M6 - Galway City Ring Road [planning decision pending]

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118609940#Comment_118609940

They take a silly amount of time due to the lack of resources assigned by govt at every stage of the process. This could all be done in a matter of weeks if all the relevant parties were staffed properly

CruelSummer

If the road was constructed, it would free up space for Salthill cycleways, and a cycle way to link to try City Centre plus Oranmore. The inability for posters to engage in joined up thinking is ridiculous. Now the ‘Horse Racing Committee’ - is trying to get a judicial review. How do the environmentalists feel about horse racing? Hypocrisy stinks.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118611785#Comment_118611785

Its been said many times, but it needs repeating, there are no plans, anywhere, by any dept or council, to free up space once the GCRR is constructed.

if there were you would have a point.

A good example to look at, Limerick tunnel, nothing was done to free up space for other modes once it opened, nothing, nadda, zip, zilch. It was a €700 million project to remove traffic from the center of Limerick which did not result in any benefit for any other modes.

Now, if there were plans to do the following as soon as the GCRR opened then maybe it would have more support

• make all dual carriageways single lane to free up a lane for bus routes
• a full network of connected, protected bike lanes on ALL arterial routes
• restricted access for cars within the city center

Thats a bare minimum list and there are no plans to do any of that.

What does exist is the GTS, which was built around spending hundreds of million on a ring road and a few quid on a few other bits that are not enough to effect any real modal shift.

So yeah, for joined up thinking you need a joined up plan

CruelSummer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118611812#Comment_118611812

I agree. With all the delays to starting the road project, I think it's just ridiculous on all sides atm and so frustrating. Who's to say there wouldn't be judicial reviews of the proposals you're suggesting. At some point, the planning laws should be questioned as to their veracity.

Personally I think Ireland needs to improve all their town and city centres and move away from facilitating cars only. But you need them to function and have the infrastructure in place to do so. Your suggestions are good as to how the City Centre should change from being a carpark of cars stuck in traffic once the road is built. It should also be a strategy in town centres with appropriate infrastructure right now in my opinion in towns like Oranmore and Athenry which are both bypassed and have good road networks and public transport options around them. There should be more pedestrianisation of their centres, with local walking and bike lanes to housing estates and train stations.

Sam Russell

Mod: Troll posts deleted.

Friends of the Irish Environment granted a stay on any further works on the N6 Galway City Ring Road

https://www.friendsoftheirishenvironment.org/press-releases/18121-fie-given-stay-on-further-works-on-galway-n6-ring-road

FIE GIVEN STAY ON FURTHER WORKS ON GALWAY N6 RING-ROAD 

FIE GIVEN LEAVE TO JUDICIAL REVIEW GALWAY RING ROAD

High Court Justice Humphreys this morning granted a stay on any further works on the N6 Galway City Ring Road as he allowed a Judicial Review of the project by Friends of the Irish Environment [FIE].

Justice Humphreys also allowed FIE an additional Junior Counsel because of the ‘voluminous’ nature of the documentation.

The Review comes nine years after the previous ring road was quashed by the European Court of Justice on the grounds that it would result in the lasting and irreparable damage to the integrity of the protected natural habitats. 

The new scheme was applied for in 2018 and granted permission by An Bord Pleanála in December 2021. Galway County Council estimates the road will take three years to construct at a cost of at least €600 million and would involve a number of tunnels, as well as a viaduct over the River Corrib, a designated European nature conservation site.

The challenge comes from the conservation charity Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE), the group behind Climate Case Ireland. It is based on the failure of An Bord Pleanála to comply with the very significantly enhanced emissions reduction ambition adopted by the government in climate change legislation last year as well as the Habitats Directive.

FIE successfully had Ireland’s original National Mitigation Plan struck down by the Supreme Court in 2020 for being, according to the then Chief Justice Frank Clark, ‘excessively vague’.

Grounds for the legal challenge:

FIE has told the High Court that An Bord Pleanála failed to act consistent with Ireland’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions as set out in the Climate & Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 and the Climate Action Plan 2021, and the clear commitments in national policy to invest heavily in modal shift away from roads and private cars, and towards public transport, walking and cycling infrastructure.

‘The answer to Galway traffic problems lie in proven measures, such as better public transport and the ongoing push for pedestrianisation and bicycles lanes – not in more and bigger roads,’ Helena Murphy if FIE said.

‘This project totally flies in the face of all of our environmental targets and undermines our compliance with the Habitats Directive as well as our efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Developing roads in a climate crisis is just irrational, no matter how much one seeks to greenwash it.

'It is incredibly frustrating that groups like FIE have to resort to legal action to make bodies like An Bord Pleanála accountable to the law. These types of projects and developments divert investment away from the urgent investment we need to make in reducing our emissions and are self-evidently relics of the past fossil fuel era, and ones we should be urgently abandoning. The Welsh Government, for example, recently announced that it is to stop all new road building projects while it conducts a wide-ranging review in the face of our ever-deepening climate emergency.

'We need to heavily invest in encouraging and enabling safe cycling, efficient public transport, not more roads bringing ever more traffic and more sprawl that will lock-in more emissions.”

‘This project, which is acknowledged by An Bord Pleanála to lead to an increase in emissions which cannot be fully mitigated, is contrary to Ireland’s climate commitments under Irish and European law, as well as the 2015 Paris Agreement. An Bord Pleanála hasn’t yet looked up to see the climate catastrophe hurtling towards us.”

Other grounds in the challenge include Ireland’s failure to set site specific conservation objectives of European nature conservation sites, which meant that An Bord Pleanála could not have reached a valid determination that the proposed ring road would not have an adverse impact on sensitive habitats, and failure to comply with the European Union’s TEN-T Regulations in respect of climate change resilience.

Delays

Ms Murphy also criticised the delays in legal proceedings due to the insufficient number of Judges - ‘FIE is well aware of the impact of a legal challenge’s delay, but delays to large projects are not due to protestors, but to the failures by the Board and the lack of Judges in the High Court.’

'An Bord Pleanála reported that in 2021 it spent €8.2 million in legal costs (including almost €4 million paid to successful parties. Yet it has won just two of the 36 Strategic Infrastructure Development cases finalised to date', according to FIE.

FIE pointed out that in an interview with Parchment magazine, published by the Dublin Solicitors Bar Association in July 2021, Ms Justice Mary Irvine said the High Court was in “a desperate scenario” because of the shortages. Minister for Justice Heather Humphreys passed legislation last month which provided for five new High Court judges, and possibly six, and said it was “one of the largest increases in judges in recent memory”. However, this is eleven or twelve less than the seventeen Ms. Justice Mary Irvine said was required “to make a real difference.”

serfboard

As predicted by many on here, it’s no surprise that we’re getting all these legal challenges - which is why we really need to be cracking on with all the other transport measures in the meantime.

KrisW1001

Yes. The big mistake was placing this project on the critical path of the Galway transport plan, given how likely it was to be delayed (and not just by objections: tunnelling in urban areas is not without its own risks).

spacetweek

What news on BusConnects Galway?

Pete_Cavan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118634523#Comment_118634523

I don't think that was by mistake, the intention was to have everything else predicated on the ring road; "you'll get a few quid towards public/active transport right after I get me billion euro bypass, shure the bypass frees up the space".

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118637159#Comment_118637159

The cross city link is with ABP, decision due next month, expect that to be delayed.

The new bridge at the Salmon weir is due to go to construction shortly and open before the end of the year.

Dublin Rd design is due to go to planning over the next few months

Bobeagleburger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118634078#Comment_118634078

That's what I can't understand. All these challenges could take years(?).

Get moving with other measures asap.

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118637445#Comment_118637445

Given the reluctance to go ahead with a temporary cycle path, I can't see the councillors doing anything without their big road. If they were to proceed with improved public transport and active travel routes and it showed that the road was not needed as argued then they will look bad. Expect ongoing traffic issues in Galway with blame pointed at those against the road project.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118637487#Comment_118637487

Exactly this. Until this road is killed, Galway will be fupped until about the mid to late 2050's.

Why then? Well as you say, they won't do anything to improve the situation before then incase it shows its not needed.

• 2035 - The road itself won't open until around the mid-2030's if GCC are lucky.
• 2040 - Give it 5 years to become clogged
• 2045 - Another 5 for the problem to get recognised
• 2050 - Start to talk about planning to do something
• 2055 - Release a shiny new document
• 2060 - Start doing something, but only if where it doesn't impact 2 way traffic, because you know the traffic is so bad they can't possibly do anything that might make it worse
• 2070 - Is there anything to be said for another bridge because thats the only way we'll free up space for bike lanes

And that's 3

https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/building-company-launches-challenge-to-galway-ring-road-1259097.html

Green Peter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118637684#Comment_118637684

Another shower that don't deserve any business from the people of Galway.

saabsaab

Looks like traffic set to get worse in Galway for many years to come. If only the existing routes could be made to flow better.

Pete_Cavan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118637487#Comment_118637487

Much like Brexit, those who supported it refuse to criticise the plan or those who devised and promoted it, they blame everyone else instead

CatInABox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118637487#Comment_118637487

To me, this also underlines how ridiculous the idea that we should trust Galway City Councillors when they say "let's build the road, and then we can reconfigure the existing roads" truly is. These people folded at the first opportunity, taking on board concerns that were not totally truthful, and rejected any amendments that could alleviate those concerns.

If I had any faith that GCC would actually make the hard choices once the road was built, then I wouldn't be so against. Hell, even if they included their plan for increased active and public transport in the planning permission for the road, I'd be mollified. At least that way, it'd definitely get done.

hans aus dtschl

I said that a while back on this thread. If they attempted to directly link the road to sustainable projects that the road would facilitate, then much of the opposition would disappear.

I understand why they might not have done this, or might not have been able to do this, but the "trust us, we'll prioritise sustainable transport in future" schtick is now a well-known trope. It just doesn't fly any more. Perhaps they could have waited and stored up a bunch of sustainable projects and announced them all at the same time as this road, and slapped a big "GTS" banner on it. Perhaps they could have moved forward on one or two sustainable transport projects first. But either way, hanging everything off this road was a bad idea. All IMO of course. And sher what would I know, I'm only looking in from the outside the same as most people on here.

Bobeagleburger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118637487#Comment_118637487

I'm all for cycling paths but that particular one was not thought out properly, and would have done little to traffic congestion.

Get more public transport routes up and running.

Widen the city bus limits.

Incentivise people to use public transport by heavily subsidising tickets. This is key imo.

Chris_5339762

I've tried to stay out of this thread even though I started it!

The more I see of this new project the more I wish the old plans had been built all of that time ago. I mean bringing it closer to the city and the tunnel under the racecourse? Ridiculous when you think of it, aside from any cars vs PT vs cycling arguments. Of all the places in Galway to avoid, one of its biggest moneyspinners.

what_traffic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118638956#Comment_118638956

I have had this position for decades now. Salthill cycleway is a good recent example, but even if one just looked at the Modal Share for various transport modes that ARUP submitted in the ABP submission and its very clear there will be no significant road allocation elsewhere if a Ring Road was built. Galway City is the destination.

saabsaab

Couldn't congestion charges be introduced? Technology is available or at least ban traffic from the city centre.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118642870#Comment_118642870

Congestion charging is planned for Cork & Dublin as trials for those cities.

Workplace parking levies are planned for Galway as its trial. Something like, any workplace with more than X spaces will have a charge of €200 per year applied to each space, where X could be 10, 20, 50 spaces.

These are part of the 5 Cities Demand Management Strategy which is covered in a separate thread

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058219950/five-cities-demand-management-report-congestion-charges-15-min-city-parking-charge-increases-etc

serfboard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118642870#Comment_118642870

Not in favour of congestion charges myself. Rich people can afford to pay it, and then it leaves the roads clearer for them to drive. Any less well off people who travel larger distances, are then confined to a public transport network that the same rich people don't want their taxes to fund.

A straightforward ban on private cars on certain streets (with mobility-comprimised people being taken into consideration), is a much more equitable solution.

Sam Russell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118645840#Comment_118645840

Equally would be making public transport available and very cheap. Galway does not have much PT so that needs to be rectified first.

Seth Brundle

Varadkar declares his support for the road (which may turn more people against the project)...

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/varadkar-tells-environmentalists-he-supports-galway-ring-road-1.4805603

CatInABox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118649173#Comment_118649173

Considering that our climate targets now have a legal basis, this kind of support is going to become a hot potato sooner or later. For every percent that we don't reduce our transport emissions, we need to find a reduction else where. Farmers are fighting their corner, politicians seemingly want to pretend that transport will be solved with some magical instantaneous "EV" transition, leaving industry and consumers to face the brunt of the increases.

When these restrictions and fees kick in, sitting on the fence or even supporting one section over another will become a minefield.

Green Peter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118651827#Comment_118651827

I don't particularly like the man but he was asked a straight question and answered it, those that asked it didn't get the answer they liked or expected. Tough.