Uig
Uig Ùige | |||
Location Map ( geo) | |||
The ferry pier at Uig | |||
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County | |||
Inverness-shire | |||
Highway Authority | |||
Highland | |||
Forward Destination on | |||
A87 | |||
Next Primary Destinations | |||
Kyle | |||
Places related to the A87 | |||
The small village of Uig lies on the west coast of Skye's Trotternish Peninsula and is an important ferry port. Its main business is the ferries to the Outer Hebredies, with crossings to Tarbet on Harris and Lochmaddy on North Uist. It has been the terminus of the A87 since that road was extended over the Skye Bridge in 1995.
Due to the ferries, Uig is surprisingly well connected to the rest of Scotland, not just by the trunk road network, but also by Scottish Citylink Services which run direct to Inverness and, via Fort William, to Glasgow. The services are timetabled to meet the ferries, thus providing good onward links for Islanders and tourists alike.
History
Back in 1922 when the roads were first classified, Uig was the terminus of the A856. At this point, the A855 was just a short link in Portree to the pier. However, fairly quickly the A855 was extended over the B887 to Staffin, and then an unclassified route to make the complete circuit of Trotternish and so reach Uig.
Uig has always been an important port, with steamers calling on their way to Harris and Lewis for over 150 years. The village itself curves around the bay, with the steep hills forcing the road to slowly climb from the shore, and the houses follow. Whilst Uig has grown in number of houses in the last century, the total population has not increased by so much. However, that has not stopped them taking on community ownership of the filling station, shop and cafe to ensure the villages survival as an important ferry port.
Junction
At the head of the bay, nearly a mile from the ferry terminal, the A855 forks left from the A87 and climbs up the hill, quite steeply at times. The junction is a sharp fork, but also has a short link to allow traffic from the A855 to more easily turn right for the ferries. Th original junction lay a little further west, the A87 having been diverted over a short section of new road to bypass the narrower old road through the village. A short distance up the A855, therefore, a second junction with the now dead end Old Pier Road is the original junction.
Routes
Route | To | Notes |
Caol Loch Ailse/Kyle of Lochalsh, Port Rìgh/Portree | ||
Stafainn/Staffin, Cill Mo Luaig/Kilmaluag, Dun Tuilm/Duntulm, Cille Mhoire/Kilmuir | ||
Lochmaddy, North Uist | links to A865 | |
Tarbert, Harris | links to A868 | |
Caol Loch Ailse/Kyle of Lochalsh, Port Rìgh/Portree |