Connacht Tribune
WATCH: Simulation of traffic flow on proposed Kirwan junction
Galway City Council has selected a preferred option for the removal of the Menlo Park roundabout – it will be replaced by a four-arm signalised junction.
The redesign will also see the Coolough Road diverted onto the N84 Headford Road, and the creation of a new slip road from the junction to enter Coolough/Menlo.
A simulation of morning peak traffic flow in 2019 at the proposed new Kirwan junction. The video begins at the Bodkin (Galway Shopping Centre) junction, and moves along the N6 Headford Road to the Kirwan (Menlo Park) junction. The top of the screen is North.
Officials believe that if the final design is approved, the new €1.2 million junction could be up-and-running in 2019 – councillors were warned that funding is available for the project, but it is a case of “use it or lose it”.
According to consultants, the average delays will be reduced by 25%, while the junction capacity will increase by 15% – officials also predict a 90% reduction in rat-running through Tirellan.
At a meeting in City Hall this week, councillors were presented with an analysis of six options for the replacement of the roundabout, and the emerging preferred option proposed by consultants Halcrow Barry.
City councillors voted 9-7 in favour of accepting the design choice – a detailed scheme will be drawn up and will go on public display later this year.
Project Manager Daragh Delaney of Halcrow Barry consultants told the meeting that around 40,000 vehicles pass through what is officially known as the Kirwan roundabout between 7am and 7pm each day.
The poor pedestrian and cycle facilities in the existing layout were also highlighted – a survey recorded 1,000 pedestrians between 7am and 7pm, a figure which the consultants believe is supressed because of the safety issues.
Uinsinn Finn, the Council’s Senior Engineer, said the local authority would always try to acquire land by negotiation, and until the emerging preferred route was decided on, landowners would not be approached.
Following queries, Mr Delaney said the option of an overpass could not be considered because of the cost involved, as well as the impact it would have on private residences, as well as the likes of Motorpark, the Maldron Hotel and Sweeney Oil, as it would require a much larger footprint.
Mr Finn added that flyovers would only really be considered where the junction was handling more than 90,000 vehicles per day.
Tom Connell, Director of Services for Transport, said the team charged with drawing up redesign plans was totally new and were looking at the scheme from anew.
Council Chief Executive Brendan McGrath said he met with Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the National Transport Authority last week, and was effectively told to get the job done by 2019 or the local authority will have to fund the project itself.
“Doing nothing is not an option. Watching this city and a junction grind to a halt is not an option. The junction is operating way beyond its design capacity. In 2024 it will be at a complete standstill. TII will not keep funding open. We are in a use it or lost it situation,” he said.
Initially, engineers drew up 14 options for the new junction, and subsequently a shortlist of six.
The six ‘finalists’ were then analysed using criteria including accessibility and social inclusion; integration; physical activity; environment; safety and economy.
The options were:
■ A five armed signalised junction without any changes to the current roundabout exits;
■ A four-arm signalised junction and a link from Bothar na dTreabh (inbound) to Liosbán and Sandy Road using a ‘left in/left out’ system;
■ A four-arm signalised junction and link road parallel to Bothar na dTreabh and Sandy Road with a ‘left out’ only system;
■ A four-arm signalised junction and a link road through the Nox Hotel to Bothar na dTreabh with a ‘left in/left out’ system.
■ A four-arm signalised junction with the Coolagh Road diverted to the Headford Road opposite Dunnes tores.
■ The option selected by councillors.
Mr Delaney said that the preferred option scored second best after Option 1 in terms of environmental impact; scored very similarly to other options in terms of safety assessments; had the best benefit-to-cost ratio and provided the greatest benefit to traffic delays.
It is now the Council’s intention to produce a more detailed preliminary design and put it out on public display, at the same time, a variation will have to be approved to the City Development Plan.
If it gets the final go-ahead, the project will go for design, tender and construction in 2018, with completion in 2019.
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.
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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.
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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.
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Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
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