Council Axes ‘Hare-Brained’ Salmon Weir Plan
A proposal to trial the Samon Weir Bridge as a public transport only corridor was rejected by Galway City Councillors at the latest monthly meeting.
The proposal, which was recently brought forward by the Galway Commuter Coalition, would have seen Salmon Weird Bridge restricted to public transport between 7am and 7pm. The bid aimed to improve bus journey times and reliability across the city.
The group presented the plans to a Strategic Policy Committee (SPC), in September, where it was agreed to advance the proposal to the next stage.
However, at the recent meeting, Councillors confirmed that the trial proposal was nowhere near full approval, despite media coverage.
Fianna Fail’s Peter Keane was particularly critical, describing the proposal as “hare-brained”, and calling on councillors to “knock it on the head”.
He argued that the restrictions which are in place at O’Brien’s Bridge mean that there are only three vehicle bridges crossing the River Corrib. He claimed that further restrictions to one of the bridges would put further pressure on the city’s road network.
Councillor Keane later acknowledged that the proposal was well-intentioned.
Fine Gael’s Frank Fahy supported rejection of the trial, raising concerns about how the proposal was presented to residents after the discussion at committee level. He said that the city’s residents were caught off guard by the plans, and councillors who are not on the SPC were also taken by surprise.
Independent Councillor, Mike Cubbard, who chairs the committee, stressed that the initial support was never “rubber-stamped”, and was only allowing further discussion on the matter.
Despite rejecting the proposal, councillors emphasised that their decision did not represent opposition to improving public transport in the city.
They concluded that such change should only take place when high-standard bus services and infrastructure are in place.
The motion to reject the trial was ultimately passed unanimously, with all 17 councillors present voting against the proposal.
In a statement following the vote, Galway Commuter Coalition rejected suggestions that it had presented the trial as a foregone conclusion.
The group maintained that the proposal was intended as an interim measure to improve public transport while waiting for the rollout of BusConnects Galway.
It also called for the timely funding and delivery of the wider BusConnects programme, expressing that continued delays were holding back much-needed improvements to public transport across the city.
