A1 Haddington - former terminus?

[James1978]

I was travelling up to the area last week for a golf trip, and distinctly remember the first time I went up that way (to the British Open at St Andrews in 2000) there was a really weird terminus of the near-motorway section at Haddington where it literally just ended at a GSJ to re-join the D2 old road. Next time I went up there again in 2005 (again on the way to St Andrews) the HQ dualled section had been extended eastwards and ever since I've wondered both what the junction looked like (as I can't seem to find any photos of it online) and also at exactly what location it was situated (was it just east of the town joining the now A199)? It seems like it pre-dated all the roads photos and Google Maps etc, but if anyone has any evidence of it, it would be much appreciated!

[c2R]

It was here, At Abbotsview Junction. https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/maps/ind ... 16&layer=0

If I recall correctly, the junction was mostly built with the Haddington Bypass scheme, but without the overbridge, so eastbound traffic had to negotiate both dumbbell roundabouts to rejoin the older A1, which was connected to the southern roundabout of the pair.

[James1978]

Thanks - it is where I thought it was then. Turned off the A1 at this junction to go to Craigielaw/Aberlady but was in effect coming from the wrong direction to have used it as the terminus! .

[wrinkly]

As can be seen on SABRE maps by going to an old 1" map and doing an overlay, the southern roundabout is exactly on the line of the old A1.

[James1978]

So I'm guessing on the former layout travelling westbound, that Pencraig Brae which was then the A1 turned more on a southern trajectory than it does now to link in with the southern roundabout, rather than the northern one as now?

[c2R]

So I'm guessing on the former layout travelling westbound, that Pencraig Brae which was then the A1 turned more on a southern trajectory than it does now to link in with the southern roundabout, rather than the northern one as now?

Yes - click here: https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/maps/ind ... 15&layer=4

Choose Map Fader, and drag the bar to about half way - you'll see the line that pencraig Brae took.

[James1978]

That's great, cheers!

[Gav]

showing the junction under construction. You can see how the road was arranged. The old A1 approach had been realigned but you see the layout of the dumbell and bridge with the road stubs.

[wrinkly]

I visited this junction at various stages in its history. When I first saw this thread I couldn't remember the full sequence of construction stages, and thought it a sad sign of ageing. But then I kept thinking about it and have come to have a nagging doubt that, contrary to c2R's post and the Wiki page, the bridge may have been built as part as the earlier section westward of Haddington, but not brought into use until the eastward extension was opened.

Gav's picture seems to support this idea, as it seems to show the surfacing on the bridge continuous with the surfacing to the west.

[c2R]

Now that's interesting - I couldn't say for certain, I was pretty sure I remembered it without the bridge in place, but perhaps I'm remembering from when the Haddington bypass itself was being built. It is a long time ago now... I've amended the wiki page (as it was me who authored it) to add make it factually accurate, although it doesn't now answer the question of exactly when the overbridge was constructed.

[Mark Hewitt]

This was about the time where I would drive to Edinburgh 3-4 times a year for work. I remember the junction and being dumped onto the S2 alignment and then going back later and driving on the new D2 alongside it.

[Bryn666]

Might be shonky memory but I seem to recall there once being a WAI of the unopened bridge?

What is really irritating there's nothing earlier than 2009 on the Google Earth aerial photos history (well, 1945 is there...).

[wrinkly]

Someone may have a Landranger. It turns out mine is too old to show even the westward road.

[c2R]

I think the 2003 explorer shows the bridge as being complete as a white dotted road

[Truvelo]

The bridge was built before the extension eastwards. I took some photos of it in 2001. They are now added to the wiki article.

Might be shonky memory but I seem to recall there once being a WAI of the unopened bridge?

That was me.

[James1978]

Yep that's how I remember it from 2000!!

[Hdeng16]

I'll "confirm" for what it's worth that the bridge was completed long before the dual carriageway was being constructed (to the east). I remember driving under it when the "temporary" layout was in operation. Must have been very late 90s I'd estimate.

[wrinkly]

According to the decade-by-decade "network change" pages in the wiki, westward was opened in 1996 and eastward in 2004.

[Duncan macknight]

https://scottishroadscast.podbean.com/e ... to-dunbar/

This podcast I did will provide some more detail on the chain of events

[wrinkly]

https://scottishroadscast.podbean.com/e ... to-dunbar/

This podcast I did will provide some more detail on the chain of events

The podcast mentions Freeman Fox as designers or consultants on part of the A1. A friend of mine worked for them in the late 1960s or early 1970s, either as a vacation job or as his first proper job after graduation. He saw a proposed layout for a GSJ on the Tranent bypass with two slip roads inside the roundabout, a bit like M6 J7 or M4 J44, but it was two diametrically opposite slip roads inside. I imagine this must have been the Dolphingstone junction with the two off-slips inside. (As later actually built it has no roundabout.)

The then Scottish Office commissioned a study on Routes South of Edinburgh in about 1988. I created a wiki page about it last year, making use of the limited information I had about it.

https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/ind ... _Edinburgh