The N5 currently originates at Longford and winds its way west on a largely substandard alignment all the way to Westport. The N4 passes through Longford on its way to Sligo. Westbound traffic wishing to access destinations such as Charlestown, Castlebar and Westport joins the N5 at Longford since it is the shortest route despite not being up to the task in terms of build quality.

However, this will change in the future. The N4 is due to be upgraded to dual carriageway the whole way from Mullingar to Sligo which offers the possibility of skipping a large part of the N5. If a short section was built between Carrick-on-Shannon on the N4 and the small village of Frenchpark, N5-bound traffic could continue on the N4 dual carriageway as far as Carrick before joining the new N5 at that point. This would remove the necessity of upgrading many poor quality sections of the N5 between this point and Longford, particularly at Strokestown.

In a private correspondence with the NRA in 2009, it was revealed that such a scheme is in fact being considered. If it takes place, it will happen after the N4 Carrick-on-Shannon and N5 Ballaghaderreen bypasses are completed since these are prerequisites.

Update Nov 2015: Since a long new single carriageway is planned for the near future from Frenchpark to Strokestown, it is now clear that the NRA (renamed TII) are no longer considering a Carrick-on-Shannon to Frenchpark rerouting for the N5 and we will in fact have a replacement N5.

Update Dec 2023: The new Frenchpark to Strokestown road has started construction, so this proposal is officially dead.

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

Wikipedia page on this road