*** Welcome to piglix ***

M50 motorway (Ireland)

M50 motorway shield}}

M50 motorway
N2 road M2 motorway M1 motorway M50 motorway M3 motorway M4 motorway N32 road N2 road N3 road N1 road M50 motorway N11 road N4 road N7 road M50 motorway N31 road M50 motorway M11 motorway N11 roadM50 motorway (Ireland).png
About this image

Mano cursor.svg Clickable image
Route information
Length: 45.5 km (28.3 mi)
Existed: 1990 – present
History: Completed 1990–2005
Upgraded 2006–2010
Major junctions
From: Dublin Port
  Motorway Exit 3 Ireland.PNGM1 reduced motorway IE.png
Motorway Exit 5 Ireland.PNGN2 national IE.png
Motorway Exit 6 Ireland.PNGN3 national IE.png
Motorway Exit 7 Ireland.PNGN4 national IE.png
Motorway Exit 9 Ireland.PNGN7 national IE.png
Motorway Exit 11 Ireland.PNGN81 National IE.png
Motorway Exit 14 Ireland.PNGN31 national IE.png
Motorway Exit 17 Ireland.PNGM11 reduced motorway IE.png
To: Shankill
Location
Primary
destinations:
Dublin, Finglas, Blanchardstown, Ballymount, Tallaght, Sandyford
Road network

M50 motorway shield}}

The M50 motorway (Irish: Mótarbhealach M50) is a C-shaped orbital motorway in Dublin and the busiest motorway in Ireland. The current route was built in various sections over the course of 27 years, from 1983 to 2010. It begins at Dublin Port, running northward through the Dublin Port Tunnel and along a portion of the Airport Motorway. It then turns west at its junction with the M1, circling the northern, western and southern suburbs of Dublin, before merging with the M11 at Shankill in South East Dublin. The road forms part of European route E01.

An orbital motorway for Dublin was first proposed in the Dublin Transportation Study of 1971. Construction began on the first section, the Western Parkway (J6-J11) in 1987, and opened to traffic in 1990. This was followed by the Northern Cross Route (J3-J6) in 1996, the Southern Cross Route (J11-J13) in 2001, and the Southeastern Motorway (J13-J17) in 2005. The M50 route was extended to Dublin Port in 2006, via a section of the 1985 Airport Motorway (up to then a part of the M1) and the newly opened Dublin Port Tunnel.

A massive upgrade project commenced in early 2006 due to the motorway's chronic capacity problems. Lanes were added J3-J13, and many of the low-capacity roundabout interchanges were replaced with free-flowing interchanges. These upgrades were completed in 2010.

The M50 was originally planned to divert traffic travelling on National Primary Routes away from the city (a full bypass of Dublin). Due to urban expansion it now runs through Dublin's suburbs and serves a route for Dublin itself, connecting the suburbs.


...
Wikipedia

...