Mayor joins opposition to Headford Rd traffic plan

Date Published: 20-Sep-2012

BY CIARAN TIERNEY

Mayor of Galway Terry O’Flaherty has become the latest local politician to withdraw support for controversial plans to convert the Menlo Park roundabout into a signalised junction which have enraged local residents in Menlo, Tirellan, and the Headford Road.

The Mayor told the Galway City Tribune this week that city officials need to fully address the concerns of local residents and that she will be unable to support the plans when they come to a local authority vote next month.

Up to 250 people expressed vehement opposition to the plans at a public meeting two weeks ago. The scale of the opposition prompted Cllr Michael Crowe (FF), the Chairman of the Council’s Transport and Infrastructure Committee, to withdraw his support.

The Kirwan Roundabout project on the Headford Road is part of a comprehensive plan by Galway City Council to replace six roundabouts with signalised junctions which can be coordinated from a control room at City Hall.

But locals are enraged that they will find it difficult to access the new signalised junction from a proposed new slip road which will run through the grounds of the Menlo Park Hotel.

“When the initial plans for the Kirwan roundabout came before Councillors, I supported the process of allowing these plans to go on public display to allow interested parties to lodge their observations, submissions, or objections,” said Mayor O’Flaherty.

“I want to make it perfectly clear that unless the legitimate concerns of local residents are properly addressed and changes made to accommodate their concerns, I can confirm that I will not be in a position to support the proposals in their present form,”she added.

City officials are determined to press ahead with the plans despite the vehement opposition expressed two weeks ago.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.