Plans in place to widen Corofin bridge

There are moves in place to widen the narrow bridge approaching Corofin village – a bridge that has been described in the past as a potential death trap.

As it stands, two cars cannot pass on parts of the bridge which is the main access to the village from the Galway and Tuam direction.

The bridge now crosses a dry river close to the village and it is believed that it could be widened by about three or four feet to easily allow two way traffic.

A submission has now been made to the roads section of Galway County Council to widen the bridge and yet maintain the historical structure of the access to the village of Corofin.

It has been proposed that the narrow bridge leading to Corofin village be widened. The bridge used to cross the Clare River before it was diverted.

Roads engineers with Galway County Council are now going to consider a proposal to widen the bridge which has been the source of traffic chaos over the years.

And it is understood that it will now take increased traffic volumes from the new motorway which means that the bridge needs to be widened as a matter of urgency.

Cllr. Pete Roche said that it was imperative that the bridge be widened as Corofin was now a major access route and particularly when it came to the motorway which is currently being developed in the area.

“It has become a bottleneck in the village and the situation will become a lot worse when the motorway is built. It will become a new nightmare.

“Traffic will divert from the motorway to Caherlistrane, Headford and Belclare and the bridge is not able to take such a volume.

“The bridge on the way into Corofin has to be widened and an application has been sent to Galway County Council in this regard,” Cllr. Roche added.

Cllr. Roche said that Corofin was an expanding village and had a very good playground – but children often have difficulty in accessing this facility because of the huge volume of traffic passing the bridge.