Getting around Galway

So those of us not going to the city can avoid this traffic

It shouldnt be normal to take 30 minutes to travel 14km from Oranmore to Knocknacarra

We've been through this before but it's worth covering again for those who still don't get it. A windscreen view might give you the impression that there is cycle route across the city from Knocknacarra to Ballybrit but the reality is very different. The cycle lanes only exist where they provides the least safety benefit, along side the road on straight stretches, but they disappear completely at the junctions where they are needed most.

If you're travelling from Cappagh Road you have to travel through seven roundabouts before you get to the Quincentenial Bridge. The cycle lane doesn't start until after you've passed through the first two roundabouts and then you get a narrow painted strip along the side of the road that just disappears at each of the next four roundabouts. The Deane Roundabout (Bishop O'Donnell Road) is bad, and I've had a couple of very close calls there, but the Browne Roundabout (back of the hospital) is absolutely terrifying. If you ever wondered why you see so many grown adults cycling down the wrong side of the Seamus Quirke Road to get to the hospital, university or city centre in the mornings, the reason is not because it makes their journey's quicker, it is because going around the Browne Roundabout to take the 3rd or 4th exit is too frightening to even consider. I take the 2nd exit there, so I get to stay in the outside lane, but I was still hit by an impatient/inattentive driver recently, even though I was lit up like a Christmas tree.

After you get over the bridge and along the Headford Road you have to navigate the Kirwan junction (Menlo Park Hotel) where the cycle lane just disappears again. There you have two choices:

1) you get off the bike and walk through junction as a pedestrian, queuing at the signal controlled crossings, to get to the bike lane heading out Bothar na dTreabh.

2) act like a driver and move out into either of centre two of the 4 lanes approaching this junction. This is a manoeuvre only the very brave would consider.

At all the regular crossroads along the way (7 in total) you have to contend with drivers cutting across you as if you didn't exist, when they are turning left. Then, once you get to Ballybrit, you have to join a 100km/h dual carriageway if your final destination is Parkmore. I did that once and, even though I'd consider myself a robust cyclist, I'd never do it again.

Anyone who thinks there is a useable cycling route from the western residential areas of Galway to the employment centres on the east of the city has clearly never tried to cycle it. Galway City Council has spent less than zero on cycling infrastructure. Instead it has tacked on substandard rubbish to general roads projects to allow them to be classified as 'active travel' and get roads built and resurfaced using national 'active travel' funding. The main benefit of the existing cycle lanes, far from making cycling safer or encouraging people to cycling, is actually to increase motor traffic speeds by moving people on bikes out of the way on straight stretches.

This is the kind of roundabout you build if you want to encourage cycling (and walking):

But this is what we have instead in Galway:

This is the kind of cycle path you build if you actually want to encourage cycling:

But this is what we have instead in Galway:

Right now the only people who cycle in Galway are the particularly stubborn/reckless, who really want to cycle and do so in spite of the dangers, and those forced to do so from economic necessity. The fact that many people choose not to use dangerous, disconnected cycling infrastructure is not an argument to provide less cycling infrastructure. We can see from other parts of Europe, places with worse weather than Galway or steeper hills, that it is entirely possible to get 35-50% of commuting happening by bike, freeing up road space for those who still do need to drive and making everyone's journey quicker. But to achieve that you need to provide useable infrastructure and we haven't even begun to try.

That's an interesting geographic perspective.

So crossing the Quincentenial Bridge, which is 1.2km from Eyre Square, means you are "pass(ing) through the city center", but if we get a new bridge, 500m upstream from the Quincentenial and 1.7km from Eyre Square, that one will be "far from the city center".

Where getting into 'These cow are small, but those cows are far away' territory here. For the record, we have three bridges that can reasonably be described as being in the 'city centre' and a 60km/h dual carriageway leading to a monster roundabout with no pedestrian crossings is not one of them.

It depends on your definition of 'wayaaay past' I guess but, if going through the University grounds is your new criteria for city centre, it's worth noting the Ring Road bridge (not a bypass, remember) is also planned to go through the University grounds.

It's been said before, and it's worth repeating, that if the ring road was part of a comprehensive plan that involved reallocating city road space to tram/light rail, bus lanes, cycle lanes and pedestrian priority, etc. simultaneously, then much of the current opposition would disappear. But no one who has seen recent developments (or lack thereof) in Galway in recent decades can honestly believe that will happen as a consequence of the ring road. A classic example is Salthill. We can't get a cycle lane there because a vocal cohort of Galway citizens view parking spaces right at the sea front as being more important than road safety. How is a ring road going to change that? Or look at the scandal that ensued when College Road was made one way temporarily, which is the classic method of providing more space for other modes of transport. Do you think that, once a Ring Road has been built, people are going to suddenly agree to making Kingston Road, Taylors Hill, Dr. Mannix Road, Monivea Road, etc. all one way?

This argument is used by cynical figures (Galway Chamber, I'm looking at you) to try to make the Ring Road sound like the key to unlocking a shift to other transport options in the centre. But we all know that as soon as actual proposals are put forward to restrict motor traffic they'll be objecting like hell.

in your best scenario of 15mins, that would be 15/25mins throughout the day no matter the time.....all it takes is one accident the city and then it is gridlocked. hell even wet weather it gets grid locked. when SHTF, you could be an hour and more getting from one side to another.... i could be half way to dublin in that same time if starting in oranmore.

have issue how they came to that 3% where those pneumatic vehicle counters are never on the rat runs. Plus that 3%, is what exactly the HGV's that serve Connemara? if it is then wouldn't it be wise to take HGV traffic out of the city? Wheres the traffic stats that goes west cause the only way there is through the city or up via clonbur.

Globally, more roads attract more cars. The issue is about moving people, not cars.

You're not being rude at all. I absolutely agree that these stats are too stale now, however these are the stats that were submitted and are being used to develop the GCRR. I would suspect now while the volumes would have increased significantly the traffic pattern percentages within the city would be broadly similar but the big exception of those travelling in to the city from outside.

You are also correct that Parkmore has increased employment but if this was the only employer for residents of Roscam and Oranmore then we definitely wouldn't need the GCRR as they are in very close proximity. The reality is as the economy grows the city as a destination grows, attracting more employees, students, residents, tourists and visitors. That is currently piling more traffic in to the city. The GCRR will not help to alleviate that and would probably make it worse.

I have no idea how this particular survey was conducted but having it described as a survey doesn't mean there was a form to fill in and people were questioned about their travel patterns.

A much more accurate way of doing it would be to actually track number plates at the city boundaries, and at the four bridges, for a week. I think it has already been suggested earlier in this thread that this was the way it was done but that it would underestimate the frequency of some journeys if it was only done on the main roads and didn't capture traffic rat-running down Letteragh Road, or through Menlo, for example.

That trip information was not captured by surveying people. IIRC correctly its based on modelling, traffic counters, census demographics and national transport survey.

Unless you think its all made up?

If so why would Galway's city council make up traffic results that actually hurt the business case for their ring road?

Think they are referring to the Service Duct lanes built over 30yrs ago now along the N6 that Council rebranded as cycle lanes 10years ago when they were removing the MultiLane Roundabouts on the N6? Still one roundabout to go behind UHG. For some people out there throwing up a couple of signs and marking these service duct lanes is somehow big spending on cycling in the City. Ha ha ha. There is a beautiful delusional metaphor in there somewhere.