Communities up in arms over lack of signposting

Local communities in North Galway are losing out because they do not feature on any new signposting erected as part of road realignment and improvement works that have taken place over the past year or so.

Villages like Corofin, Abbeyknockmoy, Barnaderg and Moylough do not appear on some of the new signs along the N63 Galway to Roscommon road which has experienced recent upgrades to tie in with the Gort to Tuam motorway.

The signs have been erected by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) – but they just refer to the major towns further on along the route.

However, Cllr Pete Roche believes that rural villages are losing out as a result of the new signage which only indicate the direction of the major towns in Galway and the Midlands.

The Fine Gael councillor has raised this with senior roads officials with Galway County Council and he has been given an assurance that the alterations with regard to signage will be carried out – but this has not happened.

Cllr Roche said that as motorists leave Galway and travel along the N63 towards Roscommon, there are no signs for some of the rural villages in North Galway and that this is causing confusion for those who would not be familiar with the areas.

He said that people attending events, social occasions and even funerals are now being denied directions along this national secondary route, parts of which have been upgraded while there are further works in train.

And since the works began, there have been three new roundabouts provided along the route yet none of them have direction signs to some of the smaller villages along the way.

“When the sheep shearing took place in Corofin in recent weeks, there were many visitors who ended up lost and couldn’t find the place,” Cllr Roche said.

He raised the matter at a meeting of Tuam Municipal Council where he said that rural villages were losing out because of a lack of proper signage. He said that there were now roundabouts at Turloughmore, Annagh  Hill and Monastery Road along the N63 but that there was a lack of information with regard to local villages.

“There are signs for Roscommon and Longford but nothing for the likes of Corofin, Barnaderg, Abbeyknockmoy, Moylough or Mountbellew. It is a disgrace and something that should be addressed as a matter of urgency.

“It is alright for those of us who know the area, but imagine someone trying to get to one of these villages who is not familiar with this part of Galway. They would be completely lost and it is not difficult to know why. There are no signposts,” Cllr Roche said.

He used the weekend of the sheep shearing festival in Corofin as a prime example. “There were people who came from the various parts of the country and when they came on the N63, they could not find any sign for Corofin and some people actually ended up in Tuam,” he added.

Cllr Roche said that he had made repeated requests to Galway County Council to address this issue and while he has been told that the matter would be rectified, nothing had been done.