€2.9m allocated to upgrade cycling and pedestrian network

At a meeting of Galway City Council, councillors were told that the initial works will take place in areas that are already conducive to cycling – tying in with the progression of the Galway Transport Strategy and the delivery of the Galway City Ring Road.

Senior Executive Engineer with the Council, Uinsinn Finn, said the ultimate aim is to increase the “mode share” of cycling – with only 6.2 per cent of people currently commuting by bike.

“The focus here will be on the primary routes – where we have land to proceed to developing cycling and walking routes in a short duration.

“There are areas like along the Western Distributor Road, and housing developments in Ballybane, where there are significant verges,” said Mr Finn.

“We’re hoping if we’re able to open up cycle routes so that people will take up that mode,” he added.

Funding for the upgrade was secured under the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund and in its application, the Council argued that with Galway’s population to rise by around 40,000 to 120,000 in the next 20 years, sustainable transport methods had to be developed.

“Although the city’s general flat topography is conducive to cycling, the current mode share of 6.2 per cent (Census 2016) is relatively low,” it stated.

“Census data indicates a high proportion of the local population (circa 47 per cent) live within a four-kilometre commute to work and education, and that 52 per cent of commuting trips within the city are four kilometres or under (Census 2011). This indicates a strong potential for more sustainable and active travel to occur.”

The Council emphasised that heavy traffic in the city, coupled with the lack of infrastructure, reinforced the idea that cycling in Galway was unsafe.

To rectify this, it was stressed that an integrated and continuous cycling network was needed.

“The aim of the proposal is to increase cycling to 10 per cent mode share by 2020 as envisioned by the National Cycle Framework to help reduce congestion which is disadvantaging the city in advance of the Galway City Ring Road deliver,” the application stated.

Cllr Frank Fahy (FG) said the city’s current cycle network was not up to standard and that too was putting people off choosing the bike as a means of commuting to and from work.

“We want to encourage people to cycle and we know it’s not the easiest city to cycle in with the weather, but can we maintain cycle infrastructure,” stressed Cllr Fahy.

Cllr Mairéad Farrell (SF) said the low level of cycling in the city was a stark reminder that Galway was crying out for an integrated cycling network.

“We need to implement a plan for delivering a cycle network,” she added.