Pressure mounts to fix controversial Galway city junction as traffic fears grow ahead of Races Week
Concerns about the new Parkmore Hill junction layout, in Galway city, do not seem to be decreasing despite temporary remedial works beginning ahead of the Galway Races.
Before one of Galway’s busiest weeks of the year, works began this week and will continue into most of next week to create safer passageways from the junction serving Galway Technology Park and Briarhill Business park.
Galway City Council engineers met with Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) yesterday, July 15, to discuss a revised future for the junction. However, currently, the race is on to get the junction fit for purpose for the remainder of Galway’s busy summer.
“What we’re doing is playing with people’s livelihoods by making these changes that are ill thought out,” Galway City Councillor Shane Forde told the Irish Independent.
“I spoke yesterday to a staff member in Parkmore, and she told me that the situation at Parkmore Hill is now making sure that her company is thinking of no longer investing in the area due to the traffic situation.”
The original layout saw the filter lane near Medtronic cut back and narrowed. In addition, the Tuam Road turning lane for larger trucks was shortened leading to some commuters waiting up to 90 minutes to leave the junction.
The industrial park is home to companies like Abbitt, Medtronic, and Merit Medical who garner thousands of employees through their doors every day.
Cllr Forde has been a sharp critic about the works since they began in April as part of wider N83 improvements. TII led the project without consultation to the surrounding businesses because it is a national road.
“You can’t have someone in Dublin who’s never looked at that area, has never been down at that junction at the peak times, making decisions,” Cllr Forde said.
“We did the work because it’s a TII road, to try improving the junction, and all we did is make it worse. We spent hundreds of thousands in taxpayer’s money on remedial works and we now most likely will have to revisit it.”
Cllr Forde expects a clearer timeline for the future junction plans following the meeting with TII and engineers.