Work has begun on a new outbound bus lane along the Dublin Road, extending from Moneenageisha to the Renmore Road junction. Works will take up to 16 weeks but when completed, the new lane should significantly reduce journey times along the route.
The new outbound bus lane will extend from Moneenenegeisha to Duggans, while the Dublin Road will be widened by one metre from Duggans to the roundabout at the GMIT.
The new lane and road widening is part of a series of works, by the Galway City Council and the Integrated Transportation Coordinating Group (Galway City Development Board ), to address traffic congestion in the city.
Work began yesterday and will continue for approximately 16 weeks. The outbound bus lane will be developed from the Ffrench Roundabout (Moneenageisha Cross ) to Duggan’s Shop at the Renmore Road junction.
The outbound traffic lane from Duggan’s Shop at the Renmore Road junction to Galway Mayo Institute of Technology at the Skerritt Roundabout will also be widened. The works also include improvement to bus shelters, pedestrian and cyclist facilities, lighting, signage, and landscaping.
During construction work, two-way traffic will be maintained from 8am to 10am and from 4pm to 6pm. Outside of peak hours a manned ‘Stop and Go’ system will occasionally be in operation. However the roadway will generally be open to full two-way traffic.
Short sections of the inbound bus lane between the Skerritt Roundabout and Duggan’s Shop will occasionally be closed to facilitate two-way traffic flow during the works.
Disruption is also likely on the Doughiska Road due to the improvement scheme works taking place there.
Galway City Council and its soon to be fully operational Galway Transportation Unit acknowledge that traffic disruption will be “unavoidable due to the nature of the works and the limited works area available”. It “wishes to apologise to people travelling this route for the inconvenience caused while works are under way”. However, the council said it will try to keep disruption to motorists, pedestrians and residents to “an absolute minimum”.
Fianna Fáil Cllr Mary Leahy has welcomed the beginning of the works, describing it as “very positive news for Galway commuters”. However she said that the solution to beating traffic congestion was “to get cars off the road, which will facilitate a more frequent and reliable bus service”.
“Public transport has to be more attractive if we really expect persons to make this choice over using their cars,” she said. “The bus usage from the Doughiska, Roscam, and Ardaun area has increased by over 400 per cent as a result of this bus lane. This has gone a long way to reduce car usage.”
