Galway City Council scraps €1 park-and-ride Christmas service as alternatives sought
Galway City councillors are examining new car parking options to ease Christmas traffic congestion, with sites at the University of Galway and ATU under consideration – doing away with the previous years’ park-and-ride service.
In previous years, a bus service ran from Galway Racecourse from mid-December until Christmas Eve, costing €1 per person and operating every 15 minutes.
However, a recent Galway City Council meeting heard that this year the local authority is looking instead at using university car parks located near existing bus routes, without providing a dedicated shuttle.
The first proposal would see parking at Corrib Village on the north side of the University of Galway. The site is close to the N59 and served by the 404 bus every 30 minutes, but it is only a 20-minute walk from the city centre. Parking there could cost around €10 per person.
The second option is the main car park at ATU. From there, commuters would have a nine-minute walk to bus stops on the Dublin Road serving the 402, 404 and 409 routes, though it involves crossing a roundabout without pedestrian signals.
Discussion this option, Cllr Eibhlín Seoighthge recommended installing a temporary crossing to improve safety.
Additional stops on an alternate walking route are less than 200m away from the main car parking area which would see the 401 service stop on Ballybane Road and the 405 service stop on St. James Road.
Although Councillor Shane Ford advises against the promotion of the St. James Road bus stop stating its location “is like Baghdad” and would not be suitable for what the council is trying to achieve for commuters.
With this option, car parking will be limited to December 19 to December 24 as the facilities are used by university staff and will not be able to support the influx of commuters along with their staff car numbers.
The cost of providing option B in this case will be approximately €10,000 which is said to be for marketing and communication costs of the car park as well as associated costs.
Director of Finance Helen Kilroy confirmed that allocations in this year’s budget were not made for this proposal.
Councillor Donal Lyons called for this to be put within the next meeting’s agenda while the suggestion to follow through with the ATU option was resounding.
During the meeting, Cllr Frank Fahy also urged colleagues to “think outside the box,” suggesting church car parks as an alternative, as many are located near frequent bus services.