M50 and its traffic

[five points]

Of course new roads - if they're any good - are going to generate more traffic. There's no point in building them if they're not going to be used. 

Road usage tends to vary with population density. Irish roads are not densely crowded by international standards, as we're in a relatively underpopulated country. I work 40 miles from the edge of Dublin and can be there comfortably within an hour, pretty much every day and hour of the year. That might not be possible around London or Paris for example.

[armaghniac]

There'll never be enough space in cities for cars if they're the default way of traveling for more people.



Better to provide more efficient alternatives.

Yes, pack them in like sardines and give all a disease.

[J70]

Why did they not just build an extra lane each side of M50 when it was being build?

I see it on motorways now - another 6 foot either side and they could have another lane in.  Maybe not finish it competely but have itready to go in a year say.  All the work has been done and 6 ft either side wouldn't cost much extra.

The basic rule of congestion is that building more roads, better roads, wider roads, is only a short term fix, as these measures immediately increase traffic, which before long more than fills the void.

The only way to decrease traffic is to make public transport more viable for more people. This can be done by either improving the public traffic infrastructure, or by putting the price of private transport out of reach.

I'm of an old enough vintage to have been in college in Dublin in the 90s. Was it not two lane for much of its length back then? They had to add the extra lane fairly quickly around much of its length as it became obsolete fairly quickly, especially with the growth of the towns around the city.