M7 Naas Bypass At 40

JupiterKid

Within a month the 40th anniversary of the opening of the very first section of motorway in the Republic of Ireland, the M7 Naas Bypass, will take place.

This is a significant milestone in the development of our road infrastructure and heralded the motorway era for a country that had very few roads of modern international standards at the time and where the network was poor and underdeveloped. The 8 kilometre (5 mile) dual two lane (D2M) motorway was constructed by SIAC between 1980 and 1983 along a route running to the north of Naas town that was fixed by Kildare County Council about a decade earlier. There were two GSJs, a trumpet at Maudlins where it joined the existing Naas dual carriageway and a simple diamond interchange at Newhall where it tied in with the Naas to Newbridge DC, opened in the mid 1970s.

The town of Naas was a chronic traffic bottleneck on the Irish road network, being the first town encountered after Dublin on the N7 route that served most of the south and southwest of the country, including the cities of Cork and Limerick. Tailbacks of up to three or four kilometres were not uncommon at Naas before the M7 arrived and the 1983 opening provided immediate relief for both Naas and traffic heading to Cork and Limerick. However, traffic bound for Waterford, Kilkenny and Carlow on the N9 still had to travel through Naas until the M7/M9 Newbridge bypass opened in 1993, extending the M7 a further 12 kilometres to The Curragh.

Shortly prior to its opening, there were plans by Kildare County Council to toll the new road - however these plans were abandoned when it was pointed out to them that given the economic state of the country at the time, the toll would just be avoided by most motorists and Naas would not see much relief from its horrendous congestion that was choking the town.

Anyone here have any memories of the Naas Bypass opening? Any views on the significance of its 1983 opening?

As an 8 year old boy mad about roads, my dad took me for a few spins on the M7 in his car and it was great to see blue road signs and grade separation just like the motorways up North. 😁

Happy 40th Birthday, M7! 🥳🥳

Pale Red

I remember it moving the south bound bottleneck to New bridge. The big benefit on the south bound, in my opinion, didn't mature until the traffic lights were removed from the Naas dual carriage way and the M7 went beyond Portlaoise.

On a very slightly different note, Sky News covered the opening of the M7 bypassing New bridge with sneering coverage of the doubling of Ireland's motorway length.

Greengrass53

They ain't sneering now. Well they are but you know what I mean 😁

road_high

Was Sky news around in 1983?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121088469#Comment_121088469

No, but it was when they were sneering in 1993 at the Newbridge section

AugustusMinimus

Really is amazing that it took a further 10 years to build the Newbridge bypass to allow N9 users bypass Naas.

Was the Naas DC the first stretch of DC built on an inter-urban. Built in the 60s I think?

HeidiHeidi

I remember being fascinated by what "motorway" meant, and the excitement about it - and being brought by our Dad down to see it and the loopy on-ramp bit was the only thing a bit different - and thinking "but that's just a road???"!

loyatemu

Don't remember it opening but I do remember the roll call of towns on our regular trips down to Kerry: Newbridge, Kildare, Monasterevin, Borris-in-Ossory, Muntrath, Nenagh, Roscrea (where we always stopped for lunch). They allowed to track your progress across the country. With my own kids we just joined the motorway and stayed on it until we got where we were going - quicker but not as evocative.

Norteño

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121088674#Comment_121088674

I think it was the N11, before it was even called that, at Loughlinstown, that was the first bit of modern DC.

In the north it was the A2 Sydenham Bypass, which opened in 1959, after a 21 year construction period.

JupiterKid

The first section of DC on the Naas Road - and a definite contender of the first DC in Ireland - was a short 1.2 kilometre section at Bluebell built by Dublin Corporation in the 1940s as a new, straight alignment to replace a narrow and twisty section now known as the Old Naas Road. The Naas DC still ends in Dublin at this very first stretch.

Here's an aerial photograph dated 1955 below of this first DC on the Naas Road as part of the Morgan aerial photographic archive.

You can also see the then S2 Long Mile Road at lower right and the newly built Volkswagen factory near the centre at Bluebell where the DC ended.

The Kylemore Road which traverses the Naas Road here was still about 6 or 7 years away.

Norteño

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121090217#Comment_121090217

Am I right in saying that the LUAS goes right up the middle of this stretch nowadays?

JupiterKid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121091094#Comment_121091094

Yes, that is correct.

The LUAS red line runs along the very first 1940s section of Naas DC and then up to Red Cow which was dualled in 1966/67 along with Long Mile Road - and subsequently widened to D3 in 1972.

prunudo

Thats an amazing photo, so much change in a relatively short space of time. Always evolving too. I'd say every 20 years looks different again.

Also regarding Naas bypass, didn't realise it was that old. Forward thinking to have it as wide as it was built.

JupiterKid

Here’s a great RTE News story in the opening of the M7 Naas Bypass dated October 2nd 1983.

The reporter is, poignantly, a young Charlie Bird.

https://www.rte.ie/archives/2013/1002/477647-irelands-first-motorway-1983/