Westmeath County Council
National Roads Design Office
Scheme Details:
N4 McNeads Bridge Realignment Scheme
Scheme Description
The scheme consists of an approximately 6 kilometre long dual carriageway road, realigning the N4 Dublin to Sligo Road, between the townlands of Newdown and Crossanstown in County Westmeath.
The scheme was listed as an objective of the Westmeath County Development Plan 1994 under Objective 2.4.4 and Table 11(a).
At the western end, the scheme ties into the N4 The Downs Realignment Scheme, while the eastern end of the scheme connects with the M4 Kilcock Enfield Kinnegad project.
The section of road replaced by the scheme was a single carraigeway road with hard shoulders, carrying large volumes of trafic. In addition, numerous private accesses (including Coralstown National School) and minor roads formed junctions directly onto the carraigeway. The upgrading of the mainline to dual carraigeway status removed any private accesses to the road, and limited the number of points of access onto the new route. The pre-existing N4 (now a regional road, the R148) remains open to traffic along much of its length to service the need of local and agricultural traffic, which has benefitted in terms of safety and travel times from the much reduced traffic levels.
The scheme involved the construction of two permanent junctions: one at Newdown, to service the properties adjacent to the road at this location; and a grade separated junction at McNeads Bridge. The latter provides access to the R148 at the western end.
The scheme was fully opened to traffic, in conjunction with the adjoining M4 Kinnegad Enfield Kilcock scheme, by An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern T.D. on the 12th of December, 2005.
This project is co-financed by the National Development Plan and the European Regional Development Fund.
Scheme Location
The scheme alignment follows the line of the pre-existing road at Newdown, the westernmost point of the scheme. A staggered junction is provided to give access to minor county roads and adjacent properties at this location. From there, the alignment veers to the north approximately 1 Km west of McNeads Bridge, and climbs on embankment to cross a county road, the canal, and the railway to the rear of Mary Lynch's Public House.
A grade-separated junction at McNeads Bridge is provided west of the canal, enabling access by local traffic to and from the N4 in both directions.
The scheme alignment continues eastwards to meet Coralstown Cross, south of St. Agnes' church. The county road at this location bridges over the scheme and a new link road on the south side connects the county road to the junction at McNeads Bridge. From there, the alignment continues parallel to the R148 and behind (south of) Coralstown National School.
The Miltownpass Road is also bridged over the new alignment and connects to the existing R148 immediately west of Cole's Cross. Finally, the road ties into the Kinnegad Enfield Kilcock Project, west of Coralstown Post Office.
Current Stage
The most recent scheme update is displayed below. Earlier updates may be available from the news archive.
Acceleration Lane at Coralstown
Posted on: 18 Dec 2006
An acceleration lane has been retro-fitted to the N4 McNeads Bridge Road Improvement Scheme. The new lane was opened on Thurdsday 14th December 2006 and will enable traffic joining the road in a west bound (Mullingar) direction, to accelerate before merging with traffic on the main carriageway. All traffic restrictions have been removed.
Further Information
Further information about this scheme can be obtained by contacting the office. Details on how to do this are available on the contact page.
You might also be interested in viewing information in regard to the M4 Kinnegad Enfield Kilcock Motorway, which ties into this scheme at its eastern end, and which is accessible via the schemes page.
The Project Liaison Officer for this Scheme is Ambrose Clarke
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