M6 - Galway City Ring Road [planning decision pending]

The roundabouts on Cork’s approach roads are much bigger, and also, Galway's traffic makes Cork look quiet: I could not believe how busy Galway was the times I drove there. It's absolutely crazy how such a small city has so many people driving in it.

On the thread topic, I still think the N6, as submitted, is dead, and the recent judgement from the new Planning panel of the High Court is the last nail in the coffin: basically, the judge in that ruling castigated ABP (on another project) for not acting in accordance with the climate treaties that the government has signed up to. There is no way the current design can meet those obligations, and, as it's an orbital road, you couldn't even add active travel or public transport to the corridor to help, as any such routes would be a huge diversion for cyclists or bus services to serve no additional locations.

The only chance of this road getting planning will be if it is included as part of a massive, and serious, overhaul of road transportation inside its orbit: that means reduction/re-allocation of lane capacity on roads within Galway, some form of congestion or user charging, and putting P+R hubs at the junctions to discourage private commuters from entering the city. That's a much bigger project, but it's one that could actually get planning.

What was submitted was “we'd like to build a massive new road, please” without any mitigations against the induced car traffic demand it would produce, and quite rightly that was found to be against every commitment the Government had made to reduce transport emissions.

Signal control junctions are quicker and safer for pedestrians and cyclists. Roundabouts are the most dangerous junction type for vulnerable road users.

Sadly, that is already happening in the UK, or at least being challenged in that way. I haven't got any examples on the tip of my tongue but it is happening. The same is happening in NI with the A5 scheme, the net zero and carbon emissions are one of the angles of the latest legal action.

Some would disagree.

"Signal-controlled intersections require a vast infrastructure to function properly. There are control stations staffed with personnel monitoring the situation constantly, ensuring that the lights change at the right time and that everything runs smoothly. If something goes wrong, the whole system can grind to a halt, causing frustration and delays for everyone involved.

Roundabouts, on the other hand, are largely self-sufficient. They don't require constant monitoring or intervention. Once they're built, they can function independently, with drivers navigating the flow of traffic on their own. This not only saves money on maintenance and staffing but also makes the system more resilient and adaptable to changing conditions.

As Aaron Dignan points out in his book "Brave New Work," the differences between these two systems are starker than we might think.

"One allows for a surreptitious text message or two while we wait," he writes.

"The other keeps things moving. One has a huge apparatus behind it, with control stations and staff monitoring the situation constantly. The other is left to its own devices."

Despite the clear advantages of roundabouts, they're surprisingly rare in the United States. There's about one roundabout for every 1,100 intersections. So, you might assume that signal-controlled intersections are superior. But the data tells a different story. Roundabouts are safer, more efficient, and cheaper to maintain than their signal-controlled counterparts. They reduce injury collisions by 75%, fatal collisions by 90%, and delays by 89%. They cost $5,000 to $10,000 less per year to maintain. And they continue to function normally during power outages. "

Have you sources for your statements?

Well ok, there's more that one view on this it seems. Odd that we replaced traffic lights with roundabouts and then about 20 years later went bck to them again.

Lights have yet to actually work in alleviating Galway traffic issues.

Roundabouts - although not perfect - alleviated Galway's traffic issues.

There is no argument, the signalled junction is safer for the vulnerable road user than the roundabout. An American study that only considers car movements isn't all that valid.

Or they could just ease the legislative burden on developing any of these projects now, by removing some of the green tape, and just getting the damn thing built.

With the exception of a couple of projects (N28, N21) that we're drawing on TEN-T funds for, the money is ours these days.

Environmental laws are still in effect regardless of what parties are in government. And it’s not just about CO2. Galway is a shitshow. The reason it’s a shitshow is that there’s no viable alternative to driving for so many people. Building this road without addressing that root problem will just end up with more cars: it has happened everywhere on earth, Galway won‘t be different - actually, it already happened in Galway when the existing N6 was widened through the city.

More and better buses, better cycleways, more alternatives to just getting in the car. Revisit the light-rail idea. Do those things, and the ring-road would actually help in an overall reduction of CO2 (stuck traffic is the worst kind in terms of emissions per km travelled). Skip them, and it’s just building another traffic jam. The application failed because the court rightly saw that the government had not followed its own environmental commitments: it was only planning to build a big new road, and would be completely free to skip the traffic reduction parts of fixing the problem

Galway is a mess due to opposition to the ring road. If it had been built, better bus corridors, cycleways and other developments could have happened on the city roads not meant for cars. Politicians, Galway city and county council and especially greedy wealthy opponents who live close to the proposed development have blood on their hands. The amount of people having close calls trying to drive to that hospital through miles of traffic with sick people is breathtaking and shameful. The amount of stress caused to families whose commute is frustrated every single day due to no proper road is shocking and very bad for people’s health.
If the road isn’t built, the main hospital should be moved from the West of the city, the infrastructure isn’t there to support it there. The West should be left and not developed. There should be consequences to the actions of the few against the will of the majority.
No Salthill cycleway should be built without an alternative road for cars and traffic, etc.

The amount of people having close calls trying to drive to that hospital through miles of traffic with sick people is breathtaking and shameful.

How many people have had close calls due to being stuck in Galway traffic en route to UHG?

More than that, it reads like "if only you'd let us finish this road, then we'd focus on everything else that REALLY needs to happen afterwards"….well…why not both?