The A24 is a major road in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

running from

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

Clough Clough ( ; ) is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It sits about 3 miles from Dundrum, County Down, Dundrum on the A2 road (Northern Ireland), A2 between Newcastle, County Down, Newcastle and Belfast. The A2 road (Northern ...

near

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

, passing through

Carryduff Carryduff ()Northern Ireland Placenames Project
is a small ...

and Ballynahinch. In Belfast, the route forms the

Ormeau Road Ormeau Road is a road in south Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland. Ormeau Park is adjacent to it. It forms part of the A24. History The road, as currently laid out, dates from the first decades of the 19th century when a bridge was buil ...

. At Clough it meets the A2. The section of the A24 from

Forestside Shopping Centre Forestside Shopping Centre (better known as Forestside) is located in Newtownbreda in the southern suburbs of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The first phase of the centre, the Sainsbury's store, opened in March 1997. The popularity of the centre has ...

to Carryduff roundabout was named by

European Road Assessment Programme European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP) is an international nonprofit ( vzw) organisation registered in Belgium. It operates from Worting House, Basingstoke, Hampshire. In partnership with national motoring organisations and local author ...

EuroRAP
as one of the six most dangerous sections of road in Northern Ireland in 2005. This part of the road is a four-lane undivided carriageway.

Plans

There are plans to build a by-pass of the A24 around Ballynahinch, which is currently a bottleneck for strategic traffic resulting in traffic congestion. This is exacerbated during Easter and Summer holidays with large volumes of traffic travelling to/from Newcastle and the wider Mournes area. The Department for Infrastructure has announced its intention to proceed with the scheme, with the start of construction subject to the funding of £35-45m being made available.Bid to begin work at Ballynahinch bypass
5 February 2020

References

Roads in Northern Ireland Roads in Belfast Roads in County Down {{NorthernIreland-road-stub