| M1 motorway | |
|---|---|
| Route information | |
| Part of E01 and E18 | |
| Length: | 38.0 mi (61.2 km) |
| Existed: | 1962 – present |
| History: | Constructed 1962–1968 |
| Major junctions | |
| From: | Belfast |
J12 → M12 Motorway |
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| To: | Dungannon |
| Location | |
| Primary destinations: |
Lisburn, Lurgan, Craigavon, Portadown, Dungannon |
| Road network | |
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Roads in the United Kingdom |
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The M1 is a motorway in Northern Ireland. It is the longest motorway in Northern Ireland and runs for 38 miles (61 km) from Belfast to Dungannon through County Down and County Armagh. It forms part of the route via the A1 in Northern Ireland (N1/M1 in the Republic of Ireland) between Belfast and Dublin as well as being a part of the unsigned European E01 and E18 routes.
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The road begins at the Broadway roundabout to the west of Windsor Park and running parallel to the Blackstaff River. Heading south as a dual three–lane motorway, it passes to the east of Casement Park before crossing the Belfast-to-Newry railway line. Running through Dunmurry and Ballyskeagh it arrives to the south of Lisburn. Traffic for Dublin leaves at junctions 7 and 8 as the motorway enters the countryside. Now heading west past Aghnatrisk it runs parallel to and then crosses the Belfast-to-Newry railway line followed by the River Lagan before reaching Moira. Continuing west, it passes between Killaghy and Tullydagan and to the north of Lurgan and Turmoyra, across the Pound River, south of Lough Neagh, before its junction with the M12. Crossing the River Bann it then enters a relatively unpopulated area. It passes south of Derryadd Lough and runs in a loop around the Annagarriff Nature Reserve before crossing the River Blackwater, skirting to the north of Tamnamore and Laghey Corner before ending at Dungannon on the A4.
The line of the M1 in Belfast had been planned for a road since 1946 as the Southern Approach Road, though there were some disagreements on the route.[1] County planners in Armagh had also been working on plans to rebuild the then T3 trunk road which suffered from poor alignments, limited speed limits and was of failing construction, some work on which had been undertaken between 1955 and 1957.[1] These two plans were eventually upgraded into plans for the M1 by 1958. Construction began 1957 on the first bridge and subsequently the first section of the motorway.[1] In 1964, the Northern Ireland Government announced plans for an extensive route of motorways which saw the M1 now planned to go to Dungannon.[2] The M1 is the only motorway in Northern Ireland completed to its full planned length
The road was constructed in stages between 1962 and 1968:[3] Prior to the opening the RUC traffic division ran a publicity campaign to educate drivers on how to drive on a motorway.[1] At the end of 1965 UK Transport Minister Tom Fraser and his successor Barbara Castle imposed a blanket 70 mph (113 km/h) speed limit on motorways in Great Britain, but the recently constructed Northern Ireland M1 remained free of a blanket speed limit for several years.[4]
Several junctions were omitted from the original construction, as these were for future planned motorways, some of these have now been used for other road plans:
The M1 in Belfast has high traffic flows at peak times and suffers from congestion. To relieve this work commenced early in 2006 to replace the roundabout at junction 1 with a fully grade separated junction through which the M1 will flow directly onto the A12 Westlink dual-carriageway.[5] As part of the scheme, the M1 was widened from two to three lanes in each direction between Junctions 1 and 2 along with part of the Westlink.
Work was also carried out on the A4 which begins at the terminus of the M1 between Dungannon to Ballygawley (approximately 12.5 miles (20.1 km)) was upgraded to dual carriageway standard,[6] opening in November 2010.
In 2006, the government announced plans for a £45m flyover link directly to and from the A1 and M1 eastbound. If the scheme is approved after the consultation ends in 2006, construction was initially estimated to take place between 2010 and 2015.[7] As of December 2010, the scheme had a projected 2018 completion year.[8]
The M1 is straight and flat on the 6-mile (9.7 km) stretch between Junctions 9 and 10 and on the 4-mile (6.4 km) stretch between Junctions 12 and 13, and an urban myth exists claiming that these were to be used as supplementary runways by the United States Air Force in the event of a major conflict with the Soviet Union.[9]
| M1 motorway | ||
| Eastbound exits | Junction | Westbound exits |
| End of motorway City Centre, Docks (A12) Donegall Road, Broadway, Glenmachan Street |
1 | Start of motorway |
| Newtownards, Bangor (A55 Belfast Outer Ring Road) |
2 | Balmoral, Andersonstown (A55 Belfast Outer Ring Road) |
| No access | 3 | Finaghy, Dunmurry, Lisburn North (A1) |
| Lisburn City Centre, Ballynahinch, Saintfield (A49) | 6 | Lisburn City Centre, Ballynahinch (A49) |
| No access | 7 | Sprucefield, Lisburn South (A1) |
| Sprucefield, Lisburn South, Hillsborough (A101) | 8 | Dublin, Drogheda, Dundalk, Newry Banbridge, Hillborough (A101) |
| Moira (A3, A26) | 9 | Belfast International Airport, Antrim (A3, A26) |
| Craigavon, Lurgan (A76, B76) | 10 | Craigavon, Lurgan (A76, B76) |
| Craigavon, Lurgan, Portadown (M12) | 11 | Craigavon, Armagh, Portadown, Monaghan (M12) |
| Craigavon, Portadown (A4, B196) | 12 | Maghery, Bannfoot (A4, B196) |
| Ardress, Loughall (B131) | 13 | Ardress, Loughall (B131) |
| Coalisland (A45) | 14 | Coalisland (A45) |
| Start of motorway'’ | 15 | End of motorway Enniskillen, Sligo, Omagh (A4) Dungannon, Armagh, Cookstown, Donaghmore (A29) |
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