The Galway City Ring Road – currently held up because of a judicial review – has been allocated €3 million in the Government’s National Roads funding budget for 2024, it was confirmed this week.

Minister of State and Government Chief Whip, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton said that the €3 million allocation for the Galway Ring Road – made to Galway County Council – would be used ‘to progress the scheme through planning’.

The project – with an estimated cost of between €500m and €1 billion (Dept of Public Exependiture) – has been dogged by delays for the past 24-years since it formed part of the Galway Transportation and Planning Study back in 1999.

In January, 2023, the High Court quashed the approval decision for the project made by An Bord Pleanála in December, 2021 – following that court decision, Galway City Council, the County Council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) reaffirmed their commitment to the ring road.

Last September, the ‘Prospects 23/24’ report published by the Dept of Public Expenditure, ‘envisaged’ construction work on the ring road to start in 2026 with a completion date in 2029, stating that the project ‘is an integral part of the county’s infrastructure strategy’.

A figure of €1.3 million has been allocated this year by TII to two city roads projects – the N83 Tuam Road Payment Scheme (€900,000) and €400,000 for improvement works on N6 Bóthar na dTreabh route.
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