The Armagh East Link is proposed to connect the main A28 route (from Armagh to Newry and Dublin) to the main A3 route (from Armagh to Portadown and Belfast) without having to go into the city centre. It complements the Armagh North and West Link which is in a more advanced stage of planning - see link above. Construction of the scheme is not anticipated in the short term and as of 2007 is timetabled for construction in the 5-10 year timescale.

Route

The route uses existing roads in two places - the Ardmore Road in the south and part of Hamiltonsbawn Road Industrial Estate in the north. The map linked below gives a better idea of the route, but the official Roads Service description of the route is as follows:

"The Armagh East Link will run from the A28 Markethill Road in the south to the A3 Portadown Road in the north, incorporating an improved junction with the A51 Hamilstonsbawn Road. The existing junction of A28 Markethill Road and Ardmore Road will be improved and the existing road corridor through the Ardmore housing estate will become part of the southern section of the East Link. The route will continue northwards to the rear of the existing residential properties at Bannvale Villas until it meets the A51 at the Hamiltonsbawn Road industrial estate. A new junction will incorporate the existing access to the industrial units. The link will utilise this existing access road and continue along the eastern side of the Drumadd Barracks and emerge at a new junction with the A3 Portadown Road, to the west of the existing Linseys Hill junction."

Map

Click here for a PDF map of the proposed route, as published by Roads Service in March 2007. (Please let me know if this link does not work).