High-quality dual carriageway

A High-quality dual carriageway (HQDC) is a category of road in the Republic of Ireland. It is an all-purpose dual carriageway road type of motorway standard, but without the route section being classified as motorway or having motorway restrictions. High-quality dual carriageways have full grade-separated access and are specified as not having junctions with minor roads. Such roads are currently being built in the Republic of Ireland, and will form part of the country's national motorway network when complete in 2010.

While HQDCs or roads of similar type exist in a number of countries (a British example being the A55 road in Wales), this article concentrates mainly on such roads in the Republic of Ireland.

pecifications

HQDCs are specified as having the same capacity as standard motorways (52,000 vehicles AADT - annual average daily traffic). The road type is all-purpose dual carriageway (D2AP), but with the same specifications as motorway; a carriageway width of 7 metres and a hard shoulder of 2.5 metres width. HQDCs are limited access (grade-separated junctions only) and not intended to have junctions with minor roads. Junctions with major roads are grade-separated and to motorway standards.

All HQDCs in Ireland are currently of national primary road standard, and so by default used the national road speed limit of 100km/h. There are exceptions however, as special speed limits may now be specified for specific sections of road. The N2 Finglas - Ashbourne bypass is of high-quality dual carriageway grade but utilises the special speed limit of 120km/h, even though it is not a motorway; similarly a section of the N1 from the northern end of the M1 to the border with Northern Ireland has a 120km/h speed limit. It is likely that a number of high-quality dual carriageways on other major routes will use the 120km/h speed limit in the future.

Signage on Irish HQDCs is similar to signage used on Irish motorways, and junction numbers may be present (as on motorways, indicated by a white number on a black panel in the corner of signs). However signage on HQDCs uses a green background instead of the blue background used on Irish motorway signage. In the event of an HQDC being a regional road, black text on a white background would be used instead. Also, as on other all-purpose roads, signs should include patches for roads of other classifications (on motorways, all signage should bear a blue background).

As high-quality dual carriageways are not motorways, they do not need to conform to motorway regulations, therefore slow-moving vehicles (e.g tractors, farm vehicles etc.) as well as cyclists will be permitted to use these roads. To demonstrate this, HQDCs have a hard shoulder marked with a broken yellow line (as is standard on Irish roads), rather than the solid yellow line used to mark the hard shoulder of an Irish motorway. Also, L-Drivers (Learner Drivers), who are not permitted to drive on motorways can do so on high-quality dual carriageways, as on the rest of the national road network. HQDCs are a road type, not a classification, and the normal rules and regulations applying to all-purpose roads apply on HQDCs.

Lay-bys (rest stops) are permitted on HQDCs and the N6/M6 Kinnegad - Kilbeggan scheme originally featured lay-bys, which would not be legal at present on roads with full motorway status. The M9 Carlow bypass was built with lay-bys as it was originally to be built as an HQDC section of the N9 route. The lay-bys were removed after the road was reclassified as a motorway. Lay-bys on other HQDCs which were reclassified as motorways were restricted to authorised vehicles only and are likely to be used mainly by Garda Síochána (police) speed patrol vehicles.

HQDCs in Ireland

Many of Ireland's new Major Inter-Urban Routes [http://www.transport21.ie/Maps/upload/NationalRoads2015BG.jpg] were originally to be built to motorway standard but without motorway restrictions, and were to be designated as HQDCs. Roads that were to be built as HQDC include the N6/M6 Kinnegad - Athlone Scheme (completed in July 2008), the M8 Cullahill - Cashel Scheme and the M9 Carlow bypass scheme (completed in June 2008). These roads will form part of the major inter-urban routes network. The advantage of an HQDC over a motorway in this regard is that a simpler planning permission process is used, rather than the more complex Motorway Scheme process used to create a motorway. However the problem of using the normal planning process is that in theory planning permission could be granted for a direct access for a home or business onto the HQDC; although such direct accesses are now discouraged under public policy, there is no legal impediment. Motorways, by contrast, may only have accesses at junctions and service areas. HQDCs which form part of national road routes use the (N) national road prefix on signage as opposed to the (M) prefix (used instead of the route's normal prefix where the route or a section of it is motorway).

In 2007 new legislation was introduced to allow the Government to designate roads built to motorway standards as actual motorway and thus avoid the risk of permission for direct access being granted by local planning authorities. [ [http://www.transport.ie/viewitem.asp?id=10193&lang=ENG&loc=2270 Irish NRA Road re-designation proposals; January 2008] ]

Most of the HQDC sections (both recently completed and under construction) on the major inter-urban network of roads in Ireland have recently been redesignated as motorways. The redesignations came into effect on September 24, 2008. These roads will operate under motorway restrictions with motorway signage and use the (M) prefix. The standard speed limit on these roads is now 120 km/h. A number of the former high-quality dual carriageway schemes will proceed as tolled PPPs (Public Private Partnerships) despite not being originally planned as motorway schemes. Such roads include the M6 Galway - Ballinasloe project. The N25 Waterford City bypass is the only HQDC planned at present to be tolled (although it is likely to be desginated motorway before it opens). All other Irish toll roads are motorways, although the East-Link toll bridge which is a local road is also tolled.

Future

The "Roads Act 2007" was passed by the Oireachtas in early 2007 and signed into law to by the President of Ireland on 11 July 2007. This introduces powers for the Minister for Transport (upon the recommendation of the National Roads Authority) to re-classify high quality dual carrigeways as motorways, following a public consultation process. It is possible that in the future a majority of HQDCs will be reclassified as motorways. [ [http://www.oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=7113&CatID=59 Roads Bill 2007 (No 19 of 2007) - Tithe an Oireachtais ] ] . On 17 July 2008 the Minister signed a statutory instrument reclassifying all the HQDCs currently either under construction or recently completed on the N7/M7, and N8/M8 as well as parts of the N6/M6 and N9/M9 as motorway. [http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0718/1216330999777.html]

ee also

*Transport in Ireland
*National Development Plan

External links

* [http://www.nra.ie National Roads Authority]
* [http://www.ndp.ie National Development Plan]
* [http://transport21.ie Transport 21]

References

* [http://www.nra.ie/PublicationsResources/DownloadableDocumentation/RoadDesignConstruction/file,1317,en.pdf Interim Advice Note on Road Link Design for 2+1 roads] , NRA, Feb 2006, Table 4: Recommended Rural Road Layouts, page 6/2 (41 of PDF) (PDF 4.7MB)