The National Roads Authority has decided against upgrade over 850km of national roadways to a 2+1 configuration in favour of a dual carriage way / motor way configuration. The suggestion of a 2+1 configuration was introduced to reduce road deaths due to head on collisions.
The 2+1 configuration began testing in Ireland during 2005 after the format was used with much success in Sweden. When testing was first introduced in Ireland, it was planned to turn about 20% of all national roads in Ireland to this format.
After a cost benefit and safety analysis, the NRA discovered that a dual carriageway format was only 15% more expensive than the 2+1 layout.
Coupled with this, the dual carriageway format could cope with an additional 6,000 vehicles per day and would be safer for motorists.
While national roads only account for 6% of the total road area in Ireland, they account for 42% of fatal collisions and carry more than 50% of the daily road traffic in Ireland.
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