The A8 route is vital to Northern Ireland, since a large percentage of our imports come in via the port of Larne and travel along the A8 towards Belfast. The last mile of the A8 is the A8(M) motorway which then joins the M2 motorway for the last leg of the journey to the city. Prior to this project, only 1.5km of the route was dualled - the section from the A8(M) to Doagh Road (sometimes called Houston's Corner). This scheme extended the dual-carriageway to Coleman's Corner and made both junctions roundabouts. Work began in March 2003 and lasted for 16 months.

Although the scheme seems unambitious, it gives disproportionate benefits since Coleman's Corner is where a large slice of the traffic heading to the growing town of Ballyclare diverges from the A8 and bo th junctions were busy and dangerous before they were converted to roundabouts. The scheme saw the dangerous S-bend at Ballyearl straightened out. This required environmental experts, as the new route involved removing a badger sett. As badgers are a protected species, the experts had to build a new sett and used various methods to persuade them to move over!

Photos

Looking north along the A8 from the Doagh Road (left) prior to work commencing. The existing dual-carriageway terminates here. [Photo by Wesley Johnston]

Looking south from Coleman's Corner along the A8 prior to works. This junction has now been replaced with a roundabout, and the road ahead is a dual-carriageway. [Photo by Wesley Johnston]

Roughly the same view as the first photo above, showing work under way. [Photo by Wesley Johnston]

Work well underway on the A8 in early 2004. The road opened in July. [Photo by Wesley Johnston]