A new Government report has concluded that the proposed city ring road would not solve Galway’s traffic woes – leading to calls to ‘move on’ from the €1 billion project.

The Department of Transport has published a report on ‘The Economic Cost of Congestion in Regional Cities’ and has determined that car traffic currently costs the city more than €35 million per annum and predicts that this will rise to €107 million by 2040 – when the ring road is operational.

The study suggests that while congestion would decrease slightly between 2030 and 2040, “increased transport demand will eventually result in the bypass becoming congested without further intervention”

The report warns that in addition to BusConnects and improvements to Ceannt Railway Station, “a more proactive deployment of sustainable transport will be needed to tackle growing cost of congestion”.

Maps provided in the report show all junctions across the city at or above capacity in 2040, with those coming off the proposed ring road all showing heavy levels of congestion.

“Certain junctions will see reduced congestion due to improved infrastructure, while the overall level of congestion in the city will rise given the higher volume of vehicles on the road. Planned interventions [including the ring road] are not sufficient to offset the increase in congestion in the city centre and wider metropolitan area,” it is stated.

Former TD for Galway East and outspoken opponent of the ring road proposal, Ciarán Cannon, said this was further proof that the time had come to ‘move on’ from the ring road and look towards vastly improved public transport, cycling infrastructure and pedestrian facilities as a route out of Galway’s traffic black hole.

Caption: An artist’s impression of the Ring Road on the east side of Galway city.

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