M1 (Republic of Ireland)
From Roader's Digest: The SABRE Wiki
| M1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| From: | Dublin (Baile Átha Cliath) (O177415) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| To: | Dundalk (Dún Dealgan) (J057122) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length: | 83 km (51.6 miles) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Meets: | M50, N33, N51, N52, N53, N1, R132 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Primary Destinations | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Drogheda • Dublin (City) • Dundalk • | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Route outline (key) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Contents |
Route
_2009_III.PNG)
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The M1 is part of the main route from Dublin to Belfast.
The road begins as a continuation of the M50. The M1 then heads north past Swords and Drogheda before meeting the N33 which takes traffic to Monaghan and Derry (via the N2 and A5). The road then bypasses Dundalk to the west and north, and then continues as the N1, a high quality dual carriageway, up to the border with Northern Ireland. The entire length of the motorway is part of the E01, and it is the second longest motorway in Ireland - the longest being the M8.
Junctions
1-Turnapin Interchange
The M1 begins here, meeting the M50 & R139 The junction was originally a standard roundabout junction with separate slips for M50 Clockwise to M1 North & M50 Anti-Clockwise. However, recently free-flow right-turn slips have been built, creating a directional-T between the M1 and M50.
2-Cloghran Interchange
The Cloghran Interchange is a standard roundabout junction linking M1 to the 1km M1 spur which terminates at the Airport Roundabout. Traffic travelling northbound on the M1 are directed straight onto the spur, bypassing the motorway.
11-Monasterboice Interchange
The Monasterboice Interchange is a unique interchange, containing elements of a free-flow junction, as well as a roundabout and several T-Junctions. Southbound traffic have the option of leaving the motorway and continuing south through Drogheda or turning back to Dunleer on the R132 (Old N1). Local traffic joining the motorway may only travel northbound. The unusual design partly reflects that it marked the temporary terminus of the first rural section of the M1, the Dunleer Bypass.
18-Ballymascanlan Interchange
The Ballymascanlan Interchange is a modified dumbell with 3 Roundabouts, and is where the M1, continues northwards towards Newry and Belfast as the N1, a High Quality Dual Carriageway. It links the R132, R172, L3079 & L7100.
History
1983
The first section of the motorway opens - a mere 1.5Km in length - from Whitehall, starting 300m north of Collins Avenue R103 to Coolock Lane R104, a short D2 section of the R104 built at the same time then linked back to the original N1. This section had a partial junction at Shantalla Road.
1985
A second 4.5km section from Coolock Lane to the entrance to Dublin airport opens.
1993
The first rural section of the M1, the Dunleer Bypass, opened on 12 October 1993. Originally proposed to open as S2, the was built as D2M and ran from Junction 11 (Monastraboice), via Junction 12 (Dunleer) to the location of Junction 13 where it continued at grade on to the R211, then designated the N1.
1998
The second major rural section of the M1, the Balbriggan Bypass, opened in October 1998. This ran from Junction 5, which was linked by a short D1 section to the existing N1 (now disused). The new section ran via Junction 6 to the location of the Junction 7 where the route continued at grade on to a D1 link road which joined the existing N1 at a GSJ south of Julianstown.
2001
An additional 17Km of the M1 was completed at a cost of IR£107m from the Dunleer Bypass to Dundalk, opening on 26 January 2001. This ran from a newly built Junction 13 to Junction 16 (Dundalk South), this was linked to the existing N1 by a new D2 link road. The new section was also linked to the N2 by the newly built N33 which joined the M1 at Junction 14. There was a suggestion at the time that this section be named after US President Bill Clinton, whose motorcade used the section in the month before it opened.
2005
The Dundalk bypass opens, extending the motorway to just south of the border.
2006
The Port Tunnel opens, and the M1 south of the Turnapin Interchange is reclassified as the M50. The very first 1.5 km is converted to S2+1 and ceases to be designated motorway, but remains the N1.
2007
The 14 km dual-carriageway link between the M1 North of Dundalk and the A1 opens.
2008
Ireland's first unofficial MSA opens on the M1 at Balbriggan (J5).
2010
Ireland's first official MSA's open at Lusk and Castlebellingham. The M50's upgrade is competed, making the Turnapin Interchange free-flow between the M50 and M1, and widening the M1 approaching this junction from the north.
2011
Works widening the remainder of the congested urban section of the M1 to three lanes between junctions 1 and 4 begin, and are still ongoing as of 11/6/12
2012
Many national routes are detrunked, meaning the stretch of N1 south of the Turnapin Interchange is reclassified as the R132, and many roads the M1 meets are downgraded to other Regional Roads.
Pictures
The Boyne Bridge.
Links
