Application for €650 million Galway City bypass to be lodged next month

The planning application for a city bypass will be ready to be lodged with An Bórd Pleanála by the end of February.

When it’s published, the final plan for the N6 Galway City Ring Road, as it is now known, will result in the demolition of at least 40 homes.

A further 10 homes will be uninhabitable due to their closeness to the carriageway and a handful of businesses will also be knocked or severely impacted. Some €650 million has been earmarked for the 16.5 kilometres stretch of mostly dual carriageway road.

Galway County Council, the lead agent in the project, and private consultants Arup, confirmed to the Galway City Tribune they will be in a position to lodge an application by the end of February.

However, they need Government approval to proceed to the planning stages and discussions between various State departments and agencies are ongoing, including Transport Infrastructure Ireland, the Department of Transport, the Department of Culture, Heritage and Gaeltacht and the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS).

Transport Minister Shane Ross supports the ring road, and he namechecked it when announcing an additional €486 million was secured for roads over four years bringing the total roads investment for 2018-2021 to €4.26 billion.

Minister of State, Seán Kyne, a Galway West Fine Gael TD, confirmed €2 million of this has been allocated this year to finalise the planning stages of the ring road.

An Bórd Pleanála usually takes between six and nine months to assess an application before holding an oral hearing, which could be held before Christmas and is expected to last several weeks, depending on the number of objections.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.