Plans to construct an 18 kilometre ring road through Galway city are again being considered by An Bord Pleanála.

Approval for the project was quashed earlier this year, after it emerged that the initial ruling had failed to take the State's Climate Action Plan into account.

A notice on the An Bord Pleanála website lists the project as having been lodged earlier this month, meaning the plans are now formally under fresh consideration.

The planning board says a determination on the application will be issued in due course. At this stage, there is no timeframe as to when that might be.

There is no onus on the planning authority to hold another oral hearing into the proposals but it may opt to do that before making a final determination, especially in light of updated information that has been furnished by the applicants.

Backed by the city and county councils, as well as Transport Infrastructure Ireland, the proposed route would run from close to the end of the existing M6 motorway, on the east-side of the city, to a location west of the village of Bearna.

It would comprise both single lane and dual carriageway roads, along with a new crossing of the Corrib.

Plans for the ring road were initially lodged with An Bord Pleanála in 2018.

A lengthy oral hearing followed in 2020, before the deadline for a final ruling was pushed back on a number of occasions.

Ultimately, the 2021 decision to approve the project was quashed by the High Court, after An Bord Pleanála conceded that its failure to factor in the Climate Action Plan invalidated the granting of permission.

As a result, the application is to be reconsidered. The "quash and remit" ruling means the case will effectively be re-opened to rectify the admitted error and a fresh decision made.

Both councils say they are confident their plans will stand up to such scrutiny.

It is understood that local authority officials have been working to address possible issues that may have arised in recent months and are updating submissions accordingly.

Opponents of the project say it fails to take account of the State’s commitments to tackle carbon emissions.

They argue that a radically enhanced sustainable transport plan is needed to alleviate the protracted gridlock encountered by thousands of commuters in the city on a daily basis.