History
Originally the N7 was a single carriage-way route between Dublin and Limerick and passed through the main towns on the route that are now bypassed. The old N7 route now bypassed by the M7 is currently designated as the R445 and is an alternative route between Limerick and Dublin.
The N7 is the only one of the inter-urban routes out of Dublin which does not commence in Dublin city centre, but rather at the M50. The original N7 route (under the Local Government (Roads and Motorways) Act, 1974 (Declaration of National Roads) Order, 1977) started the route in Dublin city centre, like the other national routes, with the route originally running through Inchicore village before reaching the Naas Road. However in 1994, following the construction of the Chapelizod bypass which brought the N4 road in to Dublin city centre as dual carriageway, the N7 inside the M50 was downgraded to regional road status (as the R110 road), with N7 traffic being signposted to use the N4 and M50 rather than the original route through Inchicore.
The N7 is noted for two firsts in the history of Irish roads - the first substantial length of dual carriageway in Ireland, running 26 km (16 mi) from Dublin to Naas which was completed in 1968 and also Ireland's first section of motorway, the 8 km (5.0 mi) Naas Bypass, opened in 1983 bypassing the original route through the town.
The old N7 route (now R445/R110) also formed most of the T5 trunk route between Dublin and Limerick. This was an old method of designating routes in Ireland before the current method was introduced.
Read more about this topic: N7 Road (Ireland)
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