A72
From Roader's Digest: The SABRE Wiki
| A72 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| From: | Galashiels (NT489364) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| To: | Hamilton (NS712557) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length: | 63 miles (101.4 km) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Meets: | M74, A7, A707, A703, A701, A721, A702, A73, (A70, A743, A706), A71, A723, A724 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former Number(s): | A74 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Primary Destinations | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Galashiels • | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Traditional Counties | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Route outline (key) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Contents |
Route
The A72 links the Scottish Borders with West Central Scotland, although the M8-A720-A68/A7 route is certainly faster. Its status is not clear - it was a primary route for much of its length, but recently seems to have been demoted (although atlases still show it as primary). It frequently disappears and reappears, deferring to north-south routes along the way.
Galashiels - Hamilton
Starting from the east, the A72 leaves the A7 one way system in Galashiels and heads west through Clovenfords where a recent realignment has taken out a nasty narrow humpy bridge. The road descends to the Tweed valley where it meets the A707 at a large roundabout completed in early 2004. This replaces a previous junction with the A707 where the two roads met at a very acute angle. Traffic ascending from the roundabout heading towards Galashiels now has a climbing lane, providing a much needed overtaking opportunity on this stretch. The A72 then follows the north bank of the Tweed through Walkerburn and Innerleithen (where the B709 turns left and right to Yarrow and Heriot respectively). Between Innerleithen and Peebles are a few straights; otherwise overtaking isn't easy on this bit.
At Peebles, the A703 from Edinburgh (also questionably a primary route) meets the A72 at a roundabout. The A72 continues W, and leaves the Tweed valley where the B712 from Broughton joins. Continuing W through the Southern Uplands, the A72 eventually reaches the A701 from Edinburgh at a TOTSO junction and the A72 now veers SW. Originally the primary route then turned right onto the A721 (the A72/A721 is optimistically signed 'Glasgow' from Peebles!), but the latest Collins atlas shows the primary route continuing on the A72. Another TOTSO junction sees the A72/A701 multiplex end and the A72 heads W to meet the A702 at a T-junction.
Through Biggar, the A72 disappears, subsumed by the A702 'main' Edinburgh-Carlisle route. South of Biggar, the A72 leaves the A702 and crosses the Clyde to meet the A73. At Wolfclyde Bridge it is an accident blackspot with 3 accidents in 2 months. This stretch of Road has been recently reduced to 40mph
The two routes multiplex as the A73 for several miles on a former trunk route, and on the far side of Lanark the A72 re-emerges as it dives down a steep hill into the Clyde valley at Kirkfieldbank. This section of the route is pretty slow - very twisty with lots of small farms and settlements. At Garrion Bridge the A72 crosses the A71 at traffic lights. This junction was improved between 2000 and 2002 [1] to form a large gyratory crossing the river Clyde.
The A72 then crosses the M74 at the northbound-only access/exit jct 7, and meets the B7078 at a TOTSO junction. Pre-M74, this was the end of the A72 as it met the old A74, but now has gained a few extra miles as it heads north into Hamilton, and finishes rather anonymously somewhere on the A724 having crossed the A723 and skirted Hamilton town centre and (trivia) the venue for the first few 'T' in the Parks.
History
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