A29 Road (Northern Ireland) - Road Quality

Road Quality

A number of improvements have been undertaken in recent years, including a roundabout at the meeting with the A37 (north), outside Macosquin to reduce delays and smoothing of hidden dips between Maghera and Moneymore. On other parts of the Maghera-Moneymore route the surface is heavily worn and uneven.

While Cat's Eye's are present to aid night-driving they are often difficult to see and markings at the side of the road, when in 'open country' are of poor quality.

Cookstown is a notorious location for traffic congestion and, during the day, contributes to lengthy delays.

Between Dungannon and Cookstown the village of Carland is an infamous bad bend: a sharp right-hand turn over a bridge that cannot easily accommodate passing vehicles and is usually taken at 5 mph. Work on a 1.2 miles (1.9 km) bypass of this bottleneck began in August 2009 and is due to be completed in November 2010. On entering Dungannon, the Thomas Street/Hospital Roundabout is a further source of delay at peak times. While local people have suggested a bypass from the M1/A29 roundabout at Stangmore, east of Dungannon to rejoin the existing A29 after Carland (north of Dungannon), there are no plans to build such a road.