News
Councillor comes up with alternative to bypass plan
A county councillor has put forward a series of proposals for the new city bypass, including underpasses and the conversion of the Quincentenary Bridge into a six-lane highway.
Fine Gael’s Frank Kearney from Turloughmore said the consultants behind the plans need to look at alternatives to their existing proposals because of mass opposition.
He said the proposals will address the chronic traffic problems on the Headford Road to Ballybrit, on the Quincentenary Bridge and on Seamus Quirke Road.
■ Remove the footbaths on the Quincentenary Bridge and make three lanes of traffic on both sides and build hanging bridges on either side for cyclists and pedestrians.
■ To ease the traffic congestion on the east side of the city, a slip road be made to and from the Quincentenary Bridge onto Dyke Road and a road to link onto the Headford and Tuam roads put in place.
■ The project would also include the relief road for Claregalway and a link from there that would bring traffic from the west side of the city on to the M6 towards Carnmore.
■ To alleviate traffic on the westside, a slip road to an underpass under the Quincentenary Bridge to be carried out in conjunction with proposed widening works by NUIG on their own underpass, and onto the N59 Moycullen Road and a similar type exit from the N59 onto the N6 or Seamus Quirke Road.
■ Remove the Browne Roundabout at the back gate of the hospital. Create an underpass that would bring traffic from the Lower Newcastle Road to the Thomas Hynes Road.
■ Create a slip road off the N6 from the Bridge into the hospital back gate and a slip road exit from the gate towards Seamus Quirke Road. Traffic wishing to exit the hospital towards Moycullen and other areas can use the Cathedral side exit.
■ An underpass into Westside Shopping Centre to take away the traffic lights, providing freedom of movement with just one set of lights at the western side of the Quincentenary Bridge between the traffic lights at Galway Shopping Centre to the lights at Glen Oaks Hotel.
“This I feel would ease the traffic congestion considerably on these roads and I would also suggest as part of the overall plan of freedom of movement that a new bridge would be created on the south side of the Salmon Weir Bridge that would take away the turn coming from the Town Hall and that the Salmon Weir Bridge would be retained for pedestrians and cyclists only.
“I would also suggest that discussions would take place with NUIG and that a Park and Ride facility be created at Dyke Road and that that another bridge would be built along the old Clifden railway line.
“A commuter bus could use that old Clifden railway line bridge every fifteen minutes from Dyke Road through NUIG and to the hospital. This link would only be used by the commuter bus, cyclists and pedestrians.
“With regard to Liosban congestion, traffic from Liosban should also be stopped from entering or exiting at the Pilio Hotel and a slip road and under/overpass should be provided onto Bóthar na dTreabh beside the old Ibis Hotel.
“Developing an underpass for entry and exit at Galway Shopping centre, Dunnes at Terryland and/or development of an exit slip road from the back of Dunnes in Terryland up to Sean Mulvoy Road could also be considered.
“€500m to €750m had been proposed for the new project. I feel that even allowing for several extra bridges, that it would not cost as much, and more importantly, cause much less damage to people’s homes,” said Cllr Kearney.
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.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
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.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
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
