Galway City Council has agreed to postpone the final leg of its city centre road resurfacing works until the summer tourist season is over.
In response to a petition handed in to City Hall by city centre traders in early March, the council’s Roads Department has agreed to delay resurfacing High Street until September. The works were scheduled to start next week, and run until at least May.
City officials attended a meeting arranged by local businesses in the Kings Head pub on High Street in February. It is understood engineers set out a strong case for High Street to be resurfaced as soon as possible. However a petition requesting a delay signed by 45 business owners and managers concerned about disruption during Galway’s busiest visitor season was submitted to the local authority, which has conceded a postponement until September.
“The contractors doing the resurfacing of the Quay Street area for the Council have been brilliant, and the improvement for pedestrians is amazing,” says city councillor Níall McNelis, who runs a jewellers on Quay Lane. “But businesses had to challenge the decision to dig-up and block-off most of High Street at the height of the tourist season, and I think a good compromise has been reached.”
In a letter to petitioners from High Street, Quay Street and Cross Street, council officials set out their rationale for timing the phases of city centre resurfacing projects over the past five years. The letter set out that works on High Street will now run from mid-September 2024 to February 2025, including a “demobilisation” break between mid November and early January to allow for the Christmas shopping season.
In a word of warning to businesses, the Council said all plans were subject to staffing and tendering being in order, with “no guarantee” funding will be available for road resurfacing in 2025. “There is a risk of increased costs arising from market uncertainties relating to rising inflation affecting plant, labour and material costs,” the Council said.
Nearby Quay Street was resurfaced from McDonagh’s fish and chip shop to Neachtain’s pub between September 2023 and January this year.
Exactly 26 years ago, on March 23, 1998, William Street, Shop Street, High Street, Quay Street and Mainguard Street were first pedestrianised. Last March, city councillors voted to reduce city speed limits to 30kmph, but concerns have been raised in recent times of lack of enforcement.
