Derry

This article is about the town and Primary Destination.
For the County, see County Londonderry.

Derry or Londonderry is the second largest city in Northern Ireland, and consequently is an important hub of several major routes.

The proximity to the border with the Republic, combined with the city being at the other end of Northern Ireland to Belfast, means that access has been generally under-invested. Both of the main roads inside Northern Ireland (the A5 from Enniskillen and the A6 from Belfast) have been earmarked for improvement. The A2 coastal route starts on the border near Derry, though it is only a main road as far as Limavady.

The A515 Foyle Bridge, which opened in 1984, is a major local architectural achievement that allows through traffic to avoid the city centre. However, it is intermittently closed due to high winds. From 2003 - 2005, the bridge underwent major refurbishment that allowed it to cater for HGVs better.

Name

A vandalised roadsign on the A5 in Strabane, where "London" has been defaced

The OSI used Londonderry on mapping up to the 1970s, as here shown on the 1969 Half Inch sheet, before it became politically contentious

The city's name has been a contentious subject between nationalists (who prefer Derry) and unionists (who prefer Londonderry) since the outbreak of The Troubles in the 1960s. Not surprisingly, this is reflected in road signs.

Northern Ireland consistently signs the city as "Londonderry" in English only, though it is not uncommon to see these vandalised by blacking or spray painting out "London". Conversely, the Republic of Ireland sign the city consistently as "Derry", including the Irish "Doire". Someone travelling along the N2 in the Republic in the direction of Derry will see signs from the latter being replaced by those for the former at the point the border is crossed, though on the N13, the border is close enough to the city itself that "Derry" is replaced merely by "City Centre".

Convention on the internet has tended towards using "Derry" for the city and "Londonderry" for the county. Both OpenStreetMap and Google Maps refer to the city as "Londonderry / Derry". Older maps, including Bartholomew Half Inch of Ireland, the Irish War Office, and OSNI consistently use "Londonderry", even for maps of the entire island of Ireland. Surprisingly, Ordnance Survey Ireland mapping consistently refers to Londonderry up until the 1970s, with the switch to using Derry being completed by the mid-1980s; though occasionally the word Londonderry is split across two lines.

Routes

Route	To	Notes
A2	Letterkenny, Buncrana	becomes N13 at border
A2	Coleraine, Limavady, Maydown, Campsie, Lisahally, Eglinton, Airport
A5	Omagh, Strabane	becomes N2 at border
A6	Belfast, Antrim, Larne, Dungiven, Claudy
A514		forms an eastern bypass
A515		forms a northern bypass
N13	Srath an Urlair / STRANOLAR, Leitir Ceanainn / LETTERKENNY	via A2
A2	Greencastle, Moville, Culmore	becomes R238 at border
A40	Lifford, St.Johnstown, Raphoe, Carrigans
B48	Donemana
B193	Letterkenny
B194
B507	Northland Road
B521	Templemore, Sports Complex
B524	Brandwell
B525
B526
B527	Glenowen, Hazelbank, Foyle Springs
B528
B529
B530
R236	An Carraigin/CARRIGANS
R237	An Baile Nua/NEWTOWNCUNNINGHAM (N13)
R238	Bun Cranncha/BUNCRANA
R238	Bun an Phobail/MOVILLE
T3	Omagh, Strabane	unsigned, uses A5
T7	Coleraine, Limavady, Maydown, Campsie, Lisahally, Eglinton, Airport	unsigned, uses A2
T17	Belfast, Antrim, Larne, Dungiven, Claudy	unsigned, uses A6
T22		unsigned, uses A514 and A515
E16	Belfast, Antrim, Larne, Dungiven, Claudy	unsigned, uses A6
T59
T74
M23	Belfast, Coleraine (M2), Limavady

Links

• BBC News: One-way traffic system for city centre  23.03.2021 (archive.org)

• BBC News: One Way system for city centre extended  12.10.2022 (archive.org)