Banbridge District is well situated to access all the main external gateways from Northern Ireland. Although it has no motorways, the area occupies 7% of the total length of road in Northern Ireland. It has 21.8 kilometres of dual carriageway, the largest of all 26 council areas. Served by the Southern Roads Service Division, the A1 dual carriageway forms part of the main route linking Belfast to Dublin and is a significant transportation route for business between Ireland and the rest of Europe. It is one of the busiest roads in Northern Ireland, carrying an estimated 19,000 vehicles each day. The Department for Regional Development (DRD) operates all spaces with no private sector involvement. One of the main road improvement projects in the District is the upgrading of the A1 dual carriageway, which is costing approximately £20 million. Capital investment totalling £8 million is planned for the District for 2005/06.

During 2004/05, DRD completed the following major road improvements:

• A50/A26 Tullyraine Road, Banbridge at the Banville Hotel
• A50 Castlewellan Road near Corbet
• B10 Rathfriland Road, May’s Corner at Ballybrick and Glenburn Road Junctions and the B2/U4032 Caughey’s Road, Dromore
• Traffic-calming schemes have been completed at Ballygowan Road, Banbridge; Banbridge Road, Dromore; Lurgan Road, Dromore and Kinallen village and new traffic signals were installed at Scarva Street/Reilly Street junction.