A92
From Roader's Digest: The SABRE Wiki
| A92 | |||||||
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| From: | Dunfermline (NT129885) | ||||||
| To: | Stonehaven (NO864945) | ||||||
| Length: | 89 miles (143.2 km) | ||||||
| Meets: | M90, A91, A972, A90 | ||||||
| Primary Destinations | |||||||
| Dundee • Kirkcaldy • Tay Road Bridge • | |||||||
| Highways Authorities | |||||||
| Traditional Counties | |||||||
| Route outline (key) | |||||||
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Originally Scotland's main East coast route, linking Fife, Dundee, Angus, Kincardineshire, Aberdeen, Peterhead and Fraserburgh, the A92 has a complex history. It's undergone many route changes and also suffered a significant truncation to leave it as the current Dunfermline - Dundee - Stonehaven route. It's now a mixture of trunk and non-primary dual, four lane and single carriageway and still forms a very important route through Fife and Angus.
History
Before the main route description, some more on the route changes:
- Originally, the A92 left the A90 at Inverkeithing to head E along the Fife coast; then after the Forth Road Bridge appeared, the A92 was rerouted to reach the M90/A90/A985 at M90 J1. It headed east as a primary trunk to Aberdour, where it lost trunk status to the A987/A907 inland route (Queensferry passage, now B9157) to Kirkcaldy. The A92 continued along the coast through Burntisland and Kinghorn to rejoin the A907 at Kirkcaldy. It carried the trunk road through Kirkcaldy, where for a while the A915 took the trunk route north east towards St Andrews, while the A92 continued north towards Glenrothes. This section was renumbered A921 sometime in the late 1980s.
- The A92 once upon a time left the present course of the route at New Inn Roundabout (A914/A912, north of Glenrothes), and headed north east to Cupar as non-primary. It met the A91 at a T junction in Cupar, disappeared for a few miles, before leaving the A91 east of Dairsie, heading N to St Michaels to meet the A919/B945 at a crossroads, turning left and continuing to Newport, meeting the A914 again, where the old Tay ferry departed for Dundee. After the Tay Road Bridge was opened (in 1966 I think), the A92 met the A914 at Forgan Roundabout near Newport, and the old A92 into Newport was renamed the B995. In the mid 1990s, the anomaly of the main Fife-Dundee route changing from A92 to A914 and back again was rectified when the A92 and A914 effectively swapped routes.
- From Stonehaven to Fraserburgh, the A92 was renumbered the A90 in the early 1990s, having briefly become the Aberdeen ring road (Anderson Drive) in place of the A947.
- The A92's trunk road status has also been quite volatile. I think that it was originally trunk from Inverkeithing to Kirkcaldy, and then to the A91 roundabout, and the A92 from the A91 to Dundee only gained trunk status in the mid 1990s. The A92 from Dundee to Stonehaven was detrunked in the mid 1980s, when the decision was taken to upgrade the inland A929/A94 (now A90) route. North of Aberdeen the old A92 was trunk to the A952 junction NE of Ellon, and lost it until meeting the A952 south of Fraserburgh.
Route
The A92 begins life at J3 of the M90 (Halbeath interchange, east of Dunfermline), although a recent motorway spur allows direct access to and from the M90 south by J2a. This spur meets the A92 at a limited access junction E of Crossgates, where the Fife Regional Road begins. This high quality dual carriageway heads E to Kirkcaldy, with full grade separated junctions for the A909, B9149 and A910. The A92 meets the old A92, now A921/B9130 at a roundabout north of Kirkcaldy, and the dual carriageway swings north, bypassing Thornton to meet the B921 on the outskirts of Glenrothes at a ridiculously large roundabout with confusing lane markings. It's built with the capability for adding a flyover but I can't see it happening... Still on dual carriageway, the A92 spears through Glenrothes, to meet the A911 at another roundabout. Heading north, A92 traffic must filter into the outside lane to carry straight on at this roundabout.
Now, the A92 is all of a sudden an inadequate single lane road, winding through woodland between Glenrothes and Markinch. Apparently, and upgrade to dual carriageway for this section has been shelved, with 'minor junction improvements' promised instead. North of Glenrothes, dual carriageway starts again, although recent changes to the B969 junction mean that each carriageway is effectively single lane. Eventually we get two lane dual carriageway back, only for it to stop again at the New Inn roundabout (A912/A914). Single carriageway north now, passing through Freuchie (and its famous cricket team), and following a largely straight route across the flat Howe of Fife. Ladybank is passed to the west, and after a realigned railway bridge (now a double bend and blind summit), the A92 meets the A91 at the Melville Lodge Roundabout.
Continuing through the rolling farmland of North East Fife, the A92 is still single carriageway, where overtaking is possible, and can be fast at night, but a tractor is bad news....
On reaching Dundee, a trumpet junction allows access to Dundee's inner ring road, the A991 South Marketgait (there are all sorts of plans for drastically redeveloping this area of Dundee to link the city centre with the riverside).
The A92 multiplexes briefly with the A991 before emerging as East Dock Street, still as a trunk road, a four lane road east past the docks (Dock Street links Whitehall Crescent and Commercial Street and is restricted to Buses only upto the Shore Terrace Junction). After a couple of miles the A930 continues straight on to Broughty Ferry while A92 takes a left turn at traffic lights onto Greendykes Avenue. This is a strange dual carriageway through a housing estate where there is barely room for overtaking, mainly due to the narrow lanes and wide central reservation along which a line of pylons runs. This road meets the A972 Kingsway (Dundee outer ring road), B959 and B961 at the Scott Fyfe roundabout, and the A972 takes the trunk/primary route NW to meet the A90.
So from now on the A92 is just a secondary A route, but is as busy as ever, being a main commuter route. It heads E past the Claypotts junction with the B978 (formerly a notorious roundabout, now a major traffic light junction). This is now a 40mph Dual Carriageway with Roundabouts through Dundee, (or more accurately along the back of Monifeith as the expected developments to the north have not take place) to Eithibeathon Park. From here we enter Angus and an increase in speed limit to NSL, from here on to Elliot all junctions are grade separated.
A steep drop to Elliot roundabout takes us into Arbroath, passing Gayfield Park (Arbroath FC, the UK's closest football ground to the sea - about 16 cm away), and bypassing the town centre (30mph though). At a roundabout the A933 heads NW to Forfar and Brechin, while the A92 continues north towards Inverkeilor (bypassed). A low bridge means a high vehicle diversion south of Inverkeilor - not always followed with unfortunate consequences. The A92 keeps slightly inland between Arbroath and Montrose, passing Lunan Bay to the east - it's actually possible to drive from Arbroath to Montrose on minor roads, always keeping coast-side of the A92. The A92 descends towards Montrose, with views to the tidal Montrose basin. The A934 from Forfar joins from the west, and the A92 passes under an arch of the railway viaduct to enter Ferryden, a village which is effectively a suburb of Montrose.
Heading north at a roundabout, the A92 crosses the outflow of Montrose Basin by a bridge which is apparently falling down, to enter Montrose proper. A recent relief road means the A92 avoids the main high street, meeting the Brechin (A935) road at a roundabout, and at a Y junction the Laurencekirk (A937) veers off NW. N of Montrose, the River North Esk is crossed by a fairly narrow bridge and a couple of bad bends, and now we've left Angus and entered what was Kincardineshire, now Aberdeenshire. The A92 continues to follow the coast, through St Cyrus, and as the slopes to the coast get slightly steeper, passes roads to the fishing villages of Johnshaven and Gourdon before entering Inverbervie. There was a tiny piece of dual carriageway just south of Inverbervie, but latest maps suggest that it's been removed.
Inverbervie is the last place of any size on the A92 north, and the route leave the town by a high level bridge over the Bervie Water. Here, the B967 heads west to Fordoun and the A90 which is by now heading towards the coast (also along the B967 is a centre devoted to the author Lewis Grassick Gibbon. An urban myth is that many tourists turn up at the Grassick Gibbon Centre wondering where the monkeys are...). The last few miles see the A92 pass Kinneff and Catterline (Kinneff church being a temporary resting place for that important piece of Scottish history, the Stone of Destiny). Eventually an extension of the Stonehaven bypass (late 1980s?) sees the A92 swing NE to end at a trumpet junction on the A90 just south of Stonehaven. Originally the A92 passed Dunnottar Castle (tourists, film crews etc) and wound its way down to meet the old A94 in Stonehaven - I think this is now one-way heading south.
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