Southside Traffic Problems

[gettafa]

Manx Radio

The whole route needs to be a freeway. 

Permanently.

Roads are for driving on not parking on. 
 

[hissingsid]

Wait until Chris Thomas gets his way and lets Dandara build all over the Island this will be the norm.

[Non-Believer]

How much of it is due to DOI bringing the Island's road arteries to carpark status? Surely never before can they or their predecessors have imposed so much combined simultaneous inconvenience upon taxpaying motorists?

[foxdaleliberationfront]

All in the name of cycle lanes. When was the public consulted that they agree to having fucking cycle lanes everywhere?

[joebean]

Why is it that everything that DoI does, in terms of bigger schemes, ends up as a total mess, causing inconvenience and disruption to motorists, the public and business? Why are they permitted to do this with seemingly impunity? Do any of our politicians have the sense of duty to call out the senior management at DoI for the useless items they are and demand that someone more competent, capable of exploring and mitigating issues before they become problems, replaces them? Or is the Government response just to wring hands and pretend nothing can be done?

Of course, I already know the answers to these questions. Feeble senior civil servants and feeble self-serving politicians are not the ingredients of good Government, however much they pretend they are.

[gettafa]

36 minutes ago, foxdaleliberationfront said:

All in the name of cycle lanes. When was the public consulted that they agree to having fucking cycle lanes everywhere?

The local MHK is a cyclist. And he's the Speaker too. No need to consult public.

[asitis]

Arbory school drop off and pick up times are a nightmare and in my view dangerous to both traffic and children !, and yet given the density of the traffic and the demands on the school land keeps getting sold to a developer for more houses and more families in Colby !

I keep reading about plans for this and plans for that, but when do our thickos ever get out in the real world and take a look at what is happening ?

 

 

[manxman1980]

7 hours ago, gettafa said:

The local MHK is a cyclist. And he's the Speaker too. No need to consult public.

Below text is taken from a Facebook post by the very person you are referring too.

 

"Traffic... (strap yourself in!)

It's been the bane of my life this summer with the works on Shore Road and soon to come on Beach Road too.  

I'm afraid that everything that has happened has been without chatting to the local MHKs first, which hasn't helped the situation. So, we're getting a cycle lane on Shore Road, which is a good thing, buy I'm disappointed that it wasn't on the opposite side of the road where the pavement is barely used rather than the DOI's plan of it being on the seaward side where cyclists and pedestrians will have a shared space.  It nearly involved taking away the grass too, but that is a small last-minute win for nature in an otherwise under-considered scheme. (Seriously, I spoke to DOI about this in 2009, nothing for ten years, and now something that could have been done better with a bit of local input!)

We are also now looking at two weeks of traffic chaos whilst Shore Road is one way. Again, I've just been told the way it is rather than had any say, so this has all been rearguard action!  

Like many others, it took me almost 30 minutes to get from Croit e Caley to Duck Street this morning.  I phoned DOI to ask what their masterplan was to counter this, and was told that they were coming down this morning to monitor the situation.  This being done, apart form spacing some cones out we can expect much of the same for the next two weeks as an extra few hundred cars compete with Arbory School drop on what is effectively a one lane highway with passing places from 0830 onwards.

A number of suggestions have been put forward, all with pro's and cons:

*Reverse the one way:-
This was apparently decided after Bus Vannin was consulted. Their officers consider that this is the least disruptive way of managing the impact to their services.

DoI have today consulted Police and ambulance services. Both of who consider the status quo as far as Gansey is considered as being preferable as this offers the easiest and quickest route to get services to Port Erin and Port St Mary and the southern part of Rushen (this point was made particularly strongly by the ambulance; as generally trips into hospital after pick up is not done under blue light conditions whereas getting to the scene is critical).

*Have the one way northbound in the morning and southbound in the afternoon:-
 
This was apparently discounted as an option, owing to the additional risk presented if an inattentive driver came the wrong way and risked causing  a collision

Feedback from Bus Vannin was that on Friday afternoon the PSM to Douglas bus took 10 minutes longer than normal at school pick up time. We’ve not had feedback from them about this morning yet.

*Prevent cars from stopping outside the school, and undertake all pick-up/drop-offs in the field opposite:-

This would introduce additional movements on and off the carriageway which would cause additional blockages. It would also introduce an additional risk of primary age children crossing the carriage way (perhaps alone) when the road is at its busiest.  In these circumstances DOI have decided not to approach the landowner. DOI had not addressed the question as to whether the field would be in a condition to stand up to multiple traffic movements at this time of year.

I understand that for those heading South this morning it didn't seem that there was much activity. I am advised that the workers were drilling out cats eyes and surveying and marking levels for the final road surface. Neither activity can be done in a fully live road whilst maintaining a safe working environment.

With all this going on, the prospect of having Beach Road was a bridge too far, so at my request that has been delayed until the works on Shore Road are finished. Communications will commence next week with residents on Beach Road getting flyers from the MUA about the phasing of the work. At present, I have asked DOI about using this opportunity to slow traffic on Beach Road, but my optimism on achieving this is fading!!

So, in summary, the only advice I can offer is:
1. If you can go another route (e.g. Sloc), give it a go.
2. Leave earlier 
3. Avoid heading South through Ballabeg between 8am and 9am if possible.
4. Send in any other ideas!

I'm as frustrated as many of you are, and am disappointed on many of these big decisions to be finding out only just ahead of everyone else. I'm grateful to DOI and MUA for taking on the comments I've made late in the day as I've discovered what's going on.  I'm sure we'd recognise a lot of the work needs doing, but as ever, the way it's done could be improved."

[Non-Believer]

8 hours ago, foxdaleliberationfront said:

All in the name of cycle lanes. When was the public consulted that they agree to having fucking cycle lanes everywhere?

Personally, I still have yet to witness any meaningful use (by cyclists) of the cycle lanes to date installed. Lezayre Rd Ramsey...nope, but I saw one riding on the pavement the other day. Peel Rd over the weekend devoid of them too. Politically correct waste of time, space and money.

[foxdaleliberationfront]

30 minutes ago, Non-Believer said:

Personally, I still have yet to witness any meaningful use (by cyclists) of the cycle lanes to date installed. Lezayre Rd Ramsey...nope, but I saw one riding on the pavement the other day. Peel Rd over the weekend devoid of them too. Politically correct waste of time, space and money.

They're fine if they go from somewhere to somewhere and take them completely off the roads. But none of them do! 

[Dave Hedgehog]

Hopefully all this mess will highlight the need for dpuble yellows on the blind corner between The Level and Ballakilpheric where some arse insists on parking all the time. 

[Donald Trumps]

12 hours ago, hissingsid said:

Wait until Chris Thomas gets his way and lets Dandara build all over the Island this will be the norm.

Well yes - there is traffic congestion south of the bridge because the area is overdeveloped

[Derek Flint]

3 hours ago, Non-Believer said:

Personally, I still have yet to witness any meaningful use (by cyclists) of the cycle lanes to date installed. Lezayre Rd Ramsey...nope, but I saw one riding on the pavement the other day. Peel Rd over the weekend devoid of them too. Politically correct waste of time, space and money.

Lezayre Road was an embarrassment. I am still convinced someone read the plans wrong, and painted the centre line there by mistake. In order to save face they called it a ‘cycle lane’, which actually causes more danger to cyclists than the traditional road markings as motorists haven’t got a point of reference. 

The solution was less than 150m to the north. Turn cyclists down Gardeners Lane, and then down the old railway track. 

[gettafa]

1 hour ago, Dave Hedgehog said:

Hopefully all this mess will highlight the need for dpuble yellows on the blind corner between The Level and Ballakilpheric where some arse insists on parking all the time. 

The whole road from Colby level to Duck Street should be a clearway.

Many cars are parked where they have a garage and/or driveway but hey, it's easier to just pull up outside the house with no regard for anyone else. Some, but very few, houses don't have a garage or driveway. They should make one. A parking spot right outside your house on the public road is not some sort of right. That is not what a road is for.

Ditto especially The Strang Road at Braddan but of course that is another story. But not at all dissimilar, especially when it is a main route to the hospital.

This isn't the 1950s.

 

1 hour ago, Donald Trumps said:

Well yes - there is traffic congestion south of the bridge because the area is overdeveloped

I see what you are trying to say but I'm not sure you are right. Port Erin is overdeveloped.

In any case the point stands that such as QB and beyond in every direction is going to be fun once Chris Thomas allows his new landowning friends and rich builders to make lots of money out of building houses on all that lovely land in the central valley.

[mad_manx]

1 hour ago, gettafa said:

The whole road from Colby level to Duck Street should be a clearway.

Many cars are parked where they have a garage and/or driveway but hey, it's easier to just pull up outside the house with no regard for anyone else. Some, but very few, houses don't have a garage or driveway. They should make one. A parking spot right outside your house on the public road is not some sort of right. That is not what a road is for.

Ditto especially The Strang Road at Braddan but of course that is another story. But not at all dissimilar, especially when it is a main route to the hospital.

This isn't the 1950s.

 

I see what you are trying to say but I'm not sure you are right. Port Erin is overdeveloped.

In any case the point stands that such as QB and beyond in every direction is going to be fun once Chris Thomas allows his new landowning friends and rich builders to make lots of money out of building houses on all that lovely land in the central valley.

If you speak to the people who live on Strang road , it was never meant to be the main route to the hospital .