National secondary road

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The N59 on the shore of Kylemore Lough in County Galway

A national secondary road (Irish: Bóthar Náisiúnta den Dara Grád) is a category of road in Ireland. These roads form an important part of the national route network but are secondary to the main arterial routes which are classified as national primary roads. National secondary roads are designated with route numbers higher than those used for primary roads, but with the same "N" prefix. Routes N51 and higher are all national secondary roads.

National secondary roads have a default speed limit of 100km/h, they fall into the speed limit category of national roads.

There are 2657 km of national secondary roads in Ireland, making up slightly over 50% of the entire national route (national primary and national secondary) network.[1] National secondary routes are generally more poorly maintained than primary routes (although their quality can vary widely), but often carry more traffic than regional roads. Almost the entire network of national secondary roads is single carriageway, although there are some short sections of dual carriageway on the Tallaght bypass section of the N81, on the N52 at Dundalk, on the N85 at Ennis, on the N62 at Athlone, on both the N69 and N70 at Tralee and on the N71 between Cork and Bandon. Typically, national secondary roads are of a similar standard or higher than regional roads although some are of lower quality than the better sections of regional roads. Many of them have been resurfaced with higher quality pavements in recent years with relatively smooth surfaces and good road markings and signposting. However, road widths and alignments are often inadequate, with many narrow and winding sections.

In the past, most national secondary roads would have run through the centres of the towns on their routes; however, recently, that is less often the case. For example:

The former N8 bypass of Mitchelstown was re-classified as the N73 when the Fermoy (Moorepark) to Kilbehenny section of the M8 was completed.

Most national secondary roads were originally Trunk Roads under the old system of road classification in Ireland, although some sections of national secondary routes were formerly Link Roads. Many less important Trunk Roads became regional roads when the road classification system changed from 1977 onward, including some roads, such as the N72 between Killarney and Killorglin, the N86 and the N87, which were originally re-classified as regional roads but later re-classified again as national secondary routes. In 1994, three national secondary roads were reclassified as national primary roads: the N57 between Swinford and Ballina became the N26, the N64 between Oranmore and Claregalway became part of the N18 and the N79 between New Ross and Enniscorthy became the N30. In addition, a section of the N60 between Castlebar and Westport became part of the N5.

Some national secondary roads, though not arterial routes between major cities, connect scenic areas to major population centres. For example, the N59 through County Galway and County Mayo, the N70 through County Kerry (see Ring of Kerry) and the N71 through West Cork. For this reason, many national secondary roads are well-travelled by tourists.

List of national secondary roads

Number Length (mi) Length (km) Southern or western terminus Northern or eastern terminus Formed Removed Notes
N 51 52.994 32.929 Drogheda Delvin via Slane, Navan, Athboy
N 52 177.694 110.414 Ardee Nenagh via Kells, Delvin, Mullingar, Durrow, Tullamore, Birr, Borrisokane
N 53 18.122 11.260 Dundalk Castleblayney a short section of the road becomes the A37 where it runs through County Armagh
N 54 34.626 21.516 Monaghan Cavan two short sections of the road becomes the A3 where it runs through County Fermanagh
N 55 78.815 48.973 Cavan Athlone via Granard and Edgeworthstown
N 56 157.304 97.744 Donegal Letterkenny via Killybegs, Glenties, Dungloe, Gweedore and Dunfanaghy
N 57 Swinford Ballina 01994-01-011994 upgraded to a primary route as the N26
N 58 11.259 6.996 Foxford (N26) N5
N 59 298.795 185.663 N4 near Sligo Galway via Ballina, Bangor Erris, Rosturk, Westport, Clifden, Oughterard and Moycullen
N 60 92.217 57.301 Castlebar Roscommon via Claremorris, Ballyhaunis, Castlerea and Ballymoe
N 61 74.193 46.101 Athlone Boyle via Knockcroghery, Roscommon and Tulsk
N 62 96.625 60.040 M6 near Athlone Horse and Jockey (M8) via Ferbane, Cloghan, Birr, Roscrea, Templemore and Thurles
N 63 96.393 59.896 Galway Longford via Claregalway, Lackagh, Turloughmore, Abbeyknockmoy, Moylough, Mountbellew, Newbridge, Ballygar, Mount Talbot, Athleague, Roscommon and Lanesborough-Ballyleague
N 64 Oranmore Claregalway 01994-01-011994 upgraded to primary route status as the N18, but after the M18/M17 route was completed to Tuam in 2017, it was downgraded to the R381.
N 65 52.517 32.633 M6 north of Loughrea N52 at Borrisokane crossing the River Shannon at Portumna
N 66 Gort Loughrea 02017-01-012017 downgraded to the R380 in 2017 after the M18 was extended to the M6.
N 67 129.172 80.264 Galway Tarbert (N69) via Kinvara, Ballyvaughan, Lisdoonvarna, Ennistymon, Kilkee and Kilrush. Ferry between Killimer and Tarbert
N 68 40.569 25.208 Kilrush Ennis
N 69 97.476 60.569 Limerick Tralee via Mungret, Clarina, Kildimo, Foynes, Tarbert and Listowel
N 70 141.691 88.043 Kenmare Tralee via Sneem, Castlecove, Caherdaniel, Waterville, Cahersiveen, Killorglin, Milltown and Castlemaine. Comprises most of the Ring of Kerry between Kenmare and Killorglin.
N 71 187.270 116.364 Cork Killarney via Innishannon, Bandon, Ballinascarty, Clonakilty, RosscarberyLeap, Skibbereen, Bantry, Ballylickey, Glengarriff, Kenmare and Muckross. Part of Ring of Kerry between Kenmare and Killarney
N 72 165.923 103.100 Killorglin Dungarvan via Killarney, Rathmore, Mallow, Fermoy and Lismore. Part of Ring of Kerry between Killorglin and Killarney.
N 73 34.296 21.311 Mitchelstown N72 east of Mallow
N 74 19.915 12.375 Cashel Tipperary via Golden, Kilfeakle
N 75 7.552 4.693 Thurles M8 near Two-Mile Borris
N 76 43.686 27.145 Kilkenny N24 east of Clonmel Ballymack, Callan and Ninemilehouse
N 77 48.742 30.287 Kilkenny Portlaoise via Ballyragget
N 78 50.671 31.485 N77 M9 near Ballitore via Castlecomer and Athy
N 79 Enniscorthy New Ross 01994-01-011994 upgraded to a primary route as the N30
N 80 114.683 71.261 N52 near Tullamore N11 near Enniscorthy via Mountmellick, Portlaoise, Stradbally, Carlow, Tinryland, Kildavin and Bunclody
N 81 76.784 47.711 M50 at Templeogue N80 just east of Ballon via Tallaght Bypass, Baltinglass and Tullow
N 82 N7 southwest of Dublin N81 southwest of Dublin 02012-01-012012
N 83 45.222 28.100 Tuam N17 south of Charlestown via Dunmore, Cloonfad, Ballyhaunis and Tooreen
N 84 73.545 45.699 Galway Castlebar via Cloonboo, Headford, Shrule, Kilmaine and Ballinrobe
N 85 31.858 19.796 Ennis Ennistymon
N 86 50.235 31.215 Tralee Dingle via Annascaul and Lispole
N 87 28.136 17.483 Belturbet border near Swanlinbar via Ballyconnell. Becomes A32 at border

Gallery

See also

References

  1. ^ [1] Archived 2016-08-07 at the Wayback Machine TII: National Route Lengths 2013