NRA inviting f/b on new M50 signs

Here’s a picture of them:-
They tend to be safer, giving you a bit more notice of your turnoff/destination.

It’s following in the footsteps of the American highway style. I presume they’re going to be rolled out right across the M50 where there is still some very poor signposting.
The whole M1, M50, airport junction and interchange is a particular blackspot. It’s fine if you’re used to it and know roughly what direction you should be going but I can only assume it’s very confusing for visitors.
Also, there was an interesting letter in the Irish Times the other day pointing out that you can find the M50 northbound from the Dundrum Shopping Centre using the road signs, but that there is nothing indicating how to get on to the M50 southside.

The overhead signs are welcome – was on it the other day and the difference in sign visibility and information is marked. They make any motorway so much easier to use if you’re not sure of where you are going – learned from hard experience in the UK 🙂

They’ve been in use all over the UK for many years and are very effective – particularly the ‘Get in Lane’ ones for exits.
Where the M50 differs with its British counterparts is the lack of sign lighting – not sure its needed though, seems to be more of a tradition in the UK more than anything else.

Just a question I’ve been wondering for a while – why is the M50 so called?!

’cause it’s twice as good as the M25?

Where are all the other 49 M’s

Lost in the planning process! Held up by individuals who are ‘effectively stealing from the taxpayer’. Unlike the Minister for Transport who was able to find all that money to flood Waterford with free park and ride services for the Tall Ships Festival. I wonder who the TD for Waterford is….Im sure its on the tip of my tongue.

A good bit of the N25 has these overhead signs in (the Cork Urban part) – and they are much better. In Dublin all I can think of is approaching the Red Cow from Dublin and that’s a fairly recent addition. More please!

@Graham Hickey wrote:

Just a question I’ve been wondering for a while – why is the M50 so called?!

I don’t know if this is definitely the case, but I’ve always thought that the reason might be this:

There are 32 roads which are national primary roads – the N1 to the N32, most of them with a large town or a city at either end. There are then about 37 national secondary roads – N51 (Drogheda-Navan), N52 (Dundalk-Nenagh), etc. to N87 (Belturbet-Swanlinbar).

Even though it is a motorway, the M50 is actually only a bypass, so it would not be classified as a route between two large towns, and therefore not a national primary route. i.e. it is the first of the national secondary routes.

So why not start the numbering of national secondary routes at 33? I’d imagine that starting at 50 leaves room for introducing new national primary routes at some later stage – e.g. after what we used to call “reintegration of the national territory”.

Also, I’d say pure logic came into play and the ease with which you can remember it.
Considering it’s the most complicated road system in Ireland, calling it the M33 or whatever would probably just add to the confusion if you were trying to give someone directions.

Have we settled what the Port Access Tunnel will be called when its opened. M1 or M50

I wonder whether the M1 is going to be considered the road from the Border to Rosslare, inlcuding the m50 and M11.

Coooill!

Yes, doesn’t the trucking industry use these secret routes? 🙂

Thanks for that info Bill re the M50, though how is it that 50 had never been designated for a national secondary before the M50 came along? Even if it had been in gestation since the 70s, have our road names not been in place for longer than this?
Seems strange that 50 had never been taken before 1990, or 1970 as the case may be.

Interested to note the poor old N1 has has now been downgraded to a Regional 😮
Seems so strange after all those years holding the top spot in the country, and the quality stretches that prevail in places like north of Castlebellingham.

@Graham Hickey wrote:

how is it that 50 had never been designated for a national secondary before the M50 came along? Even if it had been in gestation since the 70s, have our road names not been in place for longer than this?
Seems strange that 50 had never been taken before 1990, or 1970 as the case may be.

It looks to me as if our current road names/numbers came into effect at some point after 1970. I have a copy of the 1970 edition of the AA Illustrated Road Book of Ireland. At the time roads seemed to have either a T or L designation – perhaps similar to the N and R ones we now have. (T for trunk, L for link, perhaps?)

So the current N1 was actually the T1, the N2 (Dublin-Monaghan) was the T2, the current N3 was the T33, the N4 was the T3, the N7 was the T5 (Dublin-Limerick – T36 between Portlaoise and Cork) and the N11 was the T7. The Malahide road was the L87 and the Howth road was the L86.

I don’t know at what stage the change occurred. But if the AA are correct it seems feasible that it could have happened around the time that the M50 was being planned.

Some of the problems with the esisting signage will have to be put right with the new ones. Cork i’m sure and Waterford, i think,are’nt signposted on the M50.I know a Scottish fisherman who ended up in Blessington for that reason

Poor guy! Irish sign-posting is woeful. These new gantry style signs are a welcome addition. Shame we still insist on copying the British with those stupid ‘clip’ signs around a pole. The slightest gust of wind or some drunk returning from the pub and they point in the wrong direction!!!!

We should copy the rest of Europe and adopt the screw into the poles signs. Then and finally then we might have road signs that don’t defy gravity!!

Why put up signs that are going to end up pointing the wrong way?

God help the tourists!

You really hate that practice don’t you Niall 🙂

Was very impressed at the quality signage around the southwest of the country – Cork CC seem to be replacing all of the county’s stock by degrees and much of it looks brand new, so didn’t come across any ill-directed signs.
Now if only they are maintained in such clean and upright positions…

There’s also a lot to be said for the ‘traditional’ striped poles: they make a heck of a difference in visibility terms – very effective. Shame there’s so many brand new bare-finished poles about too though – not only to they look unprofessional and crude, there’s safety implications to consider. And they’re on the major roads, not back lanes.

It must be a lot cheaper to discard the ‘stripes’, as contrary to what you might think, all modern striped posts are not painted but rather are fitted with a shroud of plastic tubes that make up the black and white, or black and yellow. Must be quite pricey in comparison to basic poles.

Thanks for that information Bill – makes sense!

Yes I saw these recently – wondered the logic behind them. They’re quite attractive too.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4587629.stm

Should roll them out on all roads. Saw them everywhere in Canada. Even on very rural roads… Wow what a delight to drive in that country!!!