Antrim town is well served by motorways, with both junction 6 on the M2 and junction 1 of the M22 giving access to the town. When the Antrim Area Hospital was being planned there was concern as to how ambulances would reach it from the M2. Despite the hospital being right beside the motorway, it was half way between the two junctions and thus the ambulances would have had to come off early and drive along several miles of ordinary roads.

In October 1993 a pair of offslips were provided to the new hospital (in the townland of Crosskennan, giving its name to the junction) at a cost of £400,000. The new junction was given the number 7. Apart from junction 1B on the M2 this was the only motorway junction in the UK which only had offslips.

As part of a wider scheme that included widening the M2 citybound between junctions 4 and 2 this junction got the long-overdue onslips in 2007. This will not only help those travelling away from the hospital, but will help traffic in Antrim generally by giving them another way to reach the M2. In its original form there was one roundabout at the southern offslip and this scheme saw a second one built to the north turning the junction into Northern Ireland's second dumbell interchange (see interchange types). The scheme has unfortunately involved felling a significant number of trees to the north of the M2 (see photo below). This felling began in March 2006 ahead of the bird nesting season.

Progress

A press release on 12 June 2006 announced that work was beginning on that day. However, anyone who drives past this area knows that work had been ongoing here for about three months already. This probably marks the beginning of the levelling of the ground for the sliproads.

Update 21 Sep 2006: the earthworks for the two new sliproads are apparently largely complete with construction on the road to begin soon. Construction of the new roundabout at the north side of the junction has also begun.

Update 28 Feb 2007: the new sliproads are largely constructed and surfaced, and work now seems to be focusing on their tie-in to the local road system on Bush Road. The northern roundabout is completed and work on the southern one progressing. Completion can't be too far off.

Update 10 May 2007: according to somebody at Antrim Area Hospital, the scheme was largely completed in the first half of April 2007, but that the official opening has been delayed.

Update 3 Jul 2007: the onslips were opened to traffic on 29 June. The southbound onslip has been criticised for having a very, very short merge (less than 100 metres) while both of them are unusual in that the hard shoulder consists of the same black tarmac as the road surface instead of having the more common red chippings. There are rumours that the onslips were built two lanes wide, but that the design was modified to one lane after work was well advanced, resulting in a hard shoulder painted out with chevrons.

With thanks to Gareth Hamilton for a correction to this page, and Melvin Smyth for more info.

Map

The map below was posted on the Roads Service web site for a period, and shows the new works in red superimposed on the existing junction. Antrim Area Hospital is visible below and to the right of the junction:

Photos

Looking along the eastbound onslip in early July 2007, a few days after opening. [Photo by Andrew McCullough]

The completed eastbound onslip, showing its extremely short merge, seen in early July 2007. [Photo by Andrew McCullough]

The roundabout at the north end of the junction, looking towards the existing eastbound offslip, here seen taking shape on 5 November 2006. [Photo by Peter Williamson]

The eastbound onslip taking shape in September 2006. [Photo by Andrew McCullough]

The site of the future westbound onslip to the M2, seen from the existing bridge in 2005. [Photo by Wesley Johnston]

The existing eastbound offslip from the M2, here seen looking towards the M2 in 2005. [Photo by Wesley Johnston]