‘Galway City consecrated to cars’

The amount of public and private car-parking space in the city centre area is the equivalent of at least seven football pitches, according to a pedestrian campaign group seeking to reduce vehicle numbers accessing the urban area.

The Cosain group said that the provision of large quantities of car-parking – especially free facilities – had dictated the design of urban development in Galway.

Providing more car-parking areas in the city area is ‘like feeding the pigeons’, say Cosain, in that the more spaces provided, the more cars will move in to fill them.

A parking map of the city area compiled by Cosain, ‘highlights’ 1,600 car-parking areas in the city and its suburbs, ranging in size from less than 50 square metres to 25,000 square metres.

“Essentially we have a city consecrated to cars, with substantial tracts of land – even in the space restricted city centre – available for nothing else but the parking of private motor vehicles,” said a spokesman for Cosain.

He added that if motorists can park for free, legally or illegally, there was a major incentive to drive leading to a major knock-on effect on public transport, walking and cycling.

“Yet we hear light rail, for example, being dismissed as a serious option because the population density allegedly isn’t there to support it.

“One major reason for low population density, urban sprawl and traffic congestion in a small city like Galway is the way residential, commercial and industrial zones have been designed to accommodate car users primarily.

“In fact, the availability of free, cheap or otherwise convenient parking is one of the biggest determinants of whether people drive to their destinations, or travel by bus, by bike, or on foot,” said the spokesman for Cosain.