More than €45 million has been allocated for national roads and greenways projects in Galway for the year 2023.
Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan announced that a total of €554 million is being allocated to local authorities through Transport Infrastructure Ireland this year.
In Galway, the single biggest allocation is €25 million for ongoing “construction, land, and supervision” costs of the Moycullen Bypass.
A further €3 million has been allocated to the county council for the N6 Galway City Ring Road project.
This is for “committed land payments and costs associated with dealing with the decision of the Board and further environmental analysis”.
Planning permission for the Ring Road was struck down due to environmental regulations which had not been considered, and is being resubmitted to the Board.
Other projects funded this year include €1 million for work on the N59 Oughterard Bridge, and another €1 million for Traffic Calming & Pavement works on the N83 in Claregalway.
The total allocation to Galway County Council through TII this year is €44,566,418, which also includes €4.65 million for Greenways, and over €10 million for active travel.
Among the Greenways projects, €3.7 million will be spend on two stretches of the Connemara Greenway, between Clifden and Recess and from Galway to Oughterard.
The City Council has been allocated €647,989, roughly two thirds of which is for active travel measures, with the remainder for maintenance of national roads.
On the national roads allocation, Minister Eamon Ryan said, “These allocations are an important step in a pathway of planned investment in our national road network over the remainder of this decade.”
“As ever, there are competing demands for funding allocations for national roads and we had twice as many applications as we had budget for.”
He said that the investment in bypass roads will help to remove “choking traffic” from town centres, “giving them back to residents, to school children, to shoppers and visitors”.
“It will also provide scope for greater active travel options, walking and cycling, in town centres,” Eamon Ryan added.
“This will be transformative for town centres, providing an opportunity to meet our housing challenges and our environmental targets.”
Funding of approximately €63 million through TII’s Greenway Programme will see the ongoing development of around 70 Greenway projects around the country.
