The N4 originates at an intersection with the M50 motorway at Junction 7. This is also Junction 1 of the N/M4. The Liffey Valley Shopping Centre is located at Junction 2. The road has three lanes and a bus lane in each direction between the M50 and the start of the M4 at Leixlip.
The N4 was the only one of the main inter-urban national routes whose dual-carriageway section continued into the city centre; however, the section inside the M50 was re-classified as the R148 in 2012.[1]
Heading west, the PPP motorway section (see below) ends west of Kinnegad, and the motorway terminates 5 km further west; it continues as HQDC and bypasses Mullingar. From the Mullingar bypass to Edgeworthstown, the road is a wide single carriageway with hard shoulders. Between Edgeworthstown and Longford, there is a lower standard single carriageway road. Between Longford and Rooskey single carriageway continues at a higher standard. Dromod and Rooskey were bypassed in late 2007. This section of the road consists of three roundabouts and a Type 2 dual carriageway, i.e.: two lanes in each direction and no hard shoulder. The road resumes as a single carriageway with hard shoulders until it reaches Carrick-on-Shannon, where it becomes a local urban road through five roundabouts, and passing over the River Shannon into County Roscommon. The road becomes a high-quality single carriageway bypass 3 km outside of Boyle town, with periodic alternating overtaking lanes passing Lough Key Forest Park and Ballinafad until it reaches Castlebaldwin. From Castlebaldwin to Collooney the road is a Type 2 dual carriageway. Funding for the expansion of this section was announced in October 2018, and it opened in 2021. [2] The road becomes near-motorway standard dual carriageway again at Collooney, approaching Sligo town.
M4 motorway
The section from Leixlip to the west of Kinnegad is the M4 motorway. The first section of this motorway (Leixlip – Kilcock) was opened on 19 December 1994.[citation needed]
Tolled section of the M4 motorway
Under the Government announcement of the pilot projects on 1 June 1999 this project was to be assessed by the NRA for its suitability to be advanced as a Public-private partnership (PPP). Subsequently, the project was included as one of the projects approved under Tranche II of the PPP Roads programme as announced by the NRA in June 2000. The project involved the construction of 39 km of motorway from Kinnegad to Kilcock and is an extension of the Kilcock-Maynooth-Leixlip motorway on the N4/N6 Sligo/Galway to Dublin route. The motorway bypasses the towns of Enfield and Kinnegad.[citation needed]
The PPP contract was awarded in March 2003 to the EuroLink Consortium (SIAC Construction Ltd and Cintra - Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte S.A.) and allows for them to collect tolls for 30 years from that date.
This tolled section (from Kilcock to Kinnegad) opened on 12 December 2005, almost a year ahead of schedule.[3] It is the second-most expensive toll road in Ireland (after the Dublin Port Tunnel). A toll of €3.00 (as of 2022) for cars is charged at a toll plaza just west of Kilcock and at smaller toll plazas at on and off-ramps at Enfield. Between Enfield and Kinnegad, no further access to the M4 is possible.[citation needed]
Eurolink operates this tolling scheme, the first in Ireland not operated by NTR plc. From 2005 to 2007, Eurolink started to accept several tags issued by other motorways such as M1, M8, eTrip and Dublin Port Tunnel tags.[citation needed] On 14 June 2007 NTR plc joined the Nationwide Electronic Toll Payment System introducing their popular EazyPass tags on the system and allowing all other toll plazas in the country (different from those owned by NTR plc) to accept them,[4] meaning that each toll company's electronic tag will work on all toll roads in the State.
In the 1 July 2006 edition of the Meath Chronicle it was claimed that up to 10% of the €420 million road project had "to be ripped up and replaced" shortly after it opened due to rushed construction,[citation needed] however this cost would have had to be carried by the toll operators, not the state, as per the contract.
The bypassed former N4 road has been reclassified as the R148.
Junctions
This article contains a bulleted list or table of intersections which should be presented in a properly formatted junction table. Please consult this guideline for information on how to create one. Please improve this article if you can.(December 2021)
On 28 August 2009, the Department of Transport implemented the second round of proposed reclassifications of dual carriageways as motorways under the Roads Act 2007.[5] A short section of the N4 between Kinnegad (J12) and McNead's Bridge (J13) was affected by this. This extended the M4 westward by 6.8 km.
J11; M6/M4 junction (prior to redesignation of the N6 → M6).
In July 2009, an upgrade of the section between the M50 junction and the Leixlip interchange was completed. In this section the road is three lanes in each direction, the median crossings were removed and the junction with the R120 is a fully grade-separated junction. Private accesses and some left turns remain which prevents the section from being designated a motorway. The speed limit is 80 km/h.[8] There are currently no signal-controlled junctions on the N/M4 between the M50 motorway and the Sligo through-pass.
In 2013, a 5 km stretch of dual carriageway with at-grade crossover junctions between the M4 and the Mullingar bypass was upgraded to HQDC.
Construction of a 2+2 road at the 15 km stretch between Collooney and Castlebaldwin began in 2019 to improve road safety.[9] The road was opened on 18 October 2021.[6]
Planned improvements to the route
N4 between Kinnegad and Mullingar; former N4 (now R148) in left of the picture. (This section was redesignated as a motorway in August 2009)
Mullingar bypass to Longford; 40 km dual carriageway ; at constraints study stage[10]
Cortober to Castlebaldwin; 28 km retro upgrade of standard single carriageway road to 2+1 road; at constraints study stage[13]
Sligo Western Relief Road; 8 km; at feasibility study stage[14]
The motorway-style dual carriageway of the N4, running from Collooney—15 km outside Sligo—to Summerhill in Sligo town is not expected to be re-classified as a motorway in the near future.[when?][citation needed]
^Book (eISB), electronic Irish Statute. "electronic Irish Statute Book (eISB)". www.irishstatutebook.ie. from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
^"#Budget19 Live: The main points from today's budget". IrishExaminer.ie. 9 October 2018. from the original on 9 October 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
^ abCassidy, Luke (12 December 2005). "Kilcock–Kinnegad road opens ahead of schedule". The Irish Times. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
^. Archived from the original on 18 November 2007. Retrieved 11 February 2008.
^"S.I. No. 255/2009 - Roads Act 2007 (Declaration of Motorways) Order 2009". Irish Statute Book. from the original on 23 November 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
^ abMannion, Teresa (18 October 2021). "Taoiseach opens €140m N4 road in Sligo". RTÉ News. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
^Gallagher, Emma (24 August 2021). "Bittersweet day as new N4 dual carriageway finally opens". The Sligo Champion.
^"An Taoiseach and Minister Ross turn sod on N4 Collooney-Castlebaldwin Road and Western Distributor Road". Transport Infrastructure Ireland. 22 February 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
road, ireland, road, national, primary, road, ireland, running, from, dublin, northwest, ireland, sligo, town, galway, diverges, from, this, route, after, kinnegad, while, westport, diverges, longford, town, most, sections, that, motorway, standard, designated. The N4 road is a national primary road in Ireland running from Dublin to the northwest of Ireland and Sligo town The M6 to Galway diverges from this route after Kinnegad while the N5 to Westport diverges at Longford town Most sections of the N4 that are motorway standard are designated the M4 motorway N4 roadBothar N4Route informationLength198 21 km 123 16 mi LocationCountryIrelandPrimarydestinations bypassed routes in italics County Dublin Dublin M50 Lucan County Kildare Leixlip Maynooth Kilcock County Meath Enfield Clonard County Westmeath Kinnegad M6 to Galway Mullingar N52 Ballinalack Rathowen County Longford Edgeworthstown N55 Longford Town N5 to Westport N63 Newtownforbes County Leitrim Roosky Dromod Aghamore Drumsna Jamestown Carrick on Shannon R280 County Roscommon Cootehall Boyle N61 County Sligo Ballinafad Castlebaldwin Riverstown Collooney N17 Ballysadare N59 Sligo town N15 N16 Highway systemRoads in IrelandMotorways Primary Secondary RegionalM4 motorwayMotarbhealach M4Route informationPart ofLength62 km 39 mi Existed1994 presentHistoryCompleted 1994 2006Major junctionsFromLucanMajor intersectionsToKinnegadLocationCountryIrelandPrimarydestinationsLeixlip Kilcock EnfieldHighway systemRoads in IrelandMotorways Primary Secondary RegionalThe 2 2 section of the N4 Contents 1 Road standard 2 M4 motorway 2 1 Tolled section of the M4 motorway 3 Junctions 3 1 Motorway reclassification 4 Bypasses 5 Upgrades 5 1 Planned improvements to the route 6 See also 7 References 7 1 SourcesRoad standard EditThe N4 originates at an intersection with the M50 motorway at Junction 7 This is also Junction 1 of the N M4 The Liffey Valley Shopping Centre is located at Junction 2 The road has three lanes and a bus lane in each direction between the M50 and the start of the M4 at Leixlip The N4 was the only one of the main inter urban national routes whose dual carriageway section continued into the city centre however the section inside the M50 was re classified as the R148 in 2012 1 Heading west the PPP motorway section see below ends west of Kinnegad and the motorway terminates 5 km further west it continues as HQDC and bypasses Mullingar From the Mullingar bypass to Edgeworthstown the road is a wide single carriageway with hard shoulders Between Edgeworthstown and Longford there is a lower standard single carriageway road Between Longford and Rooskey single carriageway continues at a higher standard Dromod and Rooskey were bypassed in late 2007 This section of the road consists of three roundabouts and a Type 2 dual carriageway i e two lanes in each direction and no hard shoulder The road resumes as a single carriageway with hard shoulders until it reaches Carrick on Shannon where it becomes a local urban road through five roundabouts and passing over the River Shannon into County Roscommon The road becomes a high quality single carriageway bypass 3 km outside of Boyle town with periodic alternating overtaking lanes passing Lough Key Forest Park and Ballinafad until it reaches Castlebaldwin From Castlebaldwin to Collooney the road is a Type 2 dual carriageway Funding for the expansion of this section was announced in October 2018 and it opened in 2021 2 The road becomes near motorway standard dual carriageway again at Collooney approaching Sligo town M4 motorway EditThe section from Leixlip to the west of Kinnegad is the M4 motorway The first section of this motorway Leixlip Kilcock was opened on 19 December 1994 citation needed Tolled section of the M4 motorway Edit Under the Government announcement of the pilot projects on 1 June 1999 this project was to be assessed by the NRA for its suitability to be advanced as a Public private partnership PPP Subsequently the project was included as one of the projects approved under Tranche II of the PPP Roads programme as announced by the NRA in June 2000 The project involved the construction of 39 km of motorway from Kinnegad to Kilcock and is an extension of the Kilcock Maynooth Leixlip motorway on the N4 N6 Sligo Galway to Dublin route The motorway bypasses the towns of Enfield and Kinnegad citation needed The PPP contract was awarded in March 2003 to the EuroLink Consortium SIAC Construction Ltd and Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte S A and allows for them to collect tolls for 30 years from that date This tolled section from Kilcock to Kinnegad opened on 12 December 2005 almost a year ahead of schedule 3 It is the second most expensive toll road in Ireland after the Dublin Port Tunnel A toll of 3 00 as of 2022 for cars is charged at a toll plaza just west of Kilcock and at smaller toll plazas at on and off ramps at Enfield Between Enfield and Kinnegad no further access to the M4 is possible citation needed Eurolink operates this tolling scheme the first in Ireland not operated by NTR plc From 2005 to 2007 Eurolink started to accept several tags issued by other motorways such as M1 M8 eTrip and Dublin Port Tunnel tags citation needed On 14 June 2007 NTR plc joined the Nationwide Electronic Toll Payment System introducing their popular EazyPass tags on the system and allowing all other toll plazas in the country different from those owned by NTR plc to accept them 4 meaning that each toll company s electronic tag will work on all toll roads in the State In the 1 July 2006 edition of the Meath Chronicle it was claimed that up to 10 of the 420 million road project had to be ripped up and replaced shortly after it opened due to rushed construction citation needed however this cost would have had to be carried by the toll operators not the state as per the contract The bypassed former N4 road has been reclassified as the R148 Junctions EditThis article contains a bulleted list or table of intersections which should be presented in a properly formatted junction table Please consult this guideline for information on how to create one Please improve this article if you can December 2021 Westbound exit Junction Eastbound exitM50 motorway Dublin Port Bray and ALL OTHER ROUTES M50 M50 motorway Dublin Port Bray and ALL OTHER ROUTES M50Liffey Valley Interchange Fonthill Liffey Valley R113 Liffey Valley Interchange Fonthill Liffey Valley R113Ballydowd Interchange Ballyowen Lucan R136 Ballydowd Interchange Ballyowen Lucan R136Newcastle Road Interchange Lucan Adamstown R120 Newcastle Road Interchange Lucan Adamstown R120Dodsboro Kew Park L1018 Dodsboro L1018Leixlip Interchange Celbridge Leixlip R148 Leixlip Interchange Leixlip East Celbridge East R148 Westbound exit Junction Eastbound exitLeixlip West Celbridge West R449 Leixlip West Celbridge West R449Maynooth Naas R406 Maynooth Naas R406Clane Kilcock R407 Clane Kilcock Trim R407 Enfield Edenderry R402 Enfield Edenderry R402Enfield services Enfield servicesKinnegad R401 Kinnegad R401Galway Athlone M6 No accessKinnegad KinnegadMcNead s Bridge McNead s Bridge in planning Westbound exit Junction Eastbound exitThe Downs R156 The Downs R156Mullingar South Tullamore N52 Mullingar South Tullamore N52Mullingar Delvin N52 Mullingar Delvin N52Mullingar North Castlepollard N52 Mullingar North Castlepollard N52Road continues asN4for Mullingar Longford N5 SligoMotorway reclassification Edit On 28 August 2009 the Department of Transport implemented the second round of proposed reclassifications of dual carriageways as motorways under the Roads Act 2007 5 A short section of the N4 between Kinnegad J12 and McNead s Bridge J13 was affected by this This extended the M4 westward by 6 8 km Bypasses EditThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources N4 road Ireland news newspapers books scholar JSTOR November 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message Sign in Mullingar marking the opening of the bypass by Taoiseach and TD for Longford Westmeath Albert Reynolds Travelling East along the upgraded Lucan Bypass in west Dublin Palmerstown 1984 Lucan 1988 Leixlip Maynooth Kilcock 1994 Mullingar 1994 Longford 1995 Drumsna Jamestown 1997 Collooney Ballisodare January 1998 Boyle Ballinafad 1998 1999 Sligo partial September 2005 Enfield Kinnegad December 2005 3 Edgeworthstown June 2006 Dromod Roosky December 2007 Castlebaldwin August 2021 6 7 Upgrades Edit J11 M6 M4 junction prior to redesignation of the N6 M6 In July 2009 an upgrade of the section between the M50 junction and the Leixlip interchange was completed In this section the road is three lanes in each direction the median crossings were removed and the junction with the R120 is a fully grade separated junction Private accesses and some left turns remain which prevents the section from being designated a motorway The speed limit is 80 km h 8 There are currently no signal controlled junctions on the N M4 between the M50 motorway and the Sligo through pass In 2013 a 5 km stretch of dual carriageway with at grade crossover junctions between the M4 and the Mullingar bypass was upgraded to HQDC Construction of a 2 2 road at the 15 km stretch between Collooney and Castlebaldwin began in 2019 to improve road safety 9 The road was opened on 18 October 2021 6 Planned improvements to the route Edit N4 between Kinnegad and Mullingar former N4 now R148 in left of the picture This section was redesignated as a motorway in August 2009 Mullingar bypass to Longford 40 km dual carriageway at constraints study stage 10 Dromod to Carrick on Shannon 11 km at feasibility study stage 11 Carrick on Shannon Bypass 10 km preliminary design stage 12 Cortober to Castlebaldwin 28 km retro upgrade of standard single carriageway road to 2 1 road at constraints study stage 13 Sligo Western Relief Road 8 km at feasibility study stage 14 The motorway style dual carriageway of the N4 running from Collooney 15 km outside Sligo to Summerhill in Sligo town is not expected to be re classified as a motorway in the near future when citation needed See also EditRoads in Ireland Motorways in Ireland National secondary road Regional roadReferences Edit Book eISB electronic Irish Statute electronic Irish Statute Book eISB www irishstatutebook ie Archived from the original on 7 March 2016 Retrieved 4 June 2019 Budget19 Live The main points from today s budget IrishExaminer ie 9 October 2018 Archived from the original on 9 October 2018 Retrieved 9 October 2018 a b Cassidy Luke 12 December 2005 Kilcock Kinnegad road opens ahead of schedule The Irish Times Retrieved 14 September 2022 Press Releases National Roads Authority Archived from the original on 18 November 2007 Retrieved 11 February 2008 S I No 255 2009 Roads Act 2007 Declaration of Motorways Order 2009 Irish Statute Book Archived from the original on 23 November 2017 Retrieved 15 October 2020 a b Mannion Teresa 18 October 2021 Taoiseach opens 140m N4 road in Sligo RTE News Retrieved 18 October 2021 Gallagher Emma 24 August 2021 Bittersweet day as new N4 dual carriageway finally opens The Sligo Champion N4 Leixlip to M50 Junction permanent dead link An Taoiseach and Minister Ross turn sod on N4 Collooney Castlebaldwin Road and Western Distributor Road Transport Infrastructure Ireland 22 February 2019 Retrieved 4 June 2019 N4 Mullingar to Longford permanent dead link N4 Carrick on Shannon to Dromod permanent dead link N4 Carrick on Shannon Bypass permanent dead link N4 Cortober to Castlebaldwin permanent dead link N4 Sligo Western Relief Road permanent dead link Sources Edit Roads Act 1993 Classification of National Roads Order 2006 Department of Transport Roads Act 1993 Classification of National Roads Kilkock Kinnegad Route Order 2003 Eurolink Motorway M4 website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title N4 road Ireland amp oldid 1132905480, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
