B7038

The B7038 is an laregly urban B-road which passes through Kilmarnock.

Route

Fenwick - Kilmarnock

Glasgow Road, Kilmarnock

The route starts at J8 of the M77, which comprises a single southbound offslip at this location. The B7061 heads north from the roundabout into the small village of Fenwick in Ayrshire, while the B7038 heads south, begging the question of why they have different numbers. The route initially runs parallel to the A77 dual-carriageway, curving south west to a roundabout for an onslip to the southbound carriageway - this is not part of Junction 8, as it is the northernmost part of the first junction on the A77 after the motorway ends. The route then goes over the dual carriageway to find the Meiklewood Interchange, with sliproads onto the northbound carriageway of the A77. Although the offslip has facility for traffic to turn either way onto the B7038, the onslip is angled such that a right turn is pretty much impossible, if not prohibited. As the sliproads merge into the mainline, the route becomes S4 as it curves along Glasgow Road into Ayrshire's second town, Kilmarnock.

Glasgow Road used to be S4 from here to almost the town centre. However, after passing between an industrial area and some new housing, it reaches the Southcraigs Roundabout, beyond which cycle tracks and a hatched out centre land have reduced it to an S2, with central turning bays. The next roundabout, in front of a supermarket and garage sees the (unsigned) B7064 fork right to curve around the western side of the town. This used to be a dual carriageway, but again paint has reduced it to a single lane in either direction. The next section of Glasgow Road is a leafy suburban boulevard and one of the nicest parts of the town. Although the road is wide here, with parking bays or a narrow hatched strip down the centre, it is hard to picture it crowded with four lanes of traffic. Shortly after Glasgow Road becomes Beansburn, with an area of woodland screening a park on the left. There is then a busy T-junction with Dean Road, which leads to Dean Castle County Park. Another name-change sees the route follow Dean Street past some low rise flats and on to the A735 Kilmarnock One-Way System, where the northern part of the B7038 comes to an end.

Kilmarnock - Spittalhill

Having met the A735 at the north western corner of the one-way system, the B7038 leaves at the opposite, south eastern corner to enter the district of Riccarton, formerly a town in its own right but now nothing more than a suburb. It follows Armour Street as it winds round a retail park, with more low rise flats to the left. As it straightens up again, if follows High Glencairn Street, a sandstone suburban shopping street, which seems to end prematurely as anothe retail park is reached. This is accessed from a signalised crossroads, which also serves the industrial area off to the left. Annoyingly, the pedestrian crossing facilities use different lights to the crossroads itself. A few more older buildings survive along the roadside, almost surrounded by car parks and commercial sites. The route then crosses the River Irvine to reach the next major interchange where i meets the A71. The junction only has west facing slips on and off this grade-separated dual-carriageway southern bypass. The eastbound offslip is a simple T-junction on the B7038, while the westbound onslip,uses a roundabout some distance further south, which is also the terminus of the B7072.

The B7038 then curves onto Ayr Road, a logn straight road through Kilmarnock's southern suburbs. A few houses face onto the road at first, but after passing a small park they are either set back behind service roads or back onto the main road. Another industrial estate then sits on the left, with a golf course opposite and so, after passing right across Kilmarnock, the route finally enters open countryside. The route crosses fields for less than a mile before the two lanes split and become the sliproads for the A77 junction at the southern end of the Kilmarnock bypass. These are south facing only, with no access to or from the north at this point.

History

The B7038 in 1956 before the bypass opened.

Prior to the current route, the B7038 for many years formed a very short route in Kilmarnock town centre, running along John Finnie Street and West George Street, so forming the western and northern side of the current one-way system, serving the station. This was originally unclassified, but gained its number in the late 1920s, after the B750 to the south had been upgraded to become the A759. More recently it became the route of the A71, and it is now the A735. It is currently unclear whether this route ever coexisted with the current route, or if the number was reused when the roads were renumbered. The present B7038 forms the bulk of the pre-bypass A77 through the town, albeit omitting the section through the town centre which is now largely unclassified.