N21 road
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The N21 road is a National Primary Route in Ireland, an 80km route from Limerick to Tralee with connecting roads to other parts of County Kerry.
The N21 route commences about 8km southwest of Limerick city, just beyond Patrickswell. At the junction, which is reached by the main N20 dual-carriageway, the N20 diverges south to Cork and the main dual-carriageway becomes the N21 west.
Prior to the 2001 opening a new dual-carriageway, traffic to Kerry left the city on the old N20 in a southwest direction on the Ballinacurra Road through Raheen and then went through Patrickswell to the beginning of the N21.
The new 11km N20/N21 dual-carriageway of 2001 begins as the N20 near the Roxboro Roundabout on Childers Road, travels south to link with the then-new southeastern Limerick ring road, bypasses Patrickswell, and continues, as the N21, almost to Adare. At this point the N21 becomes a standard two-lane road and flows through the main street of the scenic village. A by-pass of Adare is planned, as of 2006 this is expected to be completed in 2009 or 2010.
The N21 then runs by Croagh and Rathkeale, which was bypassed in 1990, before entering Newcastle West and filtering through the town. Further along the route the N21 passes through Templeglantine, before going through the major town of Abbeyfeale. A 33km Rathkeale/Abbeyfeale road scheme, with a bypass of Newcastle West and Abbeyfeale is at the planning stage as of 2006.
The road continues southwest, at the townland of Kilkinlea it crosses over the River Feale into County Kerry passing by Knocknagoshel and heading towards Castleisland. A new 7km roadway from Abbeyfeale to Knocknagoshel, bypassing the accident-prone Headleys-bridge near Knocknagoshel opened in July 2006. The remainder of the road to Castleisland was reworked in the 1980s. A 6km section north of Casleisland was overlayed and brought up to standard in 1999. A Castleisland bypass is expected to commence construction in 2007.
At Castleisland, the N21 heads west to Tralee. The short N23 road continues southwest to Farranfore, allowing traffic to continue south along the N22 to Killarney. A new 11km road from Castleisland to Ballycarty near Tralee was opened in early 2001. This was followed by a new 3km section into Tralee, opened in April 2005.
[edit] External links
| National primary roads of the Republic of Ireland |
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| N1(M1) - N2 - N3(M3) - N4(M4) - N5 - N6(M6) - N7(M7) - N8(M8) - N9(M9) - N10 - N11(M11) - N12 - N13 - N14 - N15 - N16 - N17 - N18 - N19 - N20 - N21 - N22 - N23 - N24 - N25 - N26 - N27 - N28 - N29 - N30 - N31 - N32 - N33 - M50 |
| Roads in Ireland - National secondary roads - Regional roads |
| See also: National Development Plan, National Roads Authority |
