asked the Minister for the Environment the criteria used in the reclassification of roads from county to national primary or national secondary status.
Written Answers. - Classification of Roads.
628.
Mr. Leonard
The present statutory classification of roads is into national primary, national secondary, main and county roads. However, a preliminary designation of certain main roads and a small number of county roads as regional roads has been made and will be statutorily confirmed in due course.
The present national route network stands declared by orders made by the Minister for the Environment under the Local Government (Roads and Motorways) Act, 1974. The Act itself does not lay down criteria for the classification of national roads, but the following standards have been applied to the determination of the national network to date:
National Primary Roads
(1) Long distance through routes, including those from major points of entry to the country;
(2) heavy traffic volumes;
(3) serving as connections between principal cities and large towns;
(4) serving major geographical regions;
(5) having continuity throughout their length;
(6) serving, in aggregate, a high percentage of the total population of the country.
National Secondary Roads
(1) Medium length through and semi-through routes;
(2) carrying medium to heavy volumes of traffic;
(3) serving as connecting roads between principal towns;
(4) serving medium to large size geographical regions;
(5) forming extensions to the national primary routes;
(6) linking the rational primary routes together to form a homogeneous network.