As detailed in other proposals, the Border area of the Republic suffers from poor road access. Routes like the proposed N34 create movements where none is currently provided, while other upgrades consist of replacing or upgrading an existing road. The N55 is one such linkage, which will create a single-carriageway road from Athlone in the centre of the island northwards to the N34 and onwards to Northern Ireland.

The current standard of the route is poor. Although many parts are very straight and are fit for the low levels of traffic experienced, offline replacements will be necessary to bring the route up to international norms.

The southern half of the proposed route originates at junction 8 of the M6 - moved from the inappropriate junction 10 which is by now an Athlone urban road - from where it parallels closely the existing N55 until Glasson. There are village bypasses of Tang, Ballymahon and Granard, and a large diversion to the west of Edgeworthstown which crosses the N4, due to be upgraded to dual carriageway.

The final run to Cavan, however, features many bends and must be replaced with a new route to the west, which finally joins the existing road at a roundabout one and half kilometres south of Cavan town and the proposed N34. From here, motorists can continue on the N3 to the Border and Enniskillen, or further north along a reconstructed N54 to Monaghan and the N2, listed in a separate proposal. For reasons outlined on the latter page, this N55 proposal and the proposed N54 would be renumbered N12 so they would have a consistent route number.

Update March 2013: This scheme has been renamed. It used be called 'N55 Cavan-Granard; N55 Edgeworthstown-Athlone'.

Update July 2019: A scheme to replace Athlone-Ballymahon with a new single carriageway road is making its way through planning. This won't be renumbered N12 though.

Please give your opinion on this road proposal. Rate it out of 10, and whether you think the standard (road width) is appropriate.

Wikipedia pages on this route: N55, N12