Galway traffic

19th November is the new date for the ring road decision

National Development Plan - Whats in it for Galway

The following is based on a projected population for Galway of 120,000+ by the year 2040.

Funding for transport related projects is 2:1 in favor of public transport over new road builds. As time goes on I can only see that ratio increasing to be honest.

There's a lot in the new NDP that has already been announced through other programs (GTS, BusConnects, URDF etc) but there is quite a bit of new stuff too

Roads

• N6 Galway City Ring Road (pending decision)
• N59 Moycullen bypass is expected to commence construction within a few months and be complete by 2024
• N59 Clifden to Maam Cross (ongoing)

Buses

• Bus connects continuing
• Further growth of all-electric fleet but not sure if that will mean much for Galway as its gotten new hybrids in the last few months
• Bus stops
• Poles
• Line info
• Wheelchair accessible bus stops, including on interurban routes, will continue to improve the accessibility of the bus network for all users, and especially for persons with disabilities, reduced mobility and older people. 

Most will have seen this from the GTS already but here's the planned routes for city buses for the coming years

Walking & Cycling

• 360 million a year has been committed to out as far as 2030
• Galway to Dublin Greenway will be completed by 2026
• National Cycling Network and Strategy to be developed. This will cover urban and rural areas so likely to comprise of protected bike lanes in cities and greenways in rural areas
• Safe schools routes will be expanded, but we knew this already, just not clear on what schools, where and how much of the road network will be closed in the mornings/evenings to protect the young school goers

Port

Nadda happening here in terms of the NDP

Rail

• The feasibility of light rail in Galway will be considered again as part of the review of the Galway Transport Strategy (which will commence in 2022).
• Commuter rail between Galway - Oranmore - Athenry
• Double tracking to Athenry
• Ceannt Station to undergo major works (not sure what these are but likely to incorporate a lot of residential
• Only thing it states about the WRC is the Strategic Rail Review will look at it.

Everything Else

• NUI Galway Library Regeneration 
• NUI Galway Learning Commons
• Retrofit and decarbonisation trials at NUI Galway Áras de Brún. This is part of the plan for public sector buildings to improve energy efficiency and to achieve a BER of B by the end of 2030.
• New Emergency Department and Ward Block at University Hospital Galway
• GTS (Galway Transport Strategy) up for review next year. Will likely take 1-2 years
• Galway City Waste Water Treatment Plant and Network upgrade
• Radiation oncology unit being progressed at Galway (Estimated Cost Category B, Construction completion 2024))
• A cancer care network for the Saolta region (West, North West) with a Cancer Centre at Galway University Hospital
• Upgrade to USAC student accommodation facilities, Galway. Is this Renmore barracks? It falls under investment for the Defence Forces so I'm assuming so, but not sure
• New courts for Galway City

Some funding already allocated, though its light on details as to what these funds are for

Well the Port I'm not sure about. Its all a bit airy fairy how they are going about it, and the mish mash of ownership/responsibility doesn't help. Maybe something will happen but it will be more along the line of setting Galway up for marinas/cruise ships with a very small amount of cargo. Considering most of the income for the port comes from parking fee's, that says a lot about the poor volume moving through the port.

Someone else mentioned something similar to me about the GCRR & GLUAS a while back and it does make a certain amount of sense.

You started it 😋

If there were any mods left here I'd flag to them to maybe move these to a new thread

Yup, fully aware of whats going through the port, it doesn't change the fact that it has little to no market though. Its one of the reasons it is now listed as a tier 3 port (or port of regional significance) in the National Port Policy.

The policy states, in terms of Ports, the govt will:

• Move from a ‘one size fits all’ policy to one that recognises that different ports have different roles to play, now and in the future. In recognising the different roles of each port, this policy determines which are of National Significance and have a national function, and which are of Regional Significance with a specialist significance at national level:
• Ports of National Significance (Tier 1) are designated as: Dublin Port Company, the Port of Cork Company and Shannon Foynes Port;
• Ports of National Significance (Tier 2) are designated as Rosslare Europort and the Port of Waterford Company;
• Ports of Regional Significance: The remaining 14 ports account for 8% of national trade, but many have national significance in terms of specialist services or products. These include the five State companies at Drogheda, Dún Laoghaire, Galway, New Ross and Wicklow. These Ports of Regional Significance will be placed within a local authority-led governance structure with local authorities taking shareholdings in the ports.
• Future investment in deepwater capacity, when needed, will not occur until it has been subjected to stringent analysis commissioned by the Department, and will be led by the national ports;

Its summary of the port is this

With the above in mind, Galway port will have some cargo going through it, primarily related to local industries & fuel as has always been the case, but outside of that, anything coming to the west coast to unload is going to go to Foynes as its a deep water port with full cargo handling capabilities. Realistically, Galway port will not do much beyond whats its handling now, in terms of cargo, and its growth opportunities are in marinas, leisure & cruise.

Anyway, I suggest we take this to another thread if you want to continue to discuss