The top three worst junctions in Galway City!
Bradley Bytes - a sort of political column with Dara Bradley
Let’s face it, Galway wasn’t built for cars. It’s not particularly friendly for pedestrians or cyclists either. The Galway City Ring Road may help – if it’s ever built. And some minor improvements are being made to encourage cycling and more walking. The Bypass project is very controversial and we won’t rehash the arguments here. But change is difficult, even minor change. So reducing speed limits in Renmore might seem sensible to planners sitting at a desk, but it isn’t necessarily welcomed by those living in the area who have to navigate the change. It’s the same with cycling infrastructure. Everyone favours cycle lanes until these take away on-street parking from outside their home, or along the Prom.
Whether you travel by private car, bus, bicycle or foot, there are several junctions and stretches of road or footpath that drive us all cracked.
Here are three of the worst, in descending order, marked on a scale of one-to-ten, with 10 being the worst.
Feel free to email your own worst junctions.
3) Kirwan Junction
No prizes for guessing one of the top-three most awful junctions in Galway City is the Kirwan Junction, the most talked about since the shambles of a changeover of the Moneenageisha Roundabout to “intelligent traffic lights” a decade ago.
The new Kirwan has attracted an avalanche of complaints – formally to the Council but also on social media and anecdotally. Most people are angry that the junction has made tailbacks worse, not better.
And even cyclists and pedestrians aren’t pleased with it – improvements for these users had been one of the selling points when a majority of Councillors voted for change.
Senator Ollie Crowe (FF) has repeatedly complained about the new junction, and in November called for a full audit to be carried out on this and other junctions where tailbacks are regularly reported.
Galway County Councillor James Charity (Ind) described the new junction as “nothing short of a disaster”, which was causing tailbacks on the N84 Headford Road. He told planners to ‘go back to the drawing board’ to improve the flow of traffic at Kirwan.
Rating: 7/10
This is a shortened preview version of Bradley Bytes. See the May 6 edition of the Galway City Tribune for more. You can buy a digital edition HERE.