Question About The Bloody Ridiculous Quay Traffic Control

[Deejay Denzel]

I have heard all the fields opposite Ballavargher, past B&Q and up to Robinsons depots and right the way back to the valley that is parallel with the bottom of Richmond Hill is the area Robinsons want to turn into a retail park.

Looking at the land when coming to the top of richmond from the south... it is one huge piece of greenfield land that I think needs protecting.

 

This will certainly drive businesses out of the town centre, I think it shouldn't be encouraged. re-development of the existing town should be looked at first.

Too late ,been long sold

 

Just because they own it doesn't mean they should be allowed to build whatever they like on it! they should grow vegetables and fruit on it

[Ushtey]

I think you need an eye test, Mr Babb - traffic directions don't come much bigger than this

 

 

Doh! It's a fair cop guv'nor

 

Serves me right for not waiting until there aren't any vehicles in front of me when I drive along there.

[Silentbob]

Ok, 3 things from that picture that spring to mind.

 

1. If you look just before the cobbled section, the lines splitting apart are broken lines, this means you can cross/enter that section.

2. The Cobbles themselves are not pavement, they are the same 'rumble' material that the DOT have ben plastering on the roundabouts recently. This means that they can be driven over.

3. The road marking TURN LEFT in my opinion in not authorative, for the to be no right turn at all, a NO RIGHT TURN sign would have to be erected.

 

Anyway, I was wondering, how can I get a detailed up to date map of douglas showing all the roads leading in and out, I reckon it could make the basis of a really fun competition.

 

"Plan Douglas' Road network, win a banana"

[triskelion]

3. The road marking TURN LEFT in my opinion in not authorative, for the to be no right turn at all, a NO RIGHT TURN sign would have to be erected.

 

I'd think that the law probably proclaims road markings as authorative, regardless of your opinion on the matter and the actions of many road users.

[Silentbob]

Well, actually, my opinion is based on experience. Many moons ago, the DoT had this balmy idea to put a give way sign at the bottom of Oak Hill on the Old Castletown Road. Suffice to say it was a monumental cock up, and they took it away....in stages. They removed the GIVE WAY signpost, but left the road markings in place for about a month. I complained to the Police and enquired if it was still a give way. They reply that for it to be authorative, it had to have both the road markings AND a signpost.

[Whimsy]

Armadeus is correct in his analasys that getting rid of all traffic lights & roundabouts would allow the drivers to think for themselves and put paid to congestion. I have seen this kind of non-system in operation and I can report that it works very well, for the motorist

You never ever see a traffic jam in Willaston.

You never see a queue of cars in Willaston.

 

 

and

 

Tthere are no roundabouts in Willaston

 

There are no halt signs in Willaston

 

There are no traffic lights in Willaston

 

QED

 

Willaston is The Land That Bruce Forgot.

[Amadeus]

Willaston is The Land That Bruce Forgot.

Until right about...now!

[Tempus Fugit]

Wasn't there a problem with electrics for traffic lights in Carisle after the floods and they discovered that there was less congestions than when they were operting so they left them off.

 

I think if the traffic is below a certain speed that people are generally courteous and allow alternate filtering, as seen at Saddle Road / New C'town Road and Alexander Drive / QBR, I think a worthwhile traffic campaign could concentrate on drivers being 'Mr Nice Guy' and not Mr Impatient' as you don't really get there much quicker that way

[Ushtey]

There was a survey in the UK, based on some work in the EU (Holland I think) that showed the traffic flowed more easily, at a lower speed and was considered safer when you took away all warning signs and traffic controls. As I recall the suggestion was that without the signs, drivers pay more attention to the hazards in the road, whereas with them they drive relying on the signs but there are usually too many for any of them to be effective.

 

I know whenever the lights at the top of Bray Hill failed the traffic always flowed quicker.

[Amadeus]

There was a survey in the UK, based on some work in the EU (Holland I think) that showed the traffic flowed more easily, at a lower speed and was considered safer when you took away all warning signs and traffic controls. As I recall the suggestion was that without the signs, drivers pay more attention to the hazards in the road, whereas with them they drive relying on the signs but there are usually too many for any of them to be effective.

 

I know whenever the lights at the top of Bray Hill failed the traffic always flowed quicker.

I think you mean "shared space", a project that has given final proof (if any was needed) that the DoT's mission to plaster the island with as many road signs as possible is completely and utterly wrong, and actually makes things worse:

 

http://www.shared-space.org/

 

Would be an absolutely great opportunity to try it over here, but as it makes sense, it's not gonna happen...

[ai_Droid]

You seriously expect kids to cross the road at the top of bray hill to school without traffic lights?

[Amadeus]

It doesn't mean all signs are just ripped off and thrown away, but a reduction suited to the circumstances

[ai_Droid]

It doesn't mean all signs are just ripped off and thrown away, but a reduction suited to the circumstances

 

Right, so give me a specific example on a stretch of local road.

[feelslikeitshould]

It doesn't mean all signs are just ripped off and thrown away, but a reduction suited to the circumstances

 

Right, so give me a specific example on a stretch of local road.

 

The lights at the bottom of broadway. Parliament Square in Ramsey.

[Amadeus]

Let's stick with north quay then. Under the shared space idea (if I interpreted it correctly), the borders between roads and pavement are often reduced or erased, meaning a motorist is not sure if he's actually on a proper road or not. In the case of north quay, that would simply mean making the whole stretch of road from the railway to the swing bridge from one continous material instead of having the cobble pavement and then a clearly marked roadway in the middle, which at the moment results in no-one giving a monkey's about the 20mph limit there. Bit like in these pics from the shared space site:

 

 

 

(Notice the absence of pointless silver bollards to create an additional border & hazard, as on north quay at the moment)

 

The effect seems to be that drivers are automatically slowing down and driving more carefully, while interacting more with their environment instead of relying only on signs and directions.

 

That's only an attempt at giving an example of this concept, though, and there are countless other ingredients that are worth exploring for local use. Have a read through their site and the material on it - I'm sure you will find some bits that would make sense on the island and improve things, while also making driving safer.