The National Roads Authority (NRA) (Irish: An tÚdarás urn Bóithre Náisiúnta) is a state body in the Republic of Ireland, responsible for the national road network. The NRA was established as part of the Roads Act 1993[1] and commenced operations on 23 December 1993 in accordance with S.I. 407 of 1993.
County councils remain responsible for local and regional roads, as well as various tasks like setting speed limits. The NRA, meanwhile, is responsible for the planning, maintenance and construction of National Primary Routes and National Secondary Routes as well as establishing safety measures. Ireland's national road network consists of 2,739 km (1,702 mi) of National Primary Routes and 2,676 km (1,663 mi) of National Secondary Routes.[2]
The body also plays an environmental and archaeological role as part of the road building programme, publishing an archaeology magazine, seanda, since 2006. Since 2007 it has managed the eToll toll payment interoperability system operated by Egis Projects.
The NRA is headed by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who reports to the NRA's board which in turn reports to the Minister for Transport. There are four departmental heads who report to the CEO: the Head of Finance and Administration, the Head of Engineering Operations, the Head of PPP (Public Private Partnerships), Strategic Planning and Commercial Operations and the Head of Corporate Affairs and Professional Services.[3]
At present, the NRA is mainly concerned with the extensive expansion of Ireland's motorway network under the National Development Plan (NDP). The Transport 21 element of the NDP involves improvements to Ireland's transport networks including its roads. The NRA is responsible for making major improvements to key roads, especially the Major Inter-Urban Routes.[4] These routes are the N1/M1 (Dublin - north of Dundalk), the N4/M4/N6/M6 (Dublin - Kinnegad-Galway), the N7/M7 (Dublin-Limerick), the N8/M8 (Portlaoise-Cork) and the N9/M9 (near Naas-Waterford).
Major improvements are also being made to many other national primary and national secondary routes, most notably the Atlantic Corridor routes (N15, N17, N18, N20, N24, N25) and the N11/M11 (Dublin - Wexford).
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