N18 (Republic of Ireland)

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N 18

Bóthar N18 (Irish)
Route information
Part of E-20 euroroute IE.png
Length98.47 km (61.19 mi)
Location
CountryRepublic of Ireland
Primary
destinations
(bypassed routes in italics)
Highway system

The N18 is a national primary road in Ireland, connecting the cities of Limerick and Galway. Ennis and Gort are two major towns on the route, and Shannon Airport is reached via the connecting N19. The west coast route continues on to Sligo as the N17. The section from Limerick to the N19 junction forms part of European route E20, and the entire route is part of the proposed Atlantic Corridor.[1] The section of motorway from Shannon to Claregalway is designated the M18. The tolled Limerick Tunnel forms part of the route.

Route

Looking South from the Ennis junction flyover. This section of HQDC has been redesignated as motorway, effective 28/8/09.

N18 Limerick to Shannon

As of 27 July 2010, the N18 commences at the Rosbrien interchange, a major interchange south of Limerick city, where it joins the M7 to Dublin and M20 towards Cork and Tralee. The dual carriageway continues north, intersecting with the N69, before crossing under the River Shannon using the Limerick Tunnel, this section of the route forms phase II of the Limerick Southern Ring Road and is tolled between junctions 2-4. North of the River Shannon the N18 continues as dual-carriageway bypassing Cratloe, Sixmilebridge and Bunratty. The road passed alongside Bunratty Castle before the completion of the neighbouring dual-carriageway section in the late 1980s/early 1990s. The other nearby junctions were also converted to fly-overs in the 1990s.

Travelling Southbound on the N18 near the Shannon Town/Airport exit.

The road continues north with junctions at Hurler's Cross and Shannon Town, there is a fly-over connecting Shannon Airport via the N19 dual-carriageway.

M18 Shannon to Gort

The N18 continues north of the N19 junction where motorway regulations are enforced and the N18 route is designated as the M18 bypassing the towns of Newmarket-on-Fergus, Ennis and Gort. The motorway currently ends at Gort where the route continues as a single carriageway through County Galway. The dual-carriageway between Shannon and Ennis (including the Ennis bypass) was included in the second tranche of motorway redesignations and gained motorway status on 28 August 2009.[2]

M18 Gort to Claregalway

The Gort to Tuam (M18/M17) scheme consists of 53.2 km (33.1 mi) of motorway and 4.2 km (2.6 mi) of Type 2 dual-carriageway. DirectRoute (Tuam) Ltd., a consortium consisting of Marguerite Fund, InfraRed Capital Partners, Sisk Group, Lagan Construction Group, Roadbridge and Strabag[3] began construction of the scheme in 2015 and was officially opened on 27 September 2017.

It completed the existing M18, bypassing the towns of Kilcolgan and Oranmore. The route then continues north to the M6 Dublin–Galway motorway, forming interchange junction 19 on the M6. It then continues northwards bypassing Claregalway. The M18 had terminated at a temporary junction near Gort. In addition, a new section of the N17 was constructed as motorway. This motorway begins at a new junction with the M6 near Athenry, and ends with a dual-carriageway bypass of Tuam, which was also constructed as part of the scheme but was not designated a motorway. The N17 then continues into County Mayo towards Sligo.

History

Gort-Crusheen under construction (June 2009): The grade separated junction at Gort.

Major improvements to the N18 route were made in the 2000s and 2010s. Originally the route was a narrow single carriageway route that ran through all the main towns and villages between Limerick and Claregalway where the route terminates. The first improvements involved the dualling of the Limerick, Bunratty and Shannon route. The Newmarket-on-Fergus bypass opened in December 2002 and the Ennis bypass opened in 2007. Both were redesignated as motorway in August 2009. The Limerick Tunnel and phase II of the Limerick Southern Ring Road opened in July 2010 forming a continuous motorway dual-carriageway from the N/M18 to the M7 and M20 outside Limerick. On 12 November 2010 the €207 million Gort to Crusheen (M18) bypass was opened. The remaining single carriageway sections from Gort to Claregalway have been upgraded to motorway standard and were officially opened on 27 September 2017.

Junctions

IRL N18.svg
(Junctions numbered south to north)
Northbound exit Junction Southbound exit
Dual carriageway continues from M7 (Motorway Exit 30 Ireland.PNG)
(M7 Motorway Exit 30 Ireland.PNG) Rossbrien, Cork (M20 Motorway Exit 1 Ireland.png)
Motorway Exit 1 Ireland.png
Rossbrien, Limerick (city centre) (R509), Cork (M20 Motorway Exit 1 Ireland.png)
Dock Road (N69)
Motorway Exit 2 Ireland.png
Dock Road (N69)
Shannon Tunnel
Coonagh West Ireland Road Toll Symbol.png
Motorway Exit 3 Ireland.PNG
Ireland Road Toll Symbol.png
Ennis Road (former N18)
Motorway Exit 4 Ireland.PNG
Ennis Road (former N18)
Cratloe, Sixmilebridge (R462)
Motorway Exit 5 Ireland.PNG
Cratloe, (Sixmilebridge) (R462)
Bunratty
Motorway Exit 6 Ireland.PNG
Bunratty
Hurler's Cross, Shannon Town, (Sixmilebridge) (R471)
Motorway Exit 7 Ireland.PNG
Hurler's Cross, Sixmilebridge, Shannon Town (R471)
Shannon Town Centre (R471)
Motorway Exit 8 Ireland.PNG
no access
M18 reduced motorway IE.png
Northbound exit Junction Southbound exit
Shannon (N19)
Motorway Exit 9 Ireland.PNG
Shannon (N19)
Newmarket-on-Fergus (R472)
Motorway Exit 10 Ireland.PNG
Newmarket-on-Fergus (R472)
Clarecastle (R458)
Motorway Exit 11 Ireland.PNG
Clarecastle (R458)
Ennis (N85)
Motorway Exit 12 Ireland.PNG
Ennis (N85)
Ennis, Scarriff, Tulla (R352)
Motorway Exit 13 Ireland.PNG
Ennis, Scarriff, Tulla (R352)
Ennis (R458)
Motorway Exit 14 Ireland.PNG
Ennis (R458)
Crusheen (R458)
Motorway Exit 15 Ireland.PNG
Crusheen (R458)
Gort (R458)
Motorway Exit 16 Ireland.PNG
Gort (R458)
Kiltiernan
Motorway Exit 17 Ireland.PNG
Kiltiernan
Galway, Athlone, Dublin (M6 Motorway Exit 19 Ireland.PNG)
Motorway Exit 18 Ireland.PNG
Galway, Athlone, Dublin (M6 Motorway Exit 19 Ireland.PNG)
Motorway continues as M17

See also

References

  1. ^ Atlantic Corridor Archived 2008-12-16 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-15. Retrieved 2009-08-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ "Gort to Tuam Motorway". DirectRoute. Archived from the original on 21 February 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.

External links