Traffic chaos fear over street closures during ‘Euro Car Free Day’

While cities like Dublin have long ago ditched the idea of banning motorists for European Car Free Day, Galway is persisting with closures on key arteries outside of rush hour in three weeks’ time – despite serious traffic chaos caused by the initiative last year.

All vehicular traffic except buses and taxis will be prohibited from Forster, Eglinton and Williamsgate Streets between 10am and 4pm on either Thursday or Friday, September 21 or 22, with the final date to be decided following a period of consultation.

The move has been branded as “smug and useless” by the Automobile Association (AA) while the Galway Chamber of Commerce called on Galway City Council to have contingency plans in place to reopen the roads should snarl-ups occur. One Galway City Councillor complained that it only served to highlight the inadequacies of public transport in the heart of the city.

Last year serious delays were reported between Eyre Square and Prospect Hill, down through Bothar Uí hEithir and from the Forster Street junction down to Lough Atalia.

Conor Faughnan, Director of Consumer Affairs for AA Ireland, said it would be much more constructive to have a free public transport day to encourage people to try out leaving their car at home.

“It’s quite smug to plan a day to be car-free if you’re not providing people with an alternative. It’s not doing anything useful. Why would nobody say it’s a ‘no commercial vehicles day’? That’s a bigger problem in terms of air quality,” he argued.
For the rest of the story on Car Free Day, see this week’s Galway City Tribune. Buy a digital edition of this week’s paper here, or download the app for Android or iPhone.