Parkmore traffic buster road to be fast-tracked

An application lodged by the IDA to build a new access road to some of the biggest employers in the West to alleviate one of the worst traffic logjams in the city could be approved in three months.

The road would allow traffic travelling in and out of Parkmore West – home to Medtronic – to avoid the Parkmore roundabout and get quicker access to and from the N17 by a road half way up the hill.

The application lodged to Galway County Council two weeks ago follows extensive consultation between the IDA (Industrial Development Authority), which owns the land, and planning officials to iron out any potential difficulties and avoid any unnecessary delays.

Director of Services for Planning and Transportation at Galway City Council, Joe O’Neill, said because the land was owned by the IDA, there were unlikely to be any major stumbling blocks.

“They could get planning permission from the County Council in five or six weeks and then they have to wait for the appeals process. If there’s no appeal to hold it up, it could realistically be granted in less than three months, and really the contract to build it shouldn’t take too long as this is something on the cards for a while,” he explained.

“I’d be reasonably sure they’ll get it if nobody appeals. It will definitely take some of the pressure off traffic in that area.”

An estimated 6,000 beleaguered workers have been crying out for a solution to the traffic chaos every morning and evening for years, which at its worst can cause delays of 90 minutes.

One recently wrote on a website to update workers on the situation: “The access was built some 40 years ago when the park had several hundred employees, now it has several thousand but the access remains unchanged. Every morning from 7am onwards there is traffic backed up to the Tuam road on the north and out past the the Briarhill Junction and back onto the motorway on the other side.”

At a recent local authority meeting, Mr O’Neill said it would cost in the region of €3m to solve the overall traffic crisis at Parkmore.

Funding for the planning and design work had been secured for widening the Parkmore Road at the junction at Briarhill. It will also involve works at the Parkmore roundabout to convert it into a signalised junction.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.