Mayor lashes city executive over Galway’s traffic crisis

Date Published: {J}

BY ENDA CUNNINGHAM

The Mayor of Galway has slammed City Council management and accused them of being shortsighted in their efforts to alleviate traffic problems in Galway.

And she insisted councillors only voted in favour of plans to replace city roundabouts with signalised junctions because of warnings by officials that €6m in funding would be withdrawn by Government.

“There appears to be a problematic system within the City Council that continues to come up with agendas that are proven to be inadequate when it is too late e.g. Moneenageisha junction, the Eyre Square upgrade fiasco and the cryptosporidium crisis to name but a few,” Mayor Hildegarde Naughton told the Connacht Sentinel.

She added that she had been professionally advised that there is no need to remove the roundabouts.

Mayor Naughton – who was one of the five councillors who voted against the plans last week – said: “Councillors voted in favour of removing the roundabouts because they were told if they didn’t, we would lose the €6m in funding. There should have been alternatives looked at.

“We should use common sense – we should put the Urban Traffic Control system in place first, analyse traffic flow and know exactly how to proceed. I’m not convinced that removing roundabouts is the answer.

“We gave our power over to officials by voting the project through. If we voted against it, there would have been a need for an alternative, and I believe that we would have come up with an alternative.

“I have made a stand on behalf of the citizens of Galway, and based on the professional expertise I have received from outside the City Council.

“Traffic is at crisis point. It’s time to instill confidence among the public in the Council, the vast majority of people are against the plan and sitting in traffic,” said the Mayor.

A spokesperson for Galway City Council said: “At the June and September meetings, the elected members of Galway City Council decided by two-thirds majority to proceed with the Part 8 on Lynch, Morris and Font roundabouts [to replace them with signalised junctions].”