Roads
- Total - 117,318 km (72,898 mi)
- South: 92,500 km (57,500 mi) including 1,015 km (631 mi) of motorway (2010)
- North: 24,818 km (15,421 mi) including 148 km (92 mi) of motorway (2008)
- paved - 87,043 km (54,086 mi), unpaved - 5,457 km (3,391 mi)
Ireland's roads link Dublin with all the major cities (Belfast, Cork, Limerick, Derry, Galway, and Waterford). Driving is on the left. Signposts in the Republic of Ireland are shown in kilometres and speed limits in kilometres per hour. Distance and speed limit signs in Northern Ireland use imperial units in common with the rest of the United Kingdom.
Historically, land owners developed most roads and later Turnpike Trusts collected tolls so that as early as 1800 Ireland had a 16,100 kilometres (10,000 mi) road network. In 2005 the Irish Government launched Transport 21, a plan envisaging the investment of €34 billion in transport infrastructure from 2006 until 2015. Several road projects were progressed but the economic crisis that began in 2008-09 has prevented its full implementation.
Read more about this topic: Transport In Ireland
Famous quotes containing the word roads:
“... deeper
and deeper into Imagination’s
holy forest, as travelers
followed the Zohar’s dusty
shimmering roads ...”
—Denise Levertov (b. 1923)
“This, my first [bicycle] had an intrinsic beauty. And it opened for me an era of all but flying, which roads emptily crossing the airy, gold-gorsy Common enhanced. Nothing since has equalled that birdlike freedom.”
—Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973)
“They’re busy making bigger roads,
and better roads and more,
so that people can discover
even faster than before
that everything is everywhere alike.”
—Piet Hein (b. 1905)