The N60 road is a

national secondary road A national secondary road () is a category of road in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. These roads form an important part of the national route network but are secondary to the main arterial routes which are classified as national primary roads. Nat ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, linking

Castlebar Castlebar () is the county town of County Mayo, Ireland. Developing around a 13th-century castle of the de Barry family, from which the town got its name, the town now acts as a social and economic focal point for the surrounding hinterland. Wi ...

County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...

Roscommon Roscommon (; ; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60 road (Ireland), N60, N61 road (Ireland), N61 and N63 road (Irelan ...

town via

Claremorris Claremorris (; ) is a town in County Mayo in the west of Ireland, at the junction of the N17 and the N60 national routes. As of the 2017, it was the fastest growing town in the county, having seen a 31% increase in population between 2006 and ...

Ballyhaunis Ballyhaunis () is a town in County Mayo, Ireland. It is at the crossroads of the N60 and N83 National secondary roads and on the railway line linking Dublin to Westport and Ballina. Ballyhaunis is within both the Roman Catholic and civil pa ...

and

Castlerea Castlerea ( ; ) is a town in County Roscommon, Ireland. It is located in the west of the county and had a population of 2,348 at the 2022 census. Roughly translated from Irish, Castlerea is generally thought to mean 'brindled castle' (''Caisl ...

. The busiest section of the N60 is between Castlebar and Claremorris, as this is one of the main links from County Mayo to the Irish motorway network at

Tuam Tuam (; , meaning 'mound' or 'burial-place') is a town in Ireland and the second-largest settlement in County Galway. It is west of the midland Region, Ireland, midlands of Ireland, about north of Galway city. The town is in a civil parishe ...

. This section of the route carries more than 7,000 vehicles daily. The entire N60 is single carriageway and the vast majority has no hard shoulders. Some stretches have narrow driving lanes and poor horizontal alignment, and these sections have been targeted for upgrades in recent years. Between Castlebar and Claremorris, a 1.4 km section of road at Lagnamuck was realigned in 2019 and a 3.6 km realignment at Heathlawn was completed in 2024. Another 4 km realignment at Manulla is at the design stage. In

County Roscommon County Roscommon () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the province of Connacht and the Northern and Western Region. It is the List of Irish counties by area, 11th largest Irish county by area and Li ...

, a 3.4 km section of the N60 at Oran, between Ballymoe and Roscommon town, was realigned and upgraded in 2019. Prior to these upgrades, the N60 had seen only minor realignment works carried out since the 1970s, most notably the Claremorris relief road, which was constructed in two stages between 1988 and 2000. This relief road removes the majority of the 7,000 vehicles daily from Claremorris town centre, in particular Mount Street—which was once notorious for tailbacks, as traffic previously gave way to the busy N17 that passed through the town prior to the opening of the N17 bypass in 2001. A new route between Castlebar and Claremorris has been in planning for many years; it will bypass the village of Balla when constructed. However, design work on this project has been suspended.

Route

The official description of the N60 from the ''Roads Act 1993 (Classification of National Roads) Order 2012'' reads: :N60: Roscommon — Castlebar, County Mayo :Between its junction with N61 at Cloonbrackna in the county of Roscommon and its junction with N5 at Humbert Way in the town of Castlebar in the county of Mayo via Racecourse Road, Lissagallan and Drumatemple in the county of Roscommon: Ballymoe Bridge at the boundary between the county of Roscommon and the county of

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

Ballymoe Ballymoe (historically ''Bellamoe'', from ) is a village in County Galway, Ireland. Ballymoe is situated on the western side of the River Suck that separates counties County Galway, Galway and County Roscommon, Roscommon. The N60 road (Irela ...

in the county of Galway: Harristown; Saint Patrick Street and Main Street at Castlerea; Fortaugustus, Ballinlough and Scregg in the county of Roscommon: Coolnafarna, Devlis; Abbey Street, Bridge Street and Clare Street at Ballyhaunis; Hazelhill, Brickeens, Cuilmore and Clare; Inner Relief Road and Mount Street in the town of Claremorris; Lugatemple, Brees, Balla, Moat, Manulla Bridge, Breaghwy and Kilkenny in the county of Mayo: and Station Road in the town of Castlebar. The route originally continued from Castlebar to Westport; however, this section became part of the N5 in 1994. The route was curtailed by a further 2.5km when the N5 bypass of Castlebar opened in 2023. At this point the N60 terminates at its junction with the N5 Castlebar bypass, and the remaining former N60 road has been designated as the R308. The N60 is long.

References

{{Roads in Ireland National secondary roads in the Republic of Ireland Roads in County Mayo Roads in County Galway Roads in County Roscommon

Route

See also

References