Destinations (S to N)
On route / bypassed
County Limerick Limerick City † County Clare Cratloe Sixmilebridge Bunratty Shannon Shannon Airport (via the N19) Newmarket on Fergus Clarecastle Ennis Barefield Crusheen †	County Galway Gort † Ardrahan † Kilcolgan † Clarinbridge† Oranmore (meets the N6) Claregalway (Continues North as N17)
† Bypasses planned.

The N18 road is a national primary road in Ireland, connecting the cities of Limerick and Galway. Ennis and Gort are two major towns on the route, and Shannon Airport is reached via the connecting N19. The west coast route continues on to Sligo as the N17. The section from Limerick to the N19 junction forms part of European route E20, and the entire route is part of the proposed Atlantic Corridor.

Route

The route leaves Limerick city near Henry Street, Mallow Street and the Dock Road, heading across the Shannon Bridge. As the Condell Road the route skirts the northside of Limerick by passing through Westfield's bird sanctuary on the north bank of the River Shannon. Further along, the Clonmacken Roundabout provides a connection to the Caherdavin area of the city, and the Condell Road ends at the Coonagh Roundabout, where it meets the Ennis Road. As the N18, the Ennis Road leaves the city as dual-carriageway.

Junctions along the route serve Cratloe, Sixmilebridge and Bunratty. The road passed alongside Bunratty Castle before the completion of the neighbouring dual-carriageway section in the late 1980s/early 1990s. The other nearby junctions were also converted to fly-overs in the 1990s. Following the junction replacing Hurler's Cross, other junctions serve Shannon Town and Shannon Airport, the latter via the N19. The interchanges here, and sections of dual-carriageway continuing to Shannon Airport and Ennis were completed in 2004. The new stretch of dual-carriageway continues on past Newmarket-on-Fergus and Dromoland, ending just after the latter. On January 26 2007 construction was completed on a further section of dual-carriageway which bypasses Ennis.

The N68 connects from here to Kilrush.

The N85 connects to Ennistymon and the coast, and an N85 bypass to the south of Ennis was opened towards the end of 2006.

The N18 continues north as a poor quality two-lane road to Crusheen, and across into County Galway. Gort is the next town through which the route passes, with the connecting N66 running northeast to Loughrea. Several small towns are along the route north of this, including Kilcolgan, where the N67 route through north County Clare connects. The N18 passes by Oranmore, just outside Galway, where it meets the main N6 Dublin–Galway road. This route continues into the city centre. The N18, however, continues north to meet the N17 at Claregalway, where the N18 ends. The N17, coming from the city centre, continues north into County Mayo.

Future upgrades

There are two future upgrade projects planned for the N18.

Crusheen to Gort (Under Construction)

The first is the construction of a new High-quality dual carriageway from Crusheen to Gort, a total distance of . This section of dual carriageway will bypass both Gort and Crusheen. The sod was turned on this project on the 14 November 2008 for construction work to begin, with completion scheduled for October 2010 (possibly even earlier). As of December 2008, construction is proceeding very rapidly. This has been included in the second tranche of motorway redesignations and is likely to open as motorway.

Gort to Oranmore (At Tender)

This project involves the proposed construction of a new standard 'High-quality dual carriageway' from Gort to Oranmore, a total distance of . It will connect to the M17 Motorway where they cross the M6 Motorway (under construction). This has also been included in the second tranche of motorway redesignations and is likely to open as motorway.

This scheme has now moved into the tender stage along with the M17 scheme it connects to.

Shannon - Ennis

Dual-carriageway between Shannon and Ennis (including the Ennis bypass) has been included in the second tranche of motorway redesignations and is to gain motorway status on the 28th of August 2009.

See also

• Roads in Ireland
• Motorways in Ireland
• National secondary road
• Regional road

References

1. Atlantic Corridor
2. http://www.transport.ie/upload/general/10978-11.pdf
3. [1]
4. http://www.transport.ie/upload/general/10978-11.pdf

• Roads Act 1993 (Classification of National Roads) Order 2006 – Department of Transport

External links

• Ennisbypass.ie – N18 website
• willsbros.com - Contractor's website