A scheme is in planning (as of June 2008) to upgrade the A6 road from Derry to Dungiven (part of the route to Belfast) to dual-carriageway. A similar scheme is in planning to dual the A5 road from Derry to the border at Aughnacloy (part of the route to Dublin). Half a ring road, in the form of the Crescent Link and Skeoge Link, runs round the north side of the city.

The missing link in all these plans is a link from the A5 to the A6 round the south of Derry. Currently this movement requires drivers to drive right into the heart of the Waterside, the part of the city on the east bank of the River Foyle. In June 2008, DRD minister Conor Murphy commented in a press release on the A6 that "a further study will commence shortly to explore potential linkages from the A6 at Drumahoe to the A5 and will take account of the potential for improved linkages to the west". This is NOT a committment to proceed with the scheme, but rather they are exploring whether or not it would be worth building. The results of the study are expected in the summer of 2009.

The route is obviously unknown at this stage, except that it would appear to connect to the A6 at Drumahoe which is further out of the city than the current Crescent Link. The Google Earth screenshot below shows a possible start and end point with Drumahoe on the A6 on the right, and Prehen on the A5 on the left.

Updates

23 July 2009: The preferred route for the A5 Western Transport Corridor (dual-carriageway from Derry to Aughnacloy) was published two days ago. In this, the Minister says that "[The upgraded A5] starts at the Derry end with a new single carriageway by-pass to the west of New Buildings. Immediately south of New Buildings there will be a roundabout which will be the start of the new dual carriageway. This roundabout will also facilitate possible future road links between the A5 and the A6 and also across the River Foyle to the west of the City and Donegal." This suggests that Roads Service are looking favourably on the idea of the A5-A6 link, and perhaps an extension westwards to the A2 Buncrana Road. All of this is strongly suggesting that the road (if approved) may run from south of Newbuildings to Drumahoe. Three weeks ago, the Minister also re-confirmed in a Written Answer to the Assembly that the report we are expecting on this topic will be released "later this summer".

23 Mar 2009: According to one of these Written Answers, the study into whether or not there is merit in building a road of this type is underway, with a report due in the summer. To quote the Minister for Regional Development: "Roads Service commissioned consultants in June 2008 to examine existing proposals, by Roads Service and the [Republic of Ireland's] National Roads Authority, to improve the primary road network approaching Derry and to consider how traffic, on these proposed roads, could best be distributed into and around the city. This commission has been extended to consider, as a priority, the feasibility of a link between the A6 and A5. This work will consider if such a link has merit and to make recommendations. A report is expected by summer 2009."

31 Aug 2008: A site visitor spoke to a Roads Service engineer off the record who commented that the study for this road proposal may include a third river crossing to the south of Derry and a possible link to the A2 Buncrana Road, effectively completing a city ring road. It should be stressed, of course, that this scheme is currently being explored for feasibiltiy and there is as yet NO plan to actually build it.