Business owners in Galway have called for a concerted effort to deal with traffic congestion in the city.
Galway Chamber has described the gridlock faced by commuters on a daily basis as the biggest single issue facing the city.
The organisation is holding an event at Leinster House today, where it is launching a campaign titled 'Get Galway moving'.
The Chamber's CEO Kenny Deery says it is the first step in the latest attempt to try and bring some resolution to the traffic problem.
He said that the completion of the proposed Galway city ring road was a key component in the effort to improve the flow of traffic into and around the area.
The Chamber says its members are being impacted in multiple ways every day, by the congestion that clogs approach routes to the centre of the city.
It says greater urgency is needed to progress solutions.
Proposals to construct a new route through the city are being considered by An Bord Pleanála at present. But it is understood that an oral hearing into the planned route is unlikely to take place before next year.
Galway County Council submitted a formal planning application to the Board last year, for the 18 kilometre route.
An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIS) and a Natura Impact Statement (NIS), along with site maps and associated documentation, were sent to the planning authority last October.
The proposed route would cost €600 million. It would run from a location close to the existing M6 motorway, to a site west of the village of Bearna.
Compulsory Acquisition Notices were issued to around 500 landowners along the route last autumn. The project would entail the demolition of 44 properties, 40 of which are occupied at present.
It is estimated the road would take three years to construct and would involve a number of tunnels, as well as a viaduct over the river Corrib, on lands north of NUI Galway.
The local authority says it would lead to a major saving in journey times for motorists when completed.
But a number of groups opposed to the project have questioned the merits of building the road.
They contend that enhanced public transport options are urgently needed and say Ireland's obligations to reduce carbon emissions would be compromised by additional road infrastructure of this kind.
