M6 - Galway City Ring Road [planning decision pending]

riddlinrussell · 16-09-2025 05:03PM

And everyone else keeps saying that "build the bloody thing" has been shown by the councils own studies to make things worse so why do it?

xckjoo · 16-09-2025 05:20PM

We're all frustrated but better to want a solution that might actually help things instead of flogging this decades old dead horse that is going to make things worse.

KrisW1001 · 16-09-2025 05:27PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123822108#Comment_123822108

If “Galway has got nothing”, then the reason is because Galway City Council asked for nothing, because it has fixated on this project, and this project is on a very slow path to being canned.

The government doesn’t sit in a tower in Leinster house and invent projects to throw at the cities and regions. They ask the local authorities what is needed, and the government then tries to co-ordinate these projects on a national scale to meet those needs. Most of the stuff in the National Development Plans comes from local government wish-lists, because the local governments are assumed to know best what is needed in their areas.

To date, Galway City has just sat there and effectively said “We cannot think of anything in transport that the city needs funding for except the Ring Road”. When told that the Ring Road wasn’t likely to happen any time soon, Galway still asked for nothing else to be done in the meantime, even though it could have got funding for bus and active-travel measures that would have reduced the city's traffic issues.

I really think there’s a fear in the City Council that, if they do anything to improve the traffic, it might damage the case for the shiny “motorway” orbital road that they want because all the other cities have one. (Those other cities have bypasses because there’s somewhere nationally important beyond them; not so for Galway)

what_traffic · 16-09-2025 06:43PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123822232#Comment_123822232

Would tend to agree with this line after living here in Galway City for 25years now:

I really think there’s a fear in the City Council that, if they do anything to improve the traffic, it might damage the case for the shiny “motorway” orbital road that they want because all the other cities have one.

Your post does show up in a way what a crazy system of local Government we have ended up with ALL the same.

KrisW1001 · 16-09-2025 07:04PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123822443#Comment_123822443

The division between local and central government works pretty well, but the local government has to be guided by competent politicians. I’d cite Waterford (now a single council) as being the exact opposite of Galway in terms of transport infrastructure and land-use.

saabsaab · 22-09-2025 07:16PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123822443#Comment_123822443

Spot on. There are measures that could help with current traffic. Like one way systems and perhaps another bridge witihn the city not to mention a park and ride all year.

Kermit.de.frog · 22-09-2025 08:58PM

The M50 was an enormous game changing piece of infrastructure for Dublin. The city would not be able to function without it. It will be the same for Galway. Time to get on with it.

Sam Russell · 22-09-2025 10:05PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123841370#Comment_123841370

No it will not.

The proposed bypass is not doing anything for city traffic. They need to think public transport and P&R and bikes.

They could not remove parking spaces along the prom in Salthill. The council do not appear to be able to imagine any solution that might ease traffic. The one way system they had when lowering the road below the railway bridge on Lough Atalia Road. The traffic was one way around College Road and Lough Atalia. Traffic flow improved but once the work finished it was back to gridlock.

They have already got the bypass - its called the M17. They built it too far east.

KrisW1001 · 23-09-2025 08:24AM

M17 is built in the right place. Building it any further west would have made it less effective for its primary purpose, which is to get to North Connacht from Munster without having to go near Galway. Before M17, the relative quality of N18, N6 and N17 meant that if you wanted to go to Mayo (for example), you pretty much had to get sucked into Galway’s horror traffic, before being spat out in the direction you needed: a diversion and a delay. With M17, it’s quicker to continue north towards Tuam, then branch off, completely avoiding the city that’s not your destination.

Jim Cryton · 23-09-2025 11:04AM

People tend to forget a major reason to build roads is not necessarily to make travel easier (though that's usually the case). The major reason is to unlock huge amounts of land for housing and commerical development. That would be the main benefit of this road for Galway. Now, there's plenty of people would wouldn't want such development to happen. Those people need to be ignored. The city is not a museum, we need to allow for growth.

Seth Brundle · 23-09-2025 11:12AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123842862#Comment_123842862

That would be a distributor road which the proposed road is not - it was to be a bypass.
But then it became a distributor road also so now it is to allow traffic to bypass Galway (removing it from local traffic) while at the same time facilitating local traffic 🙄

Jim Cryton · 23-09-2025 11:20AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123842900#Comment_123842900

No matter what they call it you'll start seeing housing estates, hotels and industiral estates spring up all along it.

hans aus dtschl · 23-09-2025 11:31AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123842862#Comment_123842862

It's good that you can see this road is designed to unlock land for development. Many of us on here agree. Some local elected representatives have also said the same (that they are in favour of this road to unlock development land).

Unfortunately though, the explicitly stated purpose of this road was not to unlock development land, the stated purpose was to provide a bypass. If it "unlocks development land" then it needs to include measures that do not encourage car dependency in those "unlocked" areas. That would be things like bus priority, active transport priority etc.

They have not provided for these within the design of this road because it is not supposed to be a distributor project.

Basically, you are looking and saying "the emperor has no clothes" like the rest of us are.

And…by the way…yes please can we have a proper distributor. And a bypass too. Why not, we have the money? And put this hodge-podge mess of a current design out to pasture. Please and thanks.

KrisW1001 · 23-09-2025 11:51AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123842923#Comment_123842923

And what do you reckon will happen to the traffic after this happens?

This is the major problem I have with how the N6 scheme has been handled. Based on their actions to date, the council’s plan appears to be “1. build the new road, 2. develop the lands around it, 3. maybe look at fixing the city’s transport system?”. The problem with that approach is that step "3", improving transport systems, should be the very first thing done. Get a viable alternative to private cars in place, and then build any kind of distributor you want. You have to nip the traffic issues in the bud, by giving people in those new suburbs a choice of how they want to travel: public transport, cycle, or private car.

But N6 isn’t even a good distributor road. Look at the Limerick Northern Distributor and Cork Northern Distributor projects to see what a distributor road should be: an express road, but at street level with regular street crossings, that connects neighbourhoods together and allows a fast, efficient bus service to link them, as well as safe cycling and pedestrian options. N6, on the other hand, is designed as a motorway: distant from neighbourhoods, with limited junctions, and of no use for bus services or cyclists.

N6 is like that because it started as a bypass, but then it was pointed out that “bypassing” Galway is stupid (Galway is basically the end of the line for the East-West corridor here), so the thing was re-branded as a “ring road” and a “distributor”, but the design wasn’t changed one bit.

You’d get at least two real distributor routes for the price of the N6 Ring road, plus money to invest in P+R and bus improvements, and it would greatly help the city’s transport problems. But as far as I can see, the N6 project is a pride issue for Galway City council: they want a “motorway” bypass road because everyone else has one, even though Galway City is unique in not having any major destinations beyond it.

hans aus dtschl · 23-09-2025 12:04PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123842923#Comment_123842923

Yes that's broadly true. Hence the need to close some of the junctions as many of us have said. We had similar mistakes with M50 (Dublin) and N40 (Cork). Using a bypass to unlock development land will result in newly developed land being centred on car mobility, and the resulting bypass becomes full with local short-journey traffic in a short timeframe.

For instance M8 doesn't have Glanmire junction, N18 Limerick doesn't have a junction at the Crescent shopping centre: great decisions. N40 has two junctions at Douglas and one at Mahon with no sustainable transport possible on the parallel route. The result is that many short-distance commutes are done by car whether for convenience/necessity. Same issues exist on the M50, just I don't know it as well. People are using a bypass road to not bypass anything, just start within the city and end within the city. The result is needless congestion and lost efficiency as all the long-distance bypass traffic is stuck behind the local distributor traffic.

One obvious roads-based answer is to provide a distributor AND a bypass.

It's mostly too late for the N40 and M50 (the city sprawl has already swamped them) but reverting the existing Galway N6 to distributor and providing a new bypass would be a reasonably good thing to do. The problem is what they've designed is not a bypass. It's not even called a bypass (for a reason). And there's no plan to convert the existing N6 to distributor. Right now at around midday on a Tuesday there's a traffic jam at the Tuam Road, where there are four lanes for cars, no lanes for buses and just paint on the hard shoulder for bikes, it would be almost laughably easy to rectify this. At Headford Road, there's a short traffic jam right now and again no bus priority measures. Why on earth would anyone choose NOT drive the current road? There's almost no incentive to use a more efficient means of transport.

Kermit.de.frog · 23-09-2025 12:04PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123843050#Comment_123843050

Do you live in Galway?

I personally find it a bit rich and galling that those who enjoy such infrastructure and have benefitted in other parts of the country tell others "you can't have it" because they have some hypocritical ideological objection.

Galway should get on and develop whatever way they see best for their city.

hans aus dtschl · 23-09-2025 12:06PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123843112#Comment_123843112

Do you live in Galway yourself?

And are there alternatives to car-based transport where you live?

Also, you know that this road is a National project and not a local one right?

KrisW1001 · 23-09-2025 12:17PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123843112#Comment_123843112

It’s not ideological. Read what I wrote. A motorway-standard bypass of Galway is a waste of money: there’s nothing on the other side that needs that capacity. It’s a pure vanity project, and it’s a waste of money that could be used to build a proper urban road network for the city. Even the designers say it’ll make the city’s traffic worse in the long run. It’s a stupid idea.

I live in Cork. Trust me, I don’t “enjoy” N40 one bit. It’s a dog’s dinner of a thing that really should have been two or three roads: a motorway bypass of Cork with just three intermediate junctions (N28, N27, N72), plus one or two local, street-style east-west distributors. Galway shouldn’t reproduce Cork’s mistake.

I want to see the same amount of money spent, on roads, but on roads that will fix the actual problem, not give some dope of a councillor a hardon because his town has a double-line around it on a map.

Seth Brundle · 23-09-2025 04:13PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123843112#Comment_123843112

So all of the facts mean nothing to you because the road should be built regardless? Really?

Galway should get on and develop whatever way they see best for their city.

That is the crux of the issue. The councils see the road as being the solution to traffic issues. There is pretty much nothing planned in parallel (or beforehand) to reduce traffic congestion via public transport or active travel. The councils solution is one that even they admit will increase congestion

Sam Russell · 25-09-2025 10:07AM

What might get the council's attention might be a shiny new Luas from Clare Galway P&R to city centre and a second one from Oranmore to Salthill via Newcastle and Knocknacarra. Add in cycle lanes and all is good.

Nothing like 'shiny new' to get a councilor's juices flowing.

Glenomra · 25-09-2025 12:48PM

Galway city is losing significant business due to the traffic congestion imo. It the current situation is allowed to continue for much longer then it will set the city back big time. Meanwhile the Limerick City region continues to grow rapidly with much of the growth attributed to improved connectivity, since the tunnel open especially.

gilly1910 · 25-09-2025 03:23PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123848982#Comment_123848982

Now that would be ideal, but we all know that it will probably never happen, and if it does, the majority of us on here will probably be well gone. Public transport in Ireland is awful, Dublin is okay, but by International standards it's average at best, outside of Dublin it's bordering on third world. So on the basis that you're highly unlikely to see any kind of rail system in Galway over the next 50 years, they really need to do something about the traffic.

riddlinrussell · 25-09-2025 05:56PM

And as has been repeated ad-nauseam on here, on that we all agree, but the councils plan doesn't do anything about the traffic except make it worse, according to their own studies.

Jayuu · 26-09-2025 04:47PM

At the risk of asking a question that has been answered before is there any potential date given for the planning decision? I'm sure it may have been mentioned around 20 pages back but I really don't want to have to search for it (apologies for being lazy!). Maybe the thread title could be updated if it's known.

Sam Russell · 27-09-2025 10:23AM

Dublin City Council are trying to sort out the traffic on OCS, Dolier St, Westmorland St and the Quays. Despite their efforts, it took me more than 20 mins on a bus to get from Parnell Sq to Pearse St - mainly due to College Green and lots of buses, more buses, coaches and taxis. Plus the Luas. The confluence of bus lanes into College Green needs attention. Maybe diverting some routes might help. Perhaps a few Gardai on point duty.

What have Galway tried? One way streets that might alleviate the city centre blocks? NO! Reduce parking places? NO! Even have all parking controlled by GCC? NO! Improve bus throughput? NO! New bridge over the Corrib? NO! More bike lanes? NO! Anything? No, nothing.

Nothing at all, except wait for the decade or more before the golden bullet of the bypass.

gilly1910 · 02-10-2025 11:57AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123854469#Comment_123854469

While I always have been in favour of some sort of a bypass, what you have said above still proves my point that Galway City Council are useless, and for decades they have done nothing to alleviate the chronic traffic that plagues Galway. It has already been mentioned on here about the regeneration of Limerick, with much of that down to their much improved connectivity. I guarantee you that if the government ever do decide to build a LUAS outside of Dublin, that Cork or Limerick will get one long before us. We'll probably be still arguing over whether to build the ring road or not!!

GBXI · 02-10-2025 12:06PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123852850#Comment_123852850

As far as I am aware there is significant meeting this month on the topic to decide the direction.

marno21 · 13-11-2025 02:59AM

Latest on this circus

The Galway city ring road is a component of the Galway transport strategy. The Senator referred to the ring road as having a long and chequered history, and the Minister for Transport has provided me with the background to that. This scheme was submitted to An Bord Pleanála, which, of course, is now an coimisiún. It approved the scheme with conditions on 6 December 2021. Subsequently, there were three applications for judicial review submitted to the High Court, which imposed a stay on progressing the scheme. An Bord Pleanála subsequently took the decision not to oppose the judicial review taken by Friends of the Irish Environment against the decision to grant planning permission for the project. An Bord Pleanála stated that it took this decision on the grounds that the Government's most recent climate action plan was not taken into consideration before making the decision to grant permission. It was then for the High Court to decide whether to grant an order to quash the decision of the board. On 30 January 2023, the High Court quashed that decision to approve the scheme and remitted the application back before the board. An Coimisiún Pleanála will need to consider the application and make a new decision. I have recently requested further information from Galway City Council, including an updated environmental impact assessment report and a Natura impact statement.
Galway County Council submitted its response to this request by An Coimisiún Pleanála on 14 April. On 13 June, Galway County Council was informed that a further consultation would be required. A consultation period was held between 27 June and 1 August, and 28 submissions were received in response to that public consultation. As the Senator said, the next iteration of the NDP review means the Ministers now have to put their funding priorities in place and outline their plans for the coming years.

No one here took the time to wish this case a happy 7th birthday of late (26/10/2018). This date happened to be the date of the Irish presidential election of 2018 for those who want an anchor to remember it. A full 7 year presidential term later and this scheme remains in a filing cabinet on Marlborough Street.

CatInABox · 13-11-2025 11:11AM

Feel real sorry for ACP on this one, there's no clear path to safely approving this. GCRR is government policy, but it's also government policy to combat climate change, and squaring that circle on this particular project is beyond anyone I feel.

marno21 · 13-11-2025 11:17AM

Time for them to legislate for some sort of imperative reasons of overriding public interest for schemes like this which are local and national policy. This and the other key strategic road projects (M20, M11 to Rosslare, N2, N4, N17 etc).

M6 - Galway City Ring Road [planning decision pending]

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