N4 road (Ireland)

The N4 road is a national primary road in Ireland, running from Dublin to the northwest of Ireland and Sligo town. The M6 to Galway diverges from this route after Kinnegad, while the N5 to Westport diverges at Longford town. The section of the N4 that is motorway-standard is designated the M4 motorway.

N4 road
Route information
Length198.21 km (123.16 mi)
Location
Primary
destinations		(bypassed routes in italics)
Road network

M4 motorway
Route information
Part of
Length62 km (39 mi)
Existed1994–present
HistoryCompleted 1994–2006
Major junctions
FromLucan
 
ToKinnegad
Location
Primary
destinations		Leixlip, Kilcock, Enfield
Road network
The 2+2 section of the N4.

Road standard

The N4 originates at an intersection with the M50 motorway at Junction 7. This is also Junction 1 of the N/M4. The Liffey Valley Shopping Centre is located at Junction 2. The road has three lanes and a bus lane in each direction between the M50 and start of the M4 at Leixlip.

The N4 was the only one of the main inter-urban national routes whose dual-carriageway section continued into the city centre; however, the section inside the M50 was re-classified as the R148 in 2012.[1]

Heading west, the PPP motorway section (see below) ends west of Kinnegad, and the motorway terminates 5 km further west; it continues as HQDC and bypasses Mullingar. From the Mullingar bypass to Edgeworthstown, the road is wide single carriageway with hard shoulders. Between Edgeworthstown and Longford, there is a lower standard single carriageway road. Between Longford and Rooskey single carriageway continues at a higher standard. Dromod and Rooskey were bypassed in late 2007. This section of road consists of three roundabouts and Type 2 dual carriageway, i.e.: two lanes in each direction and no hard shoulder. The road resumes as a single carriageway with hard shoulders until it reaches Carrick-on-Shannon, where it becomes a local urban road through five roundabouts, and passing over the River Shannon into County Roscommon. The road becomes high-quality single carriageway bypass 3 km outside of Boyle town, with periodic alternating overtaking lanes passing Lough Key Forest Park and Ballinafad until it reaches Castlebaldwin. From Castlebaldwin to the Collooney dual carriageway the road is a single narrow carriageway with intermittent hard shoulders and several dangerous bends. Funding for the expansion of this section was announced in October 2018.[2] The road becomes near-motorway standard dual carriageway again at Collooney, approaching Sligo town.

M4 motorway

The section from Leixlip to west of Kinnegad is the M4 motorway. The first section of this motorway (Leixlip - Kilcock) was opened on 19 December 1994.

Tolled section of the M4 motorway

Under the Government announcement of the pilot projects on 1 June 1999 this project was to be assessed by the NRA for its suitability to be advanced as a Public-private partnership (PPP). Subsequently the project was included as one of the projects approved under Tranche II of the PPP Roads programme as announced by the NRA in June 2000. The project involved the construction of 39 km of motorway from Kinnegad to Kilcock and is an extension of the Kilcock-Maynooth-Leixlip motorway on the N4/N6 Sligo/Galway to Dublin route. The motorway by-passes the towns of Enfield and Kinnegad.

The PPP contract was awarded in March 2003 to the EuroLink Consortium (SIAC Construction Ltd and Cintra - Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte S.A.) and allows for them to collect tolls for 30 years from that date.

This tolled section (from Kilcock to Kinnegad) opened on 30 January 2006, and is the second-most expensive toll road in Ireland (after the Dublin Port Tunnel). A toll of €2.90 (as of 2013) for cars is charged at a toll plaza just west of Kilcock and at smaller toll plazas at on and off ramps at Enfield. Between Enfield and Kinnegad no further access to the M4 is possible.

Eurolink operate this toll scheme, the first in Ireland not operated by NTR plc. From 2005 to 2007, Eurolink started to accept several tags issued by other motorways such as M1, M8, eTrip and Dublin Port Tunnel tags. Finally on 14 June 2007 NTR plc joined the Nationwide Electronic Toll Payment System introducing their popular EazyPass tags on the system and allowing all other toll plazas in the country (different from those owned by NTR plc) to accept them,[3] meaning that each toll company's electronic tag will work on all toll roads in the State.

In the 1 July 2006 edition of the Meath Chronicle it was claimed that up to 10% of the €420 million road project had "to be ripped up and replaced" shortly after it opened due to rushed construction, however this cost would have had to be carried by the toll operators, not the state, as per the contract.

The bypassed former N4 road has been reclassified as the R148.

Junctions
Westbound exit Junction Eastbound exit
M50 motorway : Dublin Port, Bray and ALL OTHER ROUTES M50 M50 motorway : Dublin Port, Bray and ALL OTHER ROUTES M50
Liffey Valley Interchange: Fonthill, Liffey Valley R113 Liffey Valley Interchange: Fonthill, Liffey Valley R113
Ballydowd Interchange: Ballyowen, Lucan R136 Ballydowd Interchange: Ballyowen, Lucan R136
Newcastle Road Interchange: Lucan, Adamstown R120 Newcastle Road Interchange: Lucan, Adamstown R120
Dodsboro, Kew Park L1018 Dodsboro L1018
Leixlip Interchange: Celbridge, Leixlip R148 Leixlip Interchange: Leixlip (East), Celbridge (East) R148
Westbound exit Junction Eastbound exit
Leixlip West, Celbridge West R449 Leixlip West, Celbridge West R449
Maynooth, Naas R406 Maynooth, Naas R406
Clane, Kilcock R407 Clane, Kilcock, Trim R407
Enfield, Edenderry R402 Enfield, Edenderry R402
Enfield services Enfield services
Kinnegad R401 Kinnegad R401
Galway, Athlone (M6 ) No access
Kinnegad Kinnegad
McNead's Bridge McNead's Bridge
(in planning)
Westbound exit Junction Eastbound exit
The Downs R156 The Downs R156
Mullingar South, Tullamore N52 Mullingar South, Tullamore N52
Mullingar, Delvin N52 Mullingar, Delvin N52
Mullingar North, Castlepollard N52 Mullingar North, Castlepollard N52
Road continues as N4 for Mullingar, Longford, (N5), Sligo

Motorway reclassification

On 28 August 2009, the Department of Transport implemented the second round of proposed reclassifications of dual carriageways as motorways under the Roads Act 2007.[4] A short section of the N4 between Kinnegad (J12) and McNead's Bridge (J13) was affected by this. This extended the M4 westward by 6.8 km.

Bypasses
Travelling East along the upgraded Lucan Bypass in west Dublin.
The N4 at the conclusion of the Lucan Bypass.
  • Palmerstown – 1984
  • Lucan – 1988
  • Leixlip, Maynooth, Kilcock – 1994
  • Mullingar – 1994
  • Longford – 1995
  • Drumsna, Jamestown – 1997
  • Collooney, Ballisodare – January 1998
  • Boyle, Ballinafad – 1998-1999
  • Sligo (Partially) – September 2005
  • Enfield, Kinnegad – January 2006
  • Edgeworthstown – July 2006
  • Dromod, Roosky – December 2007

Upgrades
J11; M6/M4 junction (prior to redesignation of the N6 → M6).

In July 2009, an upgrade of the section between the M50 junction and the Leixlip interchange was completed. On this section the road is three lanes in each direction, the median crossings were removed and the junction with the R120 is a fully grade-separated junction. Private accesses and some left turns remain preventing the section from being designated a motorway. The speed limit is 80 km/h.[5] There are currently no signal-controlled junctions on the N/M4 between the M50 motorway and the Sligo throughpass.

In 2013, a 5km stretch of dual carriageway with at-grade crossover junctions between the M4 and the Mullingar bypass was upgraded to HQDC.

Planned improvements to the route
N4 between Kinnegad and Mullingar; former N4 (now R148) in left of picture. (This section was redesignated as motorway in August 2009)
  • Mullingar bypass to Longford; 40 km dual carriageway ; at constraints study stage[6]
  • Dromod to Carrick-on-Shannon; 11 km; at feasibility study stage[7]
  • Carrick-on-Shannon Bypass; 10 km; preliminary design stage[8]
  • Cortober to Castlebaldwin; 28 km retro upgrade of standard single carriageway road to 2+1 road; at constraints study stage[9]
  • Collooney to Castlebaldwin; 15 km greenfield 2+2 road; Under Construction 2019[10]
  • Sligo Western Relief Road; 8 km; at feasibility study stage[11]
  • The motorway-style dual carriageway of the N4, running from Collooney—15 km outside Sligo—to Summerhill in Sligo town is not expected to be re-classified as motorway in the near future.

See also

References
  1. Book (eISB), electronic Irish Statute. "electronic Irish Statute Book (eISB)". www.irishstatutebook.ie. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  2. "#Budget19 Live: The main points from today's budget". IrishExaminer.ie. 9 October 2018. Archived from the original on 9 October 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 18 November 2007. Retrieved 11 February 2008.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "S.I. No. 255/2009 - Roads Act 2007 (Declaration of Motorways) Order 2009". Irish Statute Book. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  5. "N4 Leixlip to M50 Junction".
  6. N4 Mullingar to Longford
  7. N4 Carrick on Shannon to Dromod
  8. N4 Carrick on Shannon Bypass
  9. N4 Cortober to Castlebaldwin
  10. "An Taoiseach and Minister Ross turn sod on N4 Collooney-Castlebaldwin Road and Western Distributor Road". Tii.ie. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  11. N4 Sligo Western Relief Road

Sources
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