Local Fianna Fáil Councillor John Connolly has called on the Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan, to publish the Galway Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy urgently.
Cllr Connolly says many of the measures included in the Galway Transport Strategy, published in 2016, failed to materialise and some remain delayed in the planning process.
Cllr Connolly said, “In the Autumn of 2022, Galway City Council were advised that the NTA had tendered for a consultancy company to review the Galway Transport Strategy. The outcome of that strategy would be a new strategy called the Galway Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy. In early 2023 I was advised that the draft of this strategy would be published in the autumn of the same year, and then it would go for public consultation whereby the public could review, observe, and make suggestions on it. After that had taken place, the new strategy was to be published in early 2024.”
He added, “Now we are heading into Quarter 4 of 2024, and there is no sign of a draft strategy being published. I have now been made aware that the co-ordination group overseeing the progression of the strategy have not held a meeting since last March. This is an alarming display of inertia at a time when urgency is required. I am afraid that Minister Ryan is purposely delaying publishing the draft strategy because the review continues to highlight that the city needs the development of the N6 Galway City Ring Road, a project that Minister Ryan does not support.”
