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bear wrote:looks like the "bypass " through the roundabout is about to open let the fun begin .

Yeah, seriously, what is the sense in that?!

Bill_Lumbergh wrote:

bear wrote:looks like the "bypass " through the roundabout is about to open let the fun begin .

Yeah, seriously, what is the sense in that?!

Maybe one day FCC can explain it all.It is starting to look like a big box of flat pack furniture with no instructions,start chucking it together and hope for the best.

It does seem to be working better with the final road markings

Agree Digger.

I also agree it is now working better, but so far I have noticed only a small improvement from before the revamp. Are they pedestrian lights put up at Hearse Rd ? Would anybody have information on the approximate cost of this project? Thanks

Agree, the road markings are much better now. I have no idea though why they've created two lanes down the hearse road, forcing a merge there :/

the merging second lane is where the flyover will join up.

the budget has been cut for the flyover Pat due to current overruns on the bicycle tunnel and the cost of the psychiatric treatment needed for the engineer who was tasked with designing the new road layout. There is a partial budget so we can start the build process and will end up with a system of ramps which you you speed onto and jump over the roundabound. You'll need good shocks.

i have to say i have never seen a bigger mess and in my opinion a total mess up of a road.
to spend all that time and money on a complete redesign of an interchange only to arrive back at pretty much the same layout must count as one of the biggest turkeys of the last few years.

these are the 'extras' we have as a result:

* a 'freeflow' slip road towards Swords when coming off the M1 northbound, complete with traffic lights rendering the slip road pretty pointless

* a sliproad from the Hearse Road onto the M1 which may actually prove useful

* some sort of road cutting through the new roundabout when coming off the M1 southbound towards swords which looks pretty dangerous

* a 'complex' maze of a bike tunnel for the 10's of bikes that use that road on a daily basis. i'd love to see the cycling figures for that road compared to the costings.

* two lanes entering the Hearse road now, with about a 3 metre merge. This despite them trying to get people to use the left lane entering the Hearse road. Accidents WILL happen here as many people use the left lane to go all the way round onto the M1, meaning anyone merging from the right lane towards the Hearse road will collide. Genius!

everything else seems pretty much as is. Am I missing anything??

Micropoodle you are missing the bizzare three lanes that merge into two as you are heading to Swords now. The road to Swords is dual carriageway way with two lanes but somehow the roundabout/cut-through/whatever-you-call-it-thing that leads has three lanes so you have to merge furiously (just as people are also merging in from the left who are coming off the M1 northbound slip).
Possibly drivers need to be on the same drugs that the the engineers on to make sense of it.

They might have improved the lane markings yes,but it is now a "race" between some drivers to see who can get down the Hearse Road first at the 2 lane junction at the roundabout.

ok so i'm not the biggest fan of our new, and pretty pointless roundabout changes, but I do like the new 3 lanes in both directions on the M1.

Anyways, it seems that we have gotten back into our time machine and gone back to 2009 because the traffic lights were re-instated on the roundabout when leaving the Hearse road.
This morning at the usual rush hour, the traffic was back well beyond Jones. something I havent seen in a long long time.

Yes there is a slip road onto the M1, but it is so close to the lights that if the first 4 cars arent taking it, then the queue builds up.

Anyway, I predict long tailbacks on the Hearse road again, particularly when all schools and colleges are back in September.

Yes, noticed the lights back on the Hearse Road. They obviously have short memories as they were a disaster previously and the traffic flow improved considerably when they removed them.

It was pointed out previously that the new slip road is great, but will get blocked very quickly by cars waiting at the lights to enter the roundabout. This is now happening.

I think we need to remind Fingal that lights on the Hearse Road don't work.

Why is the 60KPH speed limit still in operation on the M1 now that the three lanes are open and the roadworks seemingly finished?

Spider wrote:Why is the 60KPH speed limit still in operation on the M1 now that the three lanes are open and the roadworks seemingly finished?

Noticed that. I think they want to issue a few more tickets before they take them away. Looks like it will be 100 kph on that stretch rather than 120 kph.

Newsflash! There was a 120 kph sign just after the swords turnoff this evening

diggerbarnes wrote:Newsflash! There was a 120 kph sign just after the swords turnoff this evening

I'm half expecting the speed limit to be reduced to 100kmh. In any event, anything with yellow number plates on it will usually ignore whatever limit is there anyway...

Dare I say it? For the most part, the new system, the whole kit and caboodle works very well!

well the slip lane is good,(if is was 20m back toward Donabate)

but its the old irish solution of building roundabouts knowing people dont know how (pig ignorance i believe it is called) /can't be asred to use them properly so they have to put traffic lights on every junction feeding on to them.

If you want to experience one in all its bare assed naked fear, try the J4 Supermacs roundabout at peak time - taking the Donabate turnoff to the right when heading northwards from M1 roundabouts. Hold your breath as cars from Blakes Cross plough thru it ignoring the traffic already on it indicating to go to Donabate.

Maybe we need a speed bumps on roundabouts instead?


and.......

Dont get me on about filtering. on merging lanes to Swords from roundabouts. its a race to get by the car already in front of you in the parallel lane b4 your lanes ends seems to be the expected approach.


and.....
Where is the drive thru underground Bakery that was promised?

So a vast improvement then

I thought I was going crazy when I saw the lights coming off Hearse Road onto the round-a-bout towards Swords - knew they'd tried it before, but seems they forgot.

Anyone know who to direct these issues to? I got to the lights this morning with two cars in front of me and the lights were red - no cars were coming so we were just creating a backlog of cars waiting to go to swords and eventually blocking the filter lane to the M1...

I'd imagine since the bypass for M1 north traffic going into swords, less traffic goes around the round-about - only vehicles travelling south from Lusk / Rush direction so surely there should be even more time for people coming off the Donabate exit to get out based on Yield signs?

I think the lights on the Hearse road are there as a pedestrian/cycle crossing, no?

Vlad the Impaler wrote:I think the lights on the Hearse road are there as a pedestrian/cycle crossing, no?

There's also lights at the roundabout. The pedestrian lights aren't' and issue as there's no pedestrians to use them.

Yup Ken is right - there are two sets - the pedestrian ones, stepped back from the round-a-bout / M1 slip road and another set at the actual lights heading to Swords. I went home earlier and noticed the guys messing around with the sequences - I always seem to see them during the day, as oppose to the peak periods when most people use the round-a-bout, will see what happens tomorrow am.

Bizarre. Some council department clearly has to use up a full budget to get a refill next year.