The original Galway City Bypass was a road project only. The Galway City Ring Road – GCRR - is part of an integrated solution to our traffic woes, the Galway Transportation Strategy. The strategy has the support of the elected members of the City and County Councils. It involves the GCRR but also improved public transport, cycling and walking infrastructure, and is evident in the Crosslinks project, which has gone to planning, and the new bridge alongside the Salmon Weir.
More is planned and more is needed, including the continuation of the Connemara Greenway from Moycullen to the city, funding for which has been granted for a replacement cycling/pedestrian bridge over the railway viaducts.
The Ring Road is designed to connect the East with the West through a fifth bridge. It will allow improved access to the industrial estates and business parks of east of the city to Knocknacarra and the West where so many of the workers live. It will remove from the city and Bearna traffic that doesn’t need or want to be there, but rather wants to get to the far side of the city or further afield. It will make the inner core of our city more liveable and more able to accommodate the public transport measures in the strategy and future plans. The GCRR provides the space in the existing road network for more bus lanes, cycling and pedestrian projects and light rail, if deemed feasible.
The GCRR will work in conjunction with the public transport elements. Neither will solve the traffic problems alone. Both are required. The population of Galway – in keeping with our country – is projected to rise. The city has a population of circa 85,000 at present and is expected to grow to 125,000 by 2040. Some of this growth will be in higher density, higher rise city living, at Ceannt Station and the Docks. More will be in Knocknacarra and Bearna. There is capacity for greater density in some of our older suburbs and rail links from Renmore or Murrough. But the central premise of a growing population, with many driving electric cars through the city, in order to get to Connemara or the other parts of the city, will still be a real issue.
Quality of life
Why should city residents have to have their quality of life impacted by cars that don’t need or want to be there, trying to get somewhere else? How many hours of commuting is lost in Galway City every day? How much family time, leisure time, relaxation time is lost every day? Why should commuters from Moycullen, Roscahill, Oughterard, and other communities in Connemara in general have to go into Galway City in order to reach the motorway network or to travel to other counties?
Why should tourism in Connemara suffer from traffic woes in the city? These are quality of life issues. Free up road space within the city for the planned public transport initiatives and more, not yet planned. We saw the difficulty in getting public buy-in for lane closures in Salthill. In conjunction with the Ring Road, such measures would be more achievable.
I have grave concerns about the future economic life of our County without the Ring Road. Connectivity is crucial - parts of Connemara are over one hour from Galway City, never mind Dublin. If the region is going to sustain itself, we need easy and quick access to the rest of the country, including ports and airports.
As a former Minister for the Gaeltacht, I know how challenging it is to attract investment into the region, how time and infrastructure are crucial. Arriving at Dublin, Shannon or Ireland West airports and travelling to Galway only to be stuck in traffic is not going to encourage investment in either the city or Connemara.
I want our city and county to be known as a centre for enterprise and investment, for culture and learning, for a high quality of life, not for traffic and transport problems. The Ring Road is part of the vision. The time for talking is over.
We need to get the Ring Road built.
