A4 road (Northern Ireland)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The A4 is a major road in Northern Ireland which forms the route from Portadown to Sligo in the Republic of Ireland.

The road is mostly a single carriageway and goes through a number of main towns. Part of the A4's route from Portadown to Dungannon was upgraded to motorway when the M1 motorway was built.

Contents 1 Route 2 Future plans 3 Tourist attractions 4 Road quality 5 References

[edit] Route

The road begins in the town of Portadown, heading west for a few miles before joining the M1.^[specify] This section of the M1 was upgraded from the original concrete road that followed this route and is still colloquially known in Dungannon as 'The Portadown Road' (see M1 article). At Dungannon the motorway ends and becomes a mile of dual carriageway and then single carriageway the rest of its length. The road carries on past Granville, Ballygawley, through the Clogher Valley, Enniskillen and Belcoo to join the N16 at the border with the Republic of Ireland. The N16 extends to Sligo.

[edit] Future plans

Plans exist to upgrade the A4 from Dungannon to Ballygawley (approximately 12½ miles/20 km) to a dual carriageway standard. The A4 flows directly from the western terminus of the M1. The new dual carriageway would be of a high standard and would include a central reservation safety barrier, a hard shoulder and also six grade separated junctions.^[1] Work is due to commence on site in late 2007.^[specify]

[edit] Tourist attractions

There are a number of tourist attractions on or close to the A4. These include:

• The Linen Green, Dungannon

• Clogher Valley

• Marble Arch Caves

[edit] Road quality

The road is generally of good quality with a number of planned improvements including dualling of the Dungannon–Ballygawley section and a bypass of the Clogher Valley. The construction of climber lanes on the Dungannon–Ballygawley in the late 1990s reduced the number of accidents on what had been a very dangerous stretch of road.

[edit] References

	Roads and Motorways in Northern Ireland
Motorways: M1 | M2 | M3 | M5 | M12 | M22 | A8(M)
Main 'A' Roads: A1 | A2 | A4 | A5 | A7 | A20 | A24 | A36
Belfast: Donegall Square | Donegall Road | Falls Road | Malone Road | Shankill Road | Westlink