New junctions are ‘key to improving road safety’

Galway City Tribune – The replacement of roundabouts at some of the city’s busiest junctions is primarily to improve safety for vulnerable road users.

That’s according to Senior Engineer with Galway City Council, Uinsinn Finn who said projects, such as the signalisation of the Kirwan junction, are crucial to pedestrian and cyclist safety.

Planning permission has been granted to remove the Kirwan (Menlo Park) roundabout and replace it with a four-arm signalised junction.

While An Bord Pleanála is currently considering appeals to the land acquisitions required to complete the works, Mr Finn says Kirwan’s replacement is only part of a process of removing a number of roundabouts across the city.

“It’s not that we don’t like roundabouts. They have served the city very well over the years but we’re more focussed on road safety now and they don’t serve pedestrians and cyclists very well.

“In terms of traffic, at peak time, they become clogged up – they become saturated. That’s one of the reasons we look at upgrading them,” said Mr Finn.

Four roundabouts along the N6 corridor have already been replaced at Briarhill, the Tuam Road, Ballybane and Galway Shopping Centre.

This year, plans for the replacement of the Martin roundabout at Galway Clinic will come before the Council in what should be a relatively straightforward process, said Mr Finn, given that no Compulsory Purchase Orders will be required.

Plans are also afoot for the improvement works to the Browne roundabout to the rear of UHG – a process that will be split over two phases.
This is a preview only. To read extensive coverage on the roundabout plans, see this week’s Galway City Tribune. Buy a digital edition of this week’s paper here, or download the app for Android or iPhone.