The A1 is a major route in

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

. It runs 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 ...

via Lisburn 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 River Bann in 1712. It is situated in the civil parish of Seapatrick and the historic barony of Iv ...

to the

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

with the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

south of

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Armagh, Armagh and County Down, Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry ...

, from where the road continues to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, becoming the N1 road and

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

. Between

Sprucefield Sprucefield is a major out-of-town retail park in the townland of Magherageery, County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the southern edge of Lisburn; about one mile from Lisburn city centre, and from central Belfast. Sprucefield is located b ...

and Carrickcarnan the road forms part of the

European route E01 European route E1 is a series of roads in Europe, part of the United Nations International E-road network, running from Larne, Northern Ireland to Seville, Spain. There is a sea crossing between Rosslare Harbour, in Ireland, and Ferrol, but ...

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. 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. History In older documents written in English, the town's name was usually spelt ''Rathfylan'' or ''Rathfrilan''.

Road junction in Banbridge and an

underpass A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube constr ...

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 In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tra ...

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

Loughbrickland Loughbrickland ( or ; ) is a small village in County Down, Northern Ireland, south of Banbridge on the main Belfast to Dublin road. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 693. Loughbrickland is within the Banbridge District. History Lo ...

. 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 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

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