Routes likely to be merged for bypass
The preferred route of the proposed new city bypass is likely to be a mixture of the six options currently being assessed.
Galway County Council and ARUP Consultants have confirmed that it is “highly unlikely” that the colour-coded routes in their entirety would be chosen as the emerging preferred route.
The local authority said that it is probable that a variation of the different colour-coded routes combined would be chosen.
The County Council is the lead agent of the N6 Transport Project on behalf of Galway City Council and National Roads Authority (NRA).
Arup Consultants is tasked with preparing a route-selection report. It has been confirmed that the preferred route will not fall outside the six colour-coded options outlined at various public meetings in recent weeks.
But it has also been confirmed that there is a measure of flexibility in the selection process and that the consultants may ‘mix and match’ two or more of the different coloured routes in order to arrive at the preferred route.
This means that the three routes that span the entire length of the bypass (green, blue and red) are unlikely to be chosen in their entirety.
Senior Engineer, Michael Timmins explained that it is likely a combination of two or more routes will be chosen.
In theory, the preferred route could involve a combination of five of the routes. For example, it could start in the east of the city as a blue route, change to the red route at Ballybane, and then switch from red to either a yellow route or orange route near Terryland, before linking up again with the blue route, which would finish at Barna village.
Whatever starting point is chosen, the colour of the chosen route could change at Barna where there are four options linking the proposed new road to the village.
Eileen McCarthy, Associate Director at Arup, this week said it is “highly unlikely” that one single route would be chosen and the likelihood is a mixture of two or more routes will emerge as the preferred route.
A County Council spokesperson confirmed also that it may not be just one route and a mixture of routes is likely to be chosen.
For more on this story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune