This is Cork! Why is it not Galway?

I took this photo in Cork city a few months ago and deeply regret that no similar scene exists in Galway city.
But it was agreed twenty years ago that such a cityscape would be part of the fabric of our own city.

In  2002, the “Strategy for Economic, Social and Cultural Development 2002-2012” for Galway City was published after two years of deliberations and discussions by the Galway City Development Board which grew out of EU and national directives to reinvigorate local government in Ireland. It comprised all of the major stakeholders of the city including Galway City Council, the community and voluntary sector, IDA, Chamber of Commerce, health board, state agencies, education bodies, trades unions, the Western Development Commission, An Garda Síochana, Ireland West Tourism, Galway City Partnership and Údáras na Gaeltachta whose Vision was to have a Galway that was ‘Inclusive, Progressive, Historic, Sustainable, Accessible, Equitable, Creative and People-centred’. I was a member of that collaborative board in my capacity as a community forum (now GCCN) representative. One of its key objectives was to “Develop a Safe Citywide Pedestrian-friendly, Cyclist-friendly, Disability and Child-friendly infrastructure” with an agreement to “explore the feasibility of having a sustainable integrated transport infrastructure based on the following hierarchy: 1. Pedestrians. 2. Cycling 3. Public transport 4. Private motor car.” It was also agreed to review the possibility of having a light rail system into and around the city. There was a shared sense of positivity, respect and a belief that we together could create something really special.

Much progress was undertaken in the early years towards achieving the Strategy’s goals. But in the last decade as more and more cities across the world enthusiastically reimagined their cities where walking, cycling and public transport were prioritised, we still seem to have an outdated health-damaging greenhouse gas emitting car-centric culture. The recent furore about the temporary Salthill cycleway is understandable as it is a prime example of Hobson’s Choice with both options in their present form not coming up with viable solutions and causing in the process serious problems to pedestrians, cyclists, bus users and disabled parking permit holders. Galway City Council could and should have done better and consulted more in advance before coming up with these alternatives that are pitting good people against good people. The taxpayers and citizens of this great city deserve better from our public servants. The so-called third option of ‘no change’ is though unacceptable as the present situation represents a serious barrier to creating a healthy sustainable future for our increasingly urbanised world. In spite of a myriad of attractive facilities such as Galway Atlantaquaria, Quincentenary/Circle of Life Park, Salthill Park, large children’s playground, fine pubs and restaurants as well as possessing one of the most famous scenic seascape views on the planet, Salthill needs a major revamp in order to reclaim its status as the country’s leading seaside resort both for locals and tourists alike. 

Making the locality walking and cycling-friendly is fundamental to this transformation. I have taken part in all of last year’s Galway Urban Greenway Community mass cycles to Salthill involving people of all ages and have seen how these events have made the ambiance of the area more relaxed and more family-friendly. 

On the other hand, I was working last weekend in Salthill and the contrast to the cycling days could not have been more starker. Over much of last Saturday and Sunday it was bumper-to-bumper traffic belching out smoky toxic fumes with the harsh noises of cars revving a constant unwelcome disturbance.

Therefore I am making a submission to City Hall this week supporting Option 2 that includes a two way cycle lane on the Prom with two way vehicular traffic along the R336 (from the Grattan Road Junction to the Pollnarooma West Junction) but with the proviso of supporting disabled parking at Ladies Beach, and a pedestrian and a bus flow. A properly planned two way cycleway in Salthill can become part of the promised safe citywide pedestrian and cycling infrastructure that we have waited decades for. 2022 is the year that Galway has to redirect its transport infrastructure towards pedestrians, cyclists and mass public transport. There is no future otherwise.  

N6 Road Route is the death knell for Developing a Sustainable Transport Infrastructure for Galway city

-->

A few months ago I wrote an article, that with later additions by other visionary community activists, became the first public announcement from a new NGO formed to help reverse an outdated car-centric philosophy that wants to build a new roadway that will only exacerbate the transport problems of Galway city and which goes against the trust of modern progressive urban planning.

The article appeared in the Galway City Tribune newspaper.

Hopefully once the campaign season starts in September, I can get active on this issue as due to a heavy work schedule in Ireland, Germany and South Africa, as well as family committments, I have had to take a step back.

 

Dear Editor,

A number of well known community and environmental activists in Galway city are coming together to form a new alliance to promote a ‘Future Cities’ concept based on a green ethos, smart technologies, a sustainable transport hierarchy and is neighbourhood centric which they say is the “antithesis of  the outdated policies of  the proposed N6 routes and the original bypass route”.

The group comprises veteran local community, environmental, cycling, educational and resident activists. According to Brendan Smith one of the members of ‘Future Cities’, “Across the developed world, cities are constructing new transport infrastructures prioritising public transport, cycling and walking. Copenhagen, Seattle, London, Melbourne, New York, Seville and Berlin are humanising their urban environments by introducing woodlands, gardens, recreational parks and a city-wide 24/7 cycling, walking and public bus or train systems.  Old inner city areas that were once soulless concrete jungles of offices denuded of the sounds of families and residents  are springing back to life as living vibrant communities. Whereas for Galway city, transport officialdom is proposing to build motorways that will decimate third level colleges, neighbourhoods, sports fields, key wildlife habitats, farmlands and in the process only exacerbate the transport problems leading to further urban sprawl and a city where the car takes priority over more environmentally people-based modes.

The Galway City Transport Project has nothing to do with solving our urban transport crisis but rather is based on promoting an uneconomical motorway connecting Connemara to east Galway that current data clearly shows represents only 10% of the present city traffic flow. As we were conned in the past by the official by-line that roundabouts facilitate pedestrian flow, so we are being sold yet another untruth with the proposal that a further car-based motorway will be the answer to our present chaos.

If Galway city is to have a sustainable future, the authorities should immediately bin a policy based on a discredited private car based transportation model that represents a failed 20^th century system. Instead we should use the €750 millions that we are told is available to construct a hierarchical transport model based on prioritizing pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users as was stated in the Galway City Development Strategy 2002-2012 but unfortunately never implemented.

Prioritizing private cars and motorways ignores the reality of the inevitable fossil fuel crisis as these energy sources dry up, ignores our international obligations to lower greenhouse gas emissions, poisons our air with toxins, covers much needed parks and woodlands with tarmac and concrete, and dramatically increases the noise levels that collectively impact negatively on the health of neighbourhoods and of the individual citizen.

Within our third level colleges and local industry we have the engineering and science expertise to use for instance smart technologies to help create a Living City that would attract inward investment, improve people’s quality of life, expand green zones and provide us with a template for other urban centres to emulate.

Do Smart Technologies Represent the Future for Galway?

-->

A new Spanish model for Smart Cities

Considering the public debate at present on developing a sustainable transport infrastructure, overcoming the enormous quantity of water lost due to faulty piping, grasping the potential of Open Data and sensor technology, a series of scientific talks and discussions happening next Tuesday night should be of interest and of benefit to people living in Galway. Entitled The Future is Smart the event will take place at 7pm on Tuesday May 19th in the Busker Brownes pub as part of Pint of Science, a new way of delivering science issues in a fun, engaging and approachable manner to an audience that will contain members of the general public as well as third level students and staff..

The Future is Smart line up comprises:

• Dr Adegboyega Ojo, Insight NUI Galway – SMART Cities
• Niall O'Brolchain, Insight NUI Galway – SMART Tourists
• Wassim Derguech, Insight NUI Galway – SMART Water
• Dr Rachel Quinlan, School of Mathematics, NUI Galway – SMART Sums
•  

Duration of each talk: 10-15mins. Brendan Smith (me!) will act as the MC for the evening.

After the talks, the speakers will join a panel with three specially invited guests (Catherine Cronin Academic Co-ordinator of online IT programmes at Information Technology NUI Galway; Dr. Chris Coughlan  Senior Manager in charge of Global Cloud Services Innovation Centre at Hewlett Packard Galway & Dr. Michael Madden head of Information Technology NUIG) to answer questions and start debating issues that the audience will bring forward.

The aim of The Future is Smart is to engage the general public in a discussion on how these new technologies will impact on our future and make ordinary people aware  that this type of world-changing research is actually taking place right here in Galway.

For the NUIG researchers  it will allow them the opportunity to present &/or discuss their research work in front of a lay audience, which is something that doesn't happen often enough. 

The event is free but ticketed to a max of 100 persons. The tickets are available on www.pintofscience.ie. So please support a new method to bring scientific research to the general public by booking your place as soon as possible and encourage others to do likewise.