Tenders sought for design to extend Promenade to Barna

Ambitious plans to extend the Salthill Promenade as far as Barna are currently being advanced. Galway City Council has invited tenders this week for consultants to carry out a detailed design of the new walkway extending from the Promenade in Salthill out to Silverstrand in Barna. The walkway would include coastal protection measures to save Silverstrand, which is at risk of coastal erosion. The Council is looking for a team of engineers and consultants to design the planned walkway as well as bring it to a stage where it can be put out to tender for construction. The new walkway from Blackrock to Barna has been in the pipeline for years. As well as a planned walkway between Blackrock and Silverstrand, the works to extend the Promenade will incorporate conservation works at Silverstrand, which an independent consultant report identified as being in need to protection due to coastal erosion. That report warned that unless action is taken, Silverstrand beach would be eradicated within 25 to 40 years, while the Knocknagoneen drumlin beside it would be cut off from the mainland for ever. That stretch of coast took a serious battering during the Winter storms last year. For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.