A960
| A960 | ||||
| Location Map ( geo) | ||||
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| From: | Kirkwall (HY448112) | |||
| To: | Gritley (HY560045) | |||
| Via: | Kirkwall Airport | |||
| Distance: | 9.9 miles (15.9 km) | |||
| Meets: | A963, A965, B9054, A962, B9054, A961, B9052, B9050, B9051 | |||
| Highway Authorities | ||||
| Traditional Counties | ||||
| Route outline (key) | ||||
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The A960 is a relatively short road, only 10 miles long, on Orkney Mainland.
It starts at Kiln Corner Roundabout in Kirkwall, the hub of Orkney's road network, before passing the quay and, according to most maps, travelling along the extremely narrow and semi-pedestrianised Bridge Street (the obvious driving route is actually along the A962 West Castle Street or else the B9054 to the east) before zigzagging around the Cathedral.
Leaving town to the south-east, it passes the island's airport (where the road has been diverted slightly to avoid the runway) and arrives at Upper Sanday. Along the way it passes the prehistoric Mine Howe, a strange underground structure investigated by TV's Time Team, but its origins and original use are still obscure. It then crosses through the narrow pinch of land on to Deerness and so to Gritley. The landbridge connecting Deerness to Orkney's mainland is so narrow that at one point the road has a beach on either side, and is itself built on no more than a dune ridge. At Gritley, the A960 terminates, while the road continues straight on to become the B9050 to Sandside Bay at the same time as the B9051 to Northquoy Point turns left.
