Galway traffic

GTS review is happening this year. Both councils still have their eyes and ears covered and insist the road will happen... so it'll revolve around the ring road again.

ya I agree, that would probably be an easier sell first and then a decade later go for a pedestrianised solution for the Centre

What do you mean "get it over the line"? The whole things is held up because a group of "environmentalist", representing nobody but themselves, took a case against it and ABP decided not to fight that case. All the major players want this road built but there are some experienced legal challengers doing what they can to block it.

Over the line! Lock in stuff legally like adding a bus lane to the Quincentenary Bridge in both directions the night before the Ring Road opens. (That will connect in with the existing BUS Lanes on Sean Mulvoy Road and Moneenageisha Road that will open in 2024) - Bus and cycle priority on the N59. Bus and cycle ONLY Network connecting Ballybrit and Parkmore (have seen this in industrial area's of Europe that I have travelled for work). Convert multi-storey car parks in the City centre into apartments. The list is endless because we are starting from such a low base. They need to show that they will dramatically reduce car journeys within the City.

Its held up because it was a very poor engineering solution in the first place, how ABP approved it initially is beyond me after reading the car traffic projections and modal share from ARUP. It really was an example of project that would run to a standstill.

Another hurdle I hadn't thought of...

There must be at least 25 - 30 people in that “crowd”. Their biggest yet :-)

Your one running that rabble said on Prime Time that she moved back to Galway 6 years ago. It’d be great if she considered moving again….

What has this got to do with traffic?

Overall demand in the city is going to continue to increase. A lot of future demand will be taken by PT and bike lanes etc, but people like the option of individual transportation and there will always be a proportion of journeys that will require individual transport. We have got to plan now for a future city of probably closer to 150k, probably even more when the likes of Oranmore, Claregalway, Barna and even Moycullen at this stage are de facto city suburbs, not commuter towns as they are treated. If a successful programme of public transport and bike lanes was to be implemented achieving the goal of reducing the number of daily journeys we would in all likelihood end up with city streets just as clogged, if not more so than today. Netherlands supposedly has the public transport options that we want, has the bike infrastructure etc. but only has about 25% fewer km travelled by car per person. It is not difficult to see how population increase will erode much of the benefits.

The plans you outline are a great start but will in effect only at best leave us standing still unless a way can be found to take the necessary journeys that don’t need be in the city centre away from the city centre. And this is not just journeys bypassing the city. It is trips from where people live to where people work at the times that they need to not at the time that suits the public transport system. There will never be the critical mass of population to have adequate pt options in place to get the shift worker from Knocknacarra to Ballybrit for 11pm at frequency and end to end journey time that makes it a viable option for most. At end of shifts these journeys coincide with the busiest times for deliveries and commuters. Keeping them away from city centre when you can is a no brainer.

it is also pointed out that a low proportion of journeys commence or terminate in the Connemara region so therefore a bypass is not warranted. This does not take into account that Connemara is in effect a virtual peninsula with access only through Galway city (or a circuitous route via Headford) due to the bay and lake. What future necessary actions to take traffic off city centre streets will in effect do is move some of the daily required unavoidable car journeys that from the city centre area to the quincentennial bridge( aside the bridge is really city centre at this stage). Combined with population demographics, a not trivial proportion of the population will have connectivity further cut off and a significant tourist destination will be hamstrung by the ability to get people in.

It is argued that all building roads do is make more room for cars to fill. In a situation where demographics were static this is valid and better pt, bike and pedestrian infrastructure would resolve the issues Galway faces currently and building a new orbital route would just make room for more cars. But Ireland is looking at a future with a population of 7-8million+, Galway 150k++. Solving todays problems will not do anything for tomorrows population. Technology will take care of the climate change impacts of car ownership through use of alternative energy. The current capacity problem can be taken care of through adequate public transport and other alternative transport options. The only way to meet the future capacity requirements however is increased capacity.