M11 (Republic of Ireland)
M11 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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From: | Killiney (O249228) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
To: | Enniscorthy (T100548) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distance: | 64 km (39.8 miles) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Meets: | N11, M50, N30 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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For Northern Ireland's M11, see M11 (Northern Ireland).
For the British M11, see M11.
The M11 is a motorway upgrade to the N11 along the Irish eastern coast, running south from Dublin.
History
The motorway stems from a 1965 proposal for two motorways: the South Coast Motorway and South Eastern Motorway. Although these would have been built under separate contracts, they were effectively the same road, carrying commuter traffic from central Dublin to northern Co. Wicklow. The most controversial aspect of this was the plan to run the motorway as it ran along the seafront at Sandymount Strand, in what would have been a "linear park" running through the nature reserve.
Consideration was given to spurs to Milltown from Goatstown, and to Dalkey from Booterstown. The Dalkey route was protected for some time.
Despite the central section being considered the most important, in 1992 the South Coast Motorway was cancelled. The motorway would instead start at Mount Merrion.
Work soon started on the road between Bray and Sandyford, under the title "Southern Section", implying that it would be complemented by a second half of the route running to Mount Merrion. The junction numbering implied that Mount Merrion would be J1. However that part was never built, and the Southern Section opened as the M50 instead.
In 2000 the prospect of an 'Eastern Bypass' for Dublin was brought back on the cards, but this time the seafront section would "almost certainly" be in a tunnel, with a very similar route. A projected opening date of 2009 was given, but by 2009 it was still a "medium to long term objective". Given the modern numbering system, any such route would likely be numbered M50, and the proposal is called the M50 locally.
The Shankill/Bray bypass runs for 6 km from south Dublin, including the junction with the M50. This was also considered high priority in the 1960s, and included a short section up to Loughlinstown that was designed to become a spur. South of here the route continues as 18 km of D2AP, with a second, much longer section of motorway resuming after. This newer offline upgrade bypasses Arklow and Gorey. The section between Rathnew and Arklow was completed on 13 July 2015.
A further extension to bypass Enniscorthy was constructed between the middle of 2016 was opened on 17 July 2019. This is paired with an N30 bypass of Enniscorthy, various link roads and the N25 bypass of New Ross in a PPP scheme. The final section of M11, southeast of Enniscorthy, is a temporary motorway terminal planned to be replaced in a future upgrade.
Future
A further scheme is proposed to continue the motorway south, bypassing Wexford and linking with Rosslare. In 2021, a number of different routes were proposed. Several include tying into the existing Ferrycarig Bridge over the River Slaney and the west of Wexford Harbour, including one that bypasses Wexford completely to the west. This route is considered more politically important after the UK left the EU in 2021, as Rosslare Harbour forms part of a inner-EU route from Ireland to France.
Links
Irish Statute Book
- Roads Act 2007 (Declaration of Motorways) Order 2009 - This instrument converts the following sections of the N11 to motorway: Ashford to Rathnew, Arklow Bypass, Arklow to Gorey (also known as the N11 Gorey to Arklow Link)
- Roads Act 2007 (Declaration of Motorways) Order 2015 - This instrument converts the following sections of the N11 to motorway: Ashford to Rathnew, Arklow Bypass, Rathnew to Arklow
Enniscorthy bypass
You Tube
Mótarbhealaí
RTE
- €400m M11 motorway extension opens south of Gorey (18.07.2019)