The M50

Any other poor sod out there making the daily pilgrimage from the North side to the Southside on the M50.  It seems to have become a total disaster in the last month or so and I do not accept the back to school rubbish.

The queue now starts back down the M50 extenstion towards the Malahide road. 

From Portmarnock Tecaco (93.9 per litre) to the flyover at City west, 19 miles, 1hr 20mins average speed 14.25mph on alleged motorway and dual carriage.  This has been the case for the last two mornings - Sad that I know this but not a lot else to do while I sit there.

I reckon its going to be screwed completely once the tunnel opens in Jan 05 and dumps 2.5k of trucks onto it in the am!!!

Martin

96 328i Coupe

Heard about the three lanes but can't imagine that it will make much difference as the problem really is that you can't get on or off the M50.  Three lanes will mean we can park more cars on it which I suppose gets them off the feeder roads.

If you come back along the route in the evening trying to get onto the M50 from the Naas road is a complete waste of time.  I go accross through Newcastle and Lucan on the way back as its worthwhile.

I appreciate what you are saying about get on the road earlier, but at €1000 a year in road tax I think I should be able to get on the road at a decent hour and expect to travel somewhat quicker than the Ass and Cart.  Plus if I drop the rugrats off at the minder at 6:20am I can double the mortgage taht I already pay for them.

I came back from hols on the 23rd of August and its been absolutely brutal from then.  Has anyone got an alt route as I tried the back of the Airport which is hopeless, also wonder what its like up through Ballymum, Finglas and out past Dunsink to rejoin at Blanchardstown.

On the plus side - the 2.8 is fairly economical for this type of driving.  I am getting about 31mpg, where as if I bring the 520i I only get 27/28mpg

I travel the reverse direction. My thoughts are related to merging traffic, especially at the Ballymount and Naas Rd. intersections. There is a volume of cars entering and leaving that justifies the 3rd lane along this stretch. I notice too that lane changing for exits causes huge ripple effects in the flow...

The NRA and The National Toll Roads - a great bunch of lads.  I believe the toll guys are more interested in Building wind farms, reclycling and developing various other Profitable ventures with our cash from the tolls rather than improving the service that is the back bone of thier business.

We're just a bunch of suckers - Certain US Toll roads running the equivalent of EazyPass offer high speed dedicated lanes with no barriers plus the incentive that if you use the automated system there can be a 50% reduction in price as opposed to paying cash.  But hey we're stupid so we'll pay more to use an automated system that costs less to administer and has a higher throughput of vehicles .............Thud!!!!!!

Sorry just fell off my Soapbox!?!?!?

There are two things I don't understand about the M50.
1. The state/EU paid for a motorway quality road (something not yet achieved IMO) but allowed a private company to build the bridge & charge tolls for its use, which causes the most difficulty when using this road. Could the state not just have built it?
2. why doesn't the government pay for its use during busy periods? See http://www.aaireland.ie/news/article.asp?news_Id=293 for what i mean.

kbannon wrote: There are two things I don't understand about the M50. 1. The state/EU paid for a motorway quality road (something not yet achieved IMO) ...

What they have achieved is more like "motorway kwalitee"

Still... can't be surprised with all that long-running mess over the alleged ruins of Carrickmines.....

Edited by Horsetan

On my annual visits to Ireland, I still get stuck in the N4/M50 interchange at Liffey Valley. And much of it's due to one thing:

...the Toll plaza.....

JohnH wrote: ....there is no point in trying to understand the thought process of those public officials responsible for it.

As a would-be Irishman, I'd prefer to regard it as an Irish solution to an Irish problem....which even the Irish didn't know existed!

JohnH wrote: They saved IR£60 million by not putting in the third lane when it was constructed initially...

...and will spend, oh, five times that amount in widening it in the years to come..... (just like WCUK, in fact)

I'm looking to invest money in publicly-quoted Irish road building companies. All recommendations are very welcome....

In fairness, the 'tree-huggers' existence is down purely to political corruption. If the politicians hadn't decided on that particular route (due to backhanders, etc.) then it would not be an issue.

Something similar is about to begin up near Tara. The NRA want to repeat the Stonehenge fiasco beside one of the most important archaeological areas in this country.

Furthermore, a third lane on the M50 is not the answer to the gridlock problem. It is all caused by bad planning and bad driving. If drivers obeyed the box junction rules then traffic would flow more freely on many of the M50 interchanges. If many of the right hand turns arund the city were gone traffic would improve overnight!

Can't have the tree huggers left without a battle to fight?