The Outer Orbital Route is a proposed
motorway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...
around the city of
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
; the route has also been known as the Leinster Outer Orbital Route and the Dublin Outer Orbital Route (DOOR). In 2008, the Government reaffirmed its support for the route, with construction to happen between 2011 and 2019. In 2015, work on the route has been deferred to 'after 2035'.
The motorway is to serve as a second bypass of the city to complement the
M50 (inner orbital) motorway. and to link all of Dublin's main trunk routes:
M1,
M2,
M3,
M4, and
M7. The only route that is not to be served is the
M11. The road is planned to run roughly run from south of
Drogheda
Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...
then south of
Navan
Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town of County Meath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In 2016, it had a population of 30,173, making it the List of urban areas in the Republic of Ireland by population, tenth largest settlement in ...
, then by
Enfield
Enfield may refer to:
Places Australia
* Enfield, New South Wales
* Enfield, South Australia
** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb
** Enfield High School (South Australia)
...
, to east of
Newbridge at the confluence of the
M7 and
M9 motorways.
Funding
Although funding for transportation projects in Dublin was already difficult to secure, in 2008 the government reaffirmed its commitment to this project. In October 2015, the draft Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy deferred plans for the road to after 2035.
The Leinster Orbital - a repeat of the M3 controversy?
The land for the motorway is reserved by Meath County Council development plan (2011). The Tara Skryne Preservation group say that this will repeat the mistakes of the M3 development, by locking in a route which is too close to the
Tara archaeological landscape and the
Newgrange
Newgrange ( ga, Sí an Bhrú) is a prehistoric monument in County Meath in Ireland, located on a rise overlooking the River Boyne, west of Drogheda. It is an exceptionally grand passage tomb built during the Neolithic Period, around 3200 BC, ...
UNESCO World Heritage site
See also
*
Roads in Ireland
The island of Ireland, comprising Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, has an extensive network of tens of thousands of kilometres of public roads, usually surfaced. These roads have been developed and modernised over centuries, from tr ...
*
Motorways in Ireland
In Ireland, the highest category of road is a motorway (''mótarbhealach'', plural: ''mótarbhealaí''), indicated by the prefix M followed by a one- or two-digit number (the number of the national route of which each motorway forms a part). Th ...
*
National primary road
A national primary road ( ga, Bóthar príomha náisiúnta) is a road classification in Ireland. National primary roads form the major routes between the major urban centres. There are 2649 km of national primary roads. This category of ro ...
*
National secondary road
A national secondary road ( ga, Bóthar Náisiúnta den Dara Grád) is a category of road in 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 ...
*
Regional road
References
{{reflist
Motorways in the Republic of Ireland
Proposed roads
Transport in Dublin (city)
Ring roads
Proposed transport infrastructure in the Republic of Ireland