A busy, rural rat run used by vehicles travelling from Knocknacarra to the N59 Moycullen Road will face rolling road blocks until close to Christmas.
Uisce Éireann is upsizing and upgrading one kilometre of watermains in Bushypark close to where a new link road designed to bisect the proposed N6 Galway City Ringroad is planned.
Water works will take place along the length of the Ballagh Road from its N59-end near Kelehans Bar, to where it terminates at a T-junction with the Gortacleva and Leitrif roads, near Tonabrucky.
An Uisce Éireann spokesman said a traffic management plan will be in place, and that the busy L-road will be tackled in sections on weekdays, from 8am to 5pm, with works to begin this week, and scheduled to be completed in December. Diversion routes will be clearly signposted, and local and emergency access will be maintained at all times.
The works will be carried out by Farrans Construction on behalf of Uisce Éireann.
The project will involve improving 923 metres of existing water mains, under Uisce Éireann’s Accelerated Growth Programme.
Projects under this designation focus on increasing public water network capacity in areas of high housing demand. This is to enable delivery of new housing while also improving the quality, reliability and resilience of water services for existing customers, according to the national utility.
Enda MacNamara, Uisce Éireann Programme Manager, said the Ballagh Road works will increase the capacity of the local network and improve delivery of clean drinking water to existing and future customers.
“This investment will boost the capacity of the water network in the Bushypark and Tonabrocky areas of Galway, and will ensure that the network is equipped to service future housing growth and development in the surrounding area.
“These works will also provide tangible benefits for existing customers in the area, by improving the reliability of the supply and reducing the risk of operational issues moving forward.”
The semi-rural Tonabrucky and Bushypark areas of Galway city are predominantly low density housing, although larger schemes are currently planned, or are under construction nearby.
These include the second phase of the 84-unit, €19.3 million Fána an tSrutháin Neighbourhood Centre and Social Housing Scheme, in Ballyquirke, planning permission obtained by O’Malley Construction Company for 238 homes on the Ballymoneen Road, and Cairn Homes’ 151 residential unit development at land earmarked for drainage at An Tobar, with access via Letteragh Road and Bóthar Dhiarmuida.
As part of the Galway N6 Galway City Ring Road plans, a new, local road is planned to link the N59 Moycullen Road from east of Kelehans, heading south to cross the Letteragh Road to link with the unfinished Bóthar Dhiarmada, next to Rosán Glas and Bun a Chnoic housing estates in Rahoon.
This north-south link road, going through the end of the motorway section of the new ringroad, before it becomes dual and single-carriageway onward to Furbo, will pass through mainly fields and scrubland.
Under the 2023-2029 City Development Plan, most of this triangle of land between Letteragh, Ballagh and Tonabrucky is zoned agricultural, although its southern area is zoned residential, with a section at the Mincloon end of Bothar Stiofan on the Rahoon Road zoned Urban Village Centre.
