Galway is grinding to a halt

The transport system in Galway City suffers a ‘total breakdown’ on a regular basis which is ‘crippling and stifling city living’ – according to the project director behind plans to build a ring road to serve the city.

Speaking at the opening session of An Bord Pleanála’s oral hearing for the proposed N6 Galway City Ring Road, Mike Evans of ARUP Consulting Engineers, said that this transport breakdown is costing the city millions of euro every year.

Mr Evans said that traffic congestion is preventing Galway from ‘functioning as a city’.

“The traffic congestion in Galway City and its environs is crippling and stifling city living, as well as cutting off access from the wider region to employment and services in the city,” said Mr Evans.

“The total breakdown of the transport network in Galway occurs on a frequent basis as there is no resilience in the network for [coping with] wet afternoons, road maintenance, in the event of a vehicle collision and during signage outage.

“The random, unpredictable shutdown of Galway’s transport network costs millions and has the real potential to prohibit Galway functioning as a city or economic engine for the Western region.”

See full coverage of the Oral Hearing in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale this Thursday.

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