The R148 road is one of Ireland's regional roads which was classified following the opening of a by-passed

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 ...

. The section of the old N4 which has been by-passed by the M4 motorway was reclassified R148. The R148 runs from

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 ...

Kinnegad Kinnegad or Kinagad () is a town in County Westmeath, Ireland. It is on the border with County Meath, near the junction of the M6 and the M4 motorways - two of Ireland's main east–west roads. It is roughly 60 km from the capital, Dublin ...

County Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Sovereign state, Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces o ...

. The road is long. It is generally of a very high standard for a regional road, with wide lanes, hard shoulders, and turning bays. It is still heavily used by traffic avoiding the tolled M4 between

Kilcock Kilcock () is a town and townland in the north of County Kildare, Ireland, on the border with County Meath. Its population of 6,093 makes it the ninth largest town in Kildare and 76th largest in Ireland. The town is located 35 km (22 ...

and Kinnegad. The road was previously categorised as a

National Primary route 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 ...

until the opening of the M4 motorway and therefore carried a speed limit of 100 km/h. The speed limit has now been reduced to 80 km/h. The fact that speed limits have reduced, even though traffic is lighter than before, has led some to claim that the limit reduction is simply a cynical attempt to force motorists to use the tolled M4. This argument is perhaps strengthened by the fact that the R148 received a large share of the speed cameras that were rolled out across Irish roads in 2008. However, under the ''Road Traffic Act 2004'', the default speed limit on Irish regional roads is 80 km/h. A section of the road (between

and

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) ...

had for safety reasons already been subject to a special speed limit of 50 mph/80 km/h for some years prior to M4's opening in any case. File:R148road4458.jpg, 380px, left, R148 east of

poly 186 234 180 338 456 342 458 290 550 282 550 236

poly 186 374 180 480 490 480 492 430 538 430 540 368 Clonard

Route

The route starts (east-west) at Aston Quay in central Dublin. It then runs to

Palmerstown Palmerstown (; officially Palmerston, see spelling) is a civil parish and suburb in western Dublin on the banks of the River Liffey. It forms part of the South Dublin local authority and the Dublin Mid-West parliamentary constituency. The area ...

where it becomes the N4. It starts again in

Lucan Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (3 November 39 AD – 30 April 65 AD), better known in English as Lucan (), was a Roman poet, born in Corduba (modern-day Córdoba), in Hispania Baetica. He is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imperial ...

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

at the same grade separated interchange at which the M4 begins. Less than 1 km west it crosses the

River Liffey The River Liffey (Irish: ''An Life'', historically ''An Ruirthe(a)ch'') is a river in eastern Ireland that ultimately flows through the centre of Dublin to its mouth within Dublin Bay. Its major tributaries include the River Dodder, the River ...

into

Leixlip Leixlip ( or ; , IPA: �lʲeːmʲənˠˈwɾˠad̪ˠaːnʲ is a town in north-east County Kildare, Ireland. Its location on the confluence of the River Liffey and the Rye Water has marked it as a frontier town historically: on the border between ...

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

. It then passes through Leixlip,

Maynooth Maynooth (; ga, Maigh Nuad) is a university town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to Maynooth University (part of the National University of Ireland and also known as the National University of Ireland, Maynooth) and St Patrick's ...

and Clonard before rejoining the N4 west of

. The official description of the R148 from the ''Roads Act 1993 (Classification of Regional Roads) Order 2012'' S.I. No. 54/2012 — Roads Act 1993 (Classification of Regional Roads) Order 2012
''Irish Statute Book''. 2012-02-28. reads: :R148: Dublin — Kinnegad, County Westmeath (Part old National Route 4) :Between its junction with R138 at OConnell Bridge in the city of Dublin and its junction with M50 at Palmerstown Upper in the county of South Dublin via Astons Quay, Crampton Quay, Wellington Quay, Essex Quay, Wood Quay, Merchants Quay, Ushers Quay, Ushers Island, Victoria Quay (and via Frank Sherwin Bridge, Wolfe Tone Quay, Sarsfield Quay, Ellis Quay, Arran Quay, Inns Quay, Ormond Quay Upper, Ormond Quay Lower and Bachelors Walk), Kingsbridge, Saint Johns Road West, Con Colbert Road and Chapelizod Bypass in the city of Dublin: and Redcowfarm in the county of South Dublin :::and :between its junction with N4 at Cooldrinagh in the county of South Dublin and its junction with M4 at Heathstown in the county of Westmeath via Leixlip Road in the county of South Dublin: Leixlip Bridge at the boundary between the county of South Dublin and the county of Kildare: Main Street in the town of Leixlip; Collinstown, Blakestown; Dublin Road, Main Street and Mill Street in the town of Maynooth; Maws; Harbour Street, Bridge Street (and via New Lane, The Square and New Road) and Church Street at Kilcock; Allen Bridge and Boycestown in the county of Kildare: Harris’s Bridge at the boundary between the county of Kildare and the county of Meath: Johnstown, Innfield Relief Road, Newcastle and Kilmurry in the county of Meath: Blackwater Bridge at the boundary between the county of Meath and the county of Kildare: Ballynadrumny in the county of Kildare: Leinster Bridge at the boundary between the county of Kildare and the county of Meath: Clonard, Ardnamullen, Hardwood and Rossan in the county of Meath: Kinnegad Bridge at the boundary between the County of Meath and the County of Westmeath: Main Street at Kinnegad; and Correllstown in the county of Westmeath.

References

Roads Act 1993 (Classification of Regional Roads) Order 2006
–

Department of Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...

{{Roads in Ireland Regional roads in the Republic of Ireland Roads in County Meath Roads in County Dublin Roads in County Kildare

Route

See also

References