M7 motorway (Republic of Ireland)

Westbound on the M7 near Kildare

The M7 motorway is a motorway in the Republic of Ireland, which runs continuously from the outskirts of Naas in County Kildare to Rossbrien on the outskirts of Limerick city. The M7 forms part of the Dublin to Limerick N7 national primary road. The section of the motorway bypassing Naas, a five-mile stretch, was the first section of motorway to open in Ireland, in 1983. Following substantial works to extend the M7 to Limerick, by the end of 2010, the motorway replaced all of the old single-carriageway N7 route which is now designated as R445. At 103½ miles, the M7 is the longest motorway in Ireland.

Route

The N7 leads directly into the M7 motorway at the Maudlin's Interchange near Naas (junction 9 on the N7-M7 corridor), and proceeds south-westwards, bypassing Naas, Newbridge, Kildare, Monasterevin, Ballybrittas, Portlaoise, Mountrath, Borris-in-Ossory, Roscrea, Moneygall, Toomevara, Nenagh and Annacotty. As of December 2010, the M7 is approximately 116 miles in length and ends at the Rosbrien interchange (junction 30) outside Limerick. Here, the road connects to the Limerick Southern Ring Road - Phase 2 and continues as the N18. At junction 30 there is also a slip-road to the M20 Limerick to Cork/Kerry road. Along this section of the M7 there is a fly-over for the N24 Limerick to Waterford road at junction 29. Southwest of Portlaoise it forms an interchange with the M8 Dublin-Cork motorway at junction 19 and at junction 11 there is an interchange with the M9 Dublin - Waterford motorway. (From this junction the M7/N7 is 3 lanes in each direction until it intersects with the M50 (Dublin's ring-motorway))

History

The M7 was constructed in stages between 1983 and 2010 to replace the old route which ran (in order from east to west) through the villages and towns of Naas (1983), Newbridge (1993), Kildare (December 2003), Monasterevin (November 2004), Portlaoise (29 May 1997), Mountrath and Borris-in-Ossory (both 28 May 2010), Roscrea, Moneygall and Toomevara (all 22 December 2010), Nenagh (single carriageway, original bypass, July 2000) and Birdhill (28 September 2010) and the city of Limerick (May 2004). Today, junctions provide access to all of these places. The old route has been re-classified as a regional road, the R445. A restricted-access fork junction (junction 11) connects the M7 to the M9 motorway to Waterford and Kilkenny also allowing access from the M9 to eastbound carriageway of the M7. The M8 for Cork and parts of County Tipperary such as Cahir and Cashel branches at yet another fork junction.

The Kildare bypass was completed in 2003, overcoming noteworthy environmental and engineering challenges as it cut through two miles of a major aquifer, requiring a structure to minimize the impact to the environmentally sensitive Pollardstown Fen.

Junctions

Raised section of the Kildare bypass

The M7 under construction east of Borris-in-Ossory

The M7/M8 interchange at M7 junction 19 just before the scheme opened to traffic

The M7 Castletown-Nenagh Scheme under construction east of Dunkerrin

Junctions 1–8 form part of the N7 dual carriageway.

County	km	mi	Junction	Destinations	Notes
County Kildare			9	Johnstown, Naas (North)	Incorrectly signposted as R450 heading eastbound. End of motorway, continues as N7 dual carriageway.
			9a	– Clane, Sallins	Millennium Park
			10	‒ Naas (South), Newbridge,	Rathangan
			11	‒ Waterford, Kilkenny, Kilcullen	Carlow Eastbound entrance and westbound exit only.
			12	‒ Newbridge  ‒ Kilcullen, The Curragh	The Curragh
			13	‒ Kildare, Nurney, Kildangan (westbound) Kildare, Nurney (eastbound)
			14	‒ Monasterevin, Tullamore, Portarlington (westbound) Rathangan, Kildangan, Athy (eastbound)	Junction 14 Mayfield Service Area
County Laois			15	– Mountmellick,  –Killenard, Ballybrittas (westbound)  – Monasterevin, Killenard, Ballybrittas (eastbound)	Emo, Vicarstown
			16	– Port Laoise  ‒ Carlow	Portarlington is signposted heading eastbound.
			17	‒ Durrow, Abbeyleix  ‒ Port Laoise	Junction 17 Midway & Portlaoise Plaza Service Areas
			18	‒ Port Laoise, Tullamore, Castletown, Mountrath
			M7/M8 Toll
			19	‒ Cork, Durrow
			21	‒ Borris-in-Ossory, Rathdowney	LILO junction.
County Tipperary			22	‒ Birr, Roscrea, Thurles, Templemore	LI/LO junction.
			23	‒ Moneygall, Cloghjordan, Dunkerrin	LI/LO junction. Toomevara is signposted heading westbound.
			24	‒ Nenagh	Toomevara is signposted heading eastbound.
			25	‒ Nenagh, Thurles
			26	‒ Tullamore, Borrisokane, Nenagh
			27	‒ Killaloe, Ballina, Birdhill
County Limerick			28	‒ Limerick (East), Castletroy (westbound) Castletroy, Newport (R503) (eastbound)	Castleconnell, Cappamore (R506)
			29	‒ Waterford  – Limerick (Centre), Ballysimon, Limerick	Tipperary
			30	‒ Cork, Tralee (N21)  – Limerick city centre, Roxborough	Killarney No access to city centre and Roxborough heading westbound. End of motorway, continues as N18 dual carriageway.

Motorway service areas

No service stations is provided along the motorway section, but there are instead a number off the road:

• Junction 14 Mayfield, opened in June 2011
• Two service areas at junction 17 outside Port Laoise
• At junction 23 on the outskirts of Moneygall, County Offaly
• Petrogas service area in October 2014 at junction 27

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about M7 motorway (Republic of Ireland))