Bandon Road Roundabout

brettmirl

I thought the Kinsale Road Roundabout was bad but they really made a mess of the Bandon Road one.

The lanes make no sense.

They dissappear into nothing. You have to cross lanes to get to where you want to get and they are not marked very well. Coming from Bandon, people that are in the lane for Ballincollig (which is marked as left turn only) continue straight on for Bishopstown.

The best of all has to be if you are taking the Bandon/West Cork exit.

There are three lanes coming off the main roundabout. One lane is marked for turning into the Dunnes Stores shopping centre and two lanes are marked for straight on (Bandon). The problem is that the mini-roundabout the two lanes lead onto only has one lane on it.

Its only a matter of time before there is a major crash there!

Do the people that design these roundabouts ever actually drive on them?

Rant over.

rymus

it's pure evil genius.. 3 signalised roundabouts in a row.

Stark

It says on the plans for the roundabout that you're supposed to drive through the cars in the other lane to get out, how much simpler could it be? Really some people never stop complaining

The aerial view of the main roundabout looks okay to me (unless it's been "extended" since this photograph was taken"). The mini roundabout looks incomprehensible even from top down though.

brettmirl

They took away some of the green area in the middle since that pic was taken and added two more lanes...just for the craic of it no doubt.

jhegarty

as far as I can see you need to cross two lanes in the between lights when going from bandon to the tunell side...

now this would be ok if it was marked out and everyone did it , but they don't (and why should they) so you have 4 lanes of trafic wanting two lanes on the south line....

sarsfields road one seems also better though , as long as you enter from the south link (either side) and not the wilton or sarsfields road side...

dudara

The bandon roundabout does add an element of excitement to driving in Cork. Couple that with people driving out of Dunnes any old which way and the tension rises.

invincibleirish

from what i can remember,the bandon road roundabout as it is will be temporary(as in two to three years) because after construction on the much delayed kinsale road overpass(due to start in feb/march-delayed from october) they will build one on the bandon road roundabout.

jhegarty

invincibleirish wrote:

from what i can remember,the bandon road roundabout as it is will be temporary(as in two to three years) because after construction on the much delayed kinsale road overpass(due to start in feb/march-delayed from october) they will build one on the bandon road roundabout.

you better call a doctor as i have been holding my breath....

Illkillya

Indeed, it is ridiculous... coming from Ballincollig heading to Wilton, I naturally take the middle lane before the roundabout, and as soon as the light changes I find myself driving into the side of the car on my right.
Coming from the other direction, towards Ballincollig, my middle lane turns into a right turning lane and I find myself driving into the car on my left :<

beer enigma

jhegarty wrote:

you better call a doctor as i have been holding my breath....

lol

I drive from Douglas to Clonakilty every day, so run the gautlet of all three roundabouts twice daily & have adopted a new approach since the changes.....

1) I never bother de-misting or de-icing the windscreen - its much easier to traverse the three roundabouts without worrying about lanes - lane discipline is a thing of the past for me & I'm much less stressed.

2) I have taken to wearing a flat cap, smoking a pipe & wearing slippers in the car - The approach of being blissfully unaware of other traffic promotes a wonderful sense of good karma in my car.

3) My car stereo is now permanently on maximum volume to blank the ever increasing car horns. Seems to be a lot going off around me these days.

And finally if you feel totally out of your depth with the traffic speeding past at 62.5mph, try driving round the roundabout in reverse - suddenly the traffic slows to a halt and allows you a clear passage all the way

Live long & prosper my friends

brettmirl

Indeed it seems that if you are an ol' fella driving...the second you put on a cap, you seem blisfully unaware of all drivers around you.

Indicating also goes out the window. An attitude of "sure what other way would i be going" seems to be adopted once the cap goes on.

Having the rear fog light on on a sunny day, but no lights at all on when its dark or foggy is the norm.

And when the trailer / horsebox is hooked up, forget about any lights at all.

solice

i normally spend my time driving along country roads. the necessity to indicate is long gone and so bad habbits on my part come across on the odd occassion that i ventur into the myctical land of the nra.
as for those that drive with their fog lights on, cant do much when they are driving toward me but when they are driving along behind me i flash my fog lights (only have them in the back) on and off till they turn them off. well i did it once anyway to little boy racer but he didnt even seem to notice!

Blitzkrieger

It actually does make sense. On most sides you have three lanes coming in which lead into six lanes - two lead off the roundabout to the left, two go immediatly to the left and become the straight ahead lanes and the final two are more or less straight ahead and are for right turns. If you're in these two lanes you switch to the two to your left as you pass the exit.

The trouble as usual is people are morons. They drive into a lane clearly marked left turn only when they intend to go straight on. The last time I was going from ballincollig to douglas some twit in an impreza did this and I had to take the wrong lane to avoid hitting him, then at the next roundabout he went into the right turn only lane and went straight on. Muppet.

I usually floor it as soon as the light goes green. My car's fast enough to get me out onto the roundabout in my own little clear space.