The R449 west of Leixlip
The R583 leaving Millstreet

A regional road (Irish: bóthar réigiúnach) in the Republic of Ireland is a class of road not forming a major route (such as a national primary road or national secondary road), but nevertheless forming a link in the national route network. There are over 11,600 kilometres (7,200 miles) of regional roads.[1] Regional roads are numbered with three-digit route numbers, prefixed by "R" (e.g. R105). The equivalent road category in Northern Ireland are B roads.

History

Until 1977, classified roads in the Republic of Ireland were designated with one of two prefixes: "T" for Trunk Roads and "L" for Link Roads. The Local Government (Roads and Motorways) Act authorised the designation of roads as National roads: in 1977, twenty-five National Primary roads (N1-N25) and thirty-three National Secondary roads (N51-N83) were initially designated under Statutory Instrument S.I. No. 164/1977.

Many of the remaining classified roads became Regional roads (formally authorised under the Roads Act 1993, having been indicated as such on road signs on a non-statutory basis for some years previously) and their routes were designated under a Statutory Instrument ('SI') in 1994. The latest SI designating the routes of Regional roads was published in 2012: the Roads Act 1993 (Classification of Regional Roads) Order 2012.

Other roads once classified as Trunk or Link roads eventually became Local roads.

Older signs showing the former Trunk and Link road designations are still to be seen in some locations. The L (for Link Road) prefix on these signs is not connected to the network of Local roads currently in place.

Features

Unlike national roads, regional roads are maintained by local county or city councils rather than the National Roads Authority. The vast majority of the regional road network is made up of single-carriageway roads although some roads are dual-carriageway (see: High-capacity regional roads below). Until the late 1990s, such roads were often in a very poor condition, although increased road maintenance funding to local councils has resulted in more frequent resurfacing of regional roads, as well as relaying and realignment on some routes.

Regional roads are generally subject to a speed limit of 80 km/h (imperial equivalent 50 mph), rather than the 100 km/h (imperial equivalent 62.5 mph) for national roads. Prior to 20 January 2005, when Ireland adopted metric speed limits, national and regional roads had identical speed limits of 60 mph. Regional roads, however, pass through towns, villages and built-up areas frequently, so even lower local speed restrictions are often in place. However, certain regional roads, often sections of former national roads which have been bypassed by motorways or other road improvements, have speed limits of 100 km/h. The R132 (former N1) is an example of a Regional road with a 100 km/h speed limit.

The R348 near Woodlawn, County Galway, with a mixture of fingerpost and improved signposts
The R136 Outer Ring Road in southwest Dublin

As of 2009, directional signposting on some regional roads in Ireland remains poor, with even modern signage usually relying on fingerpost signposts located directly at junctions. However, work on improving signposting on regional roads has been continuing since 2003; routes which previously had the most deficient signposting were selected for upgrading first. In 2007, a total of "€7 million to continue progress on the regional roads signposting programme, which commenced in 2003" was granted to local authorities.[2]

High-capacity regional roads

There are some higher-capacity (i.e. not just single-carriageway) sections of regional road, most notably the R113 (Belgard Road) and R445 (Old Naas Road), R132 Swords Inner By-pass and R136 Dublin Outer Ring Road which have sections of dual carriageway.

In some cases, important high-capacity urban routes are built or designated as regional roads, such as the mostly dual-carriageway R710 Waterford Outer Ring Road, or the R774 Greystones to the N11 link, which is dual-carriageway for its full length.

In many other cases, upgraded regional roads (for example, wide two-lane roads) were previously part of a national primary road, prior to the construction of a motorway or other bypass. In most cases, when a national primary road is changed by the creation of a bypass (motorway or other), the road previously forming part of the route is reclassified as a regional road rather than as a local road.

Route definitions

The current routes of all regional roads in Ireland – as defined by Statutory Instrument (S.I.) No 54/2012 (Classification of Regional Roads) Order 2012 under the Roads Act 1993 – are listed below. The S.I. specifies the start and end points of each route and the names of those townlands, villages, towns, and other settlements through which the route passes, as well as individual road names where necessary to establish the exact routing.

R101–R199

R200–R299

R300–R399

R400–R499

R500–R599

R600–R699

R700–R774

R801–R899

R900–R941

  • West Street, Drogheda, County Louth
  • Main Street, Cavan
  • Bridge Street, Boyle, County Roscommon
  • Main Street, Carrick-on-Shannon, County Leitrim
  • Dunloe Street, Ballinasloe, County Galway
  • Link Road, Tipperary, County Tipperary
  • Main Street, Midleton, County Cork
  • The Front Strand, Youghal, County Cork
  • College Road, Kilkenny
  • Waterford Road, Kilkenny
  • Clogherane – Abbeyside, Dungarvan, County Waterford
  • Jordanstown – Paulstown, County Kilkenny
  • Mitchelstown Road – The Square, Caher, County Tipperary
  • Roscommon Road, Athlone, County Westmeath
  • Ballymahon Road, Athlone, County Westmeath
  • Waterhouse Road, Athlone, County Westmeath
  • Spencer Street, Castlebar, County Mayo
  • Little Bray – Fassaroe, Bray, County Wicklow
  • Killerisk Road, Tralee, County Kerry
  • Cloghore – Belleek Bridge, County Donegal
  • Merlin Park – Droughiska, Galway
  • Abbeyleix Road, Portlaoise, County Laois; became a portion of the N77 in February 2012.
  • Bishop Street, Tuam, County Galway (old N83), downgraded in October 2018.
  • Church Street, Carlow, County Carlow
  • Killybegs Road, Donegal, County Donegal
  • Dooradoyle, County Limerick
  • Main Street, Carrickmacross, County Monaghan
  • Pearse Street, Ballina, County Mayo
  • Main Street, Ballyhaunis, County Mayo
  • Shortcastle Street, Mallow, County Cork
  • Bridge Street, Skibbereen, County Cork
  • Golden Road, Cashel, County Tipperary
  • Castle Street and Haggard Street, Trim, County Meath
  • Castletown Road, Dundalk, County Louth
  • Bellananagh Road, Cavan
  • Allingham Road, Ballyshannon, County Donegal
  • Dublin Road, Monaghan
  • Dublin Road, Castleblaney, County Monaghan
  • Ramelton Road, Letterkenny, County Donegal
  • Kells, County Meath
  • Tuam, County Galway (old N17)
  • Wicklow Port Access Road, County Wicklow; number may be a mistake as is normally used as a placeholder on sample road signs.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Roads Ireland, '€17 billion for roads', issue 4, 48.
  2. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Roads Ireland, 'Local roads get €600 million', issue 4, 55–57.

Sources

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