Galway Senator, Niall Ó Brolcháin has accused Galway City Council of not taking cycling policy seriously.
Senator Ó Brolcháin was speaking in the wake of a decision to close part of the road at Newtownsmyth last week as part of a cycle lane pilot scheme and the ongoing controversy surrounding plans to upgrade Seamus Quirke road.
“City Hall need to start taking cycling seriously,” said Senator Ó Brolcháin, “and I am calling on the new Mayor not to drop the ball on this one.”
“Closing off part of Newtownsmyth was not the way forward and only served to cause serious hassle for motorists and local businesses without really encouraging cyclists.”
“It was a ridiculous move by the City Council and has created bad publicity for Cyclists and for City Hall.”.
“Galway is a University City with a young population and the potential for encouraging cycling as a safe, quick, clean form of transport is enormous. Many people who want to cycle, don’t, as it is not particularly safe to cycle in Galway as cycle routes have not been thought through. Most other university cities in Europe are very cycle friendly. It is time we got our act together.”
“Instead of ‘solo runs’ by the City Council, we need to have some level of co-ordination and joined up thinking in order to progress this issue.”
“I am calling on the City Council to adopt an integrated approach to cycling and to liaise with all relevant organisations with a view to putting in place a proper cycling infrastructure.”
