B6415
B6415 | ||||||||||||||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||||||||||||||
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From: | Portobello (NT300743) | |||||||||||||||
To: | Millerhill (NT318692) | |||||||||||||||
Via: | Musselburgh | |||||||||||||||
Distance: | 5.8 miles (9.3 km) | |||||||||||||||
Meets: | A199, A1140, A6095, A1, A720, A6106 | |||||||||||||||
Former Number(s): | A1 | |||||||||||||||
Highway Authorities | ||||||||||||||||
Traditional Counties | ||||||||||||||||
Route outline (key) | ||||||||||||||||
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The B6415 is a road of two halves which follows a U-shaped route east and south-east of the city of Edinburgh. It provides a "long way round" from Portobello to Millerhill via Musselburgh, avoiding the A6106. The east-west section was originally the A1 whereas the north-south section has been the B6415 since it was upgraded from an unclassified road in around 1930.
Starting at a signalised junction on the A199 and A1140 in the Edinburgh suburb of Portobello, we head southeast along Portobello High Street, the original route of the A1. We skirt the Firth of Forth as we pass through Joppa and soon reach traffic lights back on the A199. There's a multiplex ahead along that road for about half a mile into the Musselburgh suburb of Newhailes, where the B6415 regains its number at traffic lights and runs down Newhailes Road to a roundabout where it joins another multiplex with the A6095; this avoids an earlier route through the town centre along Market Street and Campie Road.
The B6415 reappears by the bridge over the River Esk and heads upstream, gaining a more rural character. After going under the East Coast Main Line we reach a roundabout from which a spur runs left for a little under 400 metres to reach the Old Craighall Junction between the A1 and A720. We then go under the A1 and out along a fairly straight piece of road into Millerhill. Originally the road continued straight on to end at a roundabout on the A6106 but the A-road's route was altered when the new Borders Railway was opened in 2015. In consequence the B6415 now turns sharp right midway between Easter and Wester Millerhill and runs northwesterly for 175 metres before making an equally sharp turn left to cross the railway and end at a new roundabout some 220 metres northwest of the road's original terminus.