A955

The A955 forms part of the Fife coast road, starting near the seafront at Kirkcaldy, and heading north-east to Leven. It is never more than a mile from the north shore of the Firth of Forth.

Route

East Wemyss

The route starts on the A921 (former A92) at the Pathhead Roundabout towards the northern end of Kirkcaldy. Hidden behind houses to the south sit the ruins of Ravenscraig Castle, and the road is soon skirting Ravenscraig Park as it winds north east along Dysart Road. Dysart used to be a separate village, and retains some historic character around its picturesque harbour and village centre. The A955 runs along Townhead, then just after the mini roundabout with the B928 it becomes Normand Road, which runs north to another mini roundabout with the B929. This junction lies at the northern end of the village, and after passing some industrial sites, the road emerges into open countryside, crossing a couple of fields before curving through woodland.

A right turn leads down to the beautiful little coastal village of West Weymss and soon after the A955 reaches the village of Coaltown of Wemyss. The village consists almost entirely of delightful rows of single storey terraced cottages, with a lot of detail differences to enjoy, but traffic quickly passes through along Main Street. After a couple of fields, the larger village of East Wemyss is reached, and the A955 passes through along High Road. A few more fields then separate East Wemyss from the town of Buckhaven, which together with Methil and Leven forms one of Fife's larger urban areas. At the edge of the town the B930 turns off to the left, cutting across to the [{A915]]. A short distance later the B931 turns right, while the A955 curves northwards along Methilhaven Road through the sprawling residential areas.

Methilhaven Road is laid out as a modern distributor road, with houses set back behind wide tree lined verges and service roads. An incongruous pair of fields sit opposite the Academy, an agricultural oasis in this busy town, but otherwise the road is lined predominantly with houses. The B932 is crossed at a roundabout with a small parade of shops alongside, and then more commercial premises appear as the road curves to the north east. Older houses now line the road, without the benefit of service roads and then a small industrial area is passed before the road enters a block of woodland. Soon after, it curves round to the south to meet both the B931 and B932 again at a roundabout.

The River Leven is crossed on the Bawbee Bridge and across the bridge, the B933 comes in from the north to meet at another roundabout. The A955 itself curves around to find The Promenade and enjoys a short run looking out across the Firth. However, at the next roundabout it turns inland once more, winding along School Lane, Durie Street and Scoonie Road, past the town centre and out through the suburbs. This leads up to the end of the route at another roundabout with the A915 on the northern edge of Leven.

It is interesting to note that along its 9-mile course, the A955 has junctions with 6 consecutively numbered B roads (the B928, B929, B930, B931, B932, B931, B932 and B933) and no other A roads.

History

The A955 was the first new Class I road in the 9 zone to be given its number after the original classification in 1922, suggesting it dates to the early 1920s.

To begin with, it took over the southern half of the B927, running from the original A92 (now A921) in Kirkcaldy along the coast to Leven before turning inland to end on the A915. However, in the mid-1970s, and shown on the 1976 OS Landranger map, the road was rerouted inland along part of the B931 to bypass Methil. The old road became the B931 through Buckhaven then the B932 through Methil. The centre of Leven has also been bypassed, with the old road now unclassified.

The original route, therefore, turned right at the entrance to Methil onto Station Road, then curved onto Wellesley Road, now the B931. It then forked right onto High Street, now the B932, and followed this through the centre of Methil. The A955 was not re-routed onto South Street, which the B932 now follows, as the B932 is still shown on the old route along the High Street in 1983. At the far end of the High Street, the housing estate of Dubbieside has been built across the former line of the A955, which curved around to the end of the Bawbee Bridge. Across the river, the A955 passed straight through Leven town centre on the now pedestrianised High Street, which led straight into Durie Street.