Galway City Council together with their Consultants, Halcrow Barry and Transport Infrastructure Ireland are conducting a study to upgrade the Kirwan junction.

The Kirwan Roundabout is located at the junction of the N6 Bothar Na dTreabh, N6 Headford Road, N84 Headford Road, Sandy Road and Coolough Road. This five arm junction caters for over 40,000 vehicles movements per day and is over capacity. Significant congestion is experienced during the morning and evening peaks. Pedestrian facilities at the junction are extremely poor and no cycle facilities are provided.

The upgraded junction will improve throughput and congestion at the junction and provide pedestrian and cycle facilities on all arms of the junction.

An initial study produced 14 Options which were assessed in terms of Economy, Environment and Engineering. This assessment identified the 6 best options and it was agreed at the monthly meeting of the city council in January 2017 that these options be taken forward for further assessment. A non-statutory pubic consultation was also undertaken and this included a public information evening at the Ballinfoile Community Centre in late January.

The 6 options that were taken forward for further assessment were examined using a multi-criteria analysis in accordance with the TII Project Management Guidelines. This includes assessment under headings such as Environment, Safety and Economy.

The multi-criteria analysis assesses each of the 6 options and identifies the preferred option. In this case the preferred option identified is 3B as shown on the drawing below. This options includes for the alteration of the Coolough Road by moving its junction to the north to form a new junction with the Headford Road. The main Kirwan junction then becomes a 4-arm signalised junction consisting of the Headford Road, Bothar Na dTreabh and Sandy Road.

This option was identified as the preferred option as it has the least impact on the Environment, provides the greatest reduction in traffic delays in the area, and meets the objective of providing a safer environment for all road users and in particular pedestrians and cyclists.

The impact on the users of Coolough Road, accessing areas such as Castlelawn and Menlo, is minimised by the provision of a slip lane for traffic coming out of town on the Headford Road to turn left onto Coolough Road. In addition, the new Coolough Road/Headford Road junction will be signalised to ensure that road users can exit safely without delay.

A detail presentation of the multi-criteria analysis including the summary of the results for all 6 options was presented to the Elected Members at last Monday’s Council Meeting.  The preferred option 3B was outlined in detail and its merits over the other options were demonstrated in terms of a number of criteria including Environment, Safety and Traffic Flows.

The presentation given to the elected members can be viewed here

The project will now progress to the preliminary design and planning stage including environmental and screening reports, variation to the City Development Plan and Part VIII Planning approval. The Part VIII planning will provide an opportunity for members of the public to submit their views during the statutory consultation period. It is envisaged that the detailed design and tender process will be undertaken during 2018 with completion of the project in 2019.

The drawing of the preferred Option 3B can be viewed here