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This major project was first announced on 13 December 2005 by the Northern Ireland Secretary of State Peter Hain as part of a larger investment package for the city of Derry, and work got underway in 2018. Due primarily to lack of cash, but also due to the discovery of a large illegal dump at Mobuoy, the scheme was split into two phases. Phase 1 was constructed between 2018 and 2023 and saw a dual-carriageway bypass of Dungiven town and dualling of the existing A6 from there to a "temporary" terminus at Lismacarol at Drumahoe. Phase 2 will extend this road cross-country past Drumahoe to the A2 at Maydown on the north-eastern periphery of Derry city. It will also see a section of the existing A2 improved from Maydown to Gransha. The new A6 road will be build to a high quality with two lanes each way, no breaks in the central barrier. There will be no intermediate junctions between Lismacarol roudnbout, which will be grade-separated, and the terminal roundabout at Maydown.

Strip Junction Map

This is a strip map of the design that was published in May 2009, and is still correct as of 2024.

	WEST Begins on A2 dual-carriageway, Derry 2+2 lanes
STRADREAGH or GRANSHA	A2 Clooney Road (into Derry)		Local access    A2 Clooney  Road  (to Limavady)
	5.3 km / 3.3 miles - 2+2 lanes
LISMACAROL ROUNDABOUT (DRUMAHOE)	A? Glenshane Road (existing A6) (into Derry).		Tirbracken  Road
	EAST Ends on A6 dual-carriageway, Dungiven 2+2 lanes

Updates

22 Mar 2024: DFI recently released the "first day briefing" given to the new DFI Minister from last month. Concerning this scheme, the DFI's brief to the Minister was that DFI has "been liaising closely with DAERA in relation to this project to ensure that any remediation proposals take account of each parties’ requirements, including those associated with Phase 2". As the route of the planned road traverses the Mobuoy site in a shallow cutting this presumably means that DFI want to ensure that, if the material is left in situ, it will be possible to build the road over it as planned. However, the DFI position is that "construction of phase 2 will not commence until the remediation of the Mobuoy waste site has been completed by DAERA". Since this still looks to be years away, this reinforces my conviction that this scheme will not be progressing in the next number of years.

21 Feb 2024: The new DFI Minister John O'Dowd was asked about the scheme in a Written Answer in the Assembly recently (AQW 5524/22-27). In his answer, the Minister explicitly linked the lack of a timescale on the illegal Mobuoy dump site: "Once plans for remediation of that [Mobuoy] site are in place, a delivery strategy for Phase 2 including timelines will be finalised". That implies the scheme won't happen until Mobuoy is rectified, and to be honest that doesn't seem likely to happen even in the next decade. Additionally, this section is likely to have a poor business case when treated separately from the scheme that has now been built. The longer the delay goes on the greater the chances that the scheme would have to go through another public inquiry as a standalone scheme. So I continue to be of the view that this scheme may not happen at all, certainly not in the next ten years.

19 Jul 2023: I have now created this page by splitting it off from the main A6 Derry-Dungiven page as Phase 1 of the scheme is now complete. Phase 2 is planned to extend the road from Drumahoe to Gransha. Although much shorter than Phase 1 at 5.3 km, due to some very challenging terrain, high land costs and a major bridge over the river Faughan, it has almost the same cost (£200m) as Phase 1. This is the main reason it did not happen at the same time as Phase 1 (2018-23). However, a second factor is the illegal dump at Mobuoy which was discovered eleven years ago and which lies directly on the route of Phase 2. Proceeding with the road would require a permanent solution to the Mobuoy dump issue, and that does not seem imminent. The alternative, re-routing the road around the site, is undesirable for DFI as it would likely trigger a second public inquiry during which the road would need to be re-assessed on a stand-alone basis. Given that it was taken through the inquiry along with Phase 1 last time (2012) its economic case looked much better than it would if taken forward separately. My feeling is that this scheme is unlikely to proceed in the next 5-10 years, because there are a large number of other schemes, such as the A5 dualling project, that are a higher priority. The longer the delay goes on the greater the chances that the scheme would have to go through another public inquiry, and for this reason it is possible it may never happen at all.

Updates prior to this point were made on the page for Phase 1, which you can find here.