N11 Strikes again.

Teenager killed in Co Wicklow collision

RTE.ie Sunday, 23 August 2009 10:11

A 16-year-old boy has died in a road accident in Co Wicklow.

The single-vehicle collision happened on the N11 at Ballinacor East near Arklow at about 2.30am this morning.

The driver lost control of the car and it collided with a telephone pole.

A 20-year-old man in the car was injured and has been taken to St Vincent's University Hospital. His injuries are not believed to be life threatening.

Gardaí do not yet know which of the two occupants was driving the car.

The road at the scene of the crash has been closed off and is expected to remain closed until early afternoon as a forensic examination takes place.

Diversions are in place northbound at Jack White's pub and southbound at The Tap pub.

Another Irish Transport Screw up

RTE Thursday, 23 July 2009 14:23
M6 speed limit signs set to be replaced
Fine Gael TD Denis Naughten has criticised the Government over plans to change all speed limit signs on a new section of the M6, just 36 days after today's official opening.
The new dual carriageway between Athlone and Ballinasloe was opened by Taoiseach Brian Cowen today.
Deputy Naughten said the road will be re-designated as a motorway in 36 days, on 28 August, when all its speed limit signs will have to be changed from 100km/h to 120km/h.
He described the situation as yet another screw up that will cost public money and which could have been avoided.
'[The Minister's] screw up means that the dual carriageway will contain one set of speed limit signs for 36 days (100km/h) and then every single one of these signs will have to be replaced with speed limit signs of 120km/h,' Mr Naughten said.
Mr Naughten claims the Minister for Transport published a plan to redesignate the section of road last September, but only signed the required ministerial orders on 2 July.
The road has been finished five weeks ahead of schedule and on budget, with construction costs of €100m.
It is expected to take around 15 minutes off the journey time between the two towns.

The minsiter seems to know nothing about Tunnels

NRA can rectify tunnel problems, says Dempsey

www.rte.ie/news
Thursday, 6 March 2008 15:59

Transport Minister Noel Dempsey has said he is confident the National Roads Authority is doing all in its power to resolve issues with equipment in the Dublin Port Tunnel.

The Minister was responding to Fine Gael's Fergus O'Dowd, who said equipment failures in the tunnel were unacceptable and were damaging public confidence in the tunnel.

Problems with the tunnel's fans were revealed on RTÉ's Prime Time programme.

Mr Dempsey agreed it was unacceptable, but said it was a matter between the contractor and the NRA, which was taking legal action to ensure the equipment was properly repaired.

He said he was confident the NRA was doing all in its power to do this.

Seems the Minister wants to blame someone else, when it was his government that chose the cheapest tenders. You buy cheap and you will get crap.
Thanks to the Minister for wasting my money on another white elephant.

The Minister, realises deaths on N11 are wrong.

Well it appears the Minister of transport Noel Dempsey has finally begun to realise that the deaths on the N11 should not be happening, he has finally conceded that Dual Carriage ways are safer than single lane roads.

The Minister said: “The projects announced today are built to various scales and are located throughout all regions. What is common to all of these projects, however, is that they make for safer roads. As Transport Minister, road safety is of paramount importance to me and better quality roads make for easier, safer, road journeys in less built-up traffic. High quality dual carriageways/motorways have been proven to be seven times safer than the roads they replace. By opening over 100km of new roads in 2008, we are adding significantly to the safety of our national road network.”
Department of Transport Press Office - Olive Stephens 01-6041089/ NRA Press Office - Sean O’Neill (086 8230600)

A little step backwards from a previous mail to myself when he said that,

“Unfortunately, no matter what action we as a Government take in terms of improving our roads the primary cause of almost 90% of all road accidents remains driver behaviour – mainly speeding. It is my understanding that the accidents statistics for the N11 as a whole do not indicate any significant deviation from this norm”

So is the Minister blaming bad drivers or bad roads?, or is it all political rhetoric to subdue the gullible voters.

So as a plea to the minister, please could you be more honest and a little less political, then the next time there is an election the voter won’t be voting for the devil they know and more likely to vote for the politician who gives a damn about the voters.

John

Again the Minister refuses to stop road deaths on N11

Well it seems that our Minister for Transport is proving that he and his department are proving to be a Department who are unable to communicate and also are unable to plan correctly.

These were proved by the Aer Lingus, Shannon and Heathrow debacle and also recently the provisional license mess he, the RSA and his Department didn't plan very well. I remember Gay Byrne said shortly after his appointment to the post of Chairman of the RSA,

"that if the government interfered with his running of the RSA"

he would resign, well I think its time for Mr. Byrne to go and take the Minister with him. It appears that the Minister is unable to run his Department at all.

The attitude of the Minister for Transport towards road safety is apparently non existent, take the N11 between Rathnew and Arklow, in the last six months three people died on this stretch of road, there were also other collisions resulting in personal injuries and damage to property that according to the Department of Transport cost the state upwards of €10,000,000 (Road Safety Strategy 2007 – 2012), when the Minister was pressed on the N11 he was at pain to point out that the Department spent €750,000 on remedial work at the Ballinameesda bends, now I'm at a loss would the €10 million death money have been better spent on completing the last dangerous section of the N11 in Wicklow? The Department have said that the N11 Rathnew to Arklow will be started (not completed) in 2010, so at that rate we should expect to loose another 15 drivers, passengers and possibly innocent road users before its finished, the cost to the state about €50,000,000. My belief is that the money wasted on road deaths could be better spent on completing the most dangerous road in Ireland and cutting down the cost of road kills. The math's is not difficult to comprehend, €50 million, compared to the cost of the completion of this road. Recently the Minister opened the Gorey bypass and in his photo call had the nerve to say that the "New Gorey bypass would remove up to 10,000 cars a day from the town", but obviously the Minister in his usual small minded manner does not see that the 10,000 a day cars still travel along the N11 between Rathnew and Arklow therefore upping the chances of deaths.

He also said "The economic dividend of the bypass will be significant as it will make a vital contribution towards the continued prosperity of the region. It will help deliver improved regional access and it will make a significant contribution to road safety in the area. The bypass has been built ahead of schedule and on budget. This Government is committed to transforming Ireland's transport infrastructure to facilitate business and tourism in the region while also making our roads safer and less congested."

Now unless he was flown to the opening of the Gorey bypass he would have traveled through the Rathnew/Arklow section of the N11 and seen for himself the state of this part of the road, he would possibly have seen the congestion and maybe have taken note of the potential danger this road presented, including the remedial work at the Ballinameesda bends.

In an email I received from the Minister he pointed out that "under section 17 of the Roads Act 1993, the detailed planning, design and implementation of individual national road improvement projects is a matter for the National Roads Authority (NRA) and the relevant local authorities concerned - in this case Wicklow County Council."

This has been completed.

He also pointed out that "In the early years of Transport 21 (the period up until 2010) the NRA is charged by the Government with concentrating much of their efforts on completing the five Major Inter Urban (MIU) routes linking Dublin to Cork, Galway, Limerick and the Border. The N11 is not one of these routes."

So is he saying that the government don't believe that the N11 is a major inter urban route?

Martin Cullen seemed to believe that the N11 is part of the inter urban route.

"The Arklow - Gorey Bypass will be a strategic link in our national roads network as it will be part of the southern road corridor between Dublin, Wexford and the Euro-route EO1. It has been designated as a Strategic Radial Corridor in the National Spatial Strategy." This was part of a speech relating to the Arklow – Gorey bypass, now unless my geography is not great, I'm fairly sure you have to pass through the Rathnew to Arklow part of the N11 to get from Dublin to Wexford.

In Minister Dempsey's road opening at Gorey speech he pointed out that, "High quality infrastructure is critical if Ireland is to maintain its competitiveness on the world stage. Last year alone over 300 million tonnes of goods were transported by road. Journeys of over 150km accounted for 50% of this activity. This highlights the importance of effective and safe access to our ports especially along the Eastern Sea Board where the bulk of this activity occurs. Today's road opening demonstrates the NRA's commitment to the delivery of major schemes along this corridor on time and on budget. This ensures value for the Irish taxpayer while protecting the viability of the region's commercial and tourism sectors". Again I have a geography issue, doesn't most of this cargo travel from Wexford to Dublin using the N11 or is there a secret road that we don't know about?

Also did you notice the mention of the taxpayer, value, I don't think so, and the cost of deaths proves that.

The Minister also mentioned in his email to myself that "Unfortunately, no matter what action we as a Government take in terms of improving our roads the primary cause of almost 90% of all road accidents remains driver behaviour – mainly speeding. It is my understanding that the accidents statistics for the N11 as a whole do not indicate any significant deviation from this norm. We are doing our best to address this problem and the Road Safety Authority is taking worthwhile initiatives in the area. Furthermore, I note that the Gardaí have allocated additional resources to the area, to ensure better compliance with road traffic legislation and in an effort to address driver behaviour and driver error." Are these the same Gardai that the government promised us the electorate during the last two elections?

Maybe if we had the police force required then they could cope with the state of the roads and the carnage that the government in my mind are complicit in.

John P. Kavanagh

Shite Drivers

Congratulations to Niall O’Keeffe on his website shitedrivers.com, while I hope his misson is to help improve the quality of driving in this country succeeds I can't help but wonder if this government is really in touch with the state of the driving capability in this country. Our police force is vastly undermanned, provisional drivers are allowed to drive with impunity and the government blames drinking and speeding as the cause of all accidents. Maybe Noel Dempsey should spend a week in the real world and see the changes that are required.


John P.

Please comment.

N11 Arklow to Rathnew

It seems apparent that our Government Place more emphasis on relieving traffic flow than on relieving the deaths and injuries on our roads, in other words its less important to them to stop deaths than it is to keep traffic flowing.

This has been proved by the apparent inaction taken to prevent the deaths and injuries that have occurred on a regular basis on the portion of road between Rathnew and Arklow in Co. Wicklow. Now the question is who is in charge of road development? The Government say the NRA ( National Roads Authority) are and the NRA say the Government hold the purse strings. While this typical Irish attitude carries on more people are going to be killed on the N11 and I place the blame firmly at the doors of our elected Government, the same elected officials that promised the upgrading of the N11 while they were running around scrounging our votes, Bertie Ahern himself made a promise that the upgrade would go ahead..

Liz McManus (Labour TD) was quoted in the Wicklow Times as saying that

“All that is needed is the go-ahead for funding from the Government”

she also said

“…that money was already allocated for this project but diverted to Waterford….”

This is proof that bottle necks get more priority.

In an email I received from the NRA it is obvious that the NRA is waiting for approval from the government,

“The Authority is conscious of the case for constructing the N11 Arklow-Rathnew scheme and has worked closely with Wicklow County Council to advance the project. You will be aware that the project has received An Bord Pleanála approval and funding was subsequently made available for archaeological investigations and excavations along the route. The work concerned has been completed, leaving the scheme well placed to progress to construction as soon as the overall funding position of the Authority permits. The Authority will continue to keep the matter under review taking account of the Government's priorities for the national roads programme as already outlined and the competing demands from other projects.”

Interesting that the words competing demands are used, maybe we have to have more deaths on our road (N11) before the NRA or the Government will get the road completed.

Now don’t get me wrong the NRA have spent a few quid on the N11,

“The Authority, in conjunction with Wicklow County Council has taken a number of steps to improve safety on the existing Arklow-Rathnew Road. These include improved signage and lining, provision of Garda observation areas, a reduction in the speed limit on a section of the road and the recent completion of a new section of rod eliminating dangerous bends. We will continue to liaise with the Council on the effectiveness of these measures and the scope for other safety initiatives pending the availability of funding to allow construction of the new road to proceed.”

Again its apparent that the NRA are not in touch with the real world, in European statistics it has been proven that driving on a two lane carriageway is safer than driving on a single two way road.

The RSA (Road Safety Authority) said that

“In 2005 over 78% of all fatal and injury collisions occurred on two-way single carriageways, while 4% occurred on dual carriage ways.”

Is this not enough proof? Apparently not it seems that the road schemes that are in progress are there for the benefit of business. Again I quote the email received from the NRA,

“Transport 21 also provides for significant development of other key national primary roads including the N11, as well as a number of national secondary routes which are identified in the plan as being particularly important for regional development.”

Important for regional development and not for road safety. It seems that the N11 at the Ballinameesda Bends isn’t in that plan. Maybe the government doesn’t see that area as a development possibility.

If as the NRA have indicated that work will not begin until 2010, then we the road users should be prepared to loose up another 15 people on the Ballinameesda bends and have to care for up to another 100 people in our already overstretched hospitals.

John P. Kavanagh

How many more need to die before Wicklow County Council does something about its death traps?

RTE News 11/08/07

A 23-year-old motorist died in a road accident on the N11 in Co Wicklow. He was later named as Colin Gannon from Father Redmond Park in Arklow Two cars were involved in the collision, which occurred at approximately 8:30am at the Ballinameesda bends on the N11 between the Beehive and the Tap public houses.

Again we have living proof that nothing is being done by our elected elite when it comes to protecting our drivers from badly managed roads.

The N11 is a disaster when it comes to traffic planning, or in the case of Wicklow County council and the NRA no planning.
Please comment.

John P.

Approach Road to Wicklow town.

To whom it may concern:

Can someone in Wicklow county council please explain why on the eve of a "Tidy Towns" competition suddenly road markings are appearing on approach roads to Wicklow town? Surely these road markings should have been in place when any resurfacing has been done or does Wicklow county council not deem road safety a priority? Rather than vanity being a priority. Also why are road markings being applied to the crater outside Sinnott Motors on the approach road from Rathnew? Surely the crater should be filled in before road makings are applied to it? Well what can I say, Wicklow county council have filled the crater outside Sinnot Motors, not very well I might add but at least its no longer an obstacle course that needs a map and compass to navigate through.

Also can someone please take the time to explain why a patch job has been done on the Ballinameesda Bends, the scene of recent deaths? This is analogous to putting a band aid on a broken leg, surely our councilors travel along these roads and are aware of how dangerous parts of the N11 are or do we have to wait for the next "Tidy Towns" competition before something is done?

John P.

Is your vote a vote for green?

On the eve of the Irish general election I wonder if the voters are aware of the huge carbon footprint our potential politicians have been creating racing around the counties and country enticing your No.1 vote. Most of the politicians I have seen have arrived in large SUV’s, large engined cars and even our esteemed leader raced around the country in helicopters. I even saw a Green party candidate driving an aged van and no doubt it wasn’t exactly very green, but I believe the biggest hypocrite in the protection of the environment has to be our own Minister of the environment.

He is driven around in a hybrid car, now this is a good start but alas the green idea is short lived.

The vehicle he drives is a hybrid but the engine of the car is a 3.5 litre with emissions that are the same as a top of the range Ford Mondeo, if he really wants to be green surely he should avail of public transport, let’s face it he and his government rave about how great it is. Incidentally he will no doubt be claiming the car and the fuel that runs it as an expense, and as we all know we the tax payer is paying to keep him on the road. He and his office is also trying to raise taxes on large cars in the name of the environment, like the one he is driven around in, so not only will big car drivers be paying for the privilege but will also pay for out ministers privilege.

Now back to the election, all of the politicians running around giving out leaflets, this is another insult to the whole green attitude, 90% of these leaflets end up in the bin and as we all know the government want to charge for the privilege of producing rubbish, so not only are they relieving us of hard earned cash they are contributing to the rubbish mountain and helping skim the extra few quid from us to dump their literature. Is this good policy or just insulting to you and me the voter?

Please comment.

Road deaths in Ireland

Again the road death rises, two people killed on Wicklow roads (23/04/07), bad roads possibly the primary cause.

Attention won't be turned to killer stretch of N11 until 2010

WICKLOW PEOPLE (Thu, Apr 26 2007)

Attention will not be turned to the killer stretch of the N11 from Rathnew to Arklow until at least 2010, the National Roads Authority confirmed this week.
Monday's tragic accident in which two men were killed has reignited demands for funding to be released for the 19 kilometre 'missing link'.
It is the last piece of the national route through County Wicklow to remain a single carriageway and the road has claimed the lives of 18 people in the last decade.
At the scene of Monday's accident on the Ballinameesda Bends there have been 22 less serious crashes in the last 12 months.
A spokesperson for the NRA said that the matter was a policy issue and that their focus was on the primary inter-urban routes between Dublin and Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford and the border.
He stated that this policy was dictated by a government directive.
He said that the NRA just built the roads, it was the Department of Transport that sanctioned the funding.
The policy was based on regional needs and was required to put an end to the haphazard way in which roads were constructed in the past resulting in sections of roadway being completed while others were left undone. He agreed that this appeared to be the case with the N11 through County Wicklow as there was just one section left incomplete.

We have politicians that are doing all in their power to win votes in elections with promises of transport infrastructure improvement, and yet nothing is done.

The road system in Ireland is a disaster; you have partial motorways partially linking the major cities, we have national roads that go straight through the centre of towns, we have rural roads with no road signs. Hitler was an evil man but he did have one great idea and that was to create a transport infrastructure, If only our short term thinking Politicians could do the same. Now our politicians will tell you that they are getting there and maybe they are but the Germans got there in the 1940’s nearly seventy years ago. The infrastructure that is being built in this country is already twenty years out of date, you only have to look at the M50 around Dublin, when it was finished it was already reaching maximum capacity, only in the last year (2006) did they realize that something had to be done to alleviate the congestion. Even when this upgrade on the M50 is completed it will still be out of date. No future planning again.

These same politicians have been making the same promises for the last twenty years, how can we be so gullible and put them back in power.

Fog lights on Cars

Why do Irish people believe that if a car has fog lights on their car that they need to be on morning, noon and night, do these people not realise that the lights are there as a safety feature while driving in fog and not fashion accessories to be shown off at all times. Are these same idiots unaware that front fog lights actually dazzle on coming drivers? The worst offenders are the boy racers who happen to be the biggest proportion of road kills in Ireland.

Mary Harney and the Department of Health Ireland

Ms. Harney

Could you please stop blaming the staff of one of the most honorable professions in the world, nurses’ work tirelessly for the welfare of the patients in hospitals and all institutions of care in this country. I hear you ranting that patients’ lives are at risk; yes you are correct they are at risk but not from nurses not wanting to care for them but from your department, the Irish government and the HSE (Health Service Executive) refusing to recognize the hard work they do. I have heard the spin that you have put on the whole dispute and it is complete and utter rubbish.

If you want something constructive to do in the health department why don’t you do something about the level of obesity in this country, in the last ten years obesity has more than doubled with deaths and illness filling hospitals needlessly, if this was tackled maybe the nurses would be freed up to care for the other needless hospital cases like road accident victims. Sorry I forgot that that was an election promise at the last election, yes you as politicians can put your spin on that and tell me that the statistics show that deaths and injuries have dropped but compared to other countries they are unnaturally high, per capita death on Irish roads are higher than in the UK.

John Kavanagh