Roundabouts removal on ice as contractor pulls out

Date Published: 02-Apr-2012

BY CIARAN TIERNEY

Hopes that the city would have a coordinated series of signalised junctions in time for the peak summer season received a fresh set-back yesterday when a contractor withdrew from plans to remove the city’s biggest roundabout on the Headford Road.

The contractor pulled out of the project to convert the Bodkin Roundabout near the Galway Shopping Centre into a fully signalised junction just before work was due to commence on the site yesterday morning.

The surprise development came less than two weeks after city officials agreed to bow to ‘people power’ by agreeing to revisit the plans for the nearby Kirwan Roundabout (near the Menlo Park Hotel) in the face of vehement opposition from local residents.

Work on the Bodkin Roundabout has now been put back to the end of August, following major events such as the Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) and Galway Races, while planners have gone back to the drawing board in relation to the plans for the junction at Menlo Park, which is also on the Headford Road.

This will mean that two of the key junctions on the approach to the city will not be included in the Urban Traffic Control System (UTCS) when staff begin to use the new technology at City Hall in the coming weeks.

“The original contractor has pulled out of the Bodkin Roundabout project, which will result in a delay to the commencement of work on-site,” said City Council Director of Services Ciaran Hayes yesterday.

“Construction was due to commence on that site this morning. While we have full planning permission, we have decided not to proceed with this project immediately and are now looking at a start-up date in late August.”

Read more in today’s Connacht Sentinel