Earth to DLCC

(or whoever is in charge of speed limits on the M11)

I had nearly forgotten this incident.

The other day I witnessed a near miss that could possibly be blamed on the authorities in charge of setting the speed limits on the M11. A car in the left lane was still obeying the 60KPH speed limit beyond the Shankill exit. I watched as another car that had entered the motorway at Shankill was increasing speed rapidly and didn't seem to recognize just how slowly the car in front of it was moving. The trailing car had to slam on the brakes and pull to the right to avoid hitting the car in front.

The car that had entered at Shankill was, of course, trying to get near to the 120KPH limit that is signed as you enter the M11. However, the car in front, which had Galway registration plates, hadn't passed any sign indicating that the speed restrictions they encountered at the Loughlinstown roundabout had been lifted. There is NO sign ending the 60KPH zone.

In effect you have two speed limits for the same stretch of road (Shankill to Bray): one is 60KPH for those who enter at Loughlinstown and the other is 120 for those who join the road at Shankill.

I'm old school on this and believe that one speed limit per road should be sufficient.

Greenstar apologizes

Greenstar has apologized for causing confusion regarding the pay-by-weight or pay-by-use system for 2005. And, it seems like they're going to spell out the exact charges for each lift.

A spokesperson for Greenstar said the company wished to apologize for any misunderstanding.

'With regard to any confusion that may have arisen over terms such as pay by use, Greenstar wishes to apologize for this. The situation will be made clear next week, when Greenstar announces specific charges for the number of bin lifts over the 12 months of 2005. This will be done by means of a presentation to Wicklow Co. Council, a letter to individual customers and by press release,' a spokesperson for Greenstar concluded.

What's funny about this is that Greenstar's customer service people knew the truth in early December, but those running the company never bothered to issue a definitive statement on the matter.

Early finish

Greenstar's truck was through my neighborhood early today. A sign that they have less to do now? I didn't put my bin out again. I think we can make it to Jan 27.

I called Greenstar again the other day for clarification on the fees. I was again told that there is no weight feature in the fee structure. This is at odds with what my local councilor, Caroline Burrell was told and what Kathleen Barrington wrote in the Sunday Business Post last Sunday.

Jennifer told me that the fees will be based on bands determined by use. If you put the bin out once a month, your fee will be €262, including 12 annual black bin collections. If you put the bin out 3 times a month your fee will be €392. Two pick-ups a month will cost €328.

All of this sounds reasonable, but why the bands? I suspect the reason for the bands is that they afford Greenstar sufficient flexibility in what fees any customer will pay. Otherwise, Greenstar could quite simply tell customers that your base fee is €262 and each time you put the bin out will cost you €5.50 (or whatever).

Compost

Off to the garden center today to get a compost bin. I never thought I'd see the day that I was composting. My grandmother used to tell my parents, "you're throwing money away". Now she's more right than ever.

On a related note, it seemed like most people had their bins out yesterday. I didn't. I felt we could make it to next week, by which time some of the garbage will be ready to walk away on its own.

I wonder if Greenstar will find its wages bill falling as the number of bins collected each week falls? Same goes for Dun Laoghaire CC and, really, all rubbish collection services.

Speed limits

I wrote about the metric switch over at the Eagle, but I just wanted to add some local flavor.

I've been noting how many roads in Dun Laoghaire have the speed limit painted on them. How will these be removed/replaced by Jan 20? I'm guessing they won't be. There's the potential for some confusion there, no?

Also, I see very few new signs under wraps compared with all the small, out of the way speed limit signs along our roads. Will all of those be replaced by Jan 20? And, will the speed limit on the N11 between Cornelscourt and Loughlinstown be moved up to 80 KPH or will we still have to crawl along at 50 KPH?

By the way, it's pretty damn clear that NOBODY obeys the current 30 MPH speed limit on that stretch of road. In the past few days I've been passed by a Garda car doing close to 50MPH (and not in any emergency hurry) and by a bus using the bus lane to do 45-50 because the rest of the traffic was only going 42 or so. If buses are using the bus lane to exceed the speed limit by nearly 20 MPH (approx. 30 KPH) surely it's time to either (a) crack down on speeding there or (b) acknowledge that the limit is too low and should be raised.

Cartons

What happens if I put my rinsed milk & juice cartons into the recycling bin? I don't know, but we're switching to plastic. How's that for positive environmental impact? Greenstar's refusal to recycle the cartons means it's now a cheaper for us to buy plastic containers and put them in the recycling bin.

D U M B

Making work for themselves

Why do letters from Greenstar come in these huge envelopes? The only explanation I can think of is that they want to help fill our bins.

Today I got a sticker that has to be put on the bin (what about the one they put on recently? expired already?) and a note wishing me a Merry Christmas and explaining that there would be no collections on Dec 27 & 28 and Jan 3. Thanks.

Still no explanation of how the new system will work. I assume nothing's changed from my phone conversation and that we're paying strictly by volume.