M22 motorway

The M22 is a short motorway in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It runs for just nine kilometres between the A6 and the M2. The route forms part of the unsigned European route E16. Plans for a longer motorway were announced in 1964 but never completed. Work began in the early 1970s and the motorway opened in two sections by 1973. Only the 5.6-mile stretch between Antrim and Randalstown was built.

The motorway bypasses the town of Antrim to the north. It crosses Ferguson’s Water, the Belfast–Derry railway line and Mill Burn. Between junctions two and three it passes between Randalstown and Randalstown Forest. The route also crosses the River Main before ending at junction three. Throughout its length the M22 is a two-lane dual carriageway.

At junction one there is a retail outlet known as Junction One. The motorway starts just after junction seven of the M2. It runs west across open countryside and light woodland. The route avoids built-up areas and keeps to the rural edge of Antrim. Drivers on the M22 see farmland and small woodlands on either side. The road provides a fast link between the A6 and the M2 without entering Antrim town centre.