A26 was re-routed under the unused bridges of the roundabout at Junction 10 at Ballymena, leading directly onto the M2 by-pass. The road works were completed in 2010. Beyond its junction with the M2 and M22, the A26 continues as single carriageway into Antrim, passing The Junction, the first outlet centre opened in Northern Ireland and runs along the edge of Antrim town centre and onwards to a roundabout junction with the A57 route close to Belfast International Airport. Originally the A26 route continued directly ahead to the Aldergrove site, with a section passing the perimeter of the airport grounds, but the road was closed for security reasons. Until the early 1990s, all traffic was diverted through the small village of Killead, but a by-pass relieved the village from traffic heading north to the Airport in the 1990s. The A26 then reaches another aviation-related landmark at a roundabout, the site of the former RAF Nutts Corner base. Traffic following the A26 takes a turn to the right, and continues, by-passing the villages of Crumlin, County Antrim, Glenavy and Upper Ballinderry, crossing the currently disused Lisburn–Antrim railway near the latter. The A26 then goes under the Belfast-Newry railway and then meets the M1 at its junction with the A3 road, and multiplexes with the A3 through the villages of Moira and Magheralin. The A26 branches off from the A3 again on entering Lurgan, and follows a south-eastern route to Banbridge. The route passes through the villages of Waringstown before meeting the A50 from Gilford and Portadown at a roundabout. The A26 then multiplexes with the A50 through the village of Seapatrick on its way into Banbridge town centre. The route splits into two spurs in Banbridge, both ending at the A1, with one carrying traffic north out of the town centre towards Belfast, Lisburn and Dromore, and the other carrying traffic south towards Newry and Dublin. The A50 leaves the A26 in the town centre and travels southeast towards Castlewellan and Newcastle. Planned developments At present, the Department for Regional Development plan a series of future road schemes for the A26: Completion of dualling between Ballymoney and Coleraine. The conversion of the stretch from Nutts Corner to M1 Junction 9 to "2+1" road. References 2-0026