R319 road (Ireland)

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IRL R319.svg
R319 road
Bóthar R319
Michael Davitt Bridge, Achill Island, Co Mayo.jpg
The Michael Davitt Bridge on the R319 connects Achill Island to mainland County Mayo.
Route information
Length35 km [1]  (22 mi)
Location
Country Ireland
Primary
destinations
Highway system

The R319 road is a regional road in County Mayo, Ireland. It is the main road to Achill Island from the rest of the country.

Contents

Route

The road is the main route onto Achill Island from the mainland (via the Michael Davitt Bridge) and connects the N59 at Mulranny (a national secondary road to the rest of Ireland) via Keel and Dooagh to Keem Strand on the island, 35 kilometres (22 mi) away. [2] [1]

The first part of the route follows the Great Western Greenway, a former railway line extension from Westport towards Achill. [3] It gets gradually narrower and windier as it approaches Keem Strand, ending with a series of hairpin bends before a car park next to the beach. [4]

The first bridge over the Achill Sound was constructed in 1887. It was rebuilt in 1947 and again in 2008, the latter costing €5 million. [5]

The road is part of the Atlantic Drive on Achill Island, and popular with holidaymakers. [6] [7] The remainder of the Atlantic Drive route around Achill is signposted onto local roads where they follow the coastline more closely. [8]

Maintenance

The road is narrow and uneven in places, and below the standard required for modern road traffic. [9] In April 2017, the bridge between Mulranny and Tonragee was reduced to one lane of traffic as it had become unstable. Repairs were carried out throughout the year. A local councillor complained that the works were not considered important by the Department for Transport as it was only a regional road, as opposed to the nearby N59. [10] In 2019, a local group petitioned the Department of Transport and Mayo County Council to urgently improve three bridges along the R319. [9]

In 2023, the local council complained again about a lack of investment on the road. One councillor said it had "more humps and hollows than a camel’s back", explaining around €3 million was needed to bring the road up to acceptable safety standards. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Achill Island</span> Island in County Mayo, Ireland

Achill Island is an island off the west coast of Ireland in the historical barony of Burrishoole, County Mayo. It is the largest of the Irish isles and has an area of approximately 148 km2 (57 sq mi). Achill had a population of 2,345 in the 2022 census. The island, which has been connected to the mainland by a bridge since 1887, is served by Michael Davitt Bridge, between the villages of Achill Sound and Polranny. Other centres of population include the villages of Keel, Dooagh, Dooega, Dooniver, and Dugort. There are a number of peat bogs on the island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">County Mayo</span> County in Ireland

County Mayo is a county in Ireland. In the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority. The population was 137,231 at the 2022 census. The boundaries of the county, which was formed in 1585, reflect the Mac William Íochtar lordship at that time.

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Westport is a town in County Mayo in Ireland. It is at the south-east corner of Clew Bay, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean on the west coast of Ireland. Westport is a tourist destination and scores highly for quality of life. It won the Irish Tidy Towns Competition three times in 2001, 2006 and 2008. In 2012 it won the Best Place to Live in Ireland competition run by The Irish Times.

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Leenaun, also Leenane, is a village and 1,845 acre townland in County Galway, Ireland, on the southern shore of Killary Harbour and the northern edge of Connemara.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Achill Sound</span> Village in County Mayo, Ireland

Gob an Choire or Gob a' Choire, formerly anglicised as Gubacurra, is a Gaeltacht village in County Mayo, Ireland. It lies on the east coast of Achill Island and is the first settlement one reaches after crossing the Michael Davitt Bridge, a swing bridge that joins Achill Island to Corraun Peninsula on the mainland. In ancient times the southern entrance was guarded by Carrickkildavnet Castle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Davitt Bridge</span>

The Michael Davitt Bridge is a swing bridge on the R319 road in County Mayo, Ireland that crosses from Achill Island to the Mainland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keel, County Mayo</span> Village in Connacht, Ireland

Keel is a village on Achill Island in County Mayo, Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">N59 road (Ireland)</span> Road in Ireland

The N59 road is a national secondary road in Ireland. It commences in County Sligo, south of Sligo Town at the Belladrehid interchange with the N4 north of Ballysadare. The route circles around the west of Ireland, passing west from Sligo into County Mayo and through Ballina. The N59 continues around Mayo, proceeding indirectly to Westport. Continuing south through Mayo into County Galway, the road passes through the village of Leenaun. The 182-year-old bridge in the centre of the village, carrying the road across the River Lahill, collapsed in floods on 18 July 2007. Due to the local terrain and road network, the diversionary route for getting from the south of the village to Westport was 110 km long. A temporary bridge was opened eight days after the floods, on 27 July. It has since been replaced by a new bridge.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midland Great Western Railway</span> Former railway company in Ireland

The Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) was the third largest Irish gauge railway company in Ireland. It was incorporated in 1845 and absorbed into the Great Southern Railways in 1924. At its peak the MGWR had a network of 538 miles (866 km), making it Ireland's third largest network after the Great Southern and Western Railway (GS&WR) and the Great Northern Railway of Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mulranny</span> Seaside village in County Mayo, Ireland

Mulranny —sometimes spelled as 'Mallaranny', 'Mulrany', 'Malaranny', 'Mullaranny', 'Mullranny' or 'Mulranny'—is a seaside village on the isthmus between Clew Bay and Blacksod Bay in County Mayo, Ireland. Mulranny, located at the foot of the Nephin Mountain Range, has a number of blue flag beaches and a coastal lagoon. The Corraun Peninsula, which contains three mountain peaks, is situated across Clew Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dooagh</span> Village in Connacht, Ireland

Dooagh is a village located on Achill Island in County Mayo, Ireland. It is best known for the nearby Keem Bay, a Blue Flag beach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corraun Peninsula</span> Peninsula on the west coast of Ireland

The Corraun Peninsula, also spelt Currane, is a peninsula in County Mayo, on the west coast of Ireland. It extends out from the mainland towards Achill Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tonragee</span>

Tonragee or Tonregee is a village on the Currane peninsula in County Mayo, Ireland. The townlands of Tonregee East and Tonregee West are in the civil parish of Achill in the historical barony of Burrishoole. As of the 2011 census, these townlands had a population of 102 and 54 people respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Western Greenway</span>

The Great Western Greenway is a greenway rail trail in County Mayo, Ireland. It is 42 kilometres long and begins in Westport and ends in Achill, passing through the towns of Newport and Mulranny as it runs along the coast of Clew Bay. It is an off-road trail intended for use by cyclists and walkers. It follows the route of the former Achill extension of the Westport railway line, which was constructed in the 1890s and closed in 1937. An estimated 300 people cycle and walk the trail each day, which was constructed at a cost of €5.7 million. The first section, from Newport to Mulranny, was opened in April 2010. It was named as the 2011 Irish winner of the European Destinations of Excellence award. The full route was opened by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, T. D. and Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Michael Ring, T. D., on 29 July 2011.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Government accused of deliberately thwarting county's development". Mayo News. 22 February 2023. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  2. "S.I. No. 54/2012 — Roads Act 1993 (Classification of Regional Roads) Order 2012". Irish Statute Book. Archived from the original on 9 May 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  3. "Great Western Greenway, Co Mayo: The most scenic in Ireland". The Irish Times. 4 August 2018. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  4. "Road R319 travels by hairpins to the edge of the sea". Dangerous Roads. Archived from the original on 24 March 2023. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  5. "New bridge at Achill to open this week". The Irish Times. 29 October 2008. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
  6. Back Roads Ireland. Dorling Kindersley. 2010. p. 196. ISBN   978-1-848-368804.
  7. Brewer, Stephen (2008). The Unofficial Guide to Ireland. Wiley. p. 68. ISBN   978-0-470-28568-8.
  8. "Scenic driving routes". Visit Mayo. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  9. 1 2 "Petition launched calling for improvements to R319 in Achill". Mid West Radio. 10 April 2019. Archived from the original on 15 June 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
  10. "Work on repairing Achill bridge starts". 3 October 2017. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2023.