By Liam Coates
Galway
City councillors have voted 13-4 to reverse plans for a trial 3km Salthill
cycle route. Last September, those same councillors voted almost unanimously for
its “urgent” rollout.
The plans would have provided a protected two-way cycle track along the water at the popular amenity, with a one-way cycle lane between Barna Road and Seapoint-D’Arcy roundabout.
Cycling campaigners slammed the decision, with Galway Cycling Campaign spokesperson Martina Callanan saying she was “disgusted and disappointed.”
“Galway
City Councillors are big and brave when it comes to talking the talk, but when
it comes to action; they go limp, they shrivel, they’re ineffective,” she said.
The
public consultation, which concluded at the end of January, saw more than 7,000
submissions received, with over 60 per cent of responses against the plans.
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The Village Salthill, which represents local businesses, said the cycle-lane would have wreaked “havoc” on the area and sent traffic onto neighbouring streets. The emergency services also expressed concern in their submissions about access and the impact of the one-way system on their response times.
Speaking on the Pat Kenny Show, Fianna Fáil councillor Peter Keane, who proposed the revocation of the Salthill trial, said the U-turn on the plan left the council in an “embarrassing position.” Councillors, he said, had in September only approved the concept of a cycle route, with no comprehensive plan on how to deliver it.
“In
hindsight it is not the way you should do business politically. You should
never vote on the hoof or vote on the blind as it pays no dividend. When we
voted on this in September, we had no detailed design in front of us.”
He
said he was confident a future compromise could be found with further
consultation, but Social Democrats Councillor Owen Hanley, who voted for the
cycle route, said his suggestion of a compromise was shot down by colleagues.
“In a climate and transport crisis we need change and action. This was our chance and I believe (councillors) made the wrong decision,” he said on Twitter.
The
protracted process of rolling out cycle infrastructure in Galway contrasts with
the speedy rollout of cycling schemes by Dun-Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.
Their Coastal Mobility Route, which is a similar length and design to the
proposed Salthill scheme, saw two million trips in its first year.
The current coalition government has promised €360 million annually to support active travel schemes and had previously allocated €1 million for the rollout of the Salthill trial.
