No plans to replace rail bridge removed during road widening

There are no plans to replace an iconic North Galway railway bridge that was removed last year to facilitate a major road widening project.

This is despite the fact that a budget of €1.2 million was allocation for the restoration of Ballyglunin Bridge and now it is unclear where this money will be spent.

It was hoped that when the N63 road upgrade project was completed that the pillars of the bridge would have been replaced with the old stone – it now appears that this is not the case.

An angry Cllr Pete Roche said that following the removal of the bridge, all that is left is “a gaping hole” which he described as not being acceptable when locals expected that part of the old bridge would be restored.

Cllr Pete Roche at the old Ballyglunin Bridge (Photo: Jonny Ryan)

But the Fine Gael councillor pointed out that he did not expect that the full railway bridge would be restored given that it was unlikely that trains would ever run along the Western Rail Corridor again.

However, he wanted a partial restoration of the bridge which had been a very important feature of the area for the past 150 years.

Chairman of Tuam Municipal Council, Cllr Donagh Killilea told a meeting that he had been informed there were no plans to rebuild the bridge anytime in the near future.

He explained that this was on the basis that Irish Rail did not expect to be any trains along the track in the foreseeable future.

Cllr Roche, from Abbeyknockmoy, told the meeting that he had been informed that the stone from the old bridge would be utilised in its restoration.

He said that he was disappointed to learn that this was not going to happen and now wondered what would happen the €1.2 million that had been allocated for the bridge’s restoration.

“At the moment it is just a gaping hole in the road. We were told that the pillars of the bridge, using the old stone, would be replaced which would be a feature on this particular section.

“Now, it just looks terrible and an historic bridge like this should be replaced. We are not looking for trains or anything like that, but it was part of the fabric of the community”, Cllr Roche added.

According to Cllr Karey McHugh (Ind) it provided a visual reference for many motorists when it came to turn-off points along the road. She also expressed the hope that part of the bridge would be restored.

At the moment works are still continuing on the N63 which is still subject to traffic delays on a daily basis.

The €8 million project involves a major road-widening project between Abbeyknockmoy and Annagh Hill while cycling and walking lanes will also be provided along the 3.2 kilometre stretch once completed.

Land owners along the route will benefit financially as it is estimated that some 17 acres have been acquired in the process – these includes front gardens and farm buildings.