Lough Atalia to continue into Bank Holiday weekend

The contractors carrying out works under the Lough Atalia bridge are still hoping to be out of there during the June Bank Holiday weekend, despite a City Council request for more time.

The local authority had previous assured the public that the works – which prompted the one-way system at Lough Atalia and College Road – would be completed before Whit Weekend.

However, a senior official with the City Council has confirmed that the works would not be completed by the Friday of that weekend – when most visitors to the city would be arriving.

There is a traffic management plan in place by Galway City Council, but this will be put under extreme pressure during the Bank Holiday weekend.

If the weather is favourable, then there will be a huge influx of visitors to Galway City – with many relying on Lough Atalia to access Salthill for events like the five-a-sides. This will now not be an option.

The works on the railway bridge began on April 7 and were due to happen a couple of weeks earlier but were delayed because of a number of events happening in the city including the food festival.

A spokesperson for the Council told the Galway  City Tribune that there was every possibility of the road being opened during the course of the Bank Holiday weekend.

“At the moment there is no chance of it being opened on the Friday of the Bank Holiday weekend but there is every possibility that it will be open at midnight.”

For more on this story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune