B931

The B931 is a short B-road along the Fife coast. Strangely, every classified road it meets is met in two separate places.

Route

Wellesley Road, Buckhaven

The route starts on the A955 at a triangular junction on the western edge of Buckhaven and briefly heads south along Station Road to a roundabout where the B944 continues ahead into town whilst the B931 bears left along Wellesley Road. This is a wide road which slowly curves round to the north between council housing in a variety of 'cottage' styles. The other end of the B944 is met at the next roundabout, from where the B931 continues north east along Wellesley Road. There is a little less variety in the housing styles now, but this is more than made up for by the grand architeture of the Randolph Wemyss Memorial Hospital opposite! The road runs a short distance inland from the coast, with the Fife Energy Park (an industrial estate plus) lying between the houses and coast.

The B932 is then crossed at a slightly staggered crossroads on the edge of Methil, the B931 retaining priority. Continuing along Wellesley Road, the route crosses a series of mini roundabouts as it passes through the town, with a number of shops and businesses along the roadside. The road then gets wider as it passes an industrial area before curving round to the right, briefly running alongside, but slightly above the A955 to end at a roundabout, at the western end of the Bawbee Bridge where both the B932 and A955 are met once more.

History

Methil in the 1950s showing the old route of the B931

The original route of the B931 had the same end points but actually followed what is now the route of the A955 instead. The road from Buckhaven into Methil was the B927 (quickly upgraded to A955) whilst the section through Methil was unclassified. This situation lasted until the 1970s when the A955 and B931 swapped numbers (although part of the old route of the A955 became the B932 instead), giving both roads their current routes. The wider, eastern end of the route was built in the 1960s prior to the routes being swapped about.

The 1922 MOT Road List defines this route as: Buckhaven - Leven