Joined-up thinking needed for Tuam Traffic Management plan

By TONY GALVIN While Tuam gets a new road in the coming weeks and the Big Dig is due for completion in spring, Galway Co Council have no plans to review the town's Traffic Management Plan for months. An exasperated Cllr Shaun Cunniffe suggested to planners at a meeting of the council on Monday that it might make more sense if the plan was put in place before rather than after these events. He argued that it was nonsensical to open a road and have no idea where this new route stood in terms of the town's traffic plan. [private] 'Common sense must dictate that a new road and the ending of two years of traffic disruption caused by the Big Dig be dovetailed with a plan. Do we just operate on a trial and error basis until some planner gets the time to take a look at Tuam? This is bureaucracy gone mad. A bit of joined-up thinking is called for,' he told The Tuam Herald. He was supported by his Tuam Area colleague Cllr Sean Canney who said the operation of the new inner-relief road was a worry and planners needed to indicate clearly how it would fit into the local traffic plan before it opened, not sit back and see how things went. 'I don't think this plan can wait,' he said and supported Cllr Cunniffe's call for a fast-tracked traffic management plan to be prioritised. Myriad promises In a statement Cllr Cunniffe said: 'I was very disappointed to hear the Director of Roads and Transportation, Galway Co Council announce on Monday that despite myriad promises over the last six months in relation to the imminent commencement of work on a Traffic Management Plan for Tuam, that it is nowhere near a start date. We are now told that it will be done in the New Year after Traffic Management Plans are drawn up for Headford and Portumna. 'I have corresponded on numerous occasions with the Director on this matter and have raised it at Area Council meetings, Galway Co Council monthly meetings and Policy Committee meetings on Roads and Transportation. I was told an roads engineer had been appointed and that there would be consultation with the town and the plan would be agreed prior to the completion of the Big Dig. I fully expected the process to be under way before Christmas. I had passed these assurances on to various people around Tuam and now the Director has decided to do a U-turn on his assurances to me and it is simply not good enough. 'At the moment there is every chance that the water and sewage works will be finished before the Traffic Management Plan commences and this is totally unacceptable. Like other councillors I have promised the traders, residents, businesses and other organisations that our traffic management issues, of which there are many, would be dealt with very shortly in a comprehensive fashion. 'I am seeking an urgent meeting with the Director to receive an explanation and to get this process started as quickly as possible. There is an enormous amount of local knowledge and expertise that the Council need to hear about and understand before any Traffic Management Plan is proposed.' [/private]