One third of submissions on new Cross-City Bus Link were negative
The proposed new urban traffic plan – aimed at facilitating two major bus links across the city – could end up putting traffic around in circles and going nowhere, a former mayor claimed this week.
Cllr Donal Lyons (Ind) told a City Council meeting that he had concerns over major changes proposed for vehicular traffic in the city – without the proposed N6 Galway City Ring Road being in place.
BY FRANCIS FARRAGHER AND DENISE McNAMARA
“If we have no Ring Road, what will take the traffic? We are looking at major changes in traffic-flow in places like the Salmon Weir Bridge and College Road with one-way systems.
“Even to access City Hall or going to the Sportsground for the rugby matches will be impacted upon. We’ll just end up sending the traffic around in circles, going nowhere.
“I am not convinced that these proposals [the Cross City Link and the Dublin Road Bus Corridor] will work, without the Ring Road,” said Cllr Lyons.
According to Cllr Owen Hanley (Social Democrats), the City Council was not moving quickly enough to bring about a modal switch in terms of transport usage across the city.
Cllr John Connolly (FF) said that there were real concerns among communities that the Council’s transport strategy was not progressing at a sufficient pace to indicate real change was taking place.
Mayor Colette Connolly (Ind), said that as regards the Dublin Road Bus Corridor, they were only at stage 2 of what was a 7-stage project.
Senior City Council Engineer, Uinsinn Finn, said that each of the projects put forward stood on its own merits but that all of them fitted into the overall Galway Transportation Strategy.
He also said that there had been agreement between the Saolta Hospital Group and the NTA (National Transport Authority) on the proposed bus route through the grounds of the hospital grounds (UHG).
Replying to queries about the Dublin Road Bus Corridor and the location of the new graveyard on a green area (just before the Connacht Hotel as one leaves the city), he said that he envisaged no problems with this.
“There is good public transport available while the site [new cemetery] is also in close proximity to the city centre,” said Mr Finn.
Meanwhile, almost one third of people who made submissions to the Council on the proposed Cross-City Link bus route were negative towards the project in the first stage of consultation.
In an update to councillors on the public transport and cycling priority corridor from NUIG to the Sportsground, 14 per cent were very negative while 15 per cent were classed as negative.
The largest percentage of submissions were neutral at 34 per cent, while 11 per cent were categorised as mixed.
Just eight per cent were ‘very positive’, and 18 per cent said to be ‘positive’.
A total of 93 submissions were made via the virtual room or email submission to the City Council. A total of 36 stakeholders out of 130 contacted – such as taxi companies, car park operators and businesses directly impacted – took part in a virtual briefing. A further 75 attended a Galway Chamber of Commerce event.
There are two more landowners yet to be contacted, with 21 landowners having had some form of engagement.
The main theme of the queries or submissions were concerns over loss of parking, access for areas such as College Road, Woodquay and Corrib Terrace and the impact of displaced traffic as well as support for greater priority for buses and cyclists.
The east-west priority corridor will see non-essential private traffic restricted or removed in the core part of the city centre in order to encourage more people out of their cars due to certainty of frequency and journey time reliability of public transport.
The next stage involves the preparation of the Environmental Impact Assessment and a Natura Impact Statement, which begins this month and will likely take six months.
Once these reports are concluded and the planning route confirmed the application for consent will then be submitted to An Bord Pleanála in parallel with the Compulsory Purchase application in the final quarter of 2021.
The ‘emerging preferred scheme’ involves two bus lanes over the Salmon Weir Bridge, Eglinton Street, Williamsgate Street. Eyre Square east and north and Forster Street will be restricted to public transport, cycling and taxis at peak times, while College Road will be limited to public transport, taxi and local access only, with no through-traffic – except for buses – permitted to the western end of Forster Street.
Forster Street, Eyre Square East, Prospect Hill and Bóthar Uí hEithir will become two-way traffic routes.
It is estimated that the project could be completed by 2026.
Councillor Mike Cubbard questioned why there were two landowners still to be questioned.
“There’s 29 per cent negative and very negative. Is there a common theme there to work on? It’s very hard to bring people with you when a third are against it,” he said.