National Primary Route 11

The N11 is the major artery threading its way south from Dublin through Wicklow, the Garden of Ireland, taking in a number of pleasant seaside towns and finally ending at the major port of Rosslare at the extreme southeastern tip of Ireland.

The road begins on the quays of Dublin, twisting and turning its way down to the Stillorgan Dual Carriageway, the first dual carriageway road in the country, built from the 1950s to the 70s. There are only 2 grade separated spots, at UCD and Cherrywood.

As the road reaches the edge of the city, it turns into the M11 Bray bypass, completed in 1991. In the middle of the bypass is a reconstructed section where it ties in with the M50, completed in June 2005. The bypass ends at the south end of Bray and a long, low standard dual carriageway begins. This dual section was created by cobbling short sections built on the cheap from the 1970s to the 1980s. The newest section is the one that was hardest and most controversial to build - the Glen of the Downs, completed in 2003 after a long, arduous campaign against it by Greens who claimed it would destroy the old-growth trees of the glen. Campaigners built treehouses in the trees along the road. Later though, they were forced to move out of these, due to damage inadvertently being inflicted on the area. However, in the end, it seems that only 70 trees were felled. This was achieved by giving the road a narrow profile through the section. The total length of time to complete the project, from start of work, protest, resumption of work, and completion, was around 10 years.

In 2004, a high standard extension of the dual carriageway south as far as the outskirts of Wicklow town was completed. From here, a 16 km winding single carriageway section wends it way through the trees, due to be replaced by dual by 2013. Next, the route passes the town of Arklow, whose bypass was completed in 1999. Although built to motorway spec, grousing from the locals prevented it getting the designation until 2009. An extension of the road southwards to the far end of the murderous-sounding Gorey was opened between July and September 2007. This part was built to a slightly lower standard than other motorways in the country, though it was apparently still suitable for reclassification to motorway in 2009.

Traffic is generally high on the N11, and even this far from the city, any bottlenecks cause significant problems. The blackspot has now moved south to Enniscorthy, and accordingly the road will be extended even further south to clear this town too, programmed for 2015. From here, it's single carriageway south until, over the River Slaney, the road ends at the N25 at Wexford, where one can continue to the important port of Rosslare using the N25.

As far as traffic levels go, the highest is at Fassaroe just south of the the M11 Bray bypass. At 68000 in midsummer 2008, this is enough to justify not just motorway, but 6-lane motorway - far in excess of the road's current standard. Traffic levels at the southern end of Gorey are only around 8700 in the middle of summer, though traffic growth on much of Ireland's trunk road network can be 10% a year.

Wikipedia page on this road

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