A756

St. Michael's bridge

The A756 is another of the 7 zone's short 3-digit roads, this one being located in Dumfries.

The route starts on the eastern side of Dumfries town centre, by forking left off the A780 (former A75) at a mini roundabout adjacent to the oldest council houses in the town. It follows Brooms Road and, after a few hundred yards, passes underneath the Dumfries-Carlisle railway line which has restricted headroom (4.1m/13'6"). High vehicles are sent via the A780, which passes over the railway before winding around the town centre. Beyond the bridge, a supermarket sits on the right-hand side and to the left are large council housing estates (although built nicely from sandstone). A roundabout provides access to the first supermarket, while the second, just beyond the fire station, has a signalised junction opposite Queen Street. A large car park on the right is on the site of the former gas works, after which the route widens into a dual carriageway for a large signalised junction. There are a few pelican crossings on the same section.

The signals allow the A756 to cross the B725, and a second set a short distance further along sit on the riverbank, with Dockhead running north into the town centre, and quickly becoming the A781, Whitesands. A lot of demolition and poor reconstruction took place here here making it a very unflattering part of the town. The A756, meanwhile, returns to a single carriageway here and continue straight on to cross the river. There is a moderate slope to climb over St Michael's bridge (The west bank of the Nith is much higher than the east). The route then continues along St Michaels Bridge Road to another set of traffic lights with restricted right turns at busy times. Continuing ahead onto Pleasance Avenue, the route curves gently through a pleasant residential district. The route then comes to an end on the A710, New Abbey Road. This junction used to be a simple give way T junction, which could be difficult to turn out of. However, it appears that the junction has been rebuilt recently to improve matters.

History

The route on the 1932 OS Ten Mile Road Map

The route taken by the A756 was not classified in the original allocation of numbers in 1922, indeed mapping evidence suggests that Pleasance Avenue had not been built in 1922, and St Michaels Bridge was not completed until 1927. However, it appears that as soon as the bridge was completed the A756 came into existence, providing a partial relief route to the south of Dumfries town centre. It is certainly shown on the 1928 revision of the MOT map. The streets to the east of the river were all pre-existing, but those to the west were newly constructed along with the bridge. Before the A75 bypass opened, the A756 was a very busy route, helping to spread through traffic out as it passed through the town. However, today it is a much more local route, which is most useful for traffic heading to/from the A710 and A711 from the east.