A29 Road (Northern Ireland)
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The A29 is a major road 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 is mostly a single carriageway and goes through a number of main towns and connects in several places to other major roads.


Route

The road begins in the town of
Portrush Portrush () is a small seaside resort town on the north coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It neighbours the resort of Portstewart in County Londonderry. The main part of the old town, including the Portrush railway station, railway stati ...
, heading south for a few miles before becoming the
ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducin ...
around
Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...
. The road includes a short section of dual carriageway between Lodge Road Roundabout and Greenmount as part of the shared route with the A37 where it runs west towards
Limavady Limavady (; ) is a market town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, with Binevenagh as a backdrop. Lying east of Derry and southwest of Coleraine, Limavady had a population of 11,279 people at the 2021 Census. In the 40 years between 1 ...
. At a roundabout built in 2005, just outside Macosquin, the A37 continues west while the A29 heads south towards Garvagh. After Garvagh, the road goes through Swatragh,
Maghera Maghera ( ; ) is a small town at the foot of the Glenshane Pass in Northern Ireland. Its population was 4,235 in the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. Formerly in the Barony (Ireland), barony of Loughinsholin within the historic County ...
,
Tobermore Tobermore (), ) is a small village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland named after the townland of Tobermore (townland), Tobermore. The village, which has a predominantly Protestant population, lies south-south-west of Maghera and north- ...
, Desertmartin and
Moneymore Moneymore () is a village and townland in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 1,897 in the 2011 census. It is situated within Mid-Ulster District. It is an example of a plantation village in Mid-Ulster built by the Dr ...
. It then becomes Dual Carriageway as far as
Cookstown Cookstown (, ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the fourth-largest town in the county and had a population of 12,546 in the 2021 census. It, along with Magherafelt and Dungannon, is one of the main towns in the Mid-Ulster ...
, goes through Cookstown and onto
Dungannon Dungannon (, ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest town in the county (after Omagh) and had a population of 16,282 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2021 Census. The Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Counci ...
as single-carriageway where is meets the A4 and M1. The road continues south as a single carriageway towards
Armagh Armagh ( ; , , " Macha's height") is a city and the county town of County Armagh, in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Primates of All ...
, passing through the villages of Moy and Charlemont. After Armagh, the road continues south towards
Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...
as a secondary route, passing through Keady and Newtownhamilton. The road then crosses the border into
County Louth County Louth ( ; ) is a coastal Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of County Meath, Meath to the ...
in 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. ...
where it becomes the R177, terminating in Dundalk.


Tourist attractions

There are a number of tourist sites on or close to the A29. These include: *Portrush, and the nearby
Giant's Causeway The Giant's Causeway () is an area of approximately 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcano, volcanic fissure eruption, part of the North Atlantic Igneous Province active in the region during the Paleogene period. ...
*Coleraine *The
North West 200 The International North West 200 is a motorcycle racing, motorcycle road racing, road race first held in 1929 on a street circuit known as "the Triangle" between the towns of Portstewart, Coleraine and Portrush in Causeway Coast and Glens. It ...
motorcycle races near Coleraine which incorporate part of the A29 into the circuit (Portrush to Coleraine section) *Garvagh Museum *The Linen Green, Dungannon * Armagh Planetarium


Road quality

As of 2006, a number of improvements had been undertaken along the route, including a roundabout at the meeting with the A37, outside Macosquin to reduce delays and smoothing of hidden dips between Maghera and Moneymore. On other parts of the Maghera-Moneymore route the surface is heavily worn and uneven. While cat's eyes are present to aid night-driving, they are often difficult to see and markings at the side of the road, when in 'open country' are of poor quality. Cookstown is a common location for
traffic congestion Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s, resulting in m ...
and, during the day, contributes to lengthy delays. Between Dungannon and Cookstown the village of Carland was once an infamous bad bend: a sharp right-hand turn over a bridge that could not easily accommodate passing vehicles and was usually taken at 5 mph. Work on a bypass of this
bottleneck Bottleneck may refer to: * the narrowed portion (neck) of a bottle Science and technology * Bottleneck (engineering), where the performance of an entire system is limited by a single component * Bottleneck (network), in a communication network * ...
began in August 2009 and has been completed. On entering Dungannon, the Thomas Street/Hospital Roundabout is a further source of delay at peak times. While local people have suggested a bypass from the M1/A29 roundabout at Stangmore, east of Dungannon to rejoin the existing A29 after Carland (north of Dungannon), there are no plans to build such a road.


References

Northern Ireland coast and countryside Tourist attractions in Northern Ireland Roads in Northern Ireland Roads in County Antrim Roads in County Londonderry Roads in County Tyrone {{NorthernIreland-road-stub