page_title: M6 motorway (Ireland)
section_title: Kinnegad-Athlone
hierarchical_section_title: M6 motorway (Ireland) / History / Kinnegad-Athlone
caption_attribution_description: English: Passage, a sculpture by Brian O'Loughlin (2006) at Pass of Kilbride beside the westbound lanes of the M6 motorway, near Milltownpass, in County Westmeath in Ireland. Six 10-metre figures of bog oak are topped with aluminium discs, powder-coated with touches of gold leaf.
context_page_description: The M6 motorway is a motorway in Ireland, which runs from Dublin to Galway. The M6 extends from its junction with the M4 at Kinnegad all the way west to the outskirts of Galway City, but the Athlone bypass and the approach to Galway city - while of dual carriageway standard - have not been designated motorway and are still signed as N6. The motorway was officially completed and opened to traffic on 18 December 2009, and was the first city-to-city direct major inter-urban route to be completed in Ireland. The M6 and M4, which form the Galway-Dublin route, consist of a grade-separated 2+2 dual carriageway road with a top speed limit of 120 km/h. At approximately 144 km, the M6 is the third longest motorway in the state and will be 159km.
context_section_description: From 24 September 2008, motorway regulations were applied from Kinnegad to the eastern end of the Athlone bypass. The Kinnegad-Athlone scheme was signed as a motorway (and numbered "M6"). Its road markings were already appropriate to a motorway prior to the change in designation coming into effect; however, motorway regulations were not in force and the speed limit was 100 km/h until 24 September of that year.
caption: Passage, a sculpture by Brian O'Loughlin (2006), beside the westbound lanes of the M6 motorway, at Pass of Kilbride
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