Ballasalla Traffic Calming

[ccm]

Having driven through B'salla on numerous occasions in recent months I'm mystified/stupified as what is going on with the speed humps which were put in place but have since been removed. A costly scheme for the taxpayer methinks and possibly an example of the DoT getting it wrong again. (Maybe it's me that's wrong though and there's something that I've missed?)

[doofus]

Having driven through B'salla on numerous occasions in recent months I'm mystified/stupified as what is going on with the speed humps which were put in place but have since been removed. A costly scheme for the taxpayer methinks and possibly an example of the DoT getting it wrong again. (Maybe it's me that's wrong though and there's something that I've missed?)

 

not sure of the official reasoning, but as a daily user of the road the positioning of the speed humps has actually created more of a hazard than prevviously existed.

 

drivers are crossing the centre line of the road, rather than slowing down, in order to avoid the worst of the height of the speed hump, this in turn puts them in the path of the oncoming traffic which despite the "best" efforts of the DOT is still a considerable flow and contains a substantial number of large goods vehicles who have now where to go when confronted by a driver not wishing to slow down over the traffic calming measures.

[b4mbi]

I drive that way every day and there appears to be no logic / planning or forethought in what they are doing ???

 

Crazy. How difficult is it really ??

[ccm]

This is where I get pretty peed off with local journalism – why is no-one in Govt being taken to task on this by the media? IOM Newspapers sometimes seem to stick the boot in and David Callister used to many years ago – nowadays zilch. Do they have to tow the line so they can get their money/licences?

[jim]

first i thought if you straddle them, so your on the champherd edges it would be less bumpy, but then I discoverd the one wheel on one wheel off is far better technique.

 

at a wild guess the residents copmlained that they were causing their houses to wobble so they thav taken them up dug down a bit in filled with something to absorb the shock, and they will be back again soon.

[Karellen]

Why do they do this? Who thinks its a good idea - the people we elect? We don't need speed humps - our roads are in a poor enough state as they are without creating artificial bumps. The current state of road management drives me nuts and these people are just creating work for themselves at our cost. Take North Quay in Douglas as another expample - why is it necessary to spread gallons of white paint all over the road, and those parking spaces three feet away from the kerb - bonkers.

[Skig]

I hope when Hannay is eventually put out to grass they bring in a proper road engineer with a lot of experience under his belt, not just promoting the teaboy because he is the next in line.

Its going to cost millions to put right all the mess that has been created under his mis-management

[Tempus Fugit]

they're as stupid as the original slalom course they did, you just end up taking the straight line anyway !

 

 

slightly off topic (but still on calming measures) do you think they should have left a line of plastic cones at the QB when they took the concrete wall away ?, they could easily be stacked away by manual means before racing.

I can just imagine the first flush of bikers tearing through there 6-abreast when they get off the boat and want to go for their first lap ~ heaven help the rest of us.

[Cret]

I drive that way every day and there appears to be no logic / planning or forethought in what they are doing ???

 

Crazy. How difficult is it really ??

 

Couldn't have said it better. It's absurd.

 

Also, with the markings they've put on the road it's made it so that if anyone parks on the left heading south, you basically have to stop then go round the vehicle instead of going straight past.

 

What that means is that when it's busy and the flow needs to work well it will be slower and cause more delays, but when it's not busy, any idiot that wanted to go through quickly still can do unhindered. So there's no safety benefit at all.

 

I hate the idea of cameras but in a built up area like that I don't mind. It'd save all the construction work and be a lot more effective at keeping the driving slow, & not disrupting the flow of traffic.

[Amadeus]

Take North Quay in Douglas as another expample - why is it necessary to spread gallons of white paint all over the road, and those parking spaces three feet away from the kerb - bonkers.

Ah..North Quay.. Before they started phase two of the revamp, there were more than 100 road signs on the small stretch of road between the railway and the swing bridge - more than 100! Regulation overkill, or what? I'm sure the DoT only has the best intentions and our all wellbeing in mind, but can't lose the feeling that a lot of the measures are actually harming traffic flow instead of supporting it - said it before and will say it again - bring the shared-space principle - now!

[keyboarder]

I like speed humps. They are a a reasonably cheap and pretty effective way of slowing traffic down. All residential areas should have them, particularly in the immediate vicinities of schools.

[Cret]

I like speed humps. They are a a reasonably cheap and pretty effective way of slowing traffic down. All residential areas should have them, particularly in the immediate vicinities of schools.

 

I don't really disagree with you there. I don't mind them that much either.

They aren't really the problem though here, it's the way they've marked out the road which effectively makes it narrower.

So totally aside from the speed issue the traffic can't flow properly when there is anything parked and/or large vehicles like 8 wheelers going through and there are a lot of those constantly going to & from Billown.

[Hugh Jampton]

The type of speed bumps at Ballasalla are treacherous to motorcyclists especially when they are slippery with rain or frost.

You do anything to avoid going over them or stopping on them.

Strang Road is a prime example of a grand salom for both cars and bikes.

Have you noticed at the Union Mills junction the signs say for "local access only"

[asitis]

I could never understand why the necessity to narrow the road as well, leaving two parking places close to the 'old bakery' island which are dangerous to enter because of following traffic. Perhaps the big house did not like persons parking close to their garden ?

 

I agree a complete waste of public money but perhaps in the grand schemes of waste of public money a drop in the ocean.

[maggle]

Speed bumps are a giant pain in the arse. They may slow traffic but the don't do the slightest thing for road safety or the environment. Having to drive along a road with bumps every 50 yards distracts the driver from what is going on around them, they concentrate so much on the approaching bumps that they don't see what is going on the sides of the road, children could quite easily not be seen by a driver. Also, the whole stop start thing probably produces more emissions than a steady safe speed.

 

The "Speed cushions" used at Union Mills to Strang and at Ballasalla could cause considerable damage to the suspension components of your car. Suspension is designed to move up and down, straddling the "cushions" will impose lateral forces on ball joints and bushes causing premature wear. As there is no MOT over here, this wear will probably go unnoticed.

 

I'm all for road safety such as re-testing, MOT, speed cameras in built up areas, radar traps near schools etc. but these bumps really suck ass and do nothing to improve road safety.

 

When I approach these bumps, I slow to a crawl, probably almost stopped, and inch my way over them, one wheel on, one wheel off. People behind get pretty pissed off with this but it saves my car suspension getting destroyed.