— Roundabout beside Galway Clinic to be converted to signalised junction.
— Junction to be gateway into new housing development.
Galway City Council are proposing stagnated crossings and shared surfaces between walking and cycling at a new junction beside the Galway Clinic.
The planned junction is between the city centre and the Ardaun South development area beside the Galway Clinic. The project involves redesigning the current Martin Roundabout into a signalised junction.
The roundabout is where the Old Dublin Road meet the N67 dual carriageway and near the section of the N6 which links into the Dublin-Galway motorway. It is best practice in the Netherlands to build over or underpasses at similar junctions, and, at least, to to have separate side-by-side walking and cycling crossings.
Dutch road designers also use large horizontal buffer space between the walking and cycling paths and the carrageways, especially where higher speeds or large volumes of motor traffic are expected.
Public consultation on the project is on-going. Comments on the design should be emailed to the city council at roads@galwaycity.ie before 4pm on the August 12, 2019.
A spokeswoman for Galway City Council said: “The proposed Martin Roundabout Upgrade has been designed in accordance with current national design standards and incorporates significant improvement measures in relation to safety and accessibility for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport. The provision of a link to controlled crossing facilities was a key factor in determining the horizontal alignment of the dedicated cycle lanes and pedestrian footways.”
She added: “The development of a sustainable integrated transport solution for the city to drive the modal shift away from private car usage is a key element of ‘Galway Transport Strategy 2016’, the core strategy of the Galway City Development Plan 2017-2023 and the Ardaun Local Area Plan 2018-2024.”
Galway cyclists!
Do you like reaching a junction only to have to dismount & press and wait for a "beg-button" signal (twice) just to go straight ahead?
Well wait no more @GalwayCityCo plan to spend €2.7m of your tax money to do just that at the Martin Roundabout "upgrade" 🤦♀️ pic.twitter.com/OVMMZVar14
— Galway Cycling Campaign (Feachtas Rothaíochta na G (@GalwayCycling) July 16, 2019
One thing highlighted👇is the huge amount of space wasted by roundabouts; needed to facilitate turning speed.
In this regard, roundabout removal creates space=potential to enable cycling & walking in current & future neighbourhoods here.
Use the space accordingly @GalwayCityCo pic.twitter.com/NwXz4yAW8s
— GalwayCycling.org (@GalwayCycling) July 16, 2019
Design drawings:
This is an overview of the planned junction — note the outline of the existing roundabout:
And a close-up of the details:
Here’s the detail towards the Galway Clinic:
And towards the city centre side of the junction:
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It’s disappointing to see local authorities still producing these designs. The DMURS manual was introduced in 2013. It is very clear on a number of points:
1) pedestrian crossings should be in a straight line, not staggered;
2) cycle tracks should be segregated and off-road, where possible;
3) off-road cycle tracks should re-establish as on-road, on approach to junctions.
There is so much space at this junction, it would be easy and inexpensive to design an excellent junction. There is even room for tree planting on the approach roads, between the traffic and cycle lane, to enhance the segregation.
Galway could be a great city for cycling, if only the council had a bit of ambition.