The A2 Buncrana Road is the principal route west from Derry towards Letterkenny and county Donegal. The project distinguishes between the 3.1km "urban" section between Pennyburn Roundabout and the A515 Skeoge Link, and the 1.4km "rural" section between the Skeoge Link and the border. The road is heavily trafficked (20,000 vehicles per day on the urban section, 14,000 per day on the rural section) and congested because it only has one lane in each direction.

This scheme aims to increase capacity by widening the route to four lanes: two in each direction. Due to land restraints, the urban section will be single-carriageway (ie, just a white line in the middle) but it is uncertain whether the rural section will be a dual-carriageway (ie, with a central crash barrier) or a single-carriageway. The plan is to include another new roundabout a few hundred metres inside the border. The screenshot below (Google Earth) shows the scope of the upgrade:

Roads Service are treating this project as two separate projects, one for the urban stretch and one for the rural stretch. It is uncertain whether Donegal County Council will be upgrading the N13 towards Letterkenny on the Irish side of the border.

At the first public exhibition in April 2007, Roads Service presented several routes for the urban section. In February 2009 the preferred route as announced - an online upgrade of the existing road. It's unclear what effect it will have on properties.

Progress

12 Feb 2009: Two days ago the Regional Development Minister announced the preferred route for the scheme. The planners have opted for an online upgrade of the entire route. Pennyburn to Skeoge will be widened to a four lane single-carriageway (two lanes each way separated by a white line). Skeoge to the border will be widened to a dual-carriageway (two lanes each way separated by a barrier). The exact effect this will have on properties is unclear - it may just require land aquisition, but may also require some buildings to be demolished as well. This BBC article outlines some of the concerns that residents had after this announcement.

2 Jan 2009: According to a written answer in the Assembly, the cost of the scheme has risen sharply from its 2005 estimate of £18.3m to an "indicative budget of £40-50m". The information confirms that the scheme is still anticipated to get underway in the 5-10 year timescale.

16 Nov 2008: Roads Service have published a leaflet on the scheme. It confirms the timescale of the project (within 5-10 years) and comments that the preferred route is due to be announced in early 2009. It also includes a map showing that the main question mark on the route is whether to pass to the north or the south of Springtown Industrial Estate. The leaflet also says that the traffic flows on the urban section are now about 20,000 vehicles per day.

18 Mar 2008: A second public consultation exercise will take place on 1, 2 and 3 April 2008. The consultations will take place at Ramada Da Vinci's Hotel, Derry from 5pm to 9pm on 1 April, from 10am to 9pm on 2 April and from 10am to 5pm on 3 April. A public meeting will then take place from 7pm to 9pm on 3 April. All interested parties should be encouraged to participate as this is their main opportinity to air concerns and make comments.

Photos

The view north west along Buncrana Road from Upper Galliagh Road in 2004. [Wesley Johnston]

The view north west along A2 Buncrana Road at Enagh, just a few hundred metres inside Northern Ireland, in 2004. [Wesley Johnston]