Residents’ fear of being land-locked by roundabout removal

Galway City Tribune – The replacement of the Kirwan roundabout with a four-arm signalised junction will ‘land-lock’ residents of over 1,000 homes off the Headford Road, a Bord Pleanála oral hearing was told yesterday.

According to objector Niall Rooney, the proposal to replace the existing exit for the Coolough Road with a traffic light junction further along the N84 Headford Road will leave residents in estates such as Tirellan Heights and Castlelawn Heights cut off.

Mr Rooney claimed the proposal to overhaul the junction would make traffic in the area worse, despite claims by Galway City Council that the removal of the roundabout would ameliorate tailbacks on both the N84 and N6.

“In my opinion, putting nine sets of traffic lights between the Coolough Road and the junction at the Shopping Centre [Bodkin junction] is not going to improve traffic,” he added.

The oral hearing gave a total of eight parties the opportunity to voice their objections to Compulsory Purchase Orders issued by the City Council for lands affected by the junction plan.

Project Director, Eamon Daly of Barry Transportation, told Bord Pleanála Planning Inspector Gillian Kane that the need for the removal of the roundabout had been assessed on five grounds – collisions and safety; traffic demand; network integration; pedestrian facilities; and strategic fit.

Mr Daly said the Headford Road was operating at total saturation, leading to rat-running through both industrial and residential areas, as well as being the location of 18 minor collisions over a nine-year period.
This is a preview only. For further coverage of the oral hearing, see this week’s Galway City Tribune. Buy a digital edition of this week’s paper here.

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