Route
The 124 km (77 mi) route commences at Castlegar in Galway city and ends at the Toberbride roundabout at Collooney in County Sligo. It runs through or past several major towns and places in the area including Claregalway, Tuam, Miltown, Ballindine, Claremorris, Knock, Kilkelly, Charlestown, Curry, Tubbercurry and Ballinacarrow. The entire route is regular highway with no sections of dual carriageway as yet.
Section through Co. Galway
The N17 begins at Castlegar in Galway city, where it makes its way northeast to Claregalway, passing through Claregalway village . This section of the N17 is the busiest with over 27,000 vehicles daily. The route continues north which consists of upgraded single carriageway with hard shoulders (1970s). The route sways east whilst entering the north County Galway town of Tuam, the route marginally bypasses Tuam town centre by a relief road constructed in the early 1980s, this road has several traffic light junctions and suffers from traffic congestion. After passing Tuam the route swings northwest towards Miltown, where a new realigned section of road is encountered (built late 1990s) avoiding a notorious stretch of road which saw many fatalities at one particular bend at a graveyard. This new section is the most recent improvement in Co. Galway. The route then passes through the village of Miltown passing over the River Clare, the main street in the village is very narrow and can become congested. After leaving Miltown the route continues north towards the Ballindine, this section of the N17 is of poor standard and is reduced to a narrow winding road to the County Mayo border.
Section through Co. Mayo
The N17 passes through Ballindine just after it crosses the Galway/Mayo border. The main street though Ballindine is very wide reducing congestion in the village. Leaving Ballindine the route heads north towards Claremorris. This 5 km section of road was completely realigned in 1983, bypassing a dangerous stretch of road at Garryduff. This is busy section with almost 10,000 vehicles daily. At Lissduff the 16 km Claremorris/Knock bypass commences, the largest project on the N17 to date. It bypasses Claremorris to the east, greatly reducing heavy through traffic in the town. The 16 km bypass was constructed in 2 phases, the 6 km Claremorris phase (phase 1) which opened July 2001 and the 10 km Knock phase (phase 2) which opened to traffic December 2002. The Knock bypass passes the village to the west heading in a northeast direction bypassing Kilkelly (bypassed 1980s), the route continues towards Charlestown passing Knock Airport. This section of road is of good quality and has a hard shoulder to just south of Charlestown. The route passes through Charlestown and over the Sligo border into the village of Bellaghy.
Section through Co. Sligo
The N17 in Co. Sligo varies greatly in standard. After passing through Bellaghy the road heads in a northeasterly direction bypassing Curry, this 6 km section was built in 1993 and is of excellent standard. After bypassing Curry and as far as Tubbercurry the standard of the road is reduced to a very low quality winding road with a high fatality rate. The N17 passes Tubbercurry to the west in the form of a basic relief road, heavy goods vehicles use this road around the town, although many cars continue on through the town's main street as it is often faster than the relief road. The route continues in a north easterly direction towards Ballinacarrow, another section of poor standard. Template:Own Opinion Two kilometres past Ballinacarrow the road improves and a slow lane section is encountered. This 8 km section to the N4 Collooney bypass was constructed in 1993 with the bypassing of Collooney. The N17 ends where it meets the N4 Sligo-Dublin road at the Toberbride roundabout.
Read more about this topic: N17 Road (Ireland)
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