Galway City Council kisses goodbye to kissing gates

From this week’s Galway City Tribune – Galway is planning to kiss goodbye to kissing gates, which divide opinion – but only after a viable alternative is sourced.

City Council Director of Services for Transport, Patrick Greene, has confirmed that the National Transport Authority (NTA) has admitted that kissing gates are problematic for some users.

The NTA will come up with a new design for gates that are more accessible for users such as people on cargo bikes, pram users and people in wheelchairs, he said.

Mr Greene said the Council would act on any recommendations from the NTA with regard removing kissing gates when an alternative was sourced.

He also said that the City Council, separately, is planning to do an audit of all kissing gates across Galway.

Councillor Colette Connolly (Ind) said that she wanted all kissing gates to be removed, to improve access.

She was backed by Cllr Martina O’Connor (Green), who said they should be removed immediately.

But Councillors Donal Lyons (Ind) and Noel Larkin (Ind) said kissing gates served a purpose and needed to be retained until a proper alternative could be found.

Cllr Lyons said that following an audit of kissing gates, the City Council could then decide which ones should be removed, and which ones needed to be retained.

Cllr Larkin agreed and said that without kissing gates, housing estates and public parks would be more accessible to vehicles and could result in anti-social behaviour.

Cllr Lyons said motorbikes and other vehicles could access public parks and amenity areas if they were removed and not replaced.

Photo: A kissing gate at the entrance to ‘The Swamp’. Credit: Galway Cycling Campaign).

This is a shortened preview version of this article. For more details and for coverage of Galway City Development Plan discussions on:

• Safe Routes to Schools;
• An audit of city footpaths;
• Cutting car dependency;
• Improved permeability;
• Commuter rail stops on the east side, and
• Ignoring bat guidelines

see the July 15 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.