A727

This article is about the modern route designated in 2005.
For the historical route from Gorbals Cross - Clarkston Toll, see A727 (Glasgow - Clarkston).

The A727 is a largely suburban route passing through the Clarkston and Busby areas of south Glasgow.

Route

Spiersbridge Roundabout

The route starts end on with the A726 as a 3-lane dual carriageway at M77 junction 3, with the A726 multiplexing south with the M77 to find its new route over the Glasgow Southern Orbital (GSO). The third lane almost immediately merges in as the A727 follows Nitshill Road south east through a signalised crossroads to meet the B769 at Spiersbridge Roundabout. A large industrial area sits to the north, with housing to the south, unusually accessed directly from the roadside. Beyond the roundabout, the route curves through woodland, crossing the Auldhouse Burn on Spiers Bridge, before dropping to single carriageway. It then runs along the northern edge of Rouken Glen Park on Rouken Glen Road through Thornliebank, with large detached bungalows sitting opposite the park. Houses and park then swap, as the route runs along the southern edge of Eastwood Park. There is a brief section of dual carriageway through a signalised junction, followed by a short stretch of S4 to reach the roundabout at Eastwood Toll.

The A727 at Clarkston

The roundabout sits a little to the west of the historic crossroads with the A77, which heads north into Giffnock and south to Newton Mearns. The route quickly reverts to single carriageway as it follows the tree lined Eastwoodmains Road, with detached and semi detached houses peering out between the trees. The road is three lanes wide, with the centre lane almost continuously hatched out to provide right turn lanes for the numerous junctions, but the only signals are for pedestrian crossings. A wide but low brick arch then carries the railway overhead at Williamwood, followed by a narrower but higher bridge for a former railway. A signalised crossroads quickly follows, with more Victorian suburbia lining the roadside as it curves a little south east to reach Clarkston Toll, where the B767 is first met. The two routes then multiplex along Busby Road, Clarkston's main shopping street., After being squeezed down to a single carriageway to accommodate a bus stop, this soon becomes dualled again, but parking bays mean that only one lane in each direction is normally open to traffic.

The route slowly curves to the south, with houses taking over from the shops once more, and so fewer parked cars allow both lanes to be used by traffic most of the time. The multiplex ends at Sheddens Roundabout, where the A727 forks left, while the B767 continues ahead to Eaglesham. Busby Road is back to single carriageway, and after passing a few shops scattered amongst the houses and tenements, it curves gently through a wooded area to enter Busby itself. There is a short section of dual carriageway past the shops on Main Street, but again parking bays and a bus stop occupy the inside lane. The route then curves back to the east to cross the White Cart Water on Busby Bridge, beyond which it climbs up the sinuous East Kilbride Road. It then passes under the railway at a notorious low bridge, only 13"9', which gets hit surprisingly regularly, and the number of paint marks on the bridge of a different colour from the yellow/black stripes indicate this. Traffic has had three signed opportunities before this to divert onto the A726 which bypasses this bridge

After the bridge, the road bends sharply and then rises steeply coming up to the same height as the railway within 100m. The B759 turns left at a simple T junction opposite Busby Station before the route heads out of Busby. East Kilbride Road is again lined with large detached properties as it winds out into the fields. Almost immediately, it is dualled again, but only briefly as it curves past a few houses. It then meets the B766 Carmunnock bypass at Thorntonhall Roundabout, beyond which the remainder of the route is a dual carriageway. The route ends much as it began, end on with the A726 on the Queensway heading into East Kilbride. This time, the A726 TOTSOs at the Phillipshill Roundabout to join the GSO.

History

The current incarnation of the A727 came into being in 2005 when the GSO opened and the A726 was diverted south along it. For a short time, the part of this route between Thorntonhall Roundabout and the GSO flyover at Phillipshill Roundabout was briefly numbered as an extension of the B766, although there is no obvious reason why this was the case..

The current A727 was therefore numbered as the A726 from 1922 until 2005, and has seen surprisingly few changes. As a major orbital route through the southern suburbs, the route was either built wide enough for three or four lanes of traffic, or has been widened where possible to accommodate them. There are still some narrower sections, largely where old bridges or houses prevented the route from being widened easily. The only major realignment is at Spiersbridge Roundabout, where the route originally curved a little to the south, roughly on the line of Arden Place, then turned north along the B769, before turning back to the east on Rouken Glen Road. This section has been bypassed since 1974. Further east, Eastwood Toll Roundabout was built in 1963, but only really affected the alignment of the A77. A little south east of Sheddens Roundabout, a layby to the north of Busby Road perhaps indicates a minor realignment, while the short section of dual carriageway just outside Busby is obviously a result of building a second carriageway alongside, it is difficult to be certain which is the older piece of road.