Public meeting over plans for ‘accident hotspot’ roundabout

Residents living near Kirwan roundabout have pledged to oppose any plan for the junction that involves cutting off access to Coolough Road.

The warning comes ahead of a public meeting next Wednesday organised by Galway City Council to explain the options it is considering to change Kirwan from a roundabout to a traffic lights junction.

The local authority said the roundabout is an accident ‘hotspot’, and it wants to make it safer with a signalised junction, which it believes would also allow for a better flow of through-traffic.

Kirwan Action Group, which successfully staved off previous attempts to change the junction, has been revitalised this week, and has again vowed to resist any option that cuts off access to Coolough Road.

The group, including a committee of 12, was formed three years ago and galvanised support from all surrounding residential areas including Menlo, Castlelawn, Tirellan, Ballinfoile, Crestwood, and Carraig Bán.

It gathered 800 submissions opposing the plan, and received unanimous support from City Councillors to oppose the original plan.

A spokesperson for Kirwan Action Group yesterday expressed disappointment that Council management has refused to meet with them ahead of the public meeting. He said contrary to information in public notices, the Council hadn’t uploaded online details of the options,

He said the option that was originally unanimously rejected by elected members and residents, remained on the table under the ‘new’ options outlined by the Council.

Senior Engineer Uinseann Finn said the Council ‘started from scratch’ assessing the various options for the junction. It had 14 options initially and that has been whittled down to the six indicative routes that will be outlined on Wednesday.

For the rest of the Kirwan junction discussion, see this week’s Galway City Tribune.
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