N20 road (Ireland)

The N20 road is a national primary road in Ireland, connecting the cities of Cork and Limerick. Buttevant, Croom, Charleville, Mallow and Blarney are major towns along the route. A short section of the route (from Limerick to Patrickswell) is motorway standard and is designated as the M20 Motorway.

N20 road shield}}
N20 road
Bóthar N20
Route information
Length96.45 km (59.93 mi)
Location
CountryIreland
Primary
destinations		(bypassed destinations in italics)
Highway system

Route
N20 on the dual carriageway bypass into Limerick, approaching the exit for Dooradoyle. As of 2009, this section has been designated motorway.

M20 Rosbrien Interchange (Limerick) to Patrickswell

The route starts at junction 1 at the Rosbrien interchange (south of Limerick city) where it connects to the M7 and the N18 which together form the Limerick Southern Ring Road. The route continues from this interchange as motorway. This route was redesignated as motorway in August 2009. The route bypasses Dooradoyle and Raheen, through which the old N20 route used to run until the early 2000s. Interchanges and link roads connect to these locations. Two further interchanges are located on the motorway, at either end of Patrickswell. At the latter, the N20 route leaves the main road (which continues as the N21 to Tralee), so one must diverge from the motorway to stay on the N20. The former route of the N20 before the M20 opened is now classified as the R526.

N20 Patrickswell to Cork City

A wide two lane road brings traffic along the Croom bypass (prior to the opening of this bypass at a cost of €20 million on 12 July 2001, the route went through the town).[1] Past this new section of road, narrow two-lane road commences, ending at Charleville. The route passes through the town, running along Main Street. The road between Charleville and Buttevant is of similar design. At Mallow a relatively high specification road is encountered, with an older bypass of the town (early 1990s) passing up the hill from it as dual carriageway. A viaduct brings the road across the Blackwater River and Valley. The rest of the route to Cork is of high quality wide two lane, with a section of 2+1 road (a pilot installation) south of Mallow. The route becomes dual carriageway on the approach to Cork. Junctions on this dual carriageway section are not numbered. New relief roads in Cork bring the route into the city centre while avoiding the winding streets through which the route ran until around 2000. The route terminates at the city center with two lanes going in each direction. The N20 also gives access to the Blackpool Shopping Center.

M20 motorway
The M20 outside Limerick city approaching junction 2 northbound
A "Route Confirmatory Sign" on the M20 showing distances to destinations
M20 motorway shield}}
M20 motorway
Mótarbhealach M20
Route information
Part of
Length8 km (5.0 mi)
Planned length: 90 km (56 mi)
Existed2001–present
HistoryDeferred due to lack of funding (to "2030 or beyond")[2]
Major junctions
FromRossbrien
Major intersections



(Upon completion)

(Upon completion)
ToAttyflin
Location
CountryIreland
Primary
destinations		Cork City, County Cork, Limerick
Highway system

Under the government's cancelled Transport 21 initiative,[3] the Atlantic Corridor road project aimed to link Letterkenny to Waterford via Limerick and Cork with high quality roadway. A major part of this proposal involved the potential upgrading of the N20 route between Cork and Limerick.

It was proposed to upgrade or replace the entire N20 with a new M20 motorway, approximately 90 km (56 mi) in length, with up to eight newly constructed junctions or re-configured junctions. It was to be constructed in two stages: a southern section and a northern section.[4] It was hoped that this project would be progressed as a PPP scheme.[5]

The first segment of M20 motorway came into existence on 28 August 2009 following the approval by the Minister for Transport to redesignate a 10 km (6 mi) of existing N20 dual-carriageway between Rossbrien and Attyflin as motorway.[6]

On 10 November 2011, owing to funding issues caused by the Irish financial crisis, the government announced that the planned completion of the M20 motorway was to be "shelved". By 2013, the National Roads Authority carried out an upgrade of signage along the N20, fueling speculation that it would be some time before plans for the proposed M20 were revisited.

In October 2017, then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar stated that the motorway project would be a "priority".[7] By late 2021, it was reported that there would not be a decision on a preferred route until at least early 2022.[8] The preferred M20 route was published in March 2022,[9] with the projected €1.5 billion project dated to "2030 or beyond".[2]

Junctions

[10][11]

Northbound exits (read up) Junction Southbound exits (read down)
Dublin (M7 ), Limerick, Ennis, Galway (N18) Start of motorway
Dooradoyle (R926) Dooradoyle(R926)
Parking
Parking
Raheen (R510) Raheen (R510)
Patrickswell (R526) Patrickswell (R526)
Start of motorway Cork, Mallow (N20)

Tralee, Castleisland, Adare (N21)

( in planning)
Northbound exits (read up) Junction Southbound exits (read down)
Adare (N21), Croom Adare (N21), Croom
Bruree, Kilmallock (R518) Bruree, Kilmallock (R518)
Charleville Services Charleville Services
Charleville, Charleville,
Doneraile, Mallow East (N72) Doneraile, Mallow East (N72)
Mallow South Mallow South
Rathduff, Grenagh Rathduff, Grenagh
No exit Blarney Business Park
Blarney Blarney
Cork North Ring Road (N40) Cork North Ring Road (N40)

See also

References
  1. The Irish Times, 13 July 2001, p. 2.
  2. "Preferred route for new Limerick to Cork road revealed". rte.ie. RTÉ News. 30 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  3. Atlantic Corridor Archived 2008-12-16 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Minister Noel Dempsey announces €607.5 million for 2009 Regional and Local Roads Programme". Department of Transport. 2 February 2009. Archived from the original on 13 May 2009.
  5. "M20 Cork Limerick Motorway Scheme Publications". Cork National Roads Office. Archived from the original on 31 August 2009.
  6. Kelly, Olivia (14 July 2009). "300km of roads to be assigned as motorways". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  7. "Varadkar commits to prioritising M20 Limerick-Cork link". RTÉ News. 13 October 2017. Archived from the original on 14 October 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  8. "Disappointment expressed at delay in decision of preferred option for M20". echolive.ie. The Echo. 18 September 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  9. "N20 Cork-Limerick road seen as important step in linking two of Ireland's biggest city regions". thejournal.ie. Journal Media Ltd. 30 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  10. "M20 Cork - Limerick Motorway Scheme Drawing No. 1-2" (PDF). Cork County Council. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 July 2014.
  11. "M20 Cork - Limerick Motorway Scheme Drawing No. 3-4" (PDF). Cork County Council. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 July 2014.
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