M20 - Cork to Limerick [preferred route chosen; in design - phase 3]

I drove from Glanmire to Galway today, and as I crawled through Ballylanders and Hospital behind tractors and local traffic, one thought kept hitting me: how is this still one of the two main routes to Limerick in 2026?

Yes, I could have gone via Charleville and Buttevant but that route is longer, barely faster, and hardly better. These are the primary links between two of Ireland’s biggest cities, and they simply aren’t fit for purpose.

Even when the M20 is finally completed, a problem remains:
Anyone living on the south side of the M8 or east of it will still have no great way to reach Limerick.

Their options will be:

Continue to endure Ballylanders/Hospital route
Drive cross‑country to Mallow to meet the M20
Or go south toward Cork just to go north again on the M20.

Where is the prospect of a decent road from the M8 to Limerick?

I find it can oftentimes be faster to drive the route from Limerick-Michellstown and onwards to Cork. The limit for the regional road is 80km/h but you're regularly averaging 75 and then motorway at 120 to michellstown. Any kind of a crash at all on the M/N20 and the road becomes a carpark

I looked into it before. Rain or shine, day or night, peak traffic or quiet times, it is always faster to go via Mitchelstown for anyone in the east or south of the city, including a lot of city suburbs themselves. I reckon about 100k people are affected by this.

Exactly. After a little bit of increasingly worried braking at this absolutely vile bend one dark night I do take the decision a bit more carefully on whether to go R513 or N20.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/bQLRgAxUchhvcBqs5

Lets not forget that the M20 will not entirely sway this decision. Only the addition of the N40 Cork North Ring will solve that. The plod through Blackpool will be appalling (and congested as hell) once the M20 opens.

Updated interactive map indicating a new road to be built parallel to the M20 to the south to prevent traffic travelling through Patrickswell to access the Attyflynn road.

Would it not have been easier to just keep the existing slip road or is its proximity to the new slip further west an issue?

Makes a lot of sense in fairness, the distance between J1 and J2 is probably less again and that's where 90% of the accidents happen

What stage is the motorway at now? Are we still waiting for paperwork or are there shovels in the ground?

Not sure a motorway designated road without a hard shoulder would be allowable from a safety perspective. If you could to somehow stop traffic coming from J2 accessing the Dublin-bound lane of J1 you might be on to a winner

I still don't understand why there is no plan to upgrade J1. It's already a hazard and adding all of the additional Cork M20 traffic and Foynes M21 trucks is going to be a huge issue