Galway West Independent candidate and Mayor of Galway, Cllr Mike Cubbard, has called for a major shift in how the Galway Ring Road is designed and delivered, saying it should be treated as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build multi-modal infrastructure rather than a road project alone.
He said the approval of the ring road after years of delay is welcome, but warned it risks becoming a missed opportunity if long-term transport needs are not built into its design.
“The ring road is important and it needs to be delivered,” he said. “But it is not enough on its own. If we are serious about Galway’s future, we need to think far beyond traffic relief.”
Cubbard is proposing that provision for a light rail corridor and a continuous greenway network be built into the ring road route itself, creating what he describes as a joined-up transport spine running east to west across the city.
The proposed GLUAS would run alongside the ring road corridor, linking major population centres, employment hubs and educational campuses across Galway city.
He said this approach would ensure public transport capacity is designed in from the start, rather than being added later at far greater cost.
“Why are we not building light rail into this now?” he said. “The space is there. The corridor is there. This is the moment to futureproof Galway, not lock ourselves into another generation of car dependency.”
Alongside the rail proposal, Cubbard is also calling for a continuous greenway to be integrated into the ring road corridor, providing safe walking and cycling routes connecting the east and west of the city.
He said transport planning in Ireland has too often been fragmented, with road, rail and active travel developed separately instead of as part of one system.
“Transport planning has to be joined up,” he said. “No traffic congestion in any other city in Europe was resolved by building extra car lanes alone. We need alternatives built in from the start.”
Cubbard said the State has the financial capacity to take a more ambitious approach and argued that Galway should be prioritised for long-term infrastructure investment rather than incremental fixes.
He also referenced the need to progress BusConnects Galway and rail capacity improvements, but said these must be aligned with a wider structural plan for the city.
“People are stuck in traffic every day because we keep thinking in silos,” he said. “Galway needs joined-up thinking. The ring road is the opportunity to finally do that properly.”
Transport is once again at the centre of political debate in Galway West, with congestion, road quality and the lack of alternatives identified as key concerns in recent IPSOS polling for TG4 and The Irish Times.
