Connacht Tribune
CONFIRMED: Map of the new Galway Bypass
Up to 400 home and landowners along the route for the new city bypass will receive letters in the post today informing them they live along the ‘emerging preferred corridor’ for the scheme – which has been touted as the solution to Galway’s traffic woes.
While hundreds will receive letters, the route will affect 41 homes along the route (while a further 10 will have an option to ‘sell up’) which includes a tunnel running from Coolagh near the end of the M6 motorway to the entrance of Galway Racecourse.
You can download a high resolution PDF here of the Bypass map
Details of the route were exclusively revealed on our website last Saturday morning.
Details published by a national newspaper on the same day were incorrect and caused much concern amongst homeowners who incorrectly believed their properties were at risk.
The selected route is not specifically one of the existing six ‘coloured’ routes which were previously published, although it does incorporate significant parts of the blue route.
The three main areas affected in terms of homeowners will be on the city side of Castlegar, on the N84 (near Clada Minerals) and at the Dangan/Circular Road.
At the end of the Dublin motorway at Coolagh, new junction arrangements will be put in place, and a tunnel will run from two derelict houses at Briarhill to Racecourse Road (commonly referred to as ‘the avenue’).
It’s understood a number of stables at the Racecourse will have to be demolished, but the course itself will be unaffected.
The tunnel runs to ‘the avenue’ (where Brooks and a number of other businesses are based), before going above ground again for a run down the hill behind the Racecourse (adjacent to the An Post depot) and across to the N84 near Clada Minerals.
That will be a ‘cut and cover’ tunnel, where the ground will be excavated, and pre-cast concrete beams laid, allowing the roadway to be reinstated overhead.
A second small tunnel will be built through the Menlo area – to avoid limitations imposes by the EU Habitats’ Directive on protected limestone in the area, part of the problem with the original Galway City Outer Bypass route.
A fifth bridge across the Corrib will be built, and the route then runs through NUI Galway lands at Dangan, through a point on the Dangan side of Bushypark (near Circular Road) and to a point west of Barna.
The route does not traverse the existing Sportsground at NUIG, but will be through a green area close to a GAA pitch.
However, the route corridor chosen is 150 metres wide, and this will have to be narrowed to an actual route of 25 to 50 metres wide, and it’s understood there has been some flexibility built into its journey through NUIG lands and at Barna.
It ties into the exisiting R336 at a roundabout junction approx 2km to the west of Barna village and then proceeds towards Letteragh.
Roundabouts are also proposed at the Barna to Moycullen road and at the Ballymoneen Road which provides connectivity to Knocknacarra.
Letters to landowners were posted yesterday and are expected to be delivered to between 300 and 400 home, land and business owners today, and a briefing will take place for local councillors this morning.
Those affected will then be invited to consultations with the designers Arup and the National Road Design Office over the coming fortnight, before the route open up to a wider public consultation process.
The route will then be narrowed down to a corridor of up to 50m wide, before it can be progressed to final design and Compulsory Purchase Order process.
It is expected to cost in the region of €600 million.
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
