Group warns bypass will ruin residents' lives
A city residents’ group opposed to the N6 Galway City Transport Project has rejected the emerging preferred route for a new bypass.
The Galway N6 Action Group says the route will cause disproportionate damage to homeowners and to communities when weighed against the benefits that may accrue to commuters. It argues the route is not an outer bypass but rather an inner bypass which “will take more traffic in closer to Galway than around it”.
The group, which includes residents mostly in Dangan and Newcastle, said it would now liaise with groups in Barna, and on the east side of the city, to “form a powerful and cohesive lobby group against the proposed new road”.
It wants the two local authorities and consultants driving the project to look at alternative modes of transport before ploughing ahead with the planning phases for the emerging preferred route.
A spokesperson for the group said: “The rights of ordinary people to live in their homes in quiet enjoyment are being glossed over by Galway City and County Councils, by ARUP consultants, and by several of our national representatives in their rush to implement a road based solution. These groups who are advocating the new route are the same ones who passionately argued for the old Galway City Outer Bypass a few years ago, but now tell us in retrospect that this would have been the wrong solution to Galway's traffic problems had it been implemented at the time.
“Residents are traumatised by the announcement of the new route as they face the loss of their hopes and dreams which are associated with the building and purchase of these homes. In addition their lives are effectively put on hold for the next five or more years while the proposed new route is put through the planning and appeals process.
“Because of this the search for alternative transport solutions to Galway's traffic problems should have been the first step in the process rather than a token gesture as would seem to be the case in this instance.”
Meanwhile, Barna residents affected by the emerging preferred route were scheduled to meet last night in the youth centre beside the chuch. They will issue a considered response following the meeting, a spokesperson said.