M1 (Northern Ireland)

Completed in the 1960s and not changed much since, the Northern Ireland M1 is a mostly two-lane affair that stretches to nearly 40 miles - the longest stretch of road of this standard in the province.

For many years it ended at Dungannon, a terminus that never quite seemed right - there's plenty more of the province west of there but the motorway gave up. In 2010 that was finally put right, when the Northern Ireland Roads Service opened another 12 miles of expressway leading onward from the end of the motorway to Ballygawley, a better terminus to serve Fermanagh and Tyrone. Despite this new road being a direct extension of the M1 it's not a motorway and is instead part of the A4.

The M1 has numerous missing junction numbers, intended for the various expansive motorway plans that the Northern Ireland Assembly had, almost none of which saw light of day once Westminster took control again. Among these are two junctions for the M11, which would have started on the M1, headed around the north of Lisburn, and then crossed it again to go south, and one for the M8, intended as a southern bypass of Belfast.

One missing junction is now missing: it's been used for a new junction that wasn't on the original plans. Number 8 was for the M11 to cross, before heading south to the Irish border. It's now been taken up with a new cheap-and-cheerful exit for the A1, with the original (free-flowing) junction half-closed and now used to access a retail park, mostly. This seems to sum up the development of Northern Ireland's motorways.

Start

Belfast

End

Dungannon

Passes

Lisburn, Craigavon, Portadown

Length

38 miles

Click a section name to see its full details, or click a map symbol on the right to see all motorways opened in that year.

Completed Name Start End
Donegall Road - Lisburn J1 Broadway J6 Saintfield Road Chronology map for 1962
Lisburn - Sprucefield J6 Saintfield Road J7 Sprucefield Chronology map for 1963
Birches - Verner’s Corner J12 Birches Verner’s Corner Chronology map for 1964
Sprucefield - Moira J7 Sprucefield J9 Moira Chronology map for 1965
Moira - Lurgan J9 Moira J10 Lurgan Chronology map for 1966
Lurgan - Ballynacor J10 Lurgan J11 Ballynacor Chronology map for 1967
Verner’s Corner - Dungannon Verner’s Corner J15 Dungannon Chronology map for 1967
Ballynacor - Birches J11 Ballynacor J12 Birches Chronology map for 1968

Exit list

Symbols and conventions are explained in the key to exit lists. You can click any junction to see its full details.

Junction   Eastbound               Westbound  
1 The NORTH (M2 Link, M3 Link)
City Centre, Airports Airport
Docks Vehicle Ferry
A12 Link
City Centre
Falls
Royal Victoria Hospital
Europa Bus Station
Boucher Road
EAST
A12





Bus
N/A
LanesLanesLanesLanesLanes SignsSigns LanesLanesLanesLanesLanes SignsSigns
1 mile, 3 lanes 1 mile, 3 lanes
2 Belfast (W & S)
Outer Ring
A55
A55 A55 Outer Ring
Newtownards
Kings Hall
A55
LanesLanesLanesLanesLanes Signs LanesLanesLanesLanesLanes Signs
1 mile, 3 lanes 1 mile, 3 lanes
3

A512
A512
(A1)
Dunmurry
Finaghy
(A1)
LanesLanesLanesLanesLanes LanesLanesLanesLanesLanes
2 miles, 2 lanes 2 miles, 2 lanes
Services Lisburn Services Lisburn
LanesLanesLanesLanes LanesLanesLanesLanes
2 miles, 2 lanes 2 miles, 2 lanes
6 Lisburn (Cen)
Saintfield
A49
A49 A49 Lisburn (Cen)
Saintfield
A49
LanesLanesLanesLanes LanesLanesLanesLanes
2 miles, 2 lanes 1 mile, 2 lanes
7 (A1) Lisburn
Sprucefield
A1
LanesLanesLanesLanes
  1 mile, 2 lanes
8 The SOUTH
Dublin
Newry
A101 (A1)
A101
(A1)
The SOUTH
Dublin
Newry
A101 (A1)
LanesLanesLanesLanes LanesLanesLanesLanes
6 miles, 2 lanes 6 miles, 2 lanes
9 Belfast Int'l Airport
Antrim A26
Moira A3
A3

A26
A3 Belfast Int'l Airport
Antrim A26
Moira A3
LanesLanesLanesLanes LanesLanesLanesLanes
6 miles, 2 lanes 6 miles, 2 lanes
10 Craigavon
Lurgan
A76
B76 A76 Craigavon
Lurgan
A76
LanesLanesLanesLanes LanesLanesLanesLanes
2 miles, 2 lanes 2 miles, 2 lanes
11 Craigavon
Portadown
M12 Link
M12 Craigavon
Portadown
Armagh
M12 Link
LanesLanesLanesLanes LanesLanesLanesLanes
5 miles, 2 lanes 5 miles, 2 lanes
12 Craigavon
Portadown
A4
B196 A4 Craigavon
Portadown
A4
LanesLanesLanesLanes LanesLanesLanesLanes
3 miles, 2 lanes 3 miles, 2 lanes
13 Loughgall
B131

B131
B131
Loughgall
B131
LanesLanesLanesLanes LanesLanesLanesLanes
2 miles, 2 lanes 2 miles, 2 lanes
14 Moy B106
Coalisland A45
Services Services


A45
B106 Moy B106
Coalisland A45
Services Services
LanesLanesLanesLanes LanesLanesLanesLanes
4 miles, 2 lanes 4 miles, 2 lanes
15 N/A A29





A4
WEST
A29




Enniskillen
Omagh A4
Armagh
Dungannon
Moygashel
A29
LanesLanesLanesLanes Signs LanesLanesLanesLanes Signs
Routes

Picture credits

With thanks to Wesley Johnston, Jonathan and Colin for information in this section.

In this section

What's new

A century of motorways

It's 100 years since the opening of the world's first motorway, the Autostrada from Milan to the Lakes.

Schrödinger’s speed limit

In 2022, Manchester City Council say they reduced the speed limit on the Mancunian Way to 30mph. But it’s not clear if they did. It’s not even clear if they can.

Sorry, wrong number

Road numbering is a system with clear rules. What happens when the people responsible for numbering roads don't follow them?

Share this page

Have you seen...

M1-A1 Link Road

Those last few miles of the M1 east of Leeds were completed in 1999. It looks for the most part like a fairly average piece of road, but one of the project's engineers describes some of the challenges that were faced.

About this page

Published

Last updated