This article is about the current A982 in Peterhead. For the first A982 in Edinburgh, see A982 (Edinburgh).
The A982 approaching Kirktown, Peterhead, from the south
The A982 is the old main road through Peterhead, and used to be the A952 until the early 1980s when the bypass was built. The bypass was opened as the A952, but was renumbered as the A90 in the early 1990s. Interestingly, a road atlas from 1984 shows the Peterhead bypass built but as an unnumbered standard A road; the old road is still shown as the A952 trunk route.
The route starts at the Invernettie Roundabout, at the southern end of the A90 Peterhead bypass, and heads north into Peterhead along what appears to be an un-named road, initially cutting between an industrial estate and modern housing, much of it built since the bypass was opened. After about a mile, the route joins South Road and reaches the coast, with a long row of bungalows looking out across the beach lawns at Peterhead Bay and its busy working harbour areas. After passing some playing fields and the cemetery at the old church, the A982 reaches a roundabout junction with the A950. The town centre sits on a peninsula off to the right, with Keith Inch beyond being the most easterly point of mainland Scotland. The A982, however, continues ahead and passes to the west of the centre which now has no classified roads although the A950 used to continue further east.
The A982 now follows the long straight King Street North East for a few hundred yards, before it TOTSOs left at a crossroads and heads north-west on Queen Street, then Balmoor Terrace. This is an older part of town, with a mixture of flats and houses, and a few business premises lining the road, all built in the distinctive local stone. A large roundabout gives access to a small retail park and the towns western suburbs, with the A982 continuing along North Road which soon briefly alongside the River Ugie. As the river meanders away, the route comes to an end at another TOTSO junction with the A90 coming in from the south.
History
Before the bypass was built, the old A952 follows a different route through the south of the town. This saw it pass to the east of the Invernettie Roundabout and follow the full length of South Road on its meandering route through the Invernettie area of Peterhead. The current line of the A982 appears to have been built around the same time as the bypass, but it is not clear at present if the A982 ever followed the old alignment.
Invernettie Diversion - the 1.4 mile bypass and online improvement was completed in 1981 per the Roads in Scotland Report for 1981. It originally opened as A952.
