While Galway City Council announced 'improvements' to Galway's road networks last week, it must seem to most motorists that, rather than alleviating the daily traffic woes, the council is bent on creating further barriers to traffic free flow.

Two road improvements set to come on line shortly, while laudable in their own right, will go no way towards improving the traffic situation for motorists in the city in the short term. So, what is the thinking behind the moves and how do they tie in with the council's apparent aim to get Galway moving?

As of the beginning of next month, motorists entering Galway from the east side of the city will no longer be able to cut down through Renmore in an effort to shave minutes off their journey time. Instead, they will have to queue in traffic while they wait for the lights to turn green at Duggan's corner. They will then inch their way forward, enduring a good five traffic light changes more, before they can again progress into the city.

To its credit, Galway City Council has made the move in an effort to give Renmore back to the locals, who have seen their area turned into a rat run in recent years. But, while they are responding to the calls of local residents, there seems to be no one championing the case of the harried motorist, who, last time I checked, is in the majority.

The council will also create a bus lane out of the city that will run from Ffrench roundabout at Moneenageisha to Skerritt Roundabout at the site of the former Corrib Great Southern Hotel. This new bus lane will take minutes off the bus commute from the city, but, again, it will do nothing for motorists' commute time, an issue that seems to get lost with each new road 'improvement'.

And, the moves are only the tip of the iceberg in terms of road improvements that do nothing for traffic flow. Once known for its roundabouts, Galway city is now suffering from a severe case of traffic-light-itis, the installation of traffic lights on Lough Atalia being the latest addition to the extended traffic stopping family. If ever there is a call to name the traffic lights in the city, the council will have to look beyond the tribes of Galway for monikers.

While initiatives to get more people out of their cars and into buses are to be commended, in the absence of viable alternatives, motorists will be left shaking their heads at stop and go traffic 'solutions'.

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