N11 road
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The N11 is a National Primary Route in Ireland, running for 140 Km along the east side of Ireland from Dublin to Wexford. It passes close to Bray, Greystones, Wicklow, Arklow and Gorey and also passes through Enniscorthy, amongst others. Beyond Wexford, the route continues to Rosslare as the N25. The route forms part of European route E1. As of 2006 the N11 is of dual carriageway or motorway standard from Dublin as far as Rathnew in County Wicklow, with a further section of dual carriageway bypassing Arklow and Gorey . The road is a very busy commuter route, as it is the only dual carriageway passing through the south eastern suburbs of Dublin, as well as close to the many commuter towns along the east coast as far south as Gorey. Summer Friday and Sunday evenings also see very heavy traffic as Dubliners decamp to, and return from, their many holiday home locations along the Co. Wicklow and Co. Wexford coastlines.
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[edit] Route out of (and into) Dublin
The N11 commences where it meets the N4 on the north end of O'Connell Bridge in Dublin city centre. The route proceeds along D'Olier Street, College Street (and in the opposite direction, Westmoreland Street). The route continues around College Green and Grafton Street (and in the other direction, Suffolk Street, Church Lane and Dame Street). From here, the route continues out of the city via Nassau Street, Kildare Street, North side of St. Stephen's Green, Merrion Row, Baggot Street Lower, Pembroke Street Lower, Fitzwilliam Square West and Pembroke Street Upper. This route section in the other direction (into the city centre) runs via Leeson Street Lower (see thumbnail), East and North sides of St. Stephen's Green, and Dawson Street. The N11 runs in both directions along Leeson Street Lower after the junction with Pembroke Street. Having crossed the Grand Canal the route divides again for a portion of Leeson Street Upper, with outbound traffic proceeding via Sussex Road. The route continues via Morehampton Road and Donnybrook Road, through Donnybrook, with the route becoming dual carriageway at Donnybrook Church, which marks the beginning of the Stillorgan Road.
The Stillorgan Road (colloquially known as the Stillorgan dualler) brings the road past Belfield, where University College Dublin is located (and accessed from a grade-separated interchange on the dual carriageway) and onwards past Mount Merrion towards Stillorgan village. North of Stillorgan, the N31 to Dun Laoghaire port commences, leaving the N11 to the east via Mount Merrion Avenue. Stillorgan village is bypassed to the east by the N11 dual carriageway, which proceeds southeast through Galloping Green, bypassing Leopardstown and Foxrock to the east also. Then the Cabinteely Bypass and part of the Bray Road bring the N11 via Loughlinstown and Shanganagh to north of Shankill, where the M11 motorway commences as the Shankill Bypass.
Part of the N11, from Leeson Street to Foxrock Church, is provided with a Quality Bus Corridor (QBC) bus lane, with this upgrade opening in 1999. Dublin Bus's flagship 46a route operates over this stretch of road. (A section of this QBC running contraflow on Leeson St can be see in the thumbnail, right).
[edit] Link with M50
Along the Shankill Bypass, the M11 is joined by the Dublin's M50 motorway ring road, which terminates at a major junction along the M11, opened in June 2005 after many years of planning. This link allows motorists to drive on continuous motorway and dual carriageway all the way from Rathnew, Co. Wicklow to various destinations around the country via the M50 and the national roads it serves. These include Portlaoise via the N7/M7, Mullingar, County Westmeath via the N4/M4, north of Ashbourne, County Meath via the N2, and north of Dundalk, County Louth (near the border with Northern Ireland) via the M1.
Traffic proceeding north on the M11 is given a choice to stay on the main carriageway (which becomes the M50), or take the exit at what is junction 17 on the M50, in order to stay on the M11, following the N11 into the city centre. Traffic on the N11 inside Dublin proper is expected to ease due to traffic being given other route options before entering the city.
[edit] Route through Wicklow and Wexford
West of Bray in County Wicklow, the motorway ends, with the N11 continuing south as dual carriageway through the Glen of the Downs. The upgrading of the road to dual carriageway through the Glen of the Downs was controversial, as the valley is a wooded area. Expanding the road resulted in the removal of some woodland. A campaign of protests, mainly by English activists, led to long delays in the construction of this section of road, but the work was eventually completed with a minimal disruption to the woodland. After Glen of the Downs the N11 continues south (see thumbnail) to bypass Kilpedder, Newtownmountkennedy, Ashford and Rathnew. The dual carriageway ends a short distance past Rathnew. The route continues as single carriageway south towards Arklow. Arklow is bypassed by a dual-carriageway route opened in February 1999.
Just north of Inch, the N11 enters County Wexford. The route continues south, bypassing Gorey. The former N11 road between Arklow and Gorey is now signposted as the R772 regional road. Clogh, Camolin, and Ferns lie along the route south towards Enniscorthy. At Ballynahallin, 5 Km North of Enniscorthy, the N80 from Moate joins the N11. At Enniscorthy itself, the N30 from New Ross joins the N11. South of here, the N11 passes through Oilgate, continuing south through Ferrycarrig, and crossing the River Slaney to terminate on a bypass west of Wexford where it meets the N25 from Waterford at the Belmont roundabout.
[edit] Upgrades
The N11 has been gradually upgraded from single to dual carriageway standard from the 1950s to the present, with improvements taking place at an accelerated pace in recent years. The first short stretch of dual carriageway on the road, and indeed the first stretch of dual carriageway anywhere in Ireland, was built in the 1950s between the Stillorgan Road/Newtownpark Avenue junction and Foxrock Church (this stretch was substantially widened around the turn of the millennium). Subsequent short stretches of dual carriageway, at Loughlinstown, between Bray and Kilpeddar, and from Donnybrook to Stillorgan were constructed during the early to mid 1970s, this phase ending with the opening of the Stillorgan bypass in October 1979. Since that time, these sections have been joined up through further improvements, including the Cabinteely Bypass (1984), the M11 Shankill-Bray bypass motorway (1991) and the Kilmacanogue/Glen of the Downs dual carriageway (2003). The dual carriageway has also been extended south along the route bypassing Newtownmountkennedy (1990) and Ashford and Rathnew (2004). The latter improvement provides for continuous dual-carriageway from Donnybrook to south of Rathnew, a total of 49 km (30 mi). A stand-alone dual-carriageway by-pass of Arklow was opened in 1999 and Wexford town was by-passed in 1989.
A bypass of Gorey opened fully on 13 September 2007, which provides 23 km (14 mi) of dual carriageway from the southern end of the Arklow bypass, to south of Clogh. The Gorey Bypass has been criticised for being too narrow, however, it was constructed using a new road building technique where both carriageways are laid at the same time and the safety barriers are fitted in the middle afterwards. This reduces the need for extra digging through hilly sections and also takes up less land. Digging is even further reduced by allowing protrusions in the carriageway to accommodate median piers (see photo) and by rapid gradient changes (hilliness) which exceeds normal standards for dual-carriageways in Ireland. This technique will almost certainly be used again in in road building unless the NRA tighten the specifications. The main contractor for the project was Roadbridge Ltd. [1]. A separate project is in planning to provide 14 km (9 mi) of dual carriageway from Rathnew to Arklow. This project has been approved by An Bord Pleanala but start of construction is not scheduled. Once completed, dual carriageway or motorway would extend from inside Dublin, right through to south of Clogh. Upgrade projects on the N11 have been publicly funded and no road tolls are planned.
A further project is in planning to provide a dual carriageway bypass around Enniscorthy, of 20 km (12 mi) along the N11 and the N30. With the opening of the Gorey Bypass, the N11 bottleneck will effectively move to Enniscorthy. The passage of traffic through the town is restricted by the narrow streets and the two bridges which connect the town across the River Slaney. The village of Oilgate may yet become a bottleneck, as there is a traffic calming system in operation.
Work on the Kilpedder Interchange commenced in Sept 2006 and was completed in March 2008.
[edit] Exit list
| M11 Motorway | ||
| Northbound exits | Junction | Southbound exits |
| Road continues as N11 for Dublin and Dun Laoghaire | - | Start of motorway |
| Dublin Airport, Dublin Port and NORTHBOUND M50 |  (M50  ) |
No access |
| Bray, Shankill R761 |  |
Bray, Shankill R761 |
| Start of motorway | - | Bray, Fassaroe Road continues as N11 for The SOUTHEAST |
[edit] References
- Scheme Activity 2006 - National Roads Authority (road projects under construction or to start 2006)
- Major Road Schemes in Planning - National Roads Authority
- Roads Act 1993 (Classification of National Roads) Order 2006 (PDF)- Department of Transport
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