Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

As outlined to the Deputy in previous replies on this matter, the National Transport Authority has established a park-and-ride design office, PRDO, which works with Galway city and county councils and Irish Rail. The focus of the current work of the PRDO is looking at options and the feasibility of zones along corridors for the east and north east serving the city centre and Parkmore.

The areas currently being considered include zones adjacent to the Coolagh roundabout and junction 19 on the M6, locations on the N83, the old Dublin Road and the R339. Consideration is also being given to supporting additional park-and-ride facilities at Oranmore rail station. Detailed site options analysis and feasibility studies are ongoing for each of the areas identified.

The PRDO has undertaken site visits to the area and topographical drone surveys of lands in the zones identified have been carried out. These surveys give detailed information on the physical characteristics of the area, which help identify any potential constraints and inform the preliminary design and layouts of the proposed park-and-ride developments. Other information such as information on ecology, archaeology, flooding and public transport capacity, in addition to land title searches and traffic data analysis, is being utilised in a multi-criteria analysis to determine the preferred sites to bring forward to planning.

The development of the particular sites will be aligned with the delivery of other supporting infrastructure, in particular bus corridor infrastructure with a view to bringing sites forward for planning in the latter half of 2022. The appropriate planning consent process will be determined on a site-by-site basis.

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