Dear Editor,
Reading Lisa Regan's article in last Wednesday's Galway Independent regarding the traffic calming measures in Renmore, I couldn't agree more that there is a large volume of traffic exiting from Renmore Road onto the Dublin Road. However, there is also a very large volume of traffic approaching this junction, inbound, on the Dublin Road.

This situation has been brought about by the huge increase in the number of cars over the past number of years, without the necessary road improvements to keep pace.

The reason that drivers use Murrough Avenue, and other parts of Renmore, as a 'rat run' is because the sheer number of vehicles heading in to the city makes for very slow traffic on the Dublin Road.

Your anonymous Renmore resident said: 'The money wasted in making the road one way could have been better used in making Murrough Avenue one way.'

Consider the consequences of making Murrough Avenue one way going east, as was the proposal. Not only would all the 'rat racers' then have to stay on the Dublin Road in to the city, all the traffic from Lurgan Park, Gleann Rua, Murrough Avenue and Murrough Drive would also be forced onto the Skerritt roundabout, making an already bad traffic situation far worse.

It is difficult enough to get onto this roundabout in the mornings as it is. Residents of these areas bringing their children to Scoil Chaitriona would also have to join in this melee, taking them perhaps 30 to 45 minutes to get the short distance to the school. This proposal does not make any sense in relation to improving traffic flow.

At a meeting held in GMIT in June 2007, it was made very clear that the vast majority of the residents of Murrough Avenue do not want the road to be made one way. The residents of Lurgan Park and Gleann Rua were also very strongly against this proposal. The residents association has agreed to bring any future proposals to the attention of all the residents of the aforementioned areas, before anything is implemented.

There is no easy or cheap solution to this dilemma. The main problem appears to be the poor traffic flow on the Dublin Road in to the city and perhaps the answer lies in improving this road, so that it is better able to cope with the increased volume of traffic. Yes, it may be expensive, but most of the other major cities have managed to widen roads in order to ease their situations, so why not Galway.

Sincerely,
Peter Sheedy

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