Speculation is growing that An Coimisiún Pleanála will rule on the Galway city ring road “imminently”.
The planning file was updated last Friday, March 27, and a number of senior government politicians have let it be known that they expect news soon, although there has been no indication as to whether a grant or refusal is the outcome.
“The rumours are rife, I know, but genuinely: the first we’ll all know, is when the applicant, Galway County Council, and other [notice parties], receive registered mail through their doors,” said minister with responsibility for roads, and Galway East TD, Sean Canney, speaking to the Advertiser.
Galway County Council has not received any correspondence from the national planning authority at time of going to press, and a number of other individuals who have submissions in on the 18km road, contacted by this newspaper, had received anything by Wednesday night.
An Coimisiún Pleanála’s normal routine is to post its decisions on a Monday, and publish online on Wednesdays. There is, however, an unofficial culture of sending majorly newsworthy decisions out before a long weekend, ostensibly to give staff a breather, before returning to the office to face queries from the public, politicians and media.
The 18km route, from Coolagh to the Coast Road, was initially approved over four years ago. Permission was quashed when it emerged that the project’s environmental impact had not been measured against the State’s latest Climate Action Plan.
The out-of-date Galway Transport Strategy has not been updated since the road was remitted back to An Coimisiún Pleanála by the High Court, and a number of submissions since have questioned whether a new road would have any positive, long-term effect on city centre congestion, despite having a broadly positive effect on regional transport issues.
“At this stage, we would welcome a decision which brings certainty to the slow, slow progress of bringing improved public transport here,” said a spokesman for the Galway branch of an Taisce. He confirmed no decision has been mailed to its office this week.
The proposed dual and single carriageway road would run from the end of the M6, to a location west of of Barna.
The Government has committed more than €1 billion of National Development Plan funding for the road. This allocation is contingent on the project being approved – first suggested as a city bypass back in 1999.
