page_title: Roads in Ireland
section_title: Roads in the Republic of Ireland
hierarchical_section_title: Roads in Ireland / Roads in the Republic of Ireland
caption_attribution_description: English: Typical Irish roadsign at roundabout junction in Portlaoise. Explanation of symbols/colours: The background of the sign, in this case white (Regional Road (Rxxx)/local road (Lxxxx)), is based on the colour code for the road the sign/motorist is on. The black-on-white diagram represents the roundabout ahead and the roads radiating from it. The long black line indicates the direction of approach. In this case the first exit from the roundabout is a local (unsignposted) road to the left. The second exit is the N80 leading to Tullamore and access to the N7 west. This area is "patched" green as the N80 and N7 are both National Routes. The third exit is the N80 leading to Carlow and Access to the N7 east. This area is also "patched" green as the N80 and N7 are both National Routes. The gap in the "roundabout symbol" is to indicate that the next road is the one you are already on. You could use the roundabout to do a U-turn, provided you are not on a one-way street! On the N80, heading for Tullamore and also on a section of the N7 heading west there there are low bridges. This is highlighted by typical black-on-yellow diamonds and the heights (in feet and in meters) are given alongside the yellow warning diamonds. At the bottom right is a sign for a car parking facility.
context_page_description: 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 trackways suitable only for walkers and horses, to surfaced roads including modern motorways. The major routes were established before Irish independence and consequently take little cognisance of the border other than a change of identification number and street furniture. Northern Ireland has had motorways since 1962, and has a well-developed network of primary, secondary and local routes. The Republic started work on its motorway network in the early 1980s; and historically, the road network there was once somewhat less well developed. However, the Celtic Tiger economic boom and an influx of European Union structural funding, saw national roads and regional roads in the Republic come up to international standard quite quickly.
context_section_description: The Republic has an extensive network of public roads connecting all parts of the country.
  As of 31 December 2013, there was a total of 7,959.309 km (4945 miles) of national roads: of which 5,305.56 km (3297 miles) were national primary routes (including motorways) and 2,653.749 km (1649 miles) were national secondary routes.
  By May 2018 Network Lengths were as follows.
  National Primary Roads (including motorways) 2,717 km (1689 miles)
  National Secondary Roads 2,696 km (1675 miles)
  Total National Road N (and M) Network 5,413 km (3363 miles)
  In addition to national roads, the Republic also has an extensive network of other public roads: there are:
  13,124 kilometres (8155 miles) of Regional Roads R and
  81,300 kilometres (50,500 miles) of Local L roads.
  Local Roads are broken into three classes,
  Local Primary (LP) 23,789 km (14782 miles),
  Local Secondary (LS) 33,366 km (20733 miles) and
  Local Tertiary LT 23,789 km (14782 miles)
  For a combined public road network length of 99,830 km (62,030 miles) in 2018
  The Republic's major road network is focused on Dublin. Motorways were extended from Dublin to other major cities as part of the Transport 21 programme which aimed to have a world-class motorway network in place by the end of 2010. At that time, Ireland's main cities (Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford and Belfast) excluding Derry were connected to Dublin with motorways or with near-motorway standard roads. Dublin was the focus of some other major projects, such as the East-Link and West-Link toll-bridges, as well as the Dublin Port Tunnel. Major by-pass projects were also built around other cities and towns. The Jack Lynch Tunnel under the River Lee in Cork was a major project outside Dublin, and a fourth crossing at Limerick under the River Shannon (known as the Limerick Tunnel) opened in 2010.
  The different classes of roads in Ireland are allocated blocks of numbers so that no number is used more than once save in the case of Local Primary Roads.(not all road numbers are currently in use):
  National Primary Roads are numbered from N1 to N50 (motorway sections are signed with M prefix instead of N ).
  National Secondary Roads are numbered from N51 to N99.
  Regional Roads are numbered from R100 to R999.
  Local Primary Roads are numbered from L1000 to L4999.
  Local Secondary Roads are numbered from L5000 to L8999.
  Local Tertiary Roads are numbered from L10001 to L89999 with the first 4 digits representing the Local Primary or Secondary road it starts off from. Local Tertiary roads which are unrelated to a Local Primary or Secondary road are given numbers from L90000 up.
caption: A directional road sign in the Republic of Ireland
  County Laois.
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