Quiet country lanes
I had a dream last night.
It wasn’t very pleasant. I was in a large maze surrounded by high concrete walls and every turn I took was a dead end. People were hurling abuse at me every time I tried a new path. I couldn’t get out. I was trapped.
Now this is a perfectly normal reaction and is as a result of my efforts to drive in Dublin yesterday. If you are not familiar with modern Dublin and attempt to drive there then you too can enjoy this scenario, ether in your dreams after or even on the day itself as you drive.
Dublin traffic planners have two thing which send them into orgasms of delight – traffic lights and traffic lanes.
Traffic lights are placed on virtually every junction and, in a very large number of cases, where there is no junction at all. They are frequently placed in clusters which aren’t synchronised so you get the green only to find a red a few yards further on. Mile after mile it’s stop start stop start. Nervous breakdowns are guaranteed.
Traffic lanes fall into many categories. There are bus lanes, cycle lanes, tram lanes, left turn only lanes, right turn only lanes and lanes which just end for no fucking reason whatsoever. These lanes are generally marked with painted arrows on the road surface which is fuck all use if the paint has worn off, or there is traffic in front obscuring the surface. You will only discover which lane you are in when you have actually entered it by which time it’s too late to change. So you find you are in a filter lane and you have to turn, whether you want to or not. Or you suddenly find the car lane you were in has miraculously converted into a bus lane and you are stuck there hoping a bus doesn’t run up your arse or that maybe some kind soul will let you switch lanes [which doesn’t often happen].
One favourite trick is to provide two lanes as an exit from a roundabout or traffic lights only to find those two lanes suddenly merge into one a few yards further on. Naturally this causes chaos as each lane refuses to accede to the other.
Don’t expect any signs at the roadside explaining what is ahead. Occasionally they will stick one up, but there are so many signs giving other useless information that they are very easy to miss.
So my advice to anyone wanting to drive in Dublin….
DON’T.
Unless you enjoy nightmares.
Driving in Dublin ispretty much like driving in any other city, though I will grant that signage is stll poor by nternational standards. Doz.y rural dwellers just have to wake up when they meet modern civilisation
Rural dwellers are civilised. It's the city mob that are causing the problems.
Sounds much the same as Manchester. Cars being driven out – pun intended. What isn't factored in is that workmen and tradesmen are needed to maintain infrastructure but are unable to park anywhere nearby, then have to carry tools and ladders around pedestrian areas. Costs mount up. Then there's the back and forward to feed the meter. Wonder how such inefficiency is voted in – but then realise that they don't think, just follow UN Agendas.
I did hear a rumor that after Eire abandoned miles for kilometers, the next EU plan was to make you all drive on the right. This is somewhere in an EU document about bringing all EU countries into line
Hah! See my reply to Mudplugger down below……..
Serves you right for copying English road marking guidelines. One route I use occasionally is mostly 2 lane dual carriageway 'urban bypasses' with roundabouts at most all of the junctions. About 8 in as many miles. Randomly the right lane is turn right, left ahead or left is a turn lane, right lane for ahead. You don't find out until about second car back in the give way queue. There was a famous case in Chester some years back where one road was made one way with no entry at one end and buses only at the other – residents and business were not amused. Planners really can be idiots.
Here in the USA (Oregon to be a bit more precise) it seems that all metro areas are making things as difficult for drivers as possible. I'm sure the idea behind this is to get people out of their cars and into public transportation.
You're spot on. During the "lockdowns" they're going mad on cycle lanes, pedestrianised streets and the like. Unfortunately, they overlook the fact that a decent public transport system should be in place first.
Unlike Sweden's overnight approach in the 1960s, it's rumoured that when Ireland changes to driving on the right the process will be organised in phases over a few weeks.
Phase 1 will be trucks, Phase 2 the next week will be buses, then vans, then cars, etc.
I'm way ahead of you Mud [by nearly fourteen years].
The real story is here.
The white car is lucky, it will get through the lights. At busy times, there will be a line of cars behind it, but only four or five will have space to get through as the lanes merge to go into Donnybrook village. There will be the frustration of sitting at green lights unable to go forward because there is a risk of blocking the junction.