Taoiseach urged to halt city bypass

The Taoiseach has been asked to personally step into the controversy over the planned city bypass road — and call a halt to the whole project.

Galway West Independent TD Noel Grealish has written to Enda Kenny, urging him to intervene and have the project replaced by a road which would actually bypass the city, not split it in two.

“The Taoiseach appeared shocked that the current plans would see the demolition of 41 homes when we met him in Dublin recently with members of the N6 Action Group, who were there to outline their opposition to the Minister for Transport, Paschal Donohoe.

“And it was Mr Kenny himself who said to us then that we should be building a road for the future, and that such a road should be built on the outskirts of a city and not through the city,” said Deputy Grealish.

An Taoiseach, who had a brief chat with members of the delegation on the July 2 visit to Leinster House, pointed to the example of the M50 in Dublin as one road which was built to cater for the future needs of the city.

Deputy Grealish said he had written to the Taoiseach this week, asking for his personal intervention in the N6 Galway City Transport Project, for which an emerging preferred route was announced last month.

“Given that the proposed N6 will cut through the middle of Galway City, which will technically split the city in two, I would ask that you intervene before any more taxpayers’ money is spent,” the letter said.

Deputy Grealish said this week that the whole idea had to go back to the drawing board to avoid causing untold and irrevocable damage to communities from Briarhill to Barna.

“The road that’s being proposed at the moment in Galway is not a road for the future, it’s actually a road that splits the city in two.

“It has to be stopped now and a road built that will cater for the future development and expansion of the city, one that will actually bypass the city as it is supposed to.

“While everybody acknowledges that we have serious traffic problems and congestion in Galway city, we have to look at all options and we have to get it right. We only get one crack of the whip at this.

“If you see all the new companies that have come to Galway — recently added to by the Apple announcement of an €850m data centre for here— it shows that Galway is a very attractive place and is a city that will grow and will develop,

“But if this road in its current format goes ahead, by the time it is built it will be an outdated road, as it won’t be able to cater for the expansion of the city. And by then it will be too late.

“The Taoiseach and the Minister were taken aback when we explained that there were 41 houses to be knocked and the impact that this will have, dividing communities, villages, sporting clubs and family holdings.

“Now I am urging the Taoiseach to follow up on what he said to us about the need to build a road for the future, on the outskirts of the city, and pull the plug on this project as it stands now,” added Deputy Grealish.