dad instructed everyone to be quiet as we were under attack. After a while it stopped.

We only realised the next morning that instead of parking in a secluded country spot, the fcucking gob****e had set up camp on a big roundabout. The lights circling were obviously cars coming from the pub or disco and the bottles thrown were because the locals assumed that it was the start of an illegal encampment. My grandfather burst into a tirade saying ‘you’ve turned us into fcucking itinerants.’.

The story was in my grandads eulogy and was such a welcome bit of entertainment. I reckon that is the worst road junction my da had to live down.

cml387

Sorry, bad link

cml387

I faced this once in Heathrow

https://goo.gl/maps/tmq4eMghACeWtZ9h6

dave 27

I remember when i was living in Harrolds cross I would be hitting that canal bridge there at 7:15 and youd be lucky if you moved in 10 mins of sitting there, i always found that stretch in the morning between there and christchurch cathedral to be hell

TheShow

Read the title and instantly thought of Walkinstown Roundabout. It’s just a crazy junction where it seems most drivers don’t know how to negotiate it.

Seems to be an epidemic in Ireland in terms of roundabouts anyway, using the wrong lane, not indicating, driving straight across instead of snaking around the roundabout.

tayto lover

The Church St/ Bridge St/ Linenhall St junction in Dundalk is some puzzle.
Designed by Stevie Wonder.

Anjobe

cml387 wrote: »

I faced this once in Heathrow

https://goo.gl/maps/tmq4eMghACeWtZ9h6

There are a few of those magic roundabout junctions in the UK, one in Swindon and one in Hemel Hempstead that I am aware of. While drivers report that they find them stressful and confusing, they have been shown to have higher traffic throughput and lower accident rates than the more conventional junctions they replaced.

dennyk

callaway92 wrote: »

Killaloe/Birdhill anyone?

Which junction do you mean? The motorway junction is dead simple, and doesn't even have as much conflicting traffic as most dual-roundabout junctions since it's effectively a T-intersection at the end of the R494 (so no local traffic using it at all, only folks coming on and off the motorway). The only thing that's mildly inconvenient is the odd lost tourist who's coming off the motorway to the Applegreen but doesn't understand how right turn lanes work and decides to block up the road instead, but it's a lightly trafficked interchange anyway, so that's not common.

I assume you don't mean the Birdhill roundabout, since that's just a bog standard four-exit roundabout.

extra-ordinary_

Do not get people mentioning the Walkinstown roundabout. Yes it's a big roundabout with many exits but it works as it's supposed to and of the six roads converging, the traffic flow never stops.

Patrick2010

extra-ordinary_ wrote: »

Do not get people mentioning the Walkinstown roundabout. Yes it's a big roundabout with many exits but it works as it's supposed to and of the six roads converging, the traffic flow never stops.

Thats the problem if you haven't come across it before or you're a learner. When you get there all you see is a continuous flow of traffic going around it. I know it so I know the story and should wait for the slightest break and just go for it but for a new arrival to it I can easily imagine its quite intimidating.

Trying to turn right in Bandon coming in from the Inishannon side.

Wishbone Ash

Blake's Cross (Lusk, Co Dublin).

Very unsettling for cyclists travelling southbound on the R132 as a new lane begins for traffic emerging from the R127 (Lusk). Cyclists end up in a horrible 'no man's land' between 2 lanes of fast moving vehicles.

js35

The whole of Portlaoise as it’s nothing but roundabouts

Wanderer2010

Turning right from Dawn Meats onto the N25 in the direction of Waterford. A junction from the foulest section of the Devils imagination.