Pedestrians and bus users should be given priority

The €500 million to be spent on the construction of the new city bypass should instead be used on prioritising pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users, according to a new ‘Future City Alliance’ made up of local environmentalists and community groups.

Cities across the world including Copenhagen, London, Melbourne, New York and Barcelona are constructing new transport infrastructures prioritising public transport, cycling and walking, the Alliance have said this week.

The Future City Alliance said that many smaller cities – the size of Galway – were in the process of ‘regenerating and humanising’ their urban environments by introducing woodlands, gardens, recreational parks and city-wide 24/7 cycling, walking and public bus or train systems.

“Yet here in Galway City we are proposing to build a highway that will cut through people’s houses, villages, neighbourhoods, farmland, key wildlife habitats, a university campus and sports fields.

“In the process, this will only exacerbate the transport problems, leading to further urban sprawl in a city where the mobility of the private car already takes priority over the movement of people by more environmentally sustainable modes of travel,” said Brendan Smith of the Future City Alliance.

Some other members of the Alliance include Derrick Hambleton, Chair of An Taisce, Galway; Simon Comer of the Cosain road safety group; Robert McKenny, Chair of the Galway Cycling and Richard Manton, Transport Researcher at NUIG.

According to Brendan Smith, cities that have taken on board alternative transport policies have transformed themselves over recent years.“Soulless concrete jungles of offices – devoid of the sounds of families and residents – are springing back to life as living, vibrant, social communities,” he said.

According to the Alliance, the N6 Galway City Transport Project to date has not addressed the urban transport crisis within the city and is instead focused on promoting an ‘uneconomic highway’ connecting Connemara to East Galway, despite the fact that current data indicates such traffic would constitute just 5% of the total vehicular movement.

“Prioritising the construction of more public roads for private cars ignores the reality of the now inevitable fossil fuel crisis, reneges on our international obligations to lower greenhouse gas emissions, pollutes our air, covers much needed parks and woodlands with tarmac and concrete, and dramatically increases the noise levels that impact negatively on the health of communities and of individual citizens,” said Brendan Smith.

He said that they were calling on the city’s ‘leaders’ to plan for the regeneration of Galway, focusing on the area including Ceannt Station and the Harbour, to include energy efficient housing units, restaurants, shops and sites for the city’s long-awaited Arts and Exhibition centre as well as an upgraded multi-modal transport hub.

“As citizens of Galway, we now find ourselves at a crossroads. Either we allow ourselves to be corralled by road routes or we decide to take ownership of our city and build a bright, clean, green, eco-smart future,” said Brendan Smith.