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A90

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A90
Location Map ( geo)
Cameraicon.png View gallery (314)
From:  Edinburgh (NT247736)
To:  Fraserburgh (NJ995670)
Via:  Dundee, Aberdeen
Distance:  146 miles (235 km)
Meets:  A8, A902, M90, A9000, A904, A85, A923, A972, A928, A932, A94, A926, A935, A937, A92, A956, A93, A944, A96, A947, A975, A948, A952, A982, A950, A981, A98
Former Number(s):  A85, A972, A929, A94, A92, A947, A952
Old route now:  A9000, B924, B981, A909, B996, A922, A912, A989, A92
Primary Destinations
Edinburgh • Dundee • Aberdeen • Peterhead • Fraserburgh • Perth • Forfar
Highway Authorities

Edinburgh • Transport Scotland

Traditional Counties

Aberdeenshire • Angus • Fife • Kincardineshire • Midlothian • Perthshire • West Lothian

Route outline (key)
A90 Edinburgh - Scotstoun
A90 Scotstoun - Queensferry
A90 Queensferry - Perth
A90 Perth - Fraserburgh
A90 Stonehaven - Blackdog
Junction List
Junc Northbound Southbound
Bridge Cramond Bridge
- unclass unclass
- B924 No Exit
Scotstoun No Exit M90
Echline A904, B800 A904, B800
Queensferry M90, A904 Start of Dual Carriageway
Bridge Forth Road Bridge
(now on A9000)
Ferrytoll B980, B981 B980, B981
Admiralty M90, A921, A985 Start of Dual Carriageway
Barnhill Start of Dual Carriageway M90, A85
Kinfauns unclass unclass
Glencarse unclass unclass
Glendoick unclass unclass
Inchmichael unclass unclass
Inchture B953 B953
Longforgan unclass unclass
Swallow Roundabout A85 A85
- unclass unclass
Coupar Angus A923 A923
- B960 B960
Strathmartine Road unclass unclass
Old Glamis Road unclass unclass
Forfar Road Crossroads A929, A972 A929, A972
Claverhouse unclass unclass
- unclass unclass
Emmock Roundabout unclass unclass
Petterden A928 A928
Gateside unclass unclass
Douglastown B9127 B9127
Lochlands A932 A932
Glamis A94 A94
Kirriemuir A926 A926
Quilkoe B9128 B9128
Tannadice B957 B957
Pittavia A935 A935
- B966 B966
Stracathro Services Services
- B934 B934
Laurencekirk Riding School A937 A937
- B9120 B9120
Laurencekirk North A937 A937
Fordoun B967 B967
- B966 B966
Dunnottar A92, A957 A92, A957
Spurryhillock unclass unclass
Stonehaven A92, B979 A92, B979
Cleanhill A956 A956
Deeside (A93) (A93)
Kingswells South A944 A944
Kingswells North No Exit unclass
Craibstone A96 A96
Goval A947, B977 A947, B977
Blackdog A92 A92
Belhalvie B977 B977
Rashiereive A975 No Exit
- B9005 Start of Dual Carriageway

Route

The A90 is a lengthy Scottish A-road, starting in Edinburgh and running up the majority of the east coast to end in Fraserburgh (although immediately north of the Forth it has been replaced by the similarly numbered M90). The road was originally far shorter and was extended to its current length only in the 1990s.

Section 1: Edinburgh – South Queensferry

The A90 starts in Edinburgh, turning off the A8 (Princes Street) through Charlotte Square, before returning to the A8 at a bizarre cannon – bizarre because there is no access between the A8 and A90 here. The A90 then sets off purposefully down Queensferry Street and across the Water of Leith at Thomas Telford's impressive Dean Bridge and then onto Queensferry Road.

As the City Bypass stops short at the A8, the only access to the A90 avoiding Edinburgh itself is by the A902 from Leith to the A8, which has a lengthy multiplex with the A90 in the north western suburbs. After the A902 parts company, the A90 gains primary route status. It first crosses the River Almond by a viaduct (the new Cramond Bridge) and then becomes dual carriageway which it retains all the way to Ellon (including the M90 section). On the Edinburgh-bound carriageway there are very heavy restrictions, including traffic light controlled slip roads and a long bus lane (unlike the former M4 taxi lane, this one does seem to be used by buses).

The old A90 south of Burnshot

Just north of Cramond Bridge the dual carriageway veers away slightly from the original line of the A90 and passes under Burnshot flyover, a grade-separated junction with an unclassified road from Kirkliston. The southbound slip from the flyover actually follows the original line of the A90 for several hundred metres, merging with the dual carriageway just north of the Cramond Brig Bar and Restaurant.

At Dalmeny Park the M90 traffic joins in as the next few miles of the A90 have been realigned for the Queensferry Crossing. 3 bridges now span the Forth. A new D2M cable stayed structure to carry the extended M90, a large cantilever bridge to take the railway line across and a graceful 60s suspension bridge which has been showing its age recently. It has now been replaced by the Queensferry crossing so it is now effectively a bus lane.

Formerly the A90 swung north, crossed the Forth Road Bridge and merged with the M90 for the 30 mile run up to Perth. Recently though the A90 has been rerouted up to the new Queensferry junction as an all purpose road to get non-motorway users off the road for the M90 starting again for the bridge. This is a slightly unusual thing to do and could easily be solved by opening up the new bus slips to all vehicles but nothing has come of this yet.

North of the Forth the dual carriageway has been widened to D3M to allow distribution of traffic between the B981 junction and and the A985 Admiralty junction.It is at the aforementioned junction that we turn back on to the original start of the M90 on its run up to Perth. The old A90 continues through Inverkeithing, Cowdenbeath, Kinross and the Forth road bridge as the A9000, B981, B917, B996 and A912 to Perth. Because of its age, several sections of the M90 are not up to modern motorway standards. In particular there is an 8-mile stretch around Kinross without hard shoulders.

Original Author(s): T1(M)

Section 2: Perth – Stonehaven

Until the 1990s, the A90 stopped in Perth. After completion of a dual carriageway route right through to Aberdeen, the A90 number was extended along it, incorporating parts of the A85, A972, A929, A94, A92, A947, and A952.

Between Perth and Aberdeen, the current A90 follows closely the traditional route. The road was improved gradually through the 1960s and 1970s, with fast single carriageway and a few short stretches of dual carriageway. With 1980s expansion of oil-related traffic to and from Aberdeen, and fish traffic to and from Peterhead and Fraserburgh, the entire route to Aberdeen was dualled, with bypasses for the remaining communities. Since renumbering as A90, there have been selected improvements with grade separated junctions. The section between Dundee and Stonehaven is fitted with Average Speed Cameras, presumably due to the low quality of the junctions on this section.

Kinnoull to Ardgath

Glencarse

Single carriageway until the late-1970s, it was dualled at about the same time as the M85 Friarton Bridge. There was one grade separated junction installed, at Glencarse, but otherwise, junctions were mainly at-grade, including right-hand turns across the carriageway. An increasing number of accidents along this section in the early 2000s resulted in a number of grade-separated junctions being installed, and the remaining gaps being closed off. The final junctions to open were at Kinfauns and Glendoick in 2007. The new junctions are definitely an improvement, but this stretch of road is relatively busy, with lots of agricultural traffic and goods vehicles – large signs warn traffic coming off the M90 of turning traffic.

The original road at Kinnoull Holdings ran due west through the site of the junction, and can be seen as a short dead-end to the west of the motorway.

Ardgath to Invergowrie

Dualled in the late 1960s, several junctions have now been grade separated, most recently the turning for Inchture.

The road originally continued to a large roundabout on the west side of Invergowrie, with the A85 continuing through to Dundee. Invergowrie has been bypassed, and the dual carriageway swings north to a new roundabout. The original roundabout still exists, and can be accessed through a lay-by on the westbound side.

Dundee, Kingsway

The Kingsway was built in two parts in the 1930s. The eastern part was dual carriageway with a broad central reservation (in a similar style to the Brodie system roads in Liverpool), the western part was a rural single carriageway. Junctions on both parts were either simple crossroads, later with traffic lights, or roundabouts. In the 1980s, the western half of the Kingsway was dualled, with two large grade-separated junctions, although the speed limit reduces as you travel eastwards. The eastern half remains almost as built, although it has seen some modification in recent years. A double roundabout replaced the lights at the A929/A972 crossing (where the A90 now turns north), until 2008, when the junction was redesigned with traffic lights again due to the high volume of traffic. (There was a single small roundabout at this junction in the 1980s.)

Dundee, Forfar Road

When the double roundabout at the Kingsway junction was built, the A929 Forfar Road was realigned slightly further west. A very short length of the original route survives as a service road just north of Kingsway, but the rest of the road has been landscaped. The housing estates to the east of the road were never among Dundee's best: The school was demolished a few years back, and some of the smaller point blocks were taken out in 2002 having been unlettable for more than a decade.

There are three roundabouts on the route out of Dundee:

  • Beyond the roundabout next roundabout is the last filling station in Dundee, and the last roadside fuel until Stracathro.
  • The middle roundabout serves the Fintry housing areas, and has a reasonable proportion of turning traffic. For many years this was the last roundabout, and the approach from the north was the usual mile of yellow stripes, but since it's now the second southbound roundabout these have been removed.
  • The third roundabout has a three lane approach northbound, with a left-turn-only lane which seems never to be used. The two lanes going through seem unnaturally narrow and tightly curved, and I can never find a line through the roundabout that I'm happy with. Southbound, it's much better designed. This roundabout also gives access to the old A929 road leading out of Dundee.

Fintry to Tarbrax

The old road out of Dundee used to go north up the Hill of Balmuir – until the gradient got too much, then it turned sharply east to take a more gradual line towards Pourie.

At the next left hand bend, up onto the ridge, is a monument to Dundee soldiers lost in war. When the dual carriageway was driven straight through the Hill of Balmuir in a deep cutting, the monument was relocated to a new plinth so that it would still be passed by those leaving the city. However, the greatly increased traffic noise was deemed inappropriate for a war memorial, and the statue has been moved back to its original setting at Pourie.

The new A90 cutting continues down the back of the hill, with the Pourie road crossing over on a bridge (no junction), and the dual carriageway regains the original line of the route descending to Muir of Pert.

The small village of Inveraldie, on the west side of the road, has the appearance of military or forestry housing – there is a disused wartime airfield less than half a mile west of the road, and the buildings were used as a POW camp in the latter part of the war. Now there's a large electricity sub-station and poultry sheds on the airfield site, and the village is just a small community, just outside Dundee but joined only by the busy dual-carriageway.

Just after Inveraldie, at Balmuir, the dual carriageway swings slightly west, with the old road continuing straight ahead. The old road is still open, and can be followed for about a mile through Todhills. Just north of this is the junction for Tealing, signposted to a Souterrain and Dovecot. The original Tealing turn-off was a large triangular junction, and still survives in the woods to the east, but with a dead-end at the modern road.

North of Tealing, the road curves steadily eastwards, climbing up to the A928 Glamis turning at Petterden, but first passing the other end of the old road through Todhills. There are actually three generations of road at Petterden. The original road is the furthest east, now a dead end track to the south. It turned sharply east at Petterden, with the Glamis road junction on the bend, and ran around the east of the small wood. (There have been several new cottages built here in recent years, and some of the old road may now be in private gardens!) The road was straightened in the early 1970s, forming the current minor road from Todhills. It can be followed for about half a mile north of Petterden, before being cut by the dual carriageway. A further section can be traced beyond, with a 45-degree right-hand bend, and yet another section around the outside of the next left-hander.

The dual carriageway north from Dundee originally ended just onto the straight at South Tarbrax.

Tarbrax to Invereighty

The road north from Tarbrax was improved first to a broad single carriageway. Only when it was a single carriageway connecting dual carriageway at either side was it upgraded.

When the dual carriageway was built, there was a minor problem with a business premises at Muiryfaulds. The business trades and services Iveco agricultural machinery and trucks, and therefore needed access for long vehicles to and from both carriageways. The new road was aligned slightly further east than the old, so that Muiryfaulds could be redeveloped with its own slip roads from the northbound carriageway only – signposted as No Vehicles (except for access). An extremely broad central reservation allowed cut-throughs to be placed a hundred metres north and south, allowing HGV-sized traffic to make U-turns, without causing an undue hazard.

North of Muiryfaulds, the road descends steeply past Gateside. The current line of the road dates from the early 1970s, avoiding sharp bends at the top and bottom of the brae, and by-passing Gateside itself. Most traces of the original road were lost when the current line was dualled and the GSJ added in the 1990s. One unusual feature is that the footpaths leading up to bus stops on the main road are lit – and the steepness of the lights is deceptive when driving on the otherwise unlit road at night.

The road north to Invereighty was the scene of an interesting problem during construction of the dual carriageway. For many months, one small cottage along the route remained occupied – apparently due to legal problems with the compulsory purchase order. The new road through the site was to be on an embankment, some 15–20 feet above ground level, and the fill was completed to full height right up to the boundary fence on both sides and the dual carriageway surfaced right up to the edges of the gap. The new bridge over the B9127 had been completed just a short distance away, so there was no question of the road not being completed as planned. When the purchase finally went through, and the cottage vacated, completion of the road took little more than a couple of weeks!

At Spittalburn, there is again a length of old road, with another bend being bypassed in the 1970s. The north end of this old road marks the southern end of the Forfar Bypass.

Forfar Bypass: Invereighty to Quilkoe

Built as dual carriageway when the adjoining sections of road were improved single carriageway, the Forfar Bypass had one of the worst safety records of any part of the road. (The other parts of dual carriageway all started with a poor safety record, most notably the Laurencekirk section, but only the Forfar Bypass failed to improve after the initial learning curve.) There are only four junctions on is part of the road, with one additional flyover carrying a local road.

The opening of the bypass led to several changes in the road numbering around Forfar. The A94, which had previously run all the way into Forfar from the west, was diverted north along the bypass. The A929, which had previously met with the A94 in the centre of Forfar, was diverted along the southern part of the bypass to the A94 junction, then followed the old A94 into Forfar, with a cannon off the A94. The A932, which came into Forfar from the east, was extended south along the former A929 to the new junction on the bypass.

Where the dual carriageway veers left off the original A929 route, the first junction is a simple T-junction with a short link back to the original road into Forfar. This road is numbered as A932 for some reason, extending the number of a route from the east of Forfar. (The A929 number was taken out to the bypass on the Glamis road instead.) There's a café just off this junction at Lochlands, which is worth a stop in summer. Southbound traffic approaching the junction has VMS warning of northbound turning traffic.

The second junction is where the bypass crosses the A94, the original main road from Forfar to Perth. The section of former A94 between the bypass and Forfar is now A929 (the former number of the Dundee–Forfar road).

The third junction is the A926 road from Forfar to Kirriemuir. Like the A94 junction, this was originally built as a staggered crossroads, and had a similarly poor safety record.

The fourth junction is where the former A94 rejoins the dual carriageway. The original road ran slightly further north, with a long tight bend to the east.

The two staggered junctions for the A94 and A982 have had an extremely poor accident record. Traffic on the dual carriageway reaching 80 mph, and the crossing traffic included a significant proportion of HGV and agricultural traffic. The first changes, made to both junctions, was the addition of auxiliary exit lanes on both sides, thus enabling crossing traffic to get clear of the carriageway instead of joining in lane 1 and then turning left. When this proved insufficient, the speed limit was lowered to 50 along the entire two mile length between the two junctions, with camera enforcement.

Work was finally completed in 2003 to install two new grade separated junctions. The A94 Glamis junction features an underpass, with the Kirriemuir junction involving a new bridge crossing the A90. Both junctions feature a small pair of roundabouts, and, presumably for reasons of economy, relatively short sliproads. The 50mph limit was removed after completion of the new junctions, and the cameras removed. The B9128 junction did not get an upgrade, but the centre reservation gap was closed. (Northbound direction signs were patched to remove the B9128 right turn, leaving only A90 straight on for Aberdeen. These signs have since been removed.) The same has been proposed for the A932 junction, but as of 2011 has not yet been implemented.

There's a McDonald's on the corner of the Glamis junction.

Quilkoe to Careston

This section was also improved as a single carriageway before being dualled at a later date. The road was always very fast, starting with two long straights joined by a long smooth bend. After the 100mph straights, the bends at Finavon slowed things down again. The original bends went through the village, then cut northwest to a bridge (missing), with a sharp turn back to the hotel. Even the improved bends were a shock for those cruising at well above the speed limit. There are now GATSOs on the straight to keep speeds under control on the dual carriageway - although local advice says that at least one has ever been powered and remains a dummy.

Finavon Services, beside the Inn, used to include a filling station and a transport café (excellent bacon rolls), but the filling station closed many years ago and the café went last year. A new café, in a much-extended building, has recently opened on the site.

Beyond Finavon, the road reverted to long straights, with a sweeping double bend just east of the Careston Castle entrance. The road was realigned further south, with much smoother bends, and the original is still used for local access.

Careston to Kintrockat

Just beyond the double bend at Careston is one of the older stretches of dual carriageway on the whole road, dualled in the late 1970s. It's recently been resurfaced, and a barrier installed in the central reservation. For some reason, both ends of this dual carriageway had acres of hatch markings, far more than any of the later dual carriageways along the route.

There's a Little Chef at the Careston crossroads.

Brechin Bypass: Kintrockat to Keithock

The Brechin Bypass was built as single carriageway in the 1970s. Starting at a notorious bend on the old road, the by-pass takes a direct line across the northwest of the town. There were simple T-junctions for the old A94 into Brechin. This was the final section of the dualling to open in 1994.

The bypass was dualled, with grade separated junctions at either end, in the 1990s. The dual carriageway has a concrete cement surface, and the central barrier is a reinforced concrete Jersey barrier. The sides of the road slope away into shallow ditches.

The new junction at Keithock consists of a deep underpass with a roundabout on either side.

Keithock to North Water Bridge

The road beyond the Brechin Bypass was also dualled fairly early, probably in the late 1970s, although again it's been improved since.

The most notable feature along this part of the road is the Stracathro services – a favourite with HGV drivers, with a selection of traditional transport café food combined with local home baking. The dual carriageway runs around the back of the service area, with a new grade separated junction (Stracathro Hospital, on the other side of the old road from the Services, is the main primary care hospital for the whole of Strathmore.)

In the woods to the north of the road is the disused Edzell airfield, for many years a radio communications and monitoring station for the US military. The golf balls have now gone, but the site is still off-limits to visitors.

The dualling here ended immediately west of the North Water Bridge.

North Water Bridge to Oatyhill

At North Water Bridge, the road follows a completely new line. The original road ran east into the village, then sharp north over the bridge (traffic lights!). After half a mile due north, it turned right towards Luther Bridge before regaining a NE heading.

The new line, on a direct route to Luther Bridge, was opened in the 1970s as single carriageway. The North Water bridge was closed to traffic, and Luther Bridge became a dead end.

A mile beyond Luther Bridge is the turning for the B974 to Fettercairn and on to Banchory via Cairn o' Mount, and an altitude of 455 m (1488ft). This is one of the first roads in Scotland to be closed by snow each winter, but is worth a detour in fine weather. The turning was originally a direct crossroads, but replaced with a long stagger when the A94 was dualled.

When this section of road was dualled in the 1990s, the North Water bridge was reopened to local traffic, thus avoiding the need for a second access off the dual carriageway.

Laurencekirk Bypass: Oatyhill to Meikle Fiddes

The longest stretch of new dual carriageway built in a single contract on the A90 was the Laurencekirk Bypass, much of it on a completely new line. Several lengths of the old road were left in use for local traffic or as service access.

The dual carriageway began just west of Oatyhill, and was the only dual-carriageway ending ever to be obviously a temporary terminus. The dual carriageway leaves the line of the old road just east of Oatyhill, crossing the railway line on a new bridge. The junction with the A937 is a staggered crossroads, similar to those previously found at Forfar, and has a very bad accident record. Sadly, fatal accidents continue to occur here, with a 50mph speed limit enforced by GATSO introduced in 2005. Locals have campaigned for a flyover to be installed, but so far Transport Scotland do not have any plans to do so.

The bypass carves a new line on a smooth curve around the east side of Laurencekirk, with another staggered junction for the B9120, to regain the original line northeast of the town. For some reason, the varying width of the central reservation is very obvious along this piece of road, as the carriageways spread apart to allow crossings, etc. The old road through Laurencekirk is still open as a local road from Oatyhill, crossing the railway with a bridge set between tight double bends. The A937 joins the road, the junction having been realigned to give priority to the A-class road, but the rest of the route through Laurencekirk is on the obvious line. There are some local services.

Between Laurencekirk and Fordoun, the dual carriageway was mainly an on-line upgrade, but from Fordoun it again takes a new line. The old road can be followed for about two miles from the Fordoun turning, crossing under the railway then back over again – apart from through the village, and the tight bends crossing the railway, the road is a perfectly good A-class single carriageway.

The dual carriageway continued on a new line, crossing and recrossing the earlier line, to Meikle Fiddes. There's a filling station (southbound only) and large parking area just beyond.

Meikle Fiddes to Grasslaw

This was one of the last parts of the route to be dualled, a last bastion of single carriageway trapped between the Laurencekirk Bypass to the south and the Stonehaven Bypass to the north.

Stonehaven Bypass: Grasslaw to Logie

The Stonehaven Bypass begins high up on the hill to the south of Stonehaven, and finishes high on the hill to the north.

The Kirkton of Fetteresso is accessed by a bridge which was built at the same time as the bypass, but it could also be reached with a staggered crossroads. After a number of serious accidents, the gap here was closed up to prevent crossing traffic, but leaving restricted access from either side. Crossing traffic now has to use the bridge.

The A957 Slug Road crosses the bypass with no access whatsoever. It leads back to Banchory, so any traffic from the south would have gone over the Cairn o' Mount instead.

With the opening of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, A90 traffic must now perform a TOTSO, as the mainline continues as A92. Access to the A90 and to the B979 is provided by Stonehaven Junction, which includes a small roundabout (complete with conflicts for southbound and northbound A90 traffic) and loops on the northbound carriageway, and a half-diamond with traffic lights on the southbound carriageway.

Section 3: Stonehaven – Ellon

Stonehaven to Cleanhill

This is the first section of the new AWPR, opened in 2018, and the difference in road quality compared with the A90 south of here is immediately obvious. The road itself is a Special Road limited to traffic classes I and II (legally speaking, this makes it a motorway, although similar to the A720 and A1 in Dunbar, an exclusion is expected in law to avoid this). The road has no central reservation gaps or accesses to fields or properties, limited junctions, and there's a continuous concrete central reservation. The section between Stonehaven and Cleanhill was originally the "Fastlink" section of the project.

The road begins with a steep uphill section, and is generally passing through farmland.

Before long we reach an at-grade roundabout, which provides access to the A956 towards the south of Aberdeen. A free-flow grade-separated junction was proposed here, but the cheaper option using less land was chosen instead.

Cleanhill to Craibstone

The road continues north, passing over the B9077 and the River Dee on a 270m-long bridge. North of the Dee, the road then passes under a bridge for Milltimber Brae, shortly followed by a bridge under the A93. There's no direct access to the A93, but a short link road has been constructed which is accessed from Milltimber Junction, allowing access to Royal Deeside and the Aberdeen western suburbs. A couple of miles further along, we pass over a roundabout exchange with the A944 dual carriageway, which links to Westhill, Alford, Kingswells, and more of the western suburbs.

Further north, near Brimmond Hill, there is a north-facing junction providing quicker access to/from Kingswells for northbound/southbound traffic. At this point the A90 picks up 3 lanes in each direction for a short distance, as the A96 junction is just a mile or so ahead. There is no direct access to the A96 - instead all traffic must past along a short dual carriageway link road to the Craibstone roundabout, which also offers direct access to Aberdeen Airport.

Craibstone to Blackdog

North of Craibstone the A90 sweeps around the airport and Dyce, before crossing the Aberdeen to Inverness railway line and the River Don. After the river comes an offslip then onslip for the A947, with the equivalent southbound junctions connecting to the B977. These two roads meet just south of the A90, providing access between each route.

The AWPR now just has 4 miles left before reaching the old A90 route at Blackdog Junction. This junction, a full grade-separated roundabout, requires A90-bound traffic to turn off - Ellon to Aberdeen traffic gets a clear run underneath.

Blackdog - Tipperty

We're now back on the old A90, with no Special Road restrictions, so can expect to encounter bus stops and farm vehicles once more. However, a lot of work has been done as part of the Balmedie - Tipperty project, which opened in 2018. Immediately north of Blackdog we reach a new GSJ allowing access to Balmedie and the B977. This used to be a busy and dangerous priority junction, and grade separation has made a huge difference to safety. The old at-grade junction further north has been stopped up.

At this point, the road was previously reduced down to S2. Fortunately it now gently curves off onto a new alignment, offering high quality dual carriageway. As with the AWPR, there is no field or property access, and lay-bys are offered at regular intervals. Our first junction on this section is for the A975 to Newburgh (and a local road to Foveran), which only has south-facing sliproads. A mile or so further on, north-facing sliproads connect to the B9000, offering the same access. A mile or so further on we reach Tipperty, and the presence of a bus stop and a central reservation gap indicates we're back on the old road. The original, pre-dualled road can still be spotted to the east in the undergrowth. The A90 remains dual carriageway for another mile until we reach an at-grade roundabout.

Section 4: Ellon – Fraserburgh

Ellon Bypass

We're now at the south Ellon roundabout, where the B9005 turns left into Ellon. Until the late 1980s, traffic had to travel through Ellon to cross the river. Today, we continue right as S2 to bypass the town and cross a wide bridge over the River Ythan. The old road comes back at the next roundabout, which also provides access to Ellon's park and ride. There is an unclassified road to Auchmacoy and Collieston to the right. This was a staggered crossroads until 2001, when the A948 North Ellon Bypass was constructed.

Ellon - Peterhead

The next couple of miles are straight enough that they could have been upgraded, although there is no evidence this was ever the case. Presently, at Toll of Birness, the A90 bears off to the right at a fork. The road to the left is unusually signposted as Fraserburgh A952 (A90) - and indeed for traffic heading to the end of the road that is the quicker route (although not trunk like the A90). Our road now makes a long detour to the east and returns to the coast.

After passing to the south of Hatton the A975 is met once again. The former RAF Buchan, home of one of the UK's radar defence stations, is then passed, after which the road appears to run along the cliff top for a short distance. Buchan Ness lighthouse is clearly visible on the far side of the village of Boddam, although we pass through the adjacent village of Stirling (not to be confused with the city of that name further south). We then pass Peterhead power station before reaching a roundabout at the southern edge of the Peterhead bypass.

The A90 turns left, with the A982 running ahead into Peterhead itself. The bypass manages to avoid the majority of the town, although some buildings are visible, and there is no vehicular access from the bypass to any residential area except via the classified roads. After crossing the A950 at a roundabout the suburb of Waterside is passed and the A90 reaches a T-junction. Here it meets the A982 back from the town centre and TOTSOs left.

Peterhead - Fraserburgh

Rural almost immediately, the A90 continues north and quickly crosses the River Ugie. After passing the village of St Fergus and its gas terminal the road turns inland once more. It goes through the centre of Crimond before meeting the B9033 which goes to Fraserburgh by a more roundabout route. Presently the road reaches another T-junction back on the A952 and TOTSOs right.

Now on its final stretch northwards, the A90 passes Rathen and meets the B9032 which is the closest Fraserburgh gets to a classified bypass. After skirting the grounds of Philorth House a roundabout is reached where we meet the B9033 once more on the edge of Fraserburgh. An unclassified road turns left skirting the town and is signposted as a bypass. Ahead is only the town centre and the A90.

We pass through a sporting complex, between a football pitch and cricket field, before the A952 joins from the left. The road continues north along Saltoun Place. There are a couple of sets of traffic lights before the end of the A90, at another set of lights on the A98 High Street. All traffic is signposted to turn left; right is the back streets and the harbour.

History

The Perth area in 1932 - the A90 has been bypassed by the M90 and the A85 is now the A90

The A90 originally only ran from Edinburgh to Perth. Indeed, much of this section has been upgraded and so the only part of the A90 that still runs along its original 1922 route is the bit between Queensferry Street in Edinburgh and the bridge over the River Almond (from there to the B924 junction old and new roads run parallel and from there on the routes diverge; they return again very rarely.

The original A90 followed what is now the B924 into Queensferry where it went under the Forth Bridge and immediately set sail on the ferry to North Queensferry (with the road ahead on the right bank being the B902. The use of a ferry to go north meant that most Edinburgh to Perth traffic used the A9 via Stirling and so the A90 was less important. However, the opening of the Forth Road Bridge in 1964 changed all that. New approaches were built on each side and the old road renumbered as B924 in the south and B981 in the north.

The bridge also brought about the upgrade of the road north to Perth. A short section of the northern approach road was actually opened under motorway characteristics as the M90 and as that road was built further north the parallel A90 was downgraded. The old road from North Queensferry to Perth is therefore now the B981, A909 through Cowdenbeath, B996 to Kinross, a short section of A922, B996 again as far as the A912 and then that road through Bridge of Earn into Perth. The southern section of the A989 ring road was also originally the A90; the road ended on the A9 (now A93) York Place.

With the completion of the M90 as far as Perth the A90 actually became quite an unimportant road: the only section used by anything but local traffic was the Forth Road Bridge. However, things were to change.

A90 historic route from 1922/3 numbering

The main road up the east coast from Perth to Fraserburgh had been trunked for many years - originally via Arbroath and Montrose but moved to the inland route via Forfar in the 1970s - but the road number changed several times and the road itself was not of particularly good quality for a major through route. For this reason the road was gradually upgraded to become a dual carriageway at least as far as Aberdeen. This was completed in the 1980s and it was then decided to give the whole thing a single number. As the "90" number was in use on the section from Edinburgh to Perth that was the number given to the route to Aberdeen in about 1994. For a short time the new number ended just south of the Bridge of Dee, with the A92 resuming thereafter, but in 1996, in parallel with local government reorganisation, the A90 number was extended to Fraserburgh. The original numbers in use here were A85 from Perth to Dundee (the M85 also became M90 as part of this renumbering); A972 Dundee bypass; A929 to Forfar; A94 to Stonehaven; A92 to Fraserburgh. Actually, the A92 took the direct route to Fraserburgh avoiding Peterhead, with the A952 detouring to the town; in this area the A90 took over the A952 route, with the ex-A92 being renumbered as the A952.

So, the A90 (and the M90 with it) now forms the main road north of Edinburgh. With the opening of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route in 2018, the major bottleneck that was Aberdeen is now a thing of the past for through traffic (with that route reverting to A92), although some of the junctions have the potential to become bottlenecks themselves in the future.

Named Junctions

Main Article: A90/Named Junctions


Opening Dates

Month Year Section Notes
1965 Inchture Bypass The 4.5 mile dual carriageway between North Inchmichael and Longforgan was completed in 1965 per the 1965 Scottish Development Department Report. Cost £0.9 million. Part was online dualling. Opened as A85.
1969 Glendoick - North Inchmichael The 2.3 mile online dualling north-eastwards from the future site of Glendoick Junction (east of the village) was opened by the end of 1969 per the 1969 Scottish Development Department Report. Opened as A85.
1972 North Water Bridge Diversion The 1.9 mile diversion scheme from west of Nether Pert Farm to east of Balmakewan Lodge, to the north-east of Brechin, including the new single carriageway bridge over the River North Esk and a new Luther Bridge over Lutherburn was completed in 1972 per the 1972 Scottish Development Department Report. Cost £500,000. Opened as A84.
December 1972 Inchyra - Glendoick School Online dualling 2.5 miles. Contractor was Shellabear Price (Scotland) Ltd., cost £640,000. Opened on 19 December 1972 as A85.
1973 Kinfauns - Inchyra The 2.56 mile online dualling was in progress in 1972 per the 1972 Scottish Development Department Report but not shown in the 1974 report indicating a 1973 completion. Contractor was Shellabear Price (Scotland) Ltd., contract price £566,000. Opened as A85.
1976 Brechin Bypass The 4.25 mile single carriageway road was opened on 17 May 1976 by Alick Buccanan-Smith, MP. Cost £1.5 million. Dualled in 1994 by Henry Boot (Scotland) Ltd., cost £12.5 million. Opened as A84.
1976 Barnhill Junction - Kinfauns Kinfauns Diversion and online dualling. It was reported as nearing completion by the 24 September 1976 Aberdeen Press. The scheme also included Barnhill Junction and Friarton Bridge North Approach Roads and completed the dualling between Perth and Dundee. Contractor was Shellabear Price (Scotland) Ltd., contract price £2.34 million. Opened as A85.
1981 Powrie Brae - Tealing The 1.75 mile online dual carriageway, with a diversion at Powrie Brae, was completed in 1981 per the Roads in Scotland Report for 1981. Opened as A929.
1982 Balnabreich - Brechin The 1.7 mile online dualling from Balnabreich to St Ann's Junction was completed in 1982 per the Roads in Scotland Report for 1982. Opened as A94.
1982 Syde (Strathcaro) - North Water Bridge The 2 dualling schemes north-east of Brechin were completed in 1982 per the Roads in Scotland Report for 1982. 1.8 mile Syde and Pert Improvement and 0.7 mile Strathcaro Improvement. Contractor was Reed and Mallik Ltd. of Stirling. Opened as A94.
1983 Dundee: Kingsway Dualling Phase 2: Myrekirk Road - Liff Road. The 0.7 mile dualling was completed in 1983 per the Roads in Scotland Report for 1983. Opened as A972.
Nov 1984 Stonehaven Bypass The road from Glasslaw to the previous dual carriageway at Limpet Mill was opened on 19 November 1984 by Michael Ancram, Scottish Office Minister. 5.2 mile dual carriageway and 2.8 mile single carriageway. Contractor was Fairclough Ltd., cost £12.85 million. The section from Dunnottar Intersection to Stonehaven Junction was opened as A92. The link road from Dunnottar Intersection to Mains of Dunnottar was to be built later.
Feb 1989 Balmedie Bypass The 4.3 mile dual carriageway from 0.1 mile north of B999 Mundurno Roundabout to just north of Balvenie was fully opened on 13 February 1989 (a 1.5 mile section had opened on 15 December 1988). South of Balvinie it was a mixture of new sections and online upgrade. Contractor was Tractor Shovels Tawse Ltd,. cost £6 million. Opened as A92.

Links




A90
Projects
Junctions
Admiralty Junction • Balmedie Junction • Barnhill Junction • Barnton Junction • Blackdog Junction • Blackhall Junction • Charleston Interchange • Claverhouse Junction • Cleanhill Roundabout • Cortes • Coupar Angus Interchange • Craibstone Junction • Deeside Junction • Drumbrae Junction • Dunnottar Intersection • Echline Junction • Emmock Roundabout • Ferrytoll Junction • Finavon Junction • Fordoun Junction • Forfar Road Crossroads • Glamis Junction • Glencarse Junction • Glendoick Junction • Goval Junction • Howe O'Buchan Roundabout • Inchmichael Junction • Inchture Junction • Invernettie Roundabout • Keithock Junction • Kinettles Road End • Kinfauns Junction • Kingswells North Junction • Kingswells South Junction • Kirriemuir Junction • Laurencekirk North Junction • Laurencekirk Riding School Crossroads • Lochlands Junction • Longforgan Junction • Longhaven Junction • Myrekirk Roundabout • New Burnshot Junction • North Ellon Junction • Old Glamis Road Junction • Petterden Junction • Quality St. Junction • Queensferry Junction • Quilkoe Junction • Rashiereive Junction • Scotstoun Junction • Scotstown Roundabout • South Ellon Junction • Spurryhillock Junction • St Annes Junction • Stonehaven Junction • Stracathro Junction • Strathmartine Road Junction • Swallow Roundabout • Tipperty Junction • Toll of Birness
Crossings
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Miscellaneous
Related Pictures
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A90 Forth Bridge - Coppermine - 16861.jpgA90 Forth Bridge - Coppermine - 16737.jpgKinfauns2.jpgForth road bridge 1965.jpgA90 AWPR - Contlaw emergency layby signs.jpg
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