A2 Dualling - Maydown to City of Derry Airport
Status
 Construction scheme (future)
Where
 To dual the main A2 from Maydown on the edge of Londonderry city to the City of Derry airport.
Total Length
6.8km / 4.3 miles
Dates

Public consultation began 22 Feb 2005

Preferred route announced 1 Nov 2005

Construction due to begin late 2008 (as of Feb 07, revised from "early 08")

Completion due late 2010

Cost
 £25m (revised from 19.8m)
Photos / Map
See map below. No photos as yet - please contact me if you have any
See Also
General area map

This scheme is part of the wider strategy of improving the strategic road network in Northern Ireland. As the main route connecting Londonderry and Coleraine, it also feeds large industrial sites at Maydown and Campsey as well the growing City of Derry airport. The section closest to the city carries 17,000 vehicles per day, while the section to the airport carries 12,000.

It has been decided to upgrade the route to dual-carriageway standard. Seven options were initally considered, whittled down to two: - a fully on-line upgrade (same route upgraded) and a partially off-line upgrade (part of the route completely new). In November 2005 the latter option was announced as the preferred scheme after a public consultation. The map below was released to the press at this time. More detailed maps of the route were published late in 2006 and come in three parts:

Maydown to Campsey  | Campsey to Broadbridge | Broadbridge to City of Derry Airport

From Maydown to Campsey, a new westbound carriageway will be constructed to the south of the existing road, with the existing road used as the eastbound carriageway. East of Campsey, the road will be constructed entirely offline with roundabouts at Campsey, Broadbridge and the City of Derry airport. The existing A2 east of Campsey will be retained as a local road to access properties.

All along the new route there will be *no* central-reserve crossing points, one of the main causes of accidents on dual-carriageway. Instead, a series of parallel roads will be constructed to access homes and farms. Where side roads do join the new road, they will do so with LILO (left-in, left-out) access only. Traffic wishing to turn right will turn left and do a u-turn at the next roundabout.

The cost of £19.8m given in 2005 had risen to £25m by the time this public consultation was released in July 2006.


Progress

Update 15 Feb 2007: According to the Roads Service web site, construction commencement has been pushed back from "early 2008" to "late 2008", possibly due to the need for a public inquiry.

Map

The red route is the one selected for this scheme with the blue route rejected. The western part is at the top, with the eastern below. (Map issued to the public and press in Feb 2005.)