People you see cycling along our stunning Galway Bay coast tend to be brave and are mostly male, middle-aged and able-bodied. We gave out free rechargeable bike lights one evening last week on the Prom and not one woman cycled by. You do not see the people who would like to cycle but feel frightened by high traffic volumes and parking, and the ever-present threat of being ‘doored - women, teenagers, disabled people, children.
And so we are fortunate that the temporary 3km cycleway will be a safe route for all ages and abilities.
Importantly, it will be the ‘spine’ of safer routes to 17 schools within 1.5km of the cycleway. Knocknacarra has over 25% of the city’s population and just one secondary school.Delaying safe cycling is denying safe cycling. And the climate crisis cannot be put on ‘snooze’.
Our city’s full support for a network of greenways and cycleways gladdens the heart. Inevitably, more people on cycles will boost quality of life for all, boost business, and boost tourism. It is expected, like everywhere else, that a useful cycleway will result in many short car trips being replaced by cycle trips.
By September, we will have lived experience of what works, and evidence of what needs to be better, for a future permanent greenway from Barna to the city and Moycullen.
Right now, we have an opportunity rooted in research, funding announced this week by Minister Eamon Ryan and Minister Hildegarde Naughton, and half of the city’s residents live within a 10 minute cycle of the proposed 3km Salthill Temporary Cycleway.
So, can Galway be the new Amsterdam now? As long as we keep our focus on our children, we will be well on our way.
The perfect is the enemy of the good. We support Option 2 with modifications like the following, which should have been in the design from the start: more pedestrian crossings, more disabled parking, the introduction of Age Friendly parking, and for the cycleway to use the grass verge near Ladies Beach so 15 disabled parking bays can be on the seaside.
Least disruptive
Option 2 is the least disruptive. It is the better option for bus and taxi users. Some residents living near the cycleway will be inconvenienced by their usual route changing by one or two kilometres. Their feelings are very real.
Research by University College London on London’s High Streets shows walking, cycling and public realm improvements can increase retail sales by 30%. It also found that, over a month, people who walk spend up to 40% more than people who drive to the High Street.
Research by TU Dublin on Blackrock and Coastal Mobility Route showed that 72% of businesses viewed the new layout as a positive addition to Blackrock Main Street; the same number of businesses again, 72%, would like the changes to Blackrock Main Street made permanent.
There are at least 2.7 times more people on bikes along the Coastal Mobility Route since its introduction, about 20,000 cycle trips in summer.
It is almost funny now to think back of the ferocious conversations around the pedestrianisation of Shop Street.
Our streets are in a constant state of change and renewal. Thank goodness! Would anyone with a straight face suggest reverting the plaza around Spanish Arch into a carpark?
Changes to Cross Street this summer have been a terrific success.
Those of us who frequented Woodquay and the Westend for outdoor hospitality still bemoan the reversal of those much-loved changes; but they were temporary and so they ended.
We need to think differently about our urban community. Arguing to protect the convenience of people who drive and protect car priority will not deliver a healthy, vibrant, sustainable Galway.
Either Option 1 or Option 2 will be an improvement on what we have now. Salthill is no paradise. Yet it can be.
People who are unsure should support this; we learn nothing if we don’t try something new.
Galway could become Ireland’s Amsterdam, a bike friendly holiday destination city, and the terminus of Ireland’s longest greenway due to open in 2025. Let’s give it a go.
Martina Callanan and Kevin Jennings are members of the Galway Cycling Campaign.
