Road in Ireland
N9 road
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Length
| 119.09 km (74.00 mi)
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Country
| Ireland
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Primary
destinations
| (bypassed routes in
italics
)
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The
N9 road
is a
national primary road
in
Ireland
running from Junction 11 on the
M7
, located near
Kilcullen
,
County Kildare
, to
Waterford
city. The route connects
Dublin
and Waterford. The section of the route from junction 11 on the M7 at Kilcullen to the intersection with the N24 road outside Waterford is motorway standard since 2010 and is designated as the
M9 motorway
. In line with Irish practice, all sections previously designated N9 were renumbered at that time. Only a short (550-metre) section of the route is still designated as N9 between the Quarry roundabout junction with the N24 and the N25 Grannagh Roundabout junction. This section is dual carriageway.
Route
[
edit
]
The route starts as motorway southwest of
Newbridge
(see thumbnail), and on the southwest side of
Kilcullen
. Prior to the 1993 opening of the Newbridge bypass, the N9 had run from
Naas
(east of the current M9). The previous route is now the
R448
.
The previous route continued south through Kilgowan, the intersection with the
N78
to
Athy
,
Ballitore
, the
R747
,
Timolin
,
Moone
and through
Castledermot
in
County Kildare
. This is currently bypassed by the Kilcullen to Carlow section of the M9 opened in December 2009. This then joins with another 18.5 km (11.5 mi) stretch of motorway, opened 29 May 2008 bypassing Carlow, meeting the R448 at a junction near Powerstown. Further south, the M9 crosses the River Barrow bypassing Leighlinbridge to the west, and continuing south to pass west of Bagnelstown (Muine Bheag), then entering County Kilkenny.
At
Paulstown
the
N10
diverges west/southwest to serve
Kilkenny
and the present section of the M9. The M9 bypasses
Gowran
,
Dungarvan
and
Thomastown
. This section of the N9 opened as motorway in September 2010 and completed the M9 motorway. Motorists join the M9 via the
N10
from Kilkenny onto the M9 section from Danesfort to Waterford. From Powerstown and further on, just north of
Ballyhale
the former N10 rejoins the R448, having proceeded south from Kilkenny.
Lukeswell
,
Mullinavat
and
Dunkitt
lie along the R448 route south towards Waterford. The M9 ends at the Quarry roundabout junction with the N24. A short section of the route designated as N9 continues towards the Granagh interchange where the route terminates and intersects with the N25 Waterford bypass.
M9 motorway and upgrades
[
edit
]
The
National Development Plan
included plans for a motorway from Dublin to Waterford. While these plans were later altered to
High Quality Dual Carriageway
, in July 2008 the road was reclassified as a motorway once more. An
environmental impact assessment
was published in October 2003 and a
CPO
issued in November 2003 for the 46 km (29 mi) dual-carriageway forming the northern part of the Kilcullen–Waterford route, from Kilcullen, County Kildare to
Powerstown
,
County Carlow
. An EIS was published and a CPO issued in February 2005 for the 64 km (40 mi) southern section of the upgraded route, from Powerstown to Waterford.
The southern section of route differs more from the former N9 alignment than most of the national road upgrade projects in recent years. The N10 provides a link to Kilkenny, to the west of the M9. The new alignment of the M9 passes further west, closer to Kilkenny, with a new shorter N10 link to the M9 on the northeast side of Kilkenny. The N10 remains as far as Danesfort for the link southeast of Kilkenny. The timeline of upgrades to the former N9 route was:
- M9 Kilcullen to Carlow
; 28 km, completed and opened in December 2009
- The Carlow Bypass
was the first section of the project to be completed, opening on 29 May 2008. It opened as a section of the N9, although built to motorway standards; and was officially upgraded to motorway (complete with a 20 km/h increase in speed limit) on 24 September 2008.
- M9/N10 Carlow/Knocktopher
; 40 km, completed and opened on 9 September 2010
- M9 Waterford/Knocktopher
; 24 km, completed and opened 22 March 2010.
A bypass of Waterford was opened in 2009, as part of the
N25
that previously passed southeast?northwest through the city. As part of the project, the new M9 joins at a roundabout just off the Granagh Interchange which then allows access to Waterford City or the bypass to Rosslare/Cork.
See also
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References
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Agencies
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*=Tram systems no longer run. Information in parentheses shows the operator(s)
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