N4 (Republic of Ireland)
N 4 | |
|---|---|
| Bóthar N4 (Irish) | |
| Route information | |
| Length | 198.21 km (123.16 mi) |
| Location | |
| Country | Republic of Ireland |
| Primary destinations | (bypassed routes in italics) |
| Highway system | |
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The N4 is a national primary road in Ireland, running from Dublin to the northwest of Ireland and Sligo town. The M6 to Galway diverges from this route after Kinnegad, while the N5 to Westport diverges at Longford town. Most sections of the N4 that are motorway-standard are designated the M4.
Road standard
The N4 originates at an intersection with the M50 at Junction 7. This is also Junction 1 of the N/M4. The Liffey Valley Shopping Centre is located at Junction 2. The road has three lanes and a bus lane in each direction between the M50 and Junction 5 which is also the start of the M4 at Leixlip.
The N4 was the only one of the main inter-urban national routes whose dual-carriageway section continued into the city centre; however, the section inside the M50 was re-classified as the R148 in 2012.[1]
Heading west, the PPP motorway section (see below) ends west of Kinnegad, and the motorway terminates 5 km further west; it continues as HQDC and bypasses Mullingar. From the Mullingar bypass to Edgeworthstown, the road is a wide single carriageway with hard shoulders. Between Edgeworthstown and Longford, there is a lower standard single carriageway road. Between Longford and Rooskey single carriageway continues at a higher standard. Dromod and Rooskey were bypassed in late 2007. This section of the road consists of three roundabouts and a Type 2 dual carriageway, i.e.: two lanes in each direction and no hard shoulder. The road resumes as a single carriageway with hard shoulders until it reaches Carrick-on-Shannon, where it becomes a local urban road through five roundabouts, and passing over the River Shannon into County Roscommon. The road becomes a high-quality single carriageway bypass 3 km outside of Boyle town, with periodic alternating overtaking lanes passing Lough Key Forest Park and Ballinafad until it reaches Castlebaldwin. From Castlebaldwin to Collooney the road is a Type 2 dual carriageway. Funding for the expansion of this section was announced in October 2018, and it opened in 2021. [2] The road becomes near-motorway standard dual carriageway again at Collooney, approaching Sligo town.
M4
The section from Leixlip to the west of Kinnegad is the M4 motorway. The first section of this motorway (Leixlip – Kilcock) was opened on 19 December 1994.
Junctions
 | This section contains a table that is missing kilometre posts for one or more junctions. |
The route begins as a dual carriageway at junction 7 of the M50, becoming a motorway after junction 5. It then becomes a dual carriageway after junction 13. After Mullingar, it becomes a regular national road.
| County | km | mi | Junction | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| County Dublin | ||||||
| 1 |  M 50 – Dublin Airport, Dublin Port, Dún Laoghaire
|
Continues as R148 towards Dublin city centre and Palmerstown. | ||||
| 2 |  R 113 ‒ Fonthill, Liffey Valley
|
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| 2a | Ballyowen Lane | Westbound exit only. Exit lane runs parallel to mainline, ending at slip road at junction 3. | ||||
| 3 |  R 136 – Ballyowen, Lucan
|
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| 4 |  R 120 – Lucan, Adamstown
|
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| 4a | L 1018 – Dodsboro, Kew Park | Only Dodsboro is signposted on eastbound approach. Exit lane runs parallel to mainline, ending at slip road at junction 5. | ||||
| 5 |  R 148 – Celbridge, Leixlip (westbound)
|
Heading eastbound, both destinations are followed by the (East) cardinal direction.
Continues as M4. | ||||
 M 4 Motorway
| ||||||
| County Westmeath | 13 | L 1025 ‒ Coralstown | LILO junction. Continues as M4 motorway. | |||
| 14 |  R 156 ‒ Killucan, The Downs
|
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| L 5720 | LILO junction. Westbound entrance and eastbound exit only. | |||||
| 15 |  N 52 ‒ Tullamore, Mullingar (East)
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| 16 | N 52 ‒ Dundalk, Mullingar (Centre)
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| 17 |  R 394 ‒ Castlepollard, Mullingar (West)
|
Mullingar Hospital
Continues as N4 regular national road. | ||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
| ||||||
Bypasses
- Palmerstown – 1984
- Lucan – 1988
- Leixlip, Maynooth, Kilcock – 1994
- Mullingar – 1994
- Longford – 1995
- Drumsna, Jamestown – 1997
- Collooney, Ballisodare – January 1998
- Boyle, Ballinafad – 1998–1999
- Sligo (partial) – September 2005
- Enfield, Kinnegad – December 2005[3]
- Edgeworthstown – June 2006
- Dromod, Roosky – December 2007
- Castlebaldwin – August 2021[4][5]
Upgrades
In July 2009, an upgrade of the section between the M50 junction and the Leixlip interchange was completed. In this section the road is three lanes in each direction, the median crossings were removed and the junction with the R120 is a fully grade-separated junction. Private accesses and some left turns remain which prevents the section from being designated a motorway. The speed limit is 80 km/h.[6] There are currently no signal-controlled junctions on the N/M4 between the M50 and the Sligo through-pass.
In 2013, a 5 km stretch of dual carriageway with at-grade crossover junctions between the M4 and the Mullingar bypass was upgraded to HQDC.
Construction of a 2+2 road at the 15 km stretch between Collooney and Castlebaldwin began in 2019 to improve road safety.[7] The road was opened on 18 October 2021.[4]
Planned improvements to the route
- Mullingar to Longford; 40 km dual carriageway, including bypass of Longford Town. As of November 2023, route corridor options have been presented, awaiting decision on preferred route corridor.[8]
- Dromod to Carrick-on-Shannon 21 km, including 10 km bypass of Carrick-on-Shannon. At planning stage, as of November 2023.[9]
See also
References
- ^ Book (eISB), electronic Irish Statute. "electronic Irish Statute Book (eISB)". www.irishstatutebook.ie. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
- ^ "#Budget19 Live: The main points from today's budget". IrishExaminer.ie. 9 October 2018. Archived from the original on 9 October 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
- ^ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedKilcock to Kinnegad - ^ a b Mannion, Teresa (18 October 2021). "Taoiseach opens €140m N4 in Sligo". RTÉ News. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
- ^ Gallagher, Emma (24 August 2021). "Bittersweet day as new N4 dual carriageway finally opens". The Sligo Champion.
- ^ "N4 Leixlip to M50 Junction".[permanent dead link]
- ^ "An Taoiseach and Minister Ross turn sod on N4 Collooney-Castlebaldwin Road and Western Distributor Road". Transport Infrastructure Ireland. 2019-02-22. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]