Connacht Tribune
Council seeks to buy land to sort Parkmore traffic nightmare
Local authority officials hope to negotiate agreement with four stakeholders to purchase land to help speed up the proposed solution to the chronic congestion woes experienced at the notorious Parkmore bottleneck in the city.
Engineers in Galway City Council have devised a new roads’ layout aimed at solving the acute traffic problems daily at Parkmore and Briarhill.
However, in order to complete the new traffic-relieving intersection, the Council requires additional road space and will have to purchase land from four local stakeholders.
The Council will look to agree a reasonable price to buy the necessary land voluntarily in order to streamline the project and to avoid a CPO (Compulsory Purchase Order), which could be time consuming with additional legal costs.
The stakeholders in question include a farmer, a landowner, a receiver who is in control of one particular piece of land, and supermarket giants, Tesco.
Galway West TD, Noel Grealish, said the stakeholders were presented with the plans last week and the Council is engaged in talks with them.
The Independent TD said if the Council doesn’t reach agreement, a CPO would have to be pursued which could delay the solution by a year or more.
“If we can get agreement to buy the land without a CPO, then we’re talking about completing this by next year. If we have to go to a CPO, then that could be between six and twelve months of a delay and then it could be later in 2019 before this is finished.
“It’s not a huge amount of land you’re talking about but you’d be amazed what you can do with it. The drawings are excellent and provide a solution. Coming from Parkmore, you’re going to have four lanes, and two bus lanes and a cycle lane. I’m very happy with the drawings.
“I’ll be looking for these negotiations to conclude as quickly as possible. I don’t want the negotiations to drag on. I will be looking for a speedy agreement so that the project can proceed as soon as is possible. But if we don’t get agreement we will have to go quickly for a CPO,” said Deputy Grealish.
Funding of €7 million has been pledged by Government for the new layout, which planners say will alleviate the continuing traffic hold-ups experienced by up to 10,000-people employed at Parkmore in going to and from work.
During the meeting, City Council Chief Executive Brendan McGrath explained that 80% of the motorists using Parkmore commute from North and east of the county.
Despite this, just one TD from Galway East or Roscommon Galway constituencies attended the meeting. That was Minister of State Sean Canney, while all five Galway West TDs were there including Deputy Grealish, Hildegarde Naughton (FG), Junior Minister Seán Kyne (FG), Éamon Ó Cuív (FF) and Catherine Connolly (Ind).
Minister Canney called on both Galway City and County Councils to explore the possibility of using Galway Airport as a base for a Park and Ride, as another tool to tackle congestion to Parkmore. He said P&R from Carnmore could be viable if bus lanes were provided along the Monivea Road.
Oireachtas members poured cold water on a suggestion by Council officials that a site near Lidl in Doughiska could be purchased to provide a parking lot for Park and Ride facilities.
Deputies argued the site was zoned residential, would be costly and too small for a P&R.
In its indicative timeframe for the Parkmore junction, planners told TDs they expect to have the planning process approved in September of this year. It indicates the detailed design could be ready by May 2018, with construction beginning in August 2018 and completed in April 2019.
Deputy Grealish believed if agreement can be reached without having to CPO land, then it will be done far sooner.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
