A989

The A989 is a complete ring road around the centre of Perth, but it is all single-carriageway and was built up with fragments of other roads, rather than new, purpose build. The exact date when the road was created is unclear, but the late 1980s or early 1990s seems to be the best guess based on old road atlases.

Route

Starting at the south-west corner, next to the railway station and proceeding anti-clockwise, the A989 runs due eastwards under the Perth to Dundee railway line and along Kings Place and then Marshall Place. South Inch Park is on the right for this entire stretch, and the railway line a little to the north. Halfway along Marshall Place, is the junction with the A912, Edinburgh Road, which used to be the A90 until the M90 replaced that route.

The A989 at its junction with South Street

At the end of Marshall Place, the A989 turns northwards at a mini roundabout, onto Tay Street along the bank of the River Tay. It soon comes to the junction with the A93 which crosses over the Tay on Queens Bridge. Along with the older Perth Bridge to the north, there are restricted movements when crossing the Tay, so traffic from Queens Bridge has to turn left onto the A989, while traffic crossing Perth Bridge cannot turn right on the eastern bank, which combined helps to reduce traffic conflict on either side of the river. Tay Street, which connects the two bridges, has a fine row of buildings looking out across the river. These include many civic buildings and form an elegant riverside panorama of mellow stone with both Gothic and Classical styles in evidence, helping to give Perth the name of 'The Fair City'.

The next junction is with the A85, which has crossed the River Tay on Perth Bridge. The A989 then turns away from the river on Charlotte Street, with the North Inch stretching out to the north, overlooked by more fine Georgian Architecture including Rose Terrace. Charlotte Street becomes Atholl Street as the route crosses to the north of the city centre to reach the other A912 junction at Barrack Street. This signalised junction has been substantially rebuilt since 2020, removing a bus lane and reducing the spacing between the turning lanes. On the left just before the junction stands Perth's Cathedral, while on the opposite corner the modern Police Headquarters stand on the old Barracks site. The A989 turns southwards onto Caledonian Road and quickly finds a small roundabout giving access to the St Catherine's Retail Park, built on the old railway goods yard area.

Continuing southwards along Caledonian Road, on the western side of the ring road, the A989 meets the A93 again on York Place at a signalised crossroads. The last section of the A989 takes the route back to the railway station, and is perhaps the quietest section. At the end of Caledonian Road, the route turns hard left onto St Andrew Street before having to TOTSO right onto Leonard Street. This heads south again, past the old Station Hotel to rteurn to the Station Forecourt where we started, with the road curving round to the east onto Kings Place.

Along the route of the A989, no less than three other routes multiplex with it, although it is impossible to say for certain whether they multiplex clockwise or anticlockwise, most traffic seems to be directed around the eastern and northern flanks of the route. The A912 passes from south to north, the A93 from Queens Bridge across to the west, and the A85 from Perth Bridge around to Barrack Street where it continues to multiplex with the A912 northwards.

History

Perth in 1923

The whole of the A989 Perth Ring Road is less than 2 miles long, but has a rather confused history incorporating former sections of a number of routes including the A9 and A85. The sketch map to the left shows the original road layout of the town; the A989 has now taken over three sides of the rectangular road layout, with the western section (which ran along Methven Street and King Street) now unclassified as the A989 runs further west.

Although the western section of the A989 was formerly unclassified, the western end of Marshall Place was originally the A90. This then turned off through the South Inch on what is now the A912, and the eastern end of Marshall Place and the southern end of Tay Street were originally the A920, before being renumbered as an extension of the A94. Between Queens Bridge and Perth Bridge, Tay Street seems to have been the A85 throughout, although at times it may have had a multiplex with the A94. Charlotte Street and Atholl Street, as far as the Methven Street junction, also seem to have always been the A85, with the A9 taking over the short section from Methven Street to Barrack Street. Beyond this point, the route was once more unclassified.

Various roads in Perth's inner ring had already been made one-way (although not in an obvious ring) before the A989 came into being. The loop was expanded slightly to pass further west of the centre and serve the station and all roads within the ring were declassified. The A989 is now two-way in its entirety.