A2 in Derry A38 in Strabane B46 to Plumbridge A32 in Omagh A4 in Ballygawley The A5 is a major primary route in Northern Ireland.

The A5 goes south skirting the River Foyle past Prehen and through the villages of New Buildings and across the county boundary into Tyrone at Magheramason.

The A5 continues through the hamlets of Garvaghey and Ballymackilroy to a roundabout just outside Ballygawley where it meets the A4 Belfast – Enniskillen road.

The A5 does not contain any dual carriageway sections, and for many years the route brought traffic through a series of towns and villages which formed bottlenecks.

The first section was completed and opened in the early 1990s, relieving outlying northern neighbourhoods and the town centre.

There was also bottleneck through the village of Newtownstewart, where the A5 included a narrow section before a sharp right turn at a T-junction with the B46 to Plumbridge.

This was followed by a left turn a short distance later through the southern part of the village, before meeting a dangerous right-hand bend which carried a 25 mph speed limit.

A bypass of the village, using part of the route of the dismantled Londonderry and Enniskillen Railway, was completed and opened in 2003.

The Department of Regional Development has confirmed that part of the A5 route at Tullyvar, between Ballygawley and Aughnacloy, will be realigned, as will the A4 at Annaghilla nearby.

Other schemes to improve the A5 have also been proposed by the DRD: In June 2008 Regional Development Minister Conor Murphy announced plans for a feasibility study into creating an A6 – A5 Link Road around Derry.

[4] It was suggested that the new road would reduce journey times from Derry and Northern Donegal to Dublin by 20 minutes.