City councillor Donal Lyons has called for the extension of the Galway Bike Share Scheme to the western side of the city – saying that Salthill and Knocknacarra have been left completely out of the loop.
The public service allows people to use bikes at a low cost, taking them and subsequently leaving them back at various docking stations throughout the city.
“But there isn’t a single bike station in the whole of the Galway City West electoral area,” said Cllr Lyons, who has tabled a motion on the issue for the May meeting of Galway City Council.
“I am asking the Council’s Roads Department/Active Travel Department to request the National Transport Authority to extend the TFI Bike Stations in Galway to include the Promenade in Salthill, the Gateway Shopping Park and Cappagh Park in Knocknacarra at the earliest opportunity,” he added.
Cllr Lyons said that, while canvassing this week ahead of the local elections on June 7, he had received several enquiries as to why the Galway Bike Share Scheme was not extended to the Salthill and Knocknacarra areas
“At present, there are 23 bike stations located in the city centre and in the east of the city, with a total of 195 bikes available. The city centre is well covered with bike stations as are the University of Galway and ATU Galway.
“But the nearest bike station to Salthill is located at the Galway Technical Institute on Fr Griffin Road and the one nearest to Knocknacarra is located beside the Sacred Heart Church in Westside – neither of which are much use to people in the greater Salthill and Knocknacarra areas who want to avail of the bike scheme.
“The TFI website says that Galway is ‘a fantastic city for cyclists, with an extensive bike path network that allows tourists and commuters alike to easily get around’ – but there is no TFI Bike Station located in the West Electoral Area, which leaves a large percentage of the population without a service, and that is just wrong,” added Cllr Lyons.
