A991

The A991 is the ring road around the central area of Dundee City. This ring road is slightly unusual in that it forms a complete ring, is entirely dual carriageway and retains its number all the way around.

Route

Staring at the city's Railway Station towards the south west corner of the ring road, the A991 forms a loop around the new gyratory that lies between the station and the Tay Road Bridge. South Union Street, which passes in front of the station, is actually two way, with four lanes heading north west and a single lane in the opposite direction, providing a short cut to the A85. Turning right onto Dock Street there are three lanes eastbound, the right hand one for the Tay Bridge and the other two continuing around the loop anticlockwise. Back at the station, turning left onto South Marketgait leads round the ring in a clockwise direction, with two signalised crossroads in quick succession. The West Port Roundabout then turns the route northwards onto Marketgait.

The south portal of the tunnel

Marketgait only has a single signalised junction before it reaches the Dudhope Roundabout. Here the A923 turns left and slowly heads out of the city, while the A991 turns right onto North Marketgait, which snakes along the northern edge of the city centre, past Dundee Abertay University to reach the Ladywell Roundabout. This is the first junction with the A929, which turns off to the right, but immediately turns to head east. The A991, meanwhile, plunges into a tunnel to pass under the A929 as it curves round to the south east to meet the second junction with the A929 at King Street. Although signalised, traffic on the ring road is unable to turn, as King Street is primarily a bus route, meaning that the junction is a simple at grade crossing of a bus lane over the ring road.

Continuing around East Marketgait, the A991 quickly reaches East Port Roundabout, from where the unclassified Blackscroft connects to the A929 for regular traffic. East Marketgait then continues the short distance southwards to meet the A92 at a signalised T junction, and the two then multiplex westwards on East Dock Street. Until recently, the A991 was the dominant number here, but it seems that the A92 has regained supremacy with the redevelopment of Dundee's riverside. After crossing another signalised crossroads giving access to the historic docks area, the A991 curves round to the left with a right hand exit leading onto the Tay Road Bridge for the A92. The A991 then curves round under the Tay Bridge approach onto Riverside Esplanade, having to pause at signals for a short oncoming lane which crosses into the Docks Area and which helps sort out some of the local traffic movements.

Riverside Esplanade quickly becomes one way again as it heads south west past the new V&A Museum and so back to the station, where two lanes turn right to complete the ring and a single lane continues ahead onto the A85. Discovery Point sits next to the V&A and is home to the RRS Discovery, and with other attractions at the historic docks, and being planned for the riverside redevelopments, Dundee's waterfront is becoming a big tourist destination.

History

The majority of the ring road has been cut through the citys old street plan, the exception being on the western flank. Here, a short section of South Marketgait certainly dates back to the 1960s when the riverside area was redeveloped with the coming of the Tay Bridge. Section 1 - the 0.24 mile section between Nethergate and South Ward Road was completed in 1966 per the 1966 Scottish Development Department Report. To the north, Marketgait between the West Port and Dudhope Roundabouts is also a pre-existing street, although the buildings on the eastern side of the street have been demolished to make room for the anticlockwise carriageway. Stage 3 - the 0.4 mile northern dual carriageway section between Lochee Road and Victoria Road was to open on 14 September 1975 per the Aberdeen Press of 10 September 1975. Cost was £500,000. It is unclear if it was a classified road on opening.

The Tay Road Bridge and South Marketgait before redevelopment

When first built, the ring road still incorporated the original Trumpet junction at the north end of the Tay Road Bridge. This took up the eastern two thirds of the area which has been redeveloped, and left little room for buildings anywhere between the bridge and station. Little wonder, therefore, that the junction has been removed and the land reclaimed for development. The only part of the old junction to survive in anything likes its original condition is the westbound offslip, although while this appears to remain on its original alignment, it has been thoroughly rebuilt. This sliproad fed directly into the South Marketgait dual carriageway which headed west to the A85 and around the A991.

The mainline on and off the bridge then curved round to the west to meet the eastbound carriageway of South Marketgait, forming the trumpet, which landed somewhere in Slessor Gardens and this viaduct section has been completely replaced with the new alignment. There was also an onslip on the east side, providing access from the westbound side of South Marketgait which has been completely removed. During the redevelopment of this junction, there were several temporary layouts, including a roundabout which appears to predate the removal of the trumpet. More information on the history of this complex junction is needed.