Councillors’ u-turn is bad news for Prom cycle lane
Galway City Councillors will stick a ‘spoke in the wheel’ of controversial plans for a temporary cycle lane in Salthill.
Fourteen elected members of Galway City Council – including 13 who initially supported proposals for the project – have this week come out against the two options under consideration.
They are backing a Motion – proposed by Cllr Peter Keane (FF) – to revoke the original motion supported by 17 members last September calling for a temporary cycle lane. It is on the agenda for next week’s Council meeting.
This U-turn by 13 councillors could effectively bury the proposals for a 3k cycle lane from Grattan Road along the Prom to Knocknacarra Cross and send planners back to the drawing board.
Chief Executive Brendan McGrath is expected to present a report on the outcome of the non-statutory public consultation. The report will give feedback on 7,500 submissions and give recommendations on how to proceed. The temporary cycle lane was due to begin in March for six months, and tenders for contracts have been advertised.
If the motion is revoked, Mr McGrath could plough on regardless because it is not a reserved function of councillors – but he has always indicated he would be led by those who are elected.
Another scenario is it could be revoked with amendments directing officials to come up with other – more viable and palatable – options.
Cllr Keane told Galway City Tribune he proposed the motion to revoke because the two options presented were not implementable.
“Seventeen councillors voted for it, and the executive set about coming up with feasible options to deliver on the motion and the two options they delivered were off the scale in terms of their practical negative consequences for residents, for schools, for businesses, sports clubs and even for the blue lights services – it would add an extra 10 or 15 minutes to a Fire Brigade call to Connemara,” he said.
Cllr Keane said the two options presented by the executive were ‘stacked to fail’, they were not practical, and were ‘a waste of time and money’.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
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