Council vote on new Westside Tesco

galwaycyclist

inisboffin wrote: »

The limited motor vehicle access via Rahoon Rd is a very valid point. I assume, however, that even if access for delivery vans is from a different entrance, the 24 hour noise problem for residents will still be there, as the bay doors will still be in the same place and the will still be doing their unloading and *beep beep beeps* there?

I reckon so - my reading of the plans indicates, that if this modification was applied, they could still cater for internal traffic with their own roadway inside the boundary wall. There would be no need to amend the building in any way.

galwaycyclist

Also looking at the drawings - they have the feel of a hidden agenda from the city council roads department - who presumably instructed the designers.

It looks like the bigger plan might be to route the Rahoon Rd to the Seamus Quirke road via the Higgins site altogether and eventually close off the existing entrance beside the ESB Substation. Might explain why in the SQR design they have aligned the Circular road junction with Glean Dara rather than the Rahoon Rd.

snubbleste

That is the case galwaycyclist. It is not hidden though.
See post #104 & #105

regarding the 24 hour noise thing, people realise they are living in a city, right?

There are cars, trucks, street sweepers, dump trucks, bikes, drunks, vans etc etc going up and down that road every hour of every day

inisboffin

DaCor wrote: »

regarding the 24 hour noise thing, people realise they are living in a city, right?

There are cars, trucks, street sweepers, dump trucks, bikes, drunks, vans etc etc going up and down that road every hour of every day

Rahoon Road?

If I were a large vehicle I'd take the maIn road if I had a choice, as Rahoon Rd is so narrow. I walk up that road a lot, and it is nowhere near as noisy as SQR or BOD road in terms of large vehicle traffic.

_Whimsical_

Really good letter Galway cyclist.Well done.

I mentioned similar concerns in my letter, particularly re school children using those roads. If you ever drive that road from Scoil Bride up Rahoon Rd at around 2.30 - 3 it is frightening to see such tiny kids on bikes on the way home and chasing each other etc as kids do and paying no attention as they pass each other out by hopping off the footpath onto the road. With limited traffic it's lucky someone hasn't got hurt but the idea of heavier traffic and large vehicles on that road just gives me the creeps.

snubbleste

What makes you guys think that delivery trucks will be coming up Rahoon Road at all?
It's a bit preposterous tbh.
The main entrance to the Centre will be from the proposed new road and I'd wager all delivery trucks will be using the ultra-modern SQR to access the development.
f) Construction of new road through the site, connecting the existing Rahoon Road to the Seamus Quirke Road, and all associated works. Access to the retail development will be from this new section of road, as well as from the existing Rahoon Road;

also for those fans of placenames, that august font of knowledge galwaynews.ie has decided that Highfield is in Newcastle :cool:

fishy fishy

from what I hear (and I could be wrong) i think the "delivery" road WILL be down the rahoon road and the access will be through the Mount Pleasant driveway (cul de sac). I don't think those large trucks will be able to access from the front of the tesco and rahoon road will have to be used for this. Now I am open to correction on this, but it is just what I have heard.

galwaycyclist

snubbleste wrote: »

What makes you guys think that delivery trucks will be coming up Rahoon Road at all?
It's a bit preposterous tbh.
The main entrance to the Centre will be from the proposed new road and I'd wager all delivery trucks will be using the ultra-modern SQR to access the development.
f) Construction of new road through the site, connecting the existing Rahoon Road to the Seamus Quirke Road, and all associated works. Access to the retail development will be from this new section of road, as well as from the existing Rahoon Road;

also for those fans of placenames, that august font of knowledge galwaynews.ie has decided that Highfield is in Newcastle :cool:

It might be a generational thing. I am old enough to remember what it used to be like for a cyclist to meet the Connacht Laundry Trucks coming up Shantalla Rd. Particularly at the transient pinch point outside the school.

This is a country where the idea of keeping HGVs and heavy traffic off school routes is not even a concept. Try bringing your truck down the wrong road at the wrong time of day in Germany and the cops will nail your ass - to coin a phrase.

In Galway, the City Council Transport Unit have refused to even countenance the idea of having a HGV management strategy as part of their draft Walking and Cycling Strategy (Although it is in the National Cycle Policy Framework).

Ireland is a country where "laissez faire" is the official attitude on these things. If the delivery people think they can save 30secs using Rahoon Rd instead of Seamus Quirke Rd then, in my view, they will do so.

Given that this is the operating environment why leave it to chance?

Sponge Bob

galwaycyclist wrote: »

In Galway, the City Council Transport Unit have refused to even countenance the idea of having a HGV management strategy as part of their draft Walking and Cycling Strategy (Although it is in the National Cycle Policy Framework).

Why would they when a former FF councillor, ex Mayor and owner of a Hardware store next to a school in Shantalla would vehemently object and make their life a misery. :rolleyes:

Gold Leaf Tea

I know at the delivery bay in Dunnes Briarhill, they have signage for delivery trucks that requests that all engines are to be switched off and no horns are be sounded in early morning. I have no idea if the trucks adhere to that tho.

We live on a main road and two large artic trucks pass our door in the early hours of every morning, and even tho we are set well back from the road and sleep on the third floor, we can still hear these trucks and feel the vibrations as they pass. We don't hear any other traffic, but we are always aware of these two vehicles. So, if I was living in the Highfield area, this is something that I would be super unhappy about. A large truck can be as quiet as possible, but you will still 'feel' it if you live nearby. Also, if a truck is reversing, as far as I am aware, their reversing warning signal cannot be disabled. These sounds would be extremely intrusive in the early hours of the morning.

Also, it seems farcical, given the amount of money and time invested in the redo of SQR in an effort to solve traffic issues, that this idea is even being entertained.

schween

Gold Leaf Tea wrote: »

We live on a main road and two large artic trucks pass our door in the early hours of every morning, and even tho we are set well back from the road and sleep on the third floor, we can still hear these trucks and feel the vibrations as they pass. We don't hear any other traffic, but we are always aware of these two vehicles. So, if I was living in the Highfield area, this is something that I would be super unhappy about. A large truck can be as quiet as possible, but you will still 'feel' it if you live nearby. Also, if a truck is reversing, as far as I am aware, their reversing warning signal cannot be disabled. These sounds would be extremely intrusive in the early hours of the morning.

I lived in Cill Ard right beside the Tesco delivery area at the Galway Shopping Centre and despite trucks going in and out day and night I never had any problems.

Sponge Bob

Nearly 100 objections received to this project.

http://gis.galwaycity.ie/ePlan/InternetEnquiry/rpt_ViewObjectorDetails.asp?page_num=0&file_number=11312

_Whimsical_

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Nearly 100 objections received to this project.

http://gis.galwaycity.ie/ePlan/InternetEnquiry/rpt_ViewObjectorDetails.asp?page_num=0&file_number=11312

Delighted to see so many people took pen to paper over this.

snubbleste

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Nearly 100 objections received to this project.
http://gis.galwaycity.ie/ePlan/InternetEnquiry/rpt_ViewObjectorDetails.asp?page_num=0&file_number=11312

How do you know they are all objections? Given the high media profile nature of the project there could be a few submissions pro the development.

Pure Sound

With that amount of objections it will be hard for an bord pleanala to ignore it

Pure Sound

snubbleste wrote: »

How do you know they are all objections? Given the high media profile nature of the project there could be a few submissions pro the development.

I know that all of the highfield residents listed there that I know are objecting to it, I have lived in highfield almost all my life so I do know quite a lot of people on that list

_Whimsical_

snubbleste wrote: »

How do you know they are all objections? Given the high media profile nature of the project there could be a few submissions pro the development.

I would say all of the private residents writing in,which looks to be the majority of submissions,are doing so to object. There are a few then that may not be objections. Example Architects (Eglinton House, O' Donnellan & Co. Architects),BMA Planning,Consulting Engineer (does that mean he consulted on this project?). I'm surprised there aren't a few more objections from groups or bodies. I don't see one on behalf of the cycling association that GalwayCyclist from boards.ie is part of. His letter was very well put together.I hope it was included.

Jack_Plumber

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

I would say all of the private residents writing in,which looks to be the majority of submissions,are doing so to object. There are a few then that may not be objections. Example Architects (Eglinton House, O' Donnellan & Co. Architects),BMA Planning,Consulting Engineer (does that mean he consulted on this project?). I'm surprised there aren't a few more objections from groups or bodies. I don't see one on behalf of the cycling association that GalwayCyclist from boards.ie is part of. His letter was very well put together.I hope it was included.

Looking through the file on-line, about 19 of 20 submissions were objections. The Cycling Campaign is included and had raised concerns about road safety assocaited with the additional traffic.
An interesting submission is from Joe Burke (who I think is an engineer with Ml. O hUiginn). He submitted names of people in Shantalla and Westside, some on pages that does not clarify what people have signed. I wonder if these people signed to personally support planning application 11/312 or is this the famous petition that a Cllr presented for the rezoning. If the petition predates the planning application, tehn are the signatures of people in Shantalla and Westside being used as they intended?

celty

I think it was always expected there would be a big amount of submissions / objections to this. The developer admitted so even before he submitted his application.

Mind you, 91 is a lot, including residents in Maunsells, Highfield, and Rahoon Road, as well as the staff and board of the national school, RGDATA and city centre businesses.

But the big question now is how much benefit O hUiginn will get from last year's controversial rezoning.

Planners said it was not in keeping with the "proper planning of the area" but the Councillos voted against their wishes anyway.

It's going to be a long process, methinks, but the fact that O hUiginn managed to get it rezoned as a district centre will probably swing the issue in the end.

beardybrewer

Haven't thought about this for a while, but was circumventing some traffic and drove by the proposed site. Man, it is a pretty big site. How long has it been closed? Was it a pretty busy place in its day?

http://g.co/maps/fcvug

snubbleste

newkie wrote: »

Haven't thought about this for a while, but was circumventing some traffic and drove by the proposed site. Man, it is a pretty big site. How long has it been closed? Was it a pretty busy place in its day?

^^^
rat-runner!!

Doc Ruby

Maybe they could make it into a huge park and ride, a great big underground car park where people can park and get buses to the east side for work, or into town for shopping. A win-win surely?

antoobrien

Doc Ruby wrote: »

Maybe they could make it into a huge park and ride, a great big underground car park where people can park and get buses to the east side for work, or into town for shopping. A win-win surely?

It's interesting that in Galway people are usually complaining about not having some facility available to them, but when it's planned the NIMBY comes out. I want it in the East side/West side by not near me.

Would it not be better to provide those shopping facilities on the West side of town, so that the residents don't have to go into town?

Doc Ruby

antoobrien wrote: »

Would it not be better to provide those shopping facilities on the West side of town, so that the residents don't have to go into town?

There's already plenty of shopping options out the west side of the city, two Dunnes and an Aldi. Three minutes drive from there across the bridge will get you to Tesco and another Dunnes to a place with plenty of parking.

However a lot of people myself included enjoy the amenities town has to offer and the variety. A lot more people live on the west side and work on the east side. A park and ride going into and through town would sort out a lot of problems I reckon, especially if it were priced competitively (cheaper than paying for parking in town).

Ludikrus

Doc Ruby wrote: »

There's already plenty of shopping options out the west side of the city, two Dunnes and an Aldi.

I you have frozen chips for your tea every night, that is.

Doc Ruby wrote: »

Three minutes drive from there across the bridge will get you to Tesco and another Dunnes to a place with plenty of parking.

Maybe if you go at 4AM.

Doc Ruby

Ludikrus wrote: »

I you have frozen chips for your tea every night, that is.

I'll be having a fine steak, eggs and liver drowned in gravy combination with mashed spuds, sprouts, beans and a slice of blue cheese on top for my dinner, thanks very much. And I'm really looking forward to it.

Ludikrus wrote: »

Maybe if you go at 4AM.

Ah it usually moves across the bridge reasonably well. Its not like grocery shopping is something you urgently need to do all of a sudden anyway. If nobody had indoor plumbing and the only place you could relieve the pressure was in Tescos I might agree with you. Also its not like Tesco has more on offer than Dunnes and Aldi, plus its usually more expensive.

Little My

Personally hate Dunnes and try to avoid it at all costs. Myself I'd love a Tesco on that site, but think the NIMBY's will win on this one to be honest.

celty

Little My wrote: »

Personally hate Dunnes and try to avoid it at all costs. Myself I'd love a Tesco on that site, but think the NIMBY's will win on this one to be honest.

How do you figure that one? The former Mayor got his buddies on the Council to rezone the site to District Centre last July, making it far more likely it will get full p.p. ...even with 91 objections / submissions.

He expected an appeal. The NIMBYs can be as outraged as they want, but their case would have been a lot stronger if they had managed to get the GCC to vote the other way last year.

Mrs OBumble

Doc Ruby wrote: »

Also its not like Tesco has more on offer than Dunnes and Aldi, plus its usually more expensive.

Wanna bet?

Which supermarket has toothpaste for 33c / packet? Housebrand of all-purpose cleaner for less than a euro? Big box of bran flakes for 1.29?

They are dearer for some things, for sure, but have excellent deals on some items. And a LOT more specialist lines too, that the others don't have.