A ‘favoured’ engineering option for the Kirwan Roundabout junction close to the Menlo Park Hotel now seems likely to be presented to councillors this month.
Last January, councillors were presented with six design options for the Headford Road junction – all of them signalised – with five proposing a four arm rather than a five outlet options.
In the past, there has been strong local opposition to proposals to divert the Coolagh Road onto the N84 Headford Road, north-east of the existing Kirwan junction.
Local councillor and former Mayor of Galway, Frank Fahy, told the Galway City Tribune that ‘messing about’ with the Kirwan Roundabout junction would do nothing to alleviate traffic problems in the Quincentenary Bridge area.
“There are two main parts to any solution in terms of easing the city’s traffic difficulties – the provision of the Outer Bypass and the putting in place of a comprehensive cross-city public bus service.
“Until those two things are put in place there will be no easing of the traffic problems and it’s just too simplistic to think that changing the junction at the Kirwan Roundabout will make any difference to the traffic flow problems,” said Cllr. Fahy.
He said that he would be proposing a ‘no-change’ situation to be applied to the junction as there was nothing to indicate that signalising the junction would improve the traffic situation.
Six emerging preferred options were outlined to councillors at last January’s City Council meeting:
■ A five armed signalised junction without any changes to the current roundabout outlets.
■ A new link road to the Liosbán Estate accessing the main N6 Bothar na dTreabh road between the Kirwan Roundabout and the Flemings Road junction with a bridge across the Terryland River.
■ Options 3 and 4 would involve links onto Bothar na dTreabh but without any new bridge.
■ In Option 5, the Coolagh Road would be diverted onto the city side of the Kirwan Roundabout junction.
■ The final option would involve the diversion of the Coolagh Road onto the county side of the Kirwan junction.
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