Making traffic one way on College Road and Lough Atalia Road is one of the suggestions being put forward by city councillor MJ Crowe as a solution to Galway’s traffic congestion problems.
He told the Galway City Council meeting, that along with private car drivers, the public transport providers such as buses and taxis are being hindered by the ongoing everyday challenge of trying to navigate through and around the city that is permanently congested.
"We are years talking about this problem and the only thing that is certain, is that the situation is getting worse. Galway City Council have spent millions in recent times seeking to address the problem and no improvement has been seen or is indeed evident.
"As a councillor I have consistently told that there are too many vehicles on our road network in the city and this is a big part of the problem.
"But this is not new and it has been the way for decades. Galway City Council need to address this matter as we find it and not by hoping that the number of vehicles in this city will simply reduce.”
Cllr Crowe said that traffic congestion is one of the biggest challenges in our city and has been for a long time now. There has been nothing done of significance to address this problem. It is costing people and businesses money through time and vehicle running costs and it is harmful to the environment. There is no easy solution but there are measures that can be introduced to alleviate the problem. For example, I believe a trial of the following measures would help:
Make College Road and Lough Atalia Road one way—you drive into town on one of these roads and you travel out of town on the other.
Introduce a bus lane and cycle lane on Lough Atalia Road.
Establish more taxis ranks, for example outside the Galway Coach Station.
He said that these are just some measures that could be introduced quickly that I think would positively impact on traffic congestion in the city. There are no doubt others also that could be introduced but if we started with these, it would certainly help.”
“I have asked and will continue to ask officials in the Transportation Unit in City Hall to implement these. Galway City Council need to start to be a bit radical and brave and at least try different things. The status quo cannot remain, it is, excuse the pun not getting us anywhere plus it is becoming very costly for our city,” he concluded.
