Connacht Tribune
Ring Road: schools and poor planning are to blame for traffic chaos
Schools and poor planning are to blame for much of Galway City’s traffic problems, according to An Taisce.
In its submission to the oral hearing for the proposed N6 Galway City Ring Road, An Taisce claimed that the historic positioning of primary, secondary and third level facilities in the centre of Galway is a major cause of traffic congestion.
An Taisce representative, Peter Butler, said that school traffic in the morning and afternoons has a disproportionately high impact on traffic in the city. Indeed, the Galway resident claims that without school traffic “there is not a traffic congestion problem in Galway”.
Mr Butler highlighted a number of other contributing factors to congestion in his submission including a lack of bus lanes and the lack of a year-round park and ride facility.
This is a preview only. For extensive coverage across four pages of the Ring Road oral hearing, see this week’s Connacht Tribune. Buy a digital edition of the paper here.
“These traffic congestion problems have come about from a history of doing nothing but waiting for a bypass to come along. This is not good planning. These problems should have been solved well ahead of time,” he said.
“The city has been allowed to develop in a way which has forced the need for these ring roads. The houses have been allowed to be built on one side of the river and the jobs on the other side. Now we end up with a crisis and another road is being seen as the solution.”
Mr Butler claimed that the situation of schools at city centre locations, and away from population centres, is the main cause of the traffic gridlock in Galway.
Referencing a section of the Galway Transport Strategy (GTS) he says that 35 per cent of the traffic at peak times is between home and education.
“Without the school traffic there is not a traffic congestion problem in Galway. That statement [from the GTS] has not been picked up upon and analysed enough,” he said.
Meanwhile, it was claimed at the oral hearing this week that it is “utterly unsustainable” to proceed with the Galway City Ring Road project in the next decade at a time when huge efforts are being made to reduce Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Chartered Engineer and sustainability campaigner Brendan Mulligan told the An Bord Pleanála oral hearing for the proposed N6 Ring Road that the development would cut through a 17.5km swathe of land – resulting the destruction, displacement, disturbance and fragmentation of vital natural habitats for thousands of species.
Speaking at the hearing module examining the ecology and hydrogeology elements of the project, Mr Mulligan said the construction of this road would be happening at a time when biodiversity loss was the “greatest environmental challenge facing humanity”.
“Yet biodiversity underpins the ecological functions that provide the many natural goods and services on which life, livelihoods and sustainable living depends,” Mr Mulligan told the hearing on Monday.
This was the last generation that had an opportunity to prevent the collapse of the planet’s biodiversity in the face of habitat destruction and climate change – something Mr Mulligan said was recognised by the declaration of a climate change and biodiversity emergency by the Dáil in May 2019.
The construction of the Ring Road would contradict that, he said.
(Picture shows a photomontage of how the proposed fifth bridge over the River Corrib would look.)
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
