Motorway Database
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Factfile - Images - Timeline - Exit List
Surely the most pathetic of all Northern Ireland's pathetic motorways is the poor little A8(M) - and that's saying something. When the M2 was started it headed this way, but a very last-minute decision was taken to re-route the M2 via Antrim. This bit was already built and was left as a tail-end of motorway even though none of the roads concerned had been opened.
The A8(M) isn't unusual in connecting to no other motorways - roads on the mainland like the M2, M57, A3(M) and various parts of the A1(M) don't connect to another road with motorway restrictions. It is, however, unique in having no other junctions in between.
It has arguably the most pointless imposition of motorway restrictions of any road in the UK, because it connects nothing but all-purpose roads and is only a mile long anyway. All the more reason to celebrate - three cheers for the A8(M)!
Factfile
| Start | Newtownabbey (M2) |
| Finish | Newtownabbey (A8) |
| Passes | None |
| Length | 1 mile |
| Terminates | None |
| Spurs | None |
| Meets | None |
Images
Views of the A8(M) from on and off the road. If you have a photo to contribute, contact me.
The M2 end of the A8(M), with the short motorway stretching away from us up the hill. Both carriageways are the same width but, for some unknown reason, the northbound one is marked with three lanes while the southbound side only has two. To the right, there's a Northern Ireland specialty: a flashing "no entry" sign.
Photo by Wesley Johnston
From the top of that hill (okay, from a footbridge close to it), the end of the road is already approaching. And that's it for the A8(M)!
Photo by Wesley Johnston
Construction Timeline
When the various parts of the A8(M) were built, listed in chronological order.
| Open | Section |
|---|---|
| 1966 | Entire motorway |
Exit List
All the junctions and destinations along the route.
| Junction | Southbound | Northbound | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Larne A8 |
B56 |
NORTH A8  |
B56 |
N/A    |
|||||
| Ballyclare B56 |
||||||||||
| Newtownabbey B56     |
||||||||||
0.5 miles, 3 lanes  |
 1 mile, 2 lanes |
|||||||||
  |
||||||||||
| 0.5 miles, 3 lanes |
||||||||||
| (M2 J4) | N/A |
M2 A6 |
 SOUTH |
B90 A6 M2 |
Newtonabbey B90 |
|||||
| Glengormley A6 |
||||||||||
| Belfast M2  |
||||||||||
| Mallusk A6 |
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| Antrim M2   |
With thanks to Wesley Johnston for information in this section.
