M6 - Galway City Ring Road [planning decision pending]

what_traffic · 03-02-2026 05:12PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124202572#Comment_124202572

Pat does one of these articles every 3/4 months or so for the last decade now. Usually the first paragraph has some "newish" information in it, but this one is half decent. Interesting observations from the Commuter Coalition

marno21 · 05-02-2026 08:53PM

https://www.rte.ie/news/regional/2026/0205/1556973-galway-ring-road/

Inspectors report submitted

Decision by mid March

Aontachtoir · 09-02-2026 11:44AM

I wonder if the recent Supreme Court ruling in the Coolglass wind farm case will throw a spanner in here.

https://www.rte.ie/news/2026/0204/1556716-wind-farm-supreme-court/

It basically puts a much stronger burden on planning bodies to act in accordance with climate laws. I am sure ACP are scrambling to try and understand how it applies to the GCRR. Remember how the last permission was overturned because they didn’t take into account the updated Climate Action Plan published only days before they made their decision. A road which will deliver at least a permanent moderate negative impact on the climate and which comes with no meaningful active or sustainable travel interventions (unlike the proposed M20, which includes cycle infrastructure along its entire length) seems likely to be a hard sell.

The Supreme Court leapt at the chance to do the Coolglass case (to test how far the law requires allowing climate-friendly projects over other restrictions). I am sure they will be eager to see the GCRR case too (to test how far the law requires blocking climate-damaging projects regardless of other benefits).

Separately, if the government do pass their emergency planning powers bill any time soon, I expect to see them used on GCRR.

CatInABox · 09-02-2026 12:23PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124219943#Comment_124219943

I read through the judgement when it came out, and despite the headlines and articles, the effect will be fairly limited. It will result in weeks or months being added onto every major planning application, as ACP will now need to make sure that every decision goes through a section 15 process, but the analysis that they are required to do, based on what the supreme court gave examples of, is very broad.

The original judgement from the planning court, that was something else entirely. There was essentially zero chance of the M6 surviving a JR if that remained on the books, but the Supreme Court tore that judgement to shreds. In fact, the only thing that the Supreme Court agreed with was that ACP (and all public bodies) have a section 15 responsibility, which ACP didn't comply with in this case (or any case up to this point).

Honestly, it's slightly more than a checkbox that ACP need to fill out.

Aontachtoir · 09-02-2026 02:27PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124220038#Comment_124220038

It seemed a bit more than a simple tick-box exercise to me, but I am sure the courts will be happy to decide how it applies to the ring road over the coming months (and years).

CatInABox · 09-02-2026 04:50PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124220387#Comment_124220387

I guess I left myself open to that, in fairness, as "slightly more than a checkbox" definitely makes it seem "easy". It won't be, with more time added on to the planning process. However, it is not something that ACP is not already doing in multiple other facets of their job.

However, I do agree that the M6 will end up in court, and this may come up again. The question almost certainly won't be if ACP didn't do their section 15 homework, but if the Local Development Plans and the Galway Transport Strategy devised by other public bodies meets the section 15 threshold.

I personally think that the M6 won't survive the courts, even if section 15 plays no part.

For anyone that wants a read of it, The Supreme Court ruling is available here:

https://www2.courts.ie/view/judgments/dc8d9a6e-345e-4ce5-ab15-314fd87b5ef3/6a4cdf55-2c78-4548-b2cb-bd0f4a84e0a2/2026_IESC_5_O%27Donnell%20CJ.pdf/pdf

And the rather helpful summary of the section 15 issue is paragraph 118. It's quite detailed.

marno21 · 17-02-2026 08:15AM

https://extra.ie/2026/02/16/news/irish-news/major-projects-fears-new-roads

Mention here that the forthcoming Critical Infrastructure Bill may be used as a workaround for the potential of the aforementioned Supreme Court decision. Very welcome news. It wouldn't be in the public interest to have the progression of critical projects like this one obstructed by ill thought out legislation.

(Posting this here rather than anywhere else as this project is the only one which could be affected by this in the near future).

KrisW1001 · 17-02-2026 08:28AM

It would be a shame if this were pushed through. It's still a bad scheme that will make Galway's problems worse in the long run.

Aontachtoir · 17-02-2026 10:54AM

I wouldn’t agree that the Climate Act is “ill thought-out legislation.” It seems to me that it has a clear intent and the courts have confirmed that it has a legal bite. Surely that is the point of thought-out legislation. The Oireachtas is free to change the Act as it sees fit, but the government parties would then have to go on the record to say that they are rolling back their commitments to reduce our emissions. That would be unpopular (if it were popular, they would do it immediately), so instead we will have this halfway house where the climate law exists to support good planning but the government will give itself a free pass to ignore it.

I would agree that the Ring Road as it stands is a bad scheme. It should be progressed only with a comprehensive public transport and active travel solution, because that is what will really solve the traffic problem. We all know that if it is built without them, the other elements will never be delivered, and Galway will become even more depressingly car-dependent than ever.

timmyntc · 17-02-2026 12:11PM

I think the road should be delivered, if only to act as a warning to the rest of the country that road schemes will not solve city centre bound traffic causing congestion.

Galway shall be sacrificed for the greater good

gilly1910 · 17-02-2026 01:23PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124242499#Comment_124242499

In fairness Galway has been sacrificed for as long as I can remember, Cork and Limerick got their tunnels and ring roads, we got diddly squat.

Seth Brundle · 17-02-2026 01:34PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124242726#Comment_124242726

There is one clear reason why Galway has gotten diddly squat and that is because there have no intention of looking for anything other than this diddly-squat road.
The councils have continued bull-headed with this project and flatly refused to properly consider anything else until they get their way.
They know that this road will not improve traffic for the Galway motorists. They know that this road won't improve public transport. They know that this road will not make Galway a better place to either walk or cycle in. So what exactly do they see as the benefits of spending €1-1.5Bn on it?

marno21 · 17-02-2026 01:44PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124242310#Comment_124242310

If the Government are progressing a National Development Plan of apparently critical projects, and these projects are in national and local development plans, and being funded to the tune of millions of euro per year, and the same Government is passing legislation that leads to these projects' development consent being overturned in the courts, imo it is ill thought out legislation. It's an obscene waste of money being spent on projects that have no chance of making it to the shovel if that's the case.

hans aus dtschl · 17-02-2026 02:30PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124242797#Comment_124242797

Yes but you've decided here that the climate legislation is the one that's ill-thought out, rather than the projects they've earmarked as "critical". I would see it the other way around: this project really seems to be ill-thought out. More than most others I've seen.

riddlinrussell · 17-02-2026 02:31PM

That sounds more to me like a series of ill thought out projects that fail to take account of the government's own legislation rather than ill thought out legislation?

The legislation has been in place now for nearly 6 years, and the majority of its requirements known for even longer, especially I would hope by the planners in the government's own departments and council planning departments.

If their projects can't achieve the criteria set out in the legislation then they probably need to be re-examining their projects and priorities to meet them, rather than beg for a free pass in legislation?

The ring road is probably the clearest case of this, as evidenced by everything including the plans own reports saying "this is a bad idea for Galway traffic" and them attempting to plough ahead regardless instead of stepping back and saying "hmm maybe we should look at the vast body of evidence that moving more people onto public transit and active travel is the data driven solution to congestion, and then look at a true bypass with maybe 4 junctions"

All they see is sweet sweet land for rezoning so they can get developer contributions for a bunch of new semi-ds in labyrinthine estates with one car entrance and no permeability

Chris_5339762 · 17-02-2026 03:08PM

I occasionally pop into my own very long running thread!

I do think we have to be quite careful to not hobble ourselves. This project aside, we do need roads, we need rail, we need all sorts of other infrastructure from electricity to water to sewage. Climate law should be there to guide which of these is the best for the environment - but occasionally "making life easier for everyone" and "for the greater good" do need to win. We can't hobble ourselves too much. I fear these laws will be used to stop infrastructural projects (good or bad) for NIMBY reasons and BANANA reasons. Common sense needs to prevail and I still maintain Galway needs some form of a bypass - personally I preferred the old plans. But this needs to be done with a masterplan for public transport for the city. I was not in favor of GLUAS back in the day but I feel now that this sort of project is required regardless.

Almost nothing will past a cost-benefit analysis really well thesedays and to put extremely onerous climate requirements onto it as well will mean very little necessary infrastructure actually gets built.

riddlinrussell · 17-02-2026 03:54PM

Listen, I'm not going to come out 100% in favour of the existing legislation, maybe it simply straitjacket things too much. But my own personal feeling is that, even if there's a special exemption pushed through that the bare minimum is that any project be that road/rail/active travel looks holistically at the bigger picture of what we want to achieve.

Do we want more cars in a traffic jam in Galway, or do we want more people to be able to get in and out of Galway and reduce congestion? If the project starts out looking for a road and gives no consideration to any alternatives, then no I don't think it should be allowed to sidestep the legislation. Its just bad planning, before anyone even gets to an environmental argument.

Personally I think any 'national' level road project should be directly tied to infrastructure improvements for bus/rail/active travel as appropriate.

So rurally they have to include building a Cycleway/Walkway linking towns as an alternative to the cars. In towns and Cities they have to develop the plan with the proposed bus priority measures as a core part of the project, you can't have one without the other, and for goodness sake if traffic analysis of your plan explicitly tells you it will make congestion worse, you should have to revisit your plan until that isn't the case!

Aontachtoir · 17-02-2026 04:24PM

@riddlinrussell Agreed, this is the obvious compromise. Build as many motorways as you want, but they have to come with high-quality segregated infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists connecting to local towns and villages, a comprehensive bus/train network with priority measures, and a plan to ensure that there will be fewer cars on the roads adjoining the route at the end of the process than at the start.

It should still be possible to build new roads under our climate legislation. However, it should not be possible to build new roads without providing the same level of improvement and safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and public transport users that you are providing to private car drivers.

xckjoo · 17-02-2026 06:46PM

Makes you wonder what the city could be like today if 20 years ago when they first started this, it had been to build a light rail network and bridge on a similar route. I'd bet it would be cheaper, finished by now and more impactful

veryangryman · 17-02-2026 09:55PM

The government must be laughing at how this climate copout lets them get away with building nothing.

This road i can assure you beats doing nothing. Galway is choked.

Oh no they mightnt build anything else is a poor argument but sure at least it makes the same thing happen - nothing

Pete_Cavan · 18-02-2026 06:55AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124244299#Comment_124244299

Their own modeling shows that building the road does not beat doing nothing.

riddlinrussell · 18-02-2026 03:34PM

Also, there is literally nothing stopping them from building a vast amount of the "anything else" right now without having to do basically any planning at all (section 38s for bus lanes and cycleways).

They won't do it now, they won't do it after. Their plans aren't likely getting through the climate act because they won't do the alternatives as part of this project.

gilly1910 · 20-02-2026 12:00PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124243826#Comment_124243826

And that is the most frustrating thing of all, nothing has been done at all in Galway, no ring road, no city bypass, no proper public transport, no bus lanes, no cycle lanes etc. For decades Galway City has been literally given nothing, and for that I firmly blame our politicians, although you could also blame the public for putting up with this ineptitude .

Wompa1 · 20-02-2026 12:21PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124244810#Comment_124244810

The local councillors went on a fact finding mission to Utrecht and apparently learned absolutely nothing. Utrecht got rid of a motorway that went through the town and made it into a major cycle focused city but what gets missed is that they built up a network of roads around Utrecht in the 70s and have a comprehensive rail network. We could do the same but they haven't a clue.

Pete_Cavan · 20-02-2026 12:29PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124250929#Comment_124250929

Galway has been given nothing because they have only been looking for one thing* and sought nothing else. There is plenty of other things that they could have had if just asked for it instead of focusing on one thing.

* that that one thing is as yet undelivered shouldn't be a surprise to anyone, the way they have gone about it has also contributed to it not being delivered

Pete_Cavan · 20-02-2026 12:36PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124250982#Comment_124250982

Utrecht's road and rail network is as a result of it being in a densely populated region and on the route between major cities/regions. It is nothing like Galway which is a small city on practically the edge of Europe.

Wompa1 · 20-02-2026 01:04PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124251017#Comment_124251017

The Galway council reckons over 2.7 million people visit Galway each year. Seems set to increase too, as well as the population.

KrisW1001 · 20-02-2026 03:30PM

Tourism isn’t causing Galway city’s traffic. If it was, the city traffic would be worse in Summer when tourism peaks. Tourists are off-peak road users, and there’s already plenty of capacity for them.

That figure is for the whole county, by the way. Fáilte Ireland said 2.4 million visitors (1.0 foreign; 1.4 Irish) in 2024, so it’s not wildly exaggerated.

Geuze · 20-02-2026 03:55PM

€1bn++!!

And yet it has been seven years since the passing loop in Oranmore station was first mentioned, and still the main works haven't started.

I am not against the GCRR, but for every euro spent on it, could we also have a euro spent on public transit?

KrisW1001 · 20-02-2026 04:01PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124251576#Comment_124251576

”Sure what’s the point of that, when everyone has a car…”

M6 - Galway City Ring Road [planning decision pending]

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