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[oldmanxfella]

Or is it that the bloody finance sector is so bloody precious that they must be kept happy at all costs?

 

In a word yes it bloody is because without it the IOM is infinitely more f**ked than if it had to go without the TT or MGP. The finance sector earns the money 365 days a year and generates the demand in most other areas (building, housing etc). The TT and MGP are just stage shows to attempt to prove that we still have any form of tourist industry (ie, that the DTL actually does anything).

[Bambster]

The thing I'm most unhappy about is that given the debacle the other evening bosses will be lenient about letting folks go early, but mine knows I live a hundred yards up the road so I'm gonna be sat there lip out as others whistle merry tunes and gets home before news round. I do try and think of others, its just hard :oP

[Tugger]

Or is it that the bloody finance sector is so bloody precious that they must be kept happy at all costs?

 

In a word yes it bloody is because without it the IOM is infinitely more f**ked than if it had to go without the TT or MGP. The finance sector earns the money 365 days a year and generates the demand in most other areas (building, housing etc). The TT and MGP are just stage shows to attempt to prove that we still have any form of tourist industry (ie, that the DTL actually does anything).

 

I'm (peripherally) part of the finance sector and I seriously doubt that it's going to vanish because of traffic difficulties 3 days a year. No, it's not great, and yes, it could do with a bit better planning, but for fuck's sake, spending 45 minutes in your car is not the end of the world. That this should be such a terrific cause of concern just shows you how cushy your life is.

[oldmanxfella]

I'm (peripherally) part of the finance sector and I seriously doubt that it's going to vanish because of traffic difficulties 3 days a year.

 

I agree with you. But to be fair everything stands still for the races - if the roads were closed for a week at ridiculous times for the annual Isle of Man Bank Santa Races I could imagine a few motor sport fans getting the hump.

 

Plus its not 3 days a year though is it TT and MGP combined is at least 10 days?

[Gagster]

This is great, I've just seen this on the Manx Radio website:-

 

"Director of Highways Bruce Hannay says weather forecasts indicate it will be a similar day tomorrow (Friday), and therefore racing may have to be delayed until the afternoon."

 

I'm assuming that Bruce Hannay's information is actually ANOTHER weather forecast, for a completely different day and a different place - a piece of road or a field owned by the Water Authority perhaps and anyway it's down to the marshalls to sort the weather out.... :-)

 

If you recall, this is a guy who was descibed earlier this year by Michael Moyle as someone who "should never have anything to do with motor racing on the Isle of Man".

[jimbms]

This is great, I've just seen this on the Manx Radio website:-

 

"Director of Highways Bruce Hannay says weather forecasts indicate it will be a similar day tomorrow (Friday), and therefore racing may have to be delayed until the afternoon."

 

I'm assuming that Bruce Hannay's information is actually ANOTHER weather forecast, for a completely different day and a different place - a piece of road or a field owned by the Water Authority perhaps and anyway it's down to the marshalls to sort the weather out.... :-)

 

If you recall, this is a guy who was descibed earlier this year by Michael Moyle as someone who "should never have anything to do with motor racing on the Isle of Man".

I think you may find unless you are incapable understanding such that he made the announcment to inform the public of the impending chaos which as you stated he can do nothing about considering he has nothing to do with the race organisation. You will also find that it could have been the MGP organisors who gathered the weather forcast, as the information first came from them not the DoT

[Gagster]

I think you may find unless you are incapable understanding such that he made the announcment to inform the public of the impending chaos which as you stated he can do nothing about considering he has nothing to do with the race organisation. You will also find that it could have been the MGP organisors who gathered the weather forcast, as the information first came from them not the DoT

 

Then Bruce has clearly learned nothing from the Michael Moyle inquest verdict; you appear to be keen to distance Mr Hannay from the event, but as Director of Highways he IS involved.

 

So the weather report then, is presented to the public by Bruce Hannay from DOT but it COULD have been passed to him by the MGP organisers rather than the DOT. So, if the forecast is wrong - you'd be looking to blame the MGP organisers rather than Bruce. Of course, the MGP organisers would blame Bruce for giving the wrong information to the public via his statement.... again showing that nobody involved in these motor events has learned anything in the recent past.

 

I'm staggered that Bruce Hannay as Director of Highways is involved in the racing event (if not the actual race organisation). I believe the word "farcial" was used by Mr Moyle, when it became apparent that Bruce could barely tell the difference between "left" and "right" when referring to parts of the TT course.

 

The fact that the weather forecast has even been glimpsed at by Bruce Hannay tells me that it will probably be wrong.

 

Crazy world this is!

[Alias]

Then Bruce has clearly learned nothing from the Michael Moyle inquest verdict; you appear to be keen to distance Mr Hannay from the event, but as Director of Highways he IS involved.

 

So the weather report then, is presented to the public by Bruce Hannay from DOT but it COULD have been passed to him by the MGP organisers rather than the DOT. So, if the forecast is wrong - you'd be looking to blame the MGP organisers rather than Bruce. Of course, the MGP organisers would blame Bruce for giving the wrong information to the public via his statement.... again showing that nobody involved in these motor events has learned anything in the recent past.

You're an idiot - you appear to agree with Moyle but are offering contradictory suggestions?

[wideload]

would it be dangerous to suggest that our police force actually get out of their chairs/cars and go to the major junctions in and around Douglas and direct traffic to keep the flow moving? most of the problem is impatient people pulling across junctions and roundabouts and then stopping as there is no where to go, which buggers it up for everyone else.

 

On Wednesday there was total gridlock and i didn't see a single copper until i got out of Douglas, where one bored bike cop was doing a speed trap on an empty back road.

[Gagster]

You're an idiot - you appear to agree with Moyle but are offering contradictory suggestions?

 

I do agree with Moyle, but am not offering contradictory suggestions - I was merely trying to understand jimbms earlier posting. jimbms was making suggestions that the weather report highlighted by Bruce Hannay COULD have come from the MGP organisers rather than the DOT.

 

Anyway - welcome to the discussion, and 10/10 for you're opening line "You're an idiot". It's amazing isn't, some people run a race at rush-hour causing hours of disruption to thousands of people, but it's ME who is the idiot. Priceless!

[Gagster]

On Wednesday there was total gridlock and i didn't see a single copper until i got out of Douglas, where one bored bike cop was doing a speed trap on an empty back road.

 

Actually, you're right - not a single copper! Perhaps they were stuck in traffic..........

 

Seriously though, it's not far from Lord Street to those roundabouts near the Sea Terminal.

[matty]

I don't work 9 - 5. How are you going to legislate so I can get to work without delay? Or is it that the bloody finance sector is so bloody precious that they must be kept happy at all costs?

How about this for a strange concept, get to 'work' early or stay at 'work' late twice a year. Alternately be like me and have a holiday organised so I am off island when the fun starts. Not rocket science is it?

Peace be with you.

 

Er, well - the guy next to me is on holiday - and so is someone else, now unfortunately the modern world doesn't allow businesses to let all of their staff go on holiday at the same time. The residents and workers, businesses etc can't just close down for 2/4 weeks a year - otherwise we'd be in even more of a mess. Trust me, if my business shut down and we all went on holiday you'd all be moaning!!!!

 

I'm happy to work around the races, and I do the work early and late thing - but there should be some sort of race schedule protocol. There's a timetable, with plans for delays etc, gap days etc - but running a race in rush hour is just selfish and stupid.

 

You're happy to work around the races, do the early & late thing & say there should be a race schedule protocol??

 

There is, the roads are closed, then opened when the racing has finished - in between set times (these times a publicly announced) - what's your problem????

 

Perhaps loads of tourists & competitors coming here, spending money and adding a little zest to the local life, but complaining that the roads being closed might have caused you a minor inconvenience is perhaps selfish and stupid???

 

It took me almost an hour to get home the other night when it normally takes me 10-15 mins - I have absolutely no complaints about the roads being closed, my gripe was about the idiots in cars blocking round abouts & traffic lights where if 'they' weren't so selfish the traffic could probably have moved a lot smoother & quicker to let everyone have a better journey home.

 

Perhaps, as other posters have mentioned our police force could be out on the streets helping to direct traffic, then this could make life a lot easier for all of us.

[StuartT]

Now, I love watching the bikes - more so at the MGP than the TT, but this lunacy has to stop.

 

There has to be somthing put into Manx law to state that racing cannot take place on public roads between 5 and 6 p.m. And by that I also mean the Southern course too. Take yesterday for example, the weather was set fair for the day so the organisers could have run the Junior race from 6.15, no problem. But no, the rights of a minority are far more important than those of the Manx public. What really gets my goat is when they close the road late for the Vintage parade. Really, who gives a 5hit? I like to see them but not at the expense of the freedom of movement of the island's population.

 

What I don't get is that the organisers seem completely oblivious to the havoc that they cause and surely it's the worst possible PR I mean "Hey! This our sport! It'll screw your your day up no end!!" No wonder so many folk say "bloody bikes", there has to be some compromise. Long gone are the days when the island was a sleepy collection of fishing and ex-mining villages..

 

And yes, I do live inside the course but no, I definately do not work in the finance sector

 

You sound like a typical 9 -5 worker, some of us work inside the course on shift work and are affected by the race in far more ways that the average office bod, who only problem iss being delayed (on part due to their own innability to adapt to a change of routine and show innitiative to reduce the use of their cars and use alternative transport as another option).

 

Quite clearly you don't object to the TT or MGP on other grounds as you enjoy watching the bikes, so start realising that there's more to life than the 9-5 drudgery most people resign themselves to.

 

And as a shift worker I think it's about time that 9-5 Mon - Fri businesses were abolished - I think for example the banks, shops, etc should be open 24 -7 (or at least a lot later and a lot ealier than they are, and also over the weekends), and all office staff should be expected to work weekends, evenings and nights to cover.

 

Though I do agree provision for crossing the course is horrendous for pedestrians, it's about time that some permanent bridges and underpasses (for convenience inside and outside of race hours) were put there. For example it would take very little effort to build an underpass to allow pedestrians to pass underneath Quarterbridge and walk along Ruby Pitch to get to Bradden - but it's still far too much effort for our politicians as per usual...

[Theodolite]

Brucey, to my experience, is a shining example why the Isle of Man is simply inept at running itself as a modern society.

 

He'll get a huge pension and live the rest of his life, as with all his many colleagues in the Isle of Man Government Pensioned Off Early Club laughing at the lot of ya'

 

should he be even bothered to look in at us.

[StuartT]

You're an idiot - you appear to agree with Moyle but are offering contradictory suggestions?

 

I do agree with Moyle, but am not offering contradictory suggestions - I was merely trying to understand jimbms earlier posting. jimbms was making suggestions that the weather report highlighted by Bruce Hannay COULD have come from the MGP organisers rather than the DOT.

 

Anyway - welcome to the discussion, and 10/10 for you're opening line "You're an idiot". It's amazing isn't, some people run a race at rush-hour causing hours of disruption to thousands of people, but it's ME who is the idiot. Priceless!

 

Hours of disruption? I doubt most office workers have much more than 1 hour of disruption (on top of whatever their normal travelling time is). I got home from work some 3 - 4 hours later than I was scheduled to on one raceday due to the MGP (and this was unsocial hours early hours of the morning - the roads were open and there wasn't much traffic about when I was on my way home so all those office bods were probably tucked up home safe in bed with only whether they're going to have to explain why they're late for a meaningless job to worry about), but it's all part of my infinetely more rewarding job, so what the hell!

 

I am not a race fan, I think watching bikes is boring as sh!t, but each to their own. At least I still find some sort of personal reward from my involvement in the races.