Uproar as Big Dig closes Church View

By JACQUELINE HOGGE HOPES that traders in Tuam would benefit from the suspension of roadworks involved in the Big Dig have been dashed this week with the closure of a main artery into the town centre. Work on a section of Church View began this week, despite agreement from Galway County Council and Coffeys that weekend work on the N17 would be suspended for December in a bid to keep traffic flowing through the town. [private] The decision was met with angry exchanges at the December meeting of Tuam Town Council where members called for its immediate reversal. However, Dermot Collins, senior engineer with the council, said the work would proceed and if the repercussions on town-centre traffic were as drastic as suggested, alternative measures would be put in place. Cllr Imelda Kelly said the move was the equivalent of Galway County Council sticking two fingers up at the town, describing the decision as unacceptable. 'If the town is to remain open for business in the run-up to Christmas, this decision needs to be reversed,' she said. 'The diversion through Barrack Street is not adequate to cope with buses and heavy vehicles and traffic trying to access the town centre will be backed up onto the N17, which will completely defeat the purpose of suspending weekend works there.' Cllr Kelly also criticised the council's decision to inform residents in the area only hours before the work was to commence. 'Other areas have received notice weeks before their area was touched, yet the people of Church View found out less than 24 hours before work was to begin,' she said. 'It's unfair that work on Bishop Street can be suspended until the New Year, it is as if that area is sacred ground, but the fact there isn't someone shouting as loud for other areas of the town means that the likes of Church View can be closed off, despite it also being a main artery into the town. 'The traffic is backed up there already when the road is open, and if this decision is not reversed the town is going to be bereft of business. The word is already out there on the national airwaves that Tuam is gridlocked on a daily basis and this will make a bad situation worse. It's an off-the-wall decision and it's not good enough.' Cllr Kelly added that there were other areas of the town, including housing estates, that could be worked on for the month of December that would have no bearing on traffic flow, and urged the council to redirect the works to these areas. Defeated purpose Mayor of Tuam Cllr Mary Loftus said the Church View closure defeated the whole purpose of suspending the N17 works and added that the Barrack Street area would not cope with the volumes of traffic being diverted through it. Dermot Collins said there were a number of options available if the traffic situation became unmanageable due to the works, but said the work would proceed as planned, subject to review at the end of the week. 'The arguments made here tonight are relevant and very well made, but we've been tinkering with this plan to facilitate traffic flow for some time now and if the works are unduly affecting traffic getting into the town centre, we will look at other avenues open to us,' he said. Cllr Tom Reilly queried whether or not the work could be done at night, to allow the road to remain open during the day, while Cllr Paul O'Grady asked that a review be carried out within 24 hours of the works, if the board's worst fears were realised. 'It is possible to conduct the works at night but we would like a little time to see if the plan we have in place will work,' said Dermot Collins. However, Cllr Sally Ann Flanagan branded the decision as disgraceful. 'Anyone who thinks this system will work, has no logical thought,' she said. They'll go elsewhere 'Even if the decision is reversed after two or three days the damage will have been done as people will give up trying to access the town centre and will go elsewhere.' Cllr Pat O'Hora said the decision was a dangerous gamble going into a main artery of the town three weeks before Christmas and called for it to be reversed. Cllr Larry Bane said the council clearly didn't understand the ongoing difficulties faced by traders in the town while Cllr Eamonn Kitt called for immediate action if traffic chaos resulted from the closure of the road. 'If the situation is as serious as you're suggesting we will take action, but for now the work is going ahead as planned,' said Dermot Collins. President of Tuam Chamber of Commerce John Stapleton branded the move as absolutely nuts and said it made a mockery of the work that had been done ahead of the Tuam Lights Up ceremony, due to take place this weekend. 'This proves the council has no respect for the business community here in Tuam and it also shows the lack of proper planning that has been a hallmark of the Big Dig to date,' he said. 'We don't want to see any Coffeys workers anywhere near the town centre until January and we were under the impression this was the case when we negotiated the suspension of works along the N17 for December. 'This decision to close a section of Church View is crazy.  There's no benefit now to the N17 works being halted if a main artery of the town is going to be cut off three weeks before Christmas.' [/private]