The M12 is a length of spur
motorway in
County Armagh,
Northern Ireland. It was opened in 1970.
[The Motorway Archive – M1/M12 Dates](_blank)
/ref>
It leads off the main M1 motorway, to Portadown, part of the conurbation
A conurbation is a region comprising a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ca ...
of Portadown-Craigavon Craigavon may refer to:
* Craigavon, County Armagh, a planned town in Northern Ireland
** Craigavon Borough Council, 1972–2015 local government area centred on the planned town
* Viscount Craigavon, title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
** ...
- Lurgan, and forms most of the route between junction 11 of the M1 (Ballynacor) and the A3 Northway at Kernan Loop. The road forms part of European route E18.
History
The M12 is a legacy from the 1960s plan to develop the Craigavon new town
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
. The M1 motorway was originally intended to run between Belfast, and the area that is now Craigavon.[Northern Ireland Roads Site – M12](_blank)
/ref> By the early 1960s, the M1 project had been extended further westwards to reach 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 14,340 at the 2011 Census. The Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council had its headquarters in the ...
, and the M12 was planned to connect Craigavon to the M1. The junction between the M12 and M1 originally had slip roads for traffic to and from Belfast only, but a bridge was built as part of the project for completion of the junction as full access.The Motorway Archive – M1/M12
Construction on the new Brownlow suburb of the town began in the late 1960s but by the 1980s it was clear that, due to overestimated population predictions, the new town had largely failed and construction on the remaining three suburbs never took place. The original plan to upgrade the Northway to motorway standard and give it free-flow connections to the M12 has consequently never happened.
The single-carriageway link road connecting it to the A3 was completed in 1970. West-facing connections to the M1 were added in 1990.
Junctions
See also
* List of motorways in the United Kingdom
* Roads in Ireland
References
External links
Northern Ireland Roads Site – M12CBRD Motorway Database – M12
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Motorways in Northern Ireland
Roads in County Armagh