I first brought the initiative to the Galway County Council in January 2020 having been approached by local resident and active travel activist Liam Frawley in September 2019. Mr Frawley has two children attending the Gaelscoil in Oranmore village.
He and others were, and continue to be, concerned about motorists parking on the paths and in the cycle lanes en route to the three schools in the location. I arranged for a deputation from the School Street Steering Group in February this year where children had written to Paula Higgins and Damien Mitchell in Galway County Council, pleading with them to make their streets safer and healthier to get to school. All this information is with Mr Frawley for viewing.
I have been corresponding with Galway County Council Roads Department since September 2019 in relation to possible solutions to the congestion and obstruction caused by cars parking on the paths. Indeed, Mr Frawley has researched and surveyed extensively and, together we have made suggestions on possible solutions to the ongoing issues, to the roads department. I have suggested trialling a School Streets initiative as I am mindful of how poorly Galway County Council is funded from National Government.
Huge support
After almost a year of lobbying TDs and the council for some help to address the safety issues that arise from cars parking on the paths and highlighting issues like pedestrians, buggies, and wheelchairs having to go onto the road, some bollards were placed along the cycleway to the schools on the respond road in an attempt to keep the cars off the path. There is huge support for this initiative from the schools, parents, and businesses in Oranmore and Mr Frawley has all the documentation.
It should be noted that Galway City Council has pedestrianised Palmyra Park, Palmyra Avenue, and Raleigh Row, as part of a School Streets pilot in Scoil Iognáid, Raleigh Row. This is what we would like to see for the schools in Oranmore - https://www.galwaycity.ie/schoolstreets .
In Athenry, the children in Scoil Chroi Naofa have conducted a walkability audit and submitted it to the roads department. I have lobbied Galway County Council to install zebra crossings and I have requested a junction redesign for Bridge Street/Court Lane.
This is the route the majority of children take to the boys’ school and it is particularly dangerous and frightening for the young boys walking to school. All our schools encourage ‘Park and Stride’, most of our children love to cycle to school and some have no choice but to walk to school in all weather.
It is incumbent upon us as a local authority to put the health and safety of our youngest citizens at the forefront of our planning and design decisions. All these initiatives have the goal of getting children safely to school.
I welcome the suggestion from Cllr Liam Carroll that Galway County Council should seek additional funding for these measures from the Minister for Transport but I would not limit it to School Streets for our towns and villages. Galway County Council needs to be adequately funded to ensure ongoing reviews can be undertaken and issues addressed. In last year’s budget, I expressed my concern at the fact there was no funding put aside for traffic management plans and it looks like there will be no funding again this year.
Claregalway was approved for a traffic management plan last year and it would be my opinion that with the expected growth in Athenry and Oranmore, a budget for traffic management plans needs to be allowed for every year. [It is] important to keep this concept in mind when planning and designing schools, roads, and paths going forward. Adequate funding for Galway County Council is critical for the local authority to meet its obligations to the public’s safety.
