The B7046 is a secondary road in east Ayrshire following a similar route to the A70 to the north.
Sinclairston
The route starts on the B730 on the southern edge of Drongan and heads east, losing the central white line almost immediately. After a few bends it strides off southeastwards on a couple of long straights across fields, passing a scattering of houses and farms. The route crosses over the top of Whitehill, and then finds a gap in a ridge and presently reaches a T-junction. To the right an unclassified, but fully S2 road heads west through the tiny village of Hayhill to meet the B730 at Bonnyton, whilst the B7046 has to TOTSO left. It immediately becomes S2 as well, and passes through the abutments of an old railway bridge that has been removed to enter the tiny village of Sinclairston. An old school on the left hints at this previously being a bigger settlement, but it seems that it just served a large farming community, and almost half the houses in the village today are modern.
Beyond Sinclairston there's a straight run across the fields, passing very close to Belston Loch off to the right, and offering expansive views across the rolling hills to the north. The route follows a slight ridge and dips to a T-junction set close against the long abandoned railway line. It has to TOTSO again, turning right but quickly bends back round to the left to continue the easterly course. This is a surprisingly flat area of moorland fields, and the road hardly dips to cross the Burnock Water at the narrow Burnock Bridge. It then climbs gently past some strips of woodland and is most unexpectedly traffic-calmed as it runs through Skares. This tiny village consists of a crossroads and a few houses, with a vast area of former opencast mining to the south which is slowly being reclaimed by nature. After re-entering open country the route crosses its summit of around 221m before a sharp left-hand bend sees it follow the small Rose Burn downstream.
After a short straight, the descent becomes quite windy, with the road crossing the burn, followed by a slight climb. The view ahead, across Cumnock then opens up and then the road straightens up as it starts to descend once more. A sharper right turn takes it under the A76 Cumnock bypass in a cutting and then reach a T-junction on the A70 just beyond. The bypass can be reached by turning left here, but the B7046 multiplexes right along Ayr Road into the town centre. The A-road then turns left at a mini-roundabout onto the town centre relief road and the B7046 continues ahead on Ayr Road for about half the length of the multiplex to end at traffic lights on the B7083 (pre-bypass A76).
History
The route was originally unclassified but had gained its number by 1932. The only change to the route since is the extension into New Cumnock town centre over the former A70 line. This is a fairly modern addition, following the opening of Cumnock Town Centre Relief Road.
