Within the coming weeks, Galway city could have 59 new taxi ranks with another set due to come on stream before the end of the year.
Currently there are not enough taxi ranks in the city to cater for all the taxi drivers. Following various meetings between the city manager Joe MacGrath and the Galway Taxi Association, 59 new ranks have been identified.
Of these 11 would be full time ranks, five of them outside the Hotel Rio in Salthill, three outside the AIB in Salthill, and three at the Ballybane Road.
The remaining 48 will be part time ranks. Eight of them will be in Market Street; two in Eyre Square; nine in Middle Street; eight in Bridge Street; eight in Merchant’s Road; 10 in Raven Terrace; and three outside Claude’s in Salthill.
At Monday’s city council meeting it was decided that the 59 already identified spaces would go forward for public consultation. Changes may also need to be made to the bylaws to allow the ranks to proceed.
The city council will be examining other locations with a view to turning them into taxi ranks later this year.
