People Before Profit Galway representative Adrian Curran has reacted with disappointment to the Galway City Council vote to revoke plans for a trial cycleway in Salthill.
“It’s frustrating and disappointing that it is proving this difficult to cajole Galway City Council into taking the small positive step of trialling safe cycling infrastructure at a location where there is clear demand for it and funding available.
“By comparison to the changes we need to make to relieve the traffic gridlock in Galway and to avoid the worst effects of climate and biodiversity breakdown, a trial cycleway in Salthill would be a small, but positive step. That Galway City Council is proving itself incapable of taking such a step is an indictment.
“Studies have shown the improvements that segregated cycle lanes offer to a location – safer pedestrian travel, lower air and noise pollution, and increased footfall for businesses. We need to act now in an attempt to meet our emission reductions for 2030.
“There are councillors who say we need to build the ring road so we can have active travel infrastructure in the city. In my view it is clear that they have no intention of supporting a shift away from the dominance of cars in the city. Their archaic notion of what a transport network should look like is hopelessly unsustainable.
“There will be councillors who will defend their vote to scrap the plans by citing concerns raised by the emergency services. There is ample evidence of emergency services elsewhere in Ireland using cycleways to bypass traffic jams to suggest that a properly designed cycle lane in Salthill could in fact reduce emergency response times. Furthermore, councillors rejected a proposal from the Mayor to shorten the cycleway to remove the section that had been questioned by the emergency services. This implies their objections to the cycleway are not to do with emergency access.
“Traffic across Galway city is in crisis. We need a free and frequent public transport system to encourage people out of their cars. On top of that we need segregated cycle lanes, like the one proposed in Salthill, to ensure people of all ages and ability can travel safely.”
