The A1 is a major route in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. It runs from

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

via

Lisburn Lisburn ( ; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with t ...

and

Banbridge Banbridge ( ) is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Bann and the A1 road and is named after a bridge built over the Bann in 1712. It is in the civil parish of Seapatrick and the historic barony of Iveagh Upper ...

to the

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

with the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

south of Newry, from where the road continues to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, becoming the N1 road and

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) motorway, A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the count ...

. Between Sprucefield and Carrickcarnan the road forms part of the European route E01.

Recent developments

The A1 is dual carriageway south from Sprucefield but some junctions remain relatively low specification as they necessitate right-turning movements across the

central reservation A median strip, central reservation, roadway median, or traffic median is the reserved area that separates opposing lanes of traffic on divided roadways such as divided highways, dual carriageways, freeways, and motorways. The term also ap ...

. The busier junctions have been improved by the provision of bridges or underpasses. A flyover was constructed at the busy

Rathfriland Rathfriland () is a market town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is north-east of Newry town centre. History In older documents written in English, the town's name was usually spelt ''Rathfylan'' or ''Rathfrilan''.

Road junction in Banbridge and an underpass at the very dangerous Hillsborough road junction in Dromore was completed in June 2005. Improved junctions at Banbridge and Hillsborough opened in September 2009, at Loughbrickland in December 2009 and at Banbridge Road, Dromore in February 2010. The scheme involving the dualling of the A1 between Beech Hill and Cloghogue was completed in July 2010, five months ahead of schedule. A deserted A1 near Newry

Planned developments

The Roads Service of Northern Ireland has planned to provide four further grade separated junctions. These schemes are located at: * Listullycurran Road, between Dromore and Hillsborough * Gowdystown Road, south of Dromore * Skeltons Road, between Dromore and Banbridge * Waringsford Road, north of Banbridge. Further measures envisaged to improve safety include a central reservation safety barrier to be constructed from the A1's junction with the M1 at Sprucefield to Loughbrickland. This will involve the closing of many of the dual carriageway's central cross-over points. The Road Service also plan to improve the link between the M1 and A1 at Sprucefield in a scheme that would include a flyover at Hillsborough, replacing the last remaining

roundabout A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are types of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junct ...

on the route between Dublin and Belfast. File:A1 Cloghogue Roundabout.jpg, Dualling roadworks at the Cloghogue roundabout on the A1 road, Newry, Northern Ireland in November 2007. File:A1 looking south. - geograph.org.uk - 87676.jpg, A1 looking south just before the right-hand turn for Moira in December 2005. File:Sheepbridge Inn - geograph.org.uk - 178645.jpg, The Sheepbridge Inn, located on the last remaining single-carriageway stretch of the A1, in June 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:A1 Road (Northern Ireland) 1 1 1 1