Traffic arrangements will not shut down city

Date Published: 08-May-2009

THE City Manager this week said that road closures will be kept to a minimum in the city during the Volvo Ocean Race stopover and the city centre will remain “open for business”, an attempt to quell
fears that the city centre will be a ‘no-go’ area during the Volvo Ocean Race, Galway City Council this
week released details of its traffic management plan for the event which arrives in the city at the end of this month.

The Council will close roads near the Docks at specific times and days during the race and city centre traders had expressed concern that the closures would affect business.

But City Manager Joe MacGrath told the Galway CityTribune the road closures would be kept to a minimum and that “the city centre will remain open for business”.

“The amount of road closures is limited in location and time. The closures will cause minimal disruption and, if…

Meanwhile PLANS for the €400 million redevelopment of Galway Docks face being rejected unless the city’s chronic traffic congestion problem is addressed, senior engineers have warned.

Galway Harbour Company is expected to be ready to apply for planning permission for the Docks development – which will be one of the biggest ever undertaken in the city’s history – by the end of this year.

The Harbour Company plans for the revamp will take place in three phases between now and 2019 and is estimated to cost between €350 and €400 but there are already fears the project will not get off
the ground at all unless the port is made more accessible by road.

If…

For more on both stories see this week’s City Tribune