B1349

The B1349 is a short route in the East Lothian town of Prestonpans.

West Loan, Prestonpans

The current southern end of the B1349 is on the B1361 (former A198) just to the north of Prestonpans railway station. It heads north up the narrow Station Road before curving left onto Preston Road. After a short run eastwards, the route turns right onto West Loan at a strange junction. Southbound traffic on the B1349 meets a stop line, while eastbound traffic on Preston Road has a give way line. This gives priority to westbound traffic on Preston Road over both of the other routes, and when the lining was last renewed, the centre line was continued right through the junction on Preston Road, further confusing matters. West Loan heads north, and soon passes Preston Tower, which lies off to the left between modern housing designed to mimic it. Long rows of interwar housing then lead into the centre of town. The route ends on the B1348, High Street, at a set of traffic lights. The Firth of Forth lies just to the north.

History

Originally the B1349 started on the A1 (now A199) to the west of Tranent before heading north into Prestonpans. It initially dropped down Brickworks Road, before turning hard left onto Johnnie Cope's Road. This wiggles across fields to Bankton, where a couple of tighter bends take it under the railway at the station. The route then continued straight ahead, across the small parking area, to cross the old A198 at a slightly skewed crossroads. The junction has been reprofiled in recent years, and the B1361 slightly realigned. Although the ex-B1349 can still be driven it is narrow, mostly single track with bottlenecks at the bridges over the A1 and under the railway line (signalised); the road is coloured white on OS mapping. It is not surprising therefore that this section has been declassified.

OS Mapping from the 1960s and 70s also shows that the B1349 had a short spur for a time. The western end of Preston Road, leading back to the A198 (now the B1361) is shown as part of the route, and explicitly numbered on large scale maps. It appears repeatedly between 1957 and 1973. This was the original line of the main road, but it seems likely that the current line followed by the B1361 was built before 1922, and therefore the A198 never used this section of Preston Road. The current road is certainly shown on the One Inch Maps from 1923-5.

The 1922 MOT Road List defines this route as: Prestonpans - Bankton