Getting around Galway

Catherine Connolly asked the Minister recently

https://www.kildarestreet.com/wrans/?id=2023-02-08a.118

Galway City Council currently have a compliment of 11 staff working on active travel projects. It is my understanding that they are recruiting an additional 6 staff at the moment and are hopeful that these positions will be filled in Q1, 2023. Once these positions have been filled, Galway City Council feel that they will have the necessary resources to manage the Active Travel programme in the current year, but as projects develop, particularly as they go to construction, they will recruit additional resources as required.

Galway County Council currently have 3 staff working full time on Active Travel Projects. However, the Council are about to appoint an additional staff member to the Active Travel team which will bring them up to the full complement approved.

So that totals up to 17 positions, 6 of which are(were) open.

The allocation announced in Feb 2021 was for 22 though, so 🤷‍♂️

Still, over 2 years and they only had half filled positions that were fully funded

what_traffic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120388088#Comment_120388088

+ they have problem with retention. If this was private sector the CEO would be long gone.

Unrealistic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120388088#Comment_120388088

Nope, there has been a distinct lack of advertising and some of the people now wearing active travel hats in the council were previously in other roles. When the funding for active travel recruitment was announced there was a clear statement that you couldn't just reclassify existing employees as active travel and draw down the new funding to save money elsewhere in your budget. So I hope that is actually being enforced.

thebackbar

Quick question on whitestrand Road there is very limited free parking on the actual road, just wondering why this is allowed as it makes the road pretty dangerous for people cycling !

zell12

Why is there so much surface water on the roads these days? I don't remember that 30 years ago, it's not leaves as it is Spring, what is causing the issue? And the other thing is, vehicles are driven through the massive puddles knowing full well they'll soak the pedestrians

More on the Dutch ambassador meeting in Galway

https://www.advertiser.ie/galway/article/134592/dutch-ambassador-shows-galway-cycling-advocates-how-officials-can-lead-by-example

I particularly liked this part

Explaining briefly the social and political factors which saw the Netherlands change from car-focused to people-focused, the Ambassador pointed out that at his office in the Hague, there are zero parking spaces allocated to public officials. Any official who wishes to drive must pay for parking in the public car park which sits under the building.

Disabled people, who need their car for mobility are accommodated in such carparks. This incentivises public transport and bike use and is a case of leading by example. In cities and regions where public officials and decision makers depend upon public transport, the service tends to be good, which in turn attracts other citizens to use it.

Can you imagine the changes that would be implemented if those in the council here did the same

jkforde

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120391108#Comment_120391108

"In cities and regions where public officials and decision makers depend upon public transport..."

🤣🤣🤣🤣

The Dutch must look enviously at our wee state and the potential in this country and slowly shake their heads (in private of course).

what_traffic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120391108#Comment_120391108

They have done exact opposite, moving to an edge of City destination and buying up more allocation of car parking that goes with the office space they are taking up. If the building was a standalone alone building - they would not be able to have amount of car parking based on there own Planning Guidelines.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120394543#Comment_120394543

A case of "good for me but not for thee"

The flooding at the Briarhill underpass may finally be getting resolved

https://connachttribune.ie/long-term-solution-being-assessed-for-flooding-issues-at-pedestrian-underpass-at-briarhill/

Buddy74

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120396874#Comment_120396874

I use this daily, and I always praise the Council staff for doing their best to try and keep this route open as it is used by a number of people to commute, yes these routes need to be kept open to encourage alternates to traffic gridlock.

If they could have implemented a long-term solution, they would have and not need a counciller which couldn't even quote the correct suburbs that's adjacent  it to tell them this.

Simple solution would be to have a sump pump that when a level is met it activates and pumps to another drain - for example on Bothar na dTreabh but guess that might have knock on effects.

The route for the Athlone-Galway greenway has been released and its, umm, interesting

The section that will take users into Galway city (Ballyloughane beach, City council to provide route from there) from south of Oranmore, what do ye think

Mrs OBumble

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120408253#Comment_120408253

At least it avoids the flood plain 😉

what_traffic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120408427#Comment_120408427

"plains" 🙃

The parklets seem to be popular

https://twitter.com/HardimansGalway/status/1640473534311825411?t=ldNrzCH0PQ0bNUJk5F-zlg&s=19

Unrealistic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120408253#Comment_120408253

What I think is that this proposal shows that all those people who make the argument that we need a ring road around Galway, in order to give space for active travel in the city centre, are either being very naïve or deliberately disingenuous.

Oranmore has been bypassed but still has its main streets given over to cars and car parking (both legal and illegal). And when it comes to providing infrastructure for walking and cycling, what do they do? They send that around the bypass too rather than bringing it through the town where it would actually be useful. All to avoid interfering with the car parking on both sides of the street through most of the town.

Tourists on greenways want to travel from small town to small town, and stop and spend money there, but we want to send them to the four lane bypass instead? Greenways can facilitate local travel, not just tourism, especially in a scenario like Oranmore, where it could facilitate travel from the estates on the southern side of the town to the commercial destinations on the north of the town, to the train station, or to commute by bike to destinations within Galway city. But who is going to use a walking/cycling bypass that doubles their travel distance?

So, next time anyone says that we need a ring road around Galway in order to give space for active travel in the city centre, as well as reminding them that there are zero active travel measures planned in Galway city for when the ring road is built, just projections for even greater car traffic on many routes, I'll also point them towards these cowardly plans for Oranmore as a real life example of why such claims should be dismissed as BS.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120410455#Comment_120410455

It really is a picture perfect example of everything that's wrong with AT planning. Vested interests have made an absolute mess of it

what_traffic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120408253#Comment_120408253

Its daft that they are using the Oranmore road bypass and dual carriageway as Unrealistic outlines perfectly.

Wish the Greenway finished in Eyre Square/Railway Station - we need a really good linkage from Renmore via the Railway line over Lough Atalia. I hope that some of those Coastal sections are omitted from Oranmore train station towards City, will straighten up the route for potential commuters(e-bikes) from Oranmore to the City.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120410994#Comment_120410994

Users will be diverted up Ballyloughane Rd, Renmore Ave to Dublin Rd most likely

The Ballyloughane rd/Renmore Ave AT plans are below

https://www.galwaycity.ie/active-travel#5

Loads of bellyaching from councillors about removing of onstreet parking to facilitate it despite all properties having driveways

https://connachttribune.ie/council-avoids-head-on-collision-over-cycle-enhancement-plan-for-renmore/

ratracer

I would be a huge supporter of Greenways, and in favour of the general meandering route through South Galway that could have been brilliant, but man, that final preferred route needs to scrapped before another cent is wasted on it. It is possibly one of the worst AT plans I’ve ever seen and, like most infrastructure projects in this county, seriously appears to have been designed to fail!!

https://connachttribune.ie/new-galway-transportation-strategy-will-be-published-by-end-of-year/

Confirmed that the new GTS, or rather GMATS (Galway Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy) will be released before the end of the year.

It will include provision for a feasibility study into light rail

It will also include a target that 50% of all journeys are done by walking+cycling+PT by 2030

The previous GTS gave the following %'s (note it doesn't total 100%)

• Bus 8%
• Cycling 5%
• Walking 23%
• Train <1%
• Car 60%

Based on the current rate of implementation, there isn't a snowballs chance of hitting 50% by 2030

I think its going to take a complete polar opposite as CEO to effect the level of change needed. Someone like Robert Burns (formerly of DLR CoCo, now in Fingal CoCo) would really drive things

Gremlinertia

I see there's another power outage in the same area as the previous one march 16th so might be a few traffic issues Eastside, I'll update if I hear anything

Gremlinertia

Following up from that the lights are out at Terryland

what_traffic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120411209#Comment_120411209

You might be right - but wish it was part of the scheme itself.

In defence of the Cllr's. The Renmore proposal from Executive was poor though IMHO, they should really have been aiming for a segregated cycle track alongside Renmore Avenue. There is loads of space for it. Could have retained some of the car parking that people were bellyaching over yet still have a superior cycle infrastructure. Don't know why executive were penny pinching here? Ballyloughane Rd - that needed to happen regardless of the bellyaching.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120412451#Comment_120412451

Aye, I made a submission on it at the time, think I said something along the same lines

rustyfrog

removed

ben.schlomo

4/10

More pedestrian infrastructure, this time in Oughterard, with a new bridge over the Owenriff river. Anyone who knows the village will be familiar with the current dangerous situation with the existing bridge though I think many would argue that the current bridge should be left for pedestrian/cyclist users and a new vehicle bridge built instead.

https://connachttribune.ie/new-footbridge-will-solve-safety-issue-in-oughterard-787/

The ABP decision on the cross city link is delayed by 6 months, until Oct this year

https://connachttribune.ie/decision-delayed-on-galways-cross-city-link-for-public-transport/

what_traffic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120474883#Comment_120474883

Build a bypass!!

Badly needed a pedestrian bridge here as two schools nearby, always thought it weird though that a connection for the two schools has not been developed from North of the village.