The A26 is a road in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. It travels in a North-South direction from Coleraine

Coleraine

Coleraine is a large town near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is northwest of Belfast and east of Derry, both of which are linked by major roads and railway connections...

, County Londonderry

County Londonderry

The place name Derry is an anglicisation of the old Irish Daire meaning oak-grove or oak-wood. As with the city, its name is subject to the Derry/Londonderry name dispute, with the form Derry preferred by nationalists and Londonderry preferred by unionists...

 to Banbridge

Banbridge

Banbridge is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Bann and the A1 road. It was named after a bridge built over the Bann in 1712. The town grew as a coaching stop on the road from Belfast to Dublin and thrived from Irish linen manufacturing...

, County Down

County Down

-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...

.

The road is a primary route between Coleraine and its junction with the M1

M1 motorway (Northern Ireland)

The M1 is a motorway in Northern Ireland. It is the longest motorway in Northern Ireland and runs for from Belfast to Dungannon through County Down and County Armagh...

, and a secondary route between Lurgan

Lurgan

Lurgan is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is near the southern shore of Lough Neagh and in the north-eastern corner of the county. Part of the Craigavon Borough Council area, Lurgan is about 18 miles south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway...

 and Banbridge

Banbridge

Banbridge is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Bann and the A1 road. It was named after a bridge built over the Bann in 1712. The town grew as a coaching stop on the road from Belfast to Dublin and thrived from Irish linen manufacturing...

. Selected stretches of the road are dual-carriageway, in particular between Ballymena

Ballymena

Ballymena is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland and the seat of Ballymena Borough Council. Ballymena had a population of 28,717 people in the 2001 Census....

 and the route's junction with the M2

M2 motorway (Northern Ireland)

The M2 is a motorway in Belfast and County Antrim in Northern Ireland. It is in two sections, the southern section running from north Belfast to Antrim and the northern section acts as a bypass of Ballymena, with the A26 road linking the two sections. In total it is 22 miles...

 and M22

M22 motorway (Northern Ireland)

The M22 is a motorway in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is 5.6 miles long and connects the M2 with the A6. It forms part of the unsigned European route E16.-History:...

.

Route

The A26 commences at the Lodge Road Roundabout on the outskirts of Coleraine, one of the junctions on the Coleraine ring road. A 1 km stretch of dual-carriageway, passing the Causeway Hospital, yields to single-carriageway after the Watterstown Roundabout towards Ballymoney

Ballymoney

Ballymoney is a small town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 9,021 people in the 2001 Census. It is currently served by Ballymoney Borough Council....

. A further stretch of dual-carriageway is provided on the county border of Londonderry and Antrim near Macfin, including the first of many crossings of the Belfast-Derry railway line.

On reaching Ballymoney, the A26 route skirts past the town, and meets the B62 Ballybogy

Ballybogy

Ballybogy or Ballybogey is a small village and townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is located 6km north of Ballymoney and 6km east of Coleraine. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 258 people. It lies within the Borough of Ballymoney....

 Road towards Portrush

Portrush

Portrush is a small seaside resort town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, on the County Londonderry border. The main part of the old town, including the railway station as well as most hotels, restaurants and bars, is built on a mile–long peninsula, Ramore Head, pointing north-northwest....

 at a roundabout. Further junctions along the Ballymoney by-pass meet with the B66 to Dervock

Dervock

Dervock is a small village and townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is about 6km northeast of Ballymoney, on the banks of the Dervock River.-Features:...

, the B147 to Stranocum

Stranocum

Stranocum is a small village and townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The villages of Dervock and Armoy are nearby and the town of Ballymoney is about away. At the 2001 Census Stranocum had a population of 285....

, and the B16 to Armoy

Armoy

Armoy is a small village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is 9 km southwest of Ballycastle and 13 km northeast of Ballymoney. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 414 people. The village is on the River Bush between two of the nine Glens of Antrim; Glenshesk and Glentaisie...

. The A26 continues, as the Frosses Road, in a south-east direction towards Ballymena, meeting the A44 from Ballycastle

Ballycastle, County Antrim

Ballycastle is a small town in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. Its population was 5,089 people in the 2001 Census. It is the seat and main settlement of Moyle District Council....

 at a Y-junction.

Before reaching a four-mile stretch of dual-carriageway near Glarryford (which, close to its start, crosses the River Main on separate bridges for northbound and southbound traffic), the A26 progresses through a series of trees across a section of the route originally built on bogland. The "Frosses Trees" are a collection of Scots pines planted by Sir Charles Lanyon

Charles Lanyon

Sir Charles Lanyon DL, JP was an English architect of the 19th century. His work is most closely associated with Belfast, Northern Ireland.-Biography:Lanyon was born in Eastbourne, Sussex in 1813...

 in 1839 as a means of preventing the road from subsiding. Fifty of the trees were pulled down in 1999, and a further twenty-six of the trees were felled in July 2007, for safety reasons.

The A26 reaches Ballymena via four miles of dual-carriageway before drivers are offered to stay on the route to continue into Ballymena town centre, or to by-pass the town via the M2. Traffic on the M2 then rejoins the A26 on its last roundabout junction, and the route continues to Antrim

Antrim, County Antrim

Antrim is a town in County Antrim in the northeast of Northern Ireland, on the banks of the Six Mile Water, half a mile north-east of Lough Neagh. It had a population of 20,001 people in the 2001 Census. The town is the administrative centre of Antrim Borough Council...

 as dual-carriageway towards its junction with the M2 and M22. Original plans for Northern Ireland's motorway network had the M2 route running from its diverge with the M2 near Antrim and continuing past Ballymena towards Coleraine, but on the suspension of the Northern Ireland government in 1975, the M2 link between Antrim and Ballymena remained unbuilt.

Beyond its junction with the M2 and M22, the A26 continues as single carriageway into Antrim, passing Junction One, the first outlet centre opened in Northern Ireland and runs along the edge of Antrim town centre and onwards to a roundabout junction with the A57 route close to Belfast International Airport

Belfast International Airport

Belfast International Airport is a major airport located northwest of Belfast in Northern Ireland. It was formerly known and is still referred to as Aldergrove Airport, after the village of the same name lying immediately to the west of the airport. Belfast International shares its runways with...

. Originally, the A26 route continued directly ahead to the Aldergrove site, with a section passing the perimeter of the airport grounds, but the road was closed for security reasons. Until the early 1990s, all traffic was diverted through the small village of Killead

Killead

Killead is a small village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is near Aldergrove and Antrim. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 78 people.The village is near Belfast International Airport and is accessed from the A26 Tully Road.-People:...

, but a by-pass relieved the village from traffic heading north to the Airport in the 1990s.

The A26 then reaches another aviation-related landmark at a roundabout, the site of the former RAF Nutts Corner

RAF Nutts Corner

RAF Nutts Corner was a Royal Air Force station in County Antrim near Belfast. It was originally a civil airfield, then it became a military airfield and subsequently Northern Ireland's main civil airport until the 1960s.-Civil operations:...

 base. Traffic following the A26 takes a turn to the right, and continues, by-passing the villages of Crumlin, County Antrim

Crumlin, County Antrim

Crumlin is a village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is at the head of a wooded glen on the Camlin River, near Lough Neagh, and west of Belfast city centre. It had a population of over 4,259 people in the 2001 Census...

, Glenavy

Glenavy

Glenavy is a village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, 17 kilometres north west of Lisburn on the banks of the Glenavy River. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 1,069 people. In early documents it was known as Lenavy.-Demographics:...

 and Upper Ballinderry

Upper Ballinderry

Upper Ballinderry is a small village to the east of Lower Ballinderry in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is within the townland of Ballyscolly, the civil parish of Ballinderry, the barony of Massereene Upper, and the Lisburn City Council area. Upper Ballinderry is about 10 miles north west of...

, crossing the currently disused Lisburn-Antrim railway line

Lisburn-Antrim railway line

The Lisburn–Antrim railway line is a line of Northern Ireland Railways. It links Knockmore Junction on the Belfast–Newry railway line with on the Belfast–Derry railway line.-History:The line opened in 1871 as the Dublin and Antrim Junction Railway...

 near the latter. The A26 then meets the M1 at its junction with the A3 road (Northern Ireland)

A3 road (Northern Ireland)

The A3 is a major road in Northern Ireland. It travels through County Antrim, County Down, County Armagh and parts of southern County Fermanagh....

, and multiplexes with the A3 through the villages of Moira

Moira, County Down

Moira is a village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is in the northwest of the county, near the borders with counties Antrim and Armagh. The M1 motorway and Dublin–Belfast railway line are nearby. The settlement has existed since time immemorial...

 and Magheralin

Magheralin

Magheralin is a village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the main Moira to Lurgan road, beside the River Lagan. It had a population of 1,144 people in the 2001 Census. It is within the Craigavon Borough Council area....

.

The A26 branches off from the A3 again on entering Lurgan, and follows a south-eastern route to Banbridge. The route passes through the villages of Waringstown

Waringstown

Waringstown is a village in County Down, Northern Ireland, two miles south-east of Lurgan. It lies within the parish of Donaghcloney, and in the barony of Iveagh Lower, Lower Half. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 2,523 people. It was built during the Plantation of Ulster and is typical of...

, Milltown and Seapatrick, before the route splits into two spurs, both heading towards the A1

A1 road (Northern Ireland)

The A1 is a major route in Northern Ireland. It runs from Belfast via Lisburn and Banbridge to the border with the Republic of Ireland south of Newry, from where the road continues to Dublin, becoming the N1 road and M1 motorway...

Planned developments

At present, the Department for Regional Development plan a series of future road schemes for the A26:

• The single-carriageway section from the current end of the dual-carriageway at Glarryford to the junction with the A44 to Ballycastle is intended to be upgraded to dual-carriageway. The scheme's estimated cost in 2006 was £33.4million. An announcement on the selected route is expected in 2008 and construction is believed to commence on this scheme in 2010.

• The A26 is now planned to be re-route under the unused bridges of the roundabout at Junction 10 at Ballymena, leading directly onto the M2 by-pass. The scheme's estimated cost in 2006 was £7million and construction is believed to commence in 2008. The road works where completed in 2010, however upgrading the surrounding area from a dual-carriage way to Motorway is ongoing expected to be completed in Summer 2011; one year overdue.

• Other prospective schemes for the A26 include the completion of dualling between Ballymoney and Coleraine and the conversion of the stretch from Nutt's Corner to M1 Junction 9 to "2+1" road.