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The N13 connects Derry to Ballybofey, passing through Manorcunningham and bypassing Letterkenny to the east en route. At Letterkenny it meets the N56 which carries traffic into the town and onwards to north Donegal. The 2 km stretch of the N13 from the junction with the N14 south of Manorcunningham to Letterkenny was upgraded to a dual-carriageway on 15 June 1990 (at a cost of IR£10.5m) making it the first modern dual-carriageway in Donegal. It is an at-grade dual-carriageway with T-junctions and central reservation crossing points.

This scheme would see this section of road upgraded to improve safety and improve traffic flow. The existing dual-carriageway will be upgraded to have no central reserve crossings, with crossing roads either grade-separated or closed up. Meanwhile, the N13 south of Letterkenny will be realigned onto a new route to meet the upgraded dual-carriageway at a new roundabout. From the same roundabout, a new link road will connect to the existing N56 Letterkenny Bypass. The map below shows the proposed route as of 2020 (click to expand). A more detailed design can be seen in the last few pages of this document.

The road will include a major bridge over the River Swilly just east of the Letterkenny Bypass. The scheme is one element of three schemes being taken forward together as a single project, the other two being the N13/N15 Ballbofey/Stranorlar Bypass and N14 Manorcunningham to A5 at Lifford/Strabane.

Updates

26 Jul 2024: The Irish Cabinet yesterday finally approved this scheme, later than anticipated in the previous update. The scheme – and the two other Donegal TEN-T schemes which have been approved too – will now move to the planning and procurement processes. Subject to all going to plan with these processes, construction is anticipated to get underway in 2028, i.e. four years from now. The government has also said that it will be revising the cost estimates in due course, as the current estimate of €100-125m dates from 2022 and the rate of construction inflation has been quite high in the past few years. With thanks to Paul McCloskey for giving me the heads up about this decision.

13 Dec 2023: With thanks to an avid road fan from Donegal who sent me a newspaper cutting that definitively dated the opening of the N13 dual-carriageway at Letterkenny to 15 June 1990, and which even gave the total cost as IR£10.5m in the prices of the day. Thank you!

6 Oct 2023: With many thanks to you all. In my previous update I asked if anyone knew the year that the N13 dual-carriageway at Letterkenny opened, and two people responded! Larry Duffy recalled that it opened in or around 1989. Retro Herbie recalled seeing a sign at the time which gave a completion date of 1988. Thank you both, that is enough for me to date it as 1988/89. It remains the only dual-carriageway outside an urban area in County Donegal.

15 Sep 2023: As with the first Donegal scheme I covered, the first point to make is that this is my first attempt to follow a scheme outside Northern Ireland, so if I have made any basic errors please be gentle and let me know roads at wesleyjohnston.com! In particular, if anyone knows the construction date of the existing N13 dual-carriageway at Letterkenny please let me know. At this stage the scheme has a detailed design (see here) but construction is unlikely to begin before 2026. The next couple of years will need to see the scheme taken through the process to obtain planning permission. The scheme also needs a business case signed off, which is expected sometime this year. The current cost estimate is €100-125m at 2022 prices but this is likely to rise due to the recent surge in construction inflation. A reminder that the excellent JP Dowling over at Irish Motorway Info maintains information on new roads across the whole of the Republic.