National primary road
A national primary road (Irish: Príomhbhóithre Náisiúnta) is a road classification in the Republic of Ireland. They form the major routes between the major urban centres. In short, they are the backbone of the Irish road network.
Description
This category of road has the prefix "N" followed by one or two digits. The most important routes are numbered N1-N11 ( radiate anti-clockwise from Dublin), with those in the range N12-N26 being cross-country roads. N27-N31 are much shorter roads than the majority of the network, they link major pieces of infrastructure (such as ports and airports) to the network, while N32 and N33 are feeder routes to major motorways (the M50 and M1 respectively). National secondary roads (see next section) are numbered under the same scheme with higher numbers (from N51 on). On road signage, destinations served but not on the route in question are listed in brackets, with the connecting route also listed (see thumbnail). Directional road signs on national primary roads are usually in white text on a green background, with the road number in yellow. Signs for roads of different standard are shown using appropiately coloured patches according to a system derived from the UK's Guildford Rules.
Most national primary roads are of at least wide two lane standard, with sections within Greater Dublin and near the regional cities typically being at least dual-carriageway standard. There are however some narrow two-lane sections remaining.
Northern Ireland route sections (which are classified separately according to NI schemes) are in some cases included in a theoretical complete cross-border route – for example the N3 route, which re-enters the Republic. These are listed here in brackets for completeness (and are present on southern road signage).
Sections of some national primary roads form part of the European route (E-route) network. Sections of the N25, N11/M11, M50 and N1/M1 roads form the Republic of Ireland part of route E-1 (or E-01); sections of the the N7/M7, N18 and the N19 form part of route E-20; the N8/M8 forms route E-201 and sections of the N25 form part of route E-30. E-route numbers have recently been placed on some route confirmation signs on newer sections of some of these roads.
History
From the early 1920s through to 1977, Irish roads had been numbered under a system of trunk roads and link roads (see Roads in Ireland for details). The introduction of a National Route Numbering System had been discussed since the early 1970s. Legislation to allow its introduction was passed in 1974, the Local Government (Roads and Motorways) Act 1974 [1], which introduced the concepts of motorways and national roads into Irish law. The routes of the original 25 national primary roads were defined via Statutory Instrument (the Local Government (Roads and Motorways) Act, 1974 (Declaration of National Roads) Order, 1977 [2]) in 1977 and the new numbers began to appear on road signs shortly thereafter, with the N4 road and N6 road the first to be signed. The first motorway, the M7 Naas bypass, opened in 1983.
Since the introduction of the National Route numbering system, the system has remained relatively unchanged in its overall design, although as new bypasses open the various routes themselves have undergone changes. The legislative basis for the system changed in 1993 with the Roads Act 1993 [3]. This act introduced a major change in that a new body, the National Roads Authority, was set up to manage the national road network. It also made motorways integral parts of national routes (previously they had been a separate classification) and introduced the new classifications of regional road and local road. In 1994 six new national primary roads (N26-N31) were introduced and some minor changes made to other parts of the system (for example, the N5 was extended to Westport where it had previously terminated at Castlebar). Three former national secondary routes were reclassified: the N57 became the N26, the N64 became part of the N18 and the N79 became the N30.
The N32 road, which had been constructed from new as an extension of the M50 Northern Cross Route project became part of the system in 1996. The N33 also became part of the system in the late 1990s, although it was only defined in the current definition of the state's national roads, the Roads Act 1993 (Classification of National Roads) Order 2006. To date it remains the newest national primary road. Route numbers 34 to 49 remain unallocated.
Motorways and High Quality Dual Carraigeways
Main articles: Motorway and High Quality Dual Carriageway
Under the National Development Plan, the major national primary roads - the N1 to the Border, N6 (along with that section of the N4 leading to it) to Galway, N7 to Limerick, N8 to Cork, and N9 to Waterford are being upgraded to motorway or high-quality dual-carriageway standard. These roads have at least two lanes in each direction, an unbroken central median, and access only at special interchanges. In addition motorways have a set of regulations limiting access to certain types of motor vehicle traffic and other special rules. Upgrades to the specified roads are intended to be completed by 2010. In addition, a brand new national primary road - the M50 - has been built around Dublin. Where a section of national primary road is designated a motorway, signage is white-on-blue instead of white-on-green, in addition, the prefix "N" is dropped, and replaced with "M" instead on road signs. A high quality dual carriageway may be redesignated a motorway by means of an order under the Roads Act 2007.
In addition to the major inter-urbans, the N11, N17, N18, N20, N21, and N25 - all of which form links between regional cities or other strategic links - will have major sections of good standard dual carriageway (in the N18's case, the entire route is planned to be dual carriageway), with some sections of motorway also possible. Current plans are to substantially replace the existing N20 with a motorway (the M20). [4]
List of National Primary Roads
This list of national primary roads, and their descriptions, is based on the Roads Act 1993 (Classification of National Roads) Order 2006 [5]. The road lengths are from "National Route Lengths as of 31/12/2007" published by the NRA [6] and are accurate to the end of 2007. Most lengths have been rounded to the nearest kilometre.
