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A8082

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A8082
Location Map ( geo)
Cameraicon.png View gallery (39)
From:  Inshes (NH649422)
To:  Tomnahurich (NH687446)
Via:  Sir Walter Scott Drive
Distance:  3.5 miles (5.6 km)
Meets:  A9, B9006, B861, B862
Former Number(s):  B8082
Highway Authorities

Highland

Traditional Counties

Inverness-shire

Route outline (key)
A8082 Inshes - Bught Park

The A8082 is the number given to the Inverness Southern Distributor Road, construction of which started in the late 1980s (The 1988 OS Landranger does not show any of the route). The first sections to be built were from Dores Road to Stratherrick Road and from Old Edinburgh Road to Inshes Roundabout (bypassing Drakies housing). The sections in between came in later phases. It forms a bypass of the city and taking much of the traffic away from the city centre, greatly helped by the opening of the West Link. The eastern part of the route was originally numbered B8082, but in late 2017 with the opening of the West Link, finally connecting across the River Ness to the A82, the route was reclassified. By February 2018 most of the signage had been patched to replace the 'B' with an 'A', but one or two signs still display the older number.

Route

We start on the northbound carriageway of the A9 just north of the Inshes Retail park, with the B9006 providing the other half of the GSJ. The two roads cross at the Inshes Roundabout, the A8082 continuing southwards. After passing through a range of new and older housing development, the road encounters the B862 Dores Road, after passing the B861 at the sixth roundabout. The road crosses the new Holm Mills Bridge, built as part of the Inverness West Link and terminates on the A82 at Queens Park Roundabout. At this point the A82 has split to cross the Caledonian Canal, the two canal bridges and three roundabouts forming a gyratory that allows traffic to flow even when one bridge has been opened for boats to pass. The A8082 connects at one corner of the triangle, with the main line of the A82 going towards Fort William and the centre of Inverness from the other two corners, Torvean Roundabout and Tomnahurich Roundabout.

Most of the route is a 40mph limit. The section between Inshes Roundabout and the A9 is 30mph. As development has progressed alongside the road, the volume of traffic has increased and so traffic slowed somewhat. There are 11 roundabouts along the route (not counting Queens Park), which can also slow progress.

The ADS from the new road

Inverness West Link

Starting construction in 2016, the West Link at Inverness is a series of new bridges across the River Ness and Caledonian Canal to link the Distributor road with the A82 near Bught Park. The extra bridge over the canal allows A82 flow to be maintained, with only one bridge swung at any time. The route was proven controversial, with many reports in the press regarding the parkland and sports pitches being lost to the new road. Despite this the council went ahead with the construction. The rugby club and Torvean golf course were rebuilt as part of the project.

The road was officially opened on the 11th December 2017 with a ceremony at 9:30am with traffic crossing a short while after. However the road was unofficially open 2 months before between the Holm Roundabout and Ness Side Roundabout to allow access to the properties at Ness side. The whole Distributor road has a 40mph speed limit. When built, this was not continued along the whole of the West Link, with the limit dropping to 30mph before the Holm Mills Bridge for the rest of the route to the A82. There was no obvious reason for this as the road is similar in character to the rest of the route. As of June 2023 this section has been increased to 40mph, dropping to 30mph just before the Queens Park roundabout. The Ness Side, Mill Lade and Queens Roundabouts all have provisions built onto them for future extensions i.e. Housing estates.

Future

Most of the route has been built with verges wide enough to dual the road in the future, although this would probably involve a complete rebuild, as the roadway runs through the middle of the 'corridor'. This was designed to allow for the future re-routing of the A82 across the Caledonian Canal and River Ness, to follow this road up to a new GSJ on the A9 at Inshes / Raigmore and then on to the A96 at the Inverness Retail Park. However, this plan seems to have now been put on the back burner to some extent, with no firm commitment to improve the road, or re-route the A82.

Links

Roads.org.uk Futures: A8082 Link road.




A8082
Junctions
Crossings
Related Pictures
View gallery (39)
A8082 Ness side roundabout.jpgDellfield Roundabout - eagle sculpture.jpgSlackbuie Roundabout - aerial from SW.jpgGaelic School Roundabout - aerial from SW.jpgGaelic School Roundabout - aerial from west.jpg
Other nearby roads
Inverness
NCN1 • NCN78 • A9 • A82 • A88 (Inverness - Scrabster) • A96 • A835 • A835/History • A862 • A862 (Inverness - Fort Augustus) • B851 (Inverness - Fort Augustus) • B853 • B861 • B862 • B862 (Black Isle) • B865 • B865 (Longman Road, Inverness) • B8038 • B8082 • B9006 • B9145 (Inverness) • B9146 • B9161 • B9164 • B9164 (Inverness) • B9177 • C1028 (Highland) • C1032 (Highland) • C1036 (Highland) • C1039 (Highland) • C1040 (Highland) • C1044 (Highland) • C1051 (Highland) • C1064 (Highland) • C1088 (Highland) • C1118 (Highland) • C1182 (Highland) • C1183 (Highland) • C1184 (Highland) • C1187 (Highland) • C1189 (Highland) • C1191 (Highland) • C1193 (Highland) • C1195 (Highland) • C1197 (Highland) • C1199 (Highland) • C1201 (Highland) • C1248 (Highland) • E15 • E120 (Old System) • EuroVelo 1 • EuroVelo 12 • Highland Motorway • Highland Tourist Route • Moray Firth Tourist Route • NC500 • NCN7 • Pictish Trail • T1 (Britain) • T12 (Britain) • T30 (Britain)
A7000-A9099
A7000-A7999A7002 • A7066 • A7071
A8000-A8999A8000 • A8001 • A8002 • A8003 • A8004 • A8005 • A8006 • A8010 • A8011 • A8014 • A8015 • A8082
A9000-A9999A9000 • A9011 • A9012 • A9013 • A9103 • A9119


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