Pedestrian bridge plan for Salmon Weir leaps forward

From this week’s Galway City Tribune – An application to build a pedestrian and cycle bridge at Salmon Weir is to be sent to An Bord Pleanála next month – following the endorsement of councillors of a final design on Wednesday.

Senior Transport and Infrastructure Engineer Uinsinn Finn told councillors that an environmental impact assessment had been completed by Arup Engineering and that they were “very close” to submitting plans to the Board for approval – aiming to start the project in the first three months of 2021.

€7.2 million in funding has already been secured for the project from the European Development Fund and the National Transport Authority – enough to fully finance the new bridge which will be located at the Newtownsmyth side of the existing Salmon Weir Bridge.

Spanning the width of the Corrib and adjacent canal, the bridge has been tweaked following consultation with interest groups such as cycling lobbyists and the Irish Wheelchair Association.

A number of councillors expressed concern that pedestrians and cyclists coming from the University would not be persuaded to cross the road in order to use the bridge – especially as a footpath is to be maintained on that side of the existing bridge in order to protect the view of the weir.

Mr Finn told councillors that the here was a separate application to the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) to create a plaza area at the cathedral end of the bridge that would remove road access to Nuns’ Island, making it easier for pedestrians to cross and for cyclists to continue their journey.

“With the cross-city link, we expect that Salmon Weir Bridge will be public transport only,” said Mr Finn, detailing the GTS plan for the area.
This is a shortened preview version of this article. Please remember that without advertising revenue and people buying and subscribing to our newspapers, this website would not exist. You can read the full article by buying a digital edition of this week’s Galway City Tribune HERE.