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The A45 is a strange U-shaped A-class road that serves Coalisland and Dungannon. It leaves the M1 motorway at junction 14, heads through Coalisland, then through Dungannon and re-joins the A4 dual-carriageway at Granville. The most confined spot is Creenagh Bridge (known locally as Hogg's Bridge)  on the southern edge of Coalisland, where the road turns at 90° immediately after crossing the Altmore River. The reasons are historic. Creenagh Bridge was once on a straighter section of 18th century road that is still there today – made up of Loughview Road (to the north) and Creenagh Bridge Road (to the south) – see map below. In the 19th century, the Ballynakilly Road was built to offer gentler gradients and it was awkwardly glued into each side of the bridge, creating the current setup. This was fine in the days of stagecoaches, but it is problematic for HGVs today.

The solution is to demolish the existing concrete beam bridge and replace it with a new concrete culvert bridge with 160 metres of new road following a gentler curve. This work also requires the existing river to be diverted to the south over a short length. Once the river has been diverted, a short length of new road will connect Loughview Road to the new alignment.

Updates

22 Oct 2025: Work got underway about six weeks ago and so far has progressed rapidly. The road has been closed completely for the duration of the works, since the river diversion requires the removal of the original road at an early stage. The Facebook post here was put up two weeks ago and shows the new box culvert bridge partially completed and excavation for the new route of the river underway. Thanks to all who wrote to me about this scheme.