A772

Route

The A772 follows part of the original line of the A7 out of Edinburgh. It came into being in c1991 following the opening of the Eskbank Bypass and re-routing of the A7.

Nether Liberton - Eskbank

Gilmerton

The northern terminus of the road is at a signalized T-junction with the A701 in the Nether Liberton area of Edinburgh, a little to the south of the Cameron Toll shopping centre. It heads in a southeasterly direction along Gilmerton Road, and is surprisingly green, as it runs along the wooded banks of the Braid Burn, then across areas of parkland, with a school and care home set back from the road. There are blocks of flats and small housing developments as well, but often screened by trees. The route then passes through The Inch district, with blocks of flats and houses sometimes on the roadside, but often set back behind service roads. So far the road has been a wide single carriageway, with cycle lanes, bus stops, central turning lanes and parking bays, but no real obstructions to traffic flow. At Liberton Church, however, a signalised crossroads gives a brief pause. An area of older housing then sits on the right, with a golf course hidden behind the stone wall and line of trees opposite.

The route then gets a more suburban feel, with rows of bungalows on the left and modern housing estates backing onto the road on the right, interspersed by supermarkets and business premises. One of the supermarkets is accessed by a signalised junction, beyond which the road has been narrowed to provide a very wide pavement which accommodates one of the city's busier cycle routes. A little further on it enters the heart of the Gilmerton area and passes in front of the Gilmerton Community Centre, beyond which it meets the B701 at Gilmerton Crossroads, a busy signalised crossroads surrounded by a cluster of shops and businesses. Now following Drum Street, the route continues southeast, past older housing, quickly followed by modern developments and then fields. A small roundabout sits at the junction with Gilmerton Station Road, and while the station is long gone the road is now an important distributor route for the new developments.

Beyond the roundabout, a small industrial area lies alongside the old railway line, which is now a cycle route. Then, after crossing a couple of fields it meets the City Bypass (A720) at the Gilmerton Junction. There are only west facing slips here, traffic heading east needs to continue along the A772, and join at the infamous Sheriffhall Roundabout. The A720 overpass also marks the point at which A772 crosses the boundary and leaves the city. The road turns sharply due east coming off the second roundabout (along the alignment of what appears to be an aborted westbound offslip) but then slowly returns to its southeasterly bearing as it passes a garden centre (home of the Edinburgh Butterfly and Insect World). Half a mile further on, this short route arrives at its eastern terminus, the Gilmerton Road Roundabout with the A7 Eskbank bypass and the B6392 (which continues along the former A7). Turning left here leads to Sheriffhall and the A720.