Cllrs concerned expansion of port will double truck traffic

Galway City Councillors have poured scorn over claims by the Harbour Board Company that the proposed €126m port redevelopment will have a minimal impact on city traffic.

That’s amid projections there will be double the number of lorries every day using roads around the site during its eight-year construction phase.

At a special sitting of Galway City Council last night, Senior Planner Caroline Phelan gave a presentation on a report to be submitted to An Bord Pleanála by the local authority outlining its views on the project.

The Galway Harbour Board is the first body in the State to lodge an application with the planning appeals board under the IROPI (Imperative Reasons of Overriding Public Interest) process in January, which means that the council does not have the final say on whether or not to grant approval.

The council in its report has urged An Bord Pleanála to seek external expertise on various aspects of the application to ensure it held up to peer review, including its traffic implications, the affect of sedimentation on city beaches as a result of a four-year-long dredging process and the flooding risk.

It also included 41 suggested conditions that should be attached to any grant of planning permission – among them devising some mechanism to ensure there was sufficient funding to complete the project so the city was not left with a half-finished white elephant.

It was the council’s views on the traffic implications of the project that excited most comment from the councillors. Council engineers have predicted there will be an increase of Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGV) movements of 102% and 147% during the morning and evening rush hour when the new port would be operational, which would likely most affect the Lough Atalia/College Road junction.

“This potential increase in the number of HGVs will result in the significant shortening of the lifespan of existing roads,” the report states.

The council also pointed out that a recent report has recommended that the Wolfe Tone Bridge should have a weight restriction of 26 tonnes, which would effectively mean a ban for construction lorries.

Yet, in the Environmental Impact Statement submitted as part of the application, it has been stated there would be a maximum 5% increase in traffic volumes.

“Who’s joking who for crying out loud,” exclaimed Labour Councillor Colette Connolly. “Every single councillor around this table knows of the impact of the Solas cinema and the closure of one lane. It’s an effective doubling of HGV traffic alone out the Lough Atalia Road.”

Concerns were also expressed about the Habour Board’s contention it would have just a “slightly negative impact” on views protected in the city development plan.

The report is scheduled to be submitted by April 3 and an oral hearing is likely to be held by An Bord Pleanála into the project in early May.

Read more in today’s Connacht Sentinel