A Galway county councillor has proposed putting bus lanes in the middle of the roads around big cities during peak traffic times to ease congestion problems.
Mr Séamus Quinn (PD) claims that a similar plan in the Netherlands is successful, and it should be tried as an experiment on the busy N17 road near Galway city.
He proposes that the middle of the road revert to bus traffic only for city-bound traffic from 7 a.m.to 9 a.m. and outbound from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. It would also allow the hard shoulders to be converted into traffic lanes for cars only during these times, he said. If the experiment works along the busy section of the N17 route between Knockdoe village and Galway city, it could become a template for solving traffic congestion on roads leading to and from Dublin and other big cities, according to Mr Quinn.
Along with a group of concerned commuters from north Galway and south Mayo, the councillor has formally put the proposal, including detailed drawings and computer-generated images, to Galway County Council and the National Roads Authority. "It is radical, but after months of research and planning we know it is workable.
"The plans have been discussed with senior road engineers in Galway County Council and with an official within the NRA this week, and we have had a positive reaction so far," Mr Quinn said.
Flashing beacons, road signs and a new surface of light brown sandstone in contrast to the black surface of the adjoining lanes would alert motorists to the middle lane becoming the domain of buses and emergency service vehicles only during peak traffic times.
A Tuam businessman, Mr T.J. Gormley, said there was a similar scheme on the outskirts of Utrecht in the Netherlands.