R710 road
Encyclopedia
The R710 road is a regional road
Regional road
A regional road in Ireland is a class of road not forming a major route , but nevertheless forming a link in the national route network. There are over 11,600 kilometres of regional roads. Regional roads are numbered with three digit route numbers, prefixed by "R" A regional road in Ireland is a...

 in Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

. Located in the south of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 at Waterford
Waterford
Waterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland...

, it forms the Outer Ring Road around the south of the city. As of December 2006 it commences on the Old Kilmeaden Road at Knockhouse Lower, west of Waterford City and ends at a junction with the R683
R683 road
The R683 road is a regional road in Ireland. Located in the south of Ireland at Waterford, it connects the city to the village of Passage East, County Waterford and to County Wexford via a car ferry connection, which operates across the Waterford estuary between Passage East and the village of...

 on the Dunmore Road in the south-east of the city.

The R709
R709 road
The R709 road is a regional road in Ireland. Located in the south of Ireland at Waterford, it forms the Inner Ring Road around the south of the inner city...

 forms the Inner Ring Road around the south of the inner city.

Background

Waterford City Council initiated work on the outer ring road in 1993. Phase one of the outer ring road, between the Dunmore Road and the Williamstown Road, opened in Autumn 1998, at a cost of about £1m. The council planned a phase 2, which would link the Williamstown and Airport roads, at a cost of £1.2m, however this phase was never carried out. Instead it was announced in 2000 that the department of Finance would fund the remainder of the road, between the Williamstown and Cork roads, though ultimately it was completed under the auspices of the National Development Plan
National Development Plan
National Development Plan is the title given by the Irish Government to a scheme of organised large-scale expenditure on national infrastructure. The period covered by the seven year plan runs from 2000 to 2006. A second National Development Plan is currently in progress and is due to run until...

 (NDP). This main section of the outer ring road was itself built in 3 stages between March 2004 and September 2005. It was officially opened on 30 September 2005 by the then Minister for Transport Martin Cullen
Martin Cullen
Martin Cullen is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Teachta Dála for the Waterford constituency. Cullen was a member of Seanad Éireann and served as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government , Minister for Transport and Minister for Social and Family Affairs and...

, at a final cost of €37m.

Phase one of the outer ring road is a single carriageway road about 1 km in length. The remainder of the road is dual carriageway, 7 km (4.3 mi) in length. This gives a total length of about 8 km (5 mi) for the R710 Outer Ring Road between the Ardkeen and Cork road roundabouts. The term Outer Ring Road has been occasionally used specifically for the more recent project, with the NDP and Waterford City Council referring to the project (for this section) merely as the Waterford Outer Ring Road. The 7 year gap between the completion of 'phase one' and the main section, along with the fact that the main section is dual carriageway while the phase one road is single lane perhaps lends an artificial distinction between the two route sections.

Link to the N25

October 2009 saw the completion of the N25 Waterford City Bypass (construction commenced 2006), and now the R710 is joined to the bypass via the Western Link. It is now possible travel in a circle around the city from Ardkeen to Slieverue
Slieverue
Slieverue, officially Slieveroe , is a village in South County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland. It is also a parish in Ossory. Despite the name, the land is relatively low-lying and fertile.Slieverue is listed as a census town in the 2002 census....

 in County Kilkenny
County Kilkenny
County Kilkenny is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. The territory of the county was the core part of the ancient Irish Kingdom of Osraige which in turn was the core of the Diocese of...

, via the second river crossing (the N25 cable stay bridge of about 475m in length) between Gracedieu and Grannagh.

Roundabouts (east to west)

  1. Ardkeen
  2. Farranshoneen Road
  3. Airport Road
  4. Couse Bridge
  5. Ballindud
  6. Six Cross Roads
  7. Ballycashin Road
  8. Butlerstown
  9. Knockhouse Lower
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK