B739

This article is about the current B739 near Prestwick in Ayrshire.
For the original B739 further south in the same county, see B739 (Carrick).
For the former B739 in Stevenston, see B739 (Stevenston).

The B739 is a link road near Prestwick Airport.

Route

Along the B739

The route starts on the A719 at Raith, a mile or so east of the A77 Ayr bypass, and heads northwest across the fields. From the junction it climbs steadily up over a low ridge, with some fine views from the summit, including a glimpse of the distant sea. A long straight then dips down below an invisible reservoir and leads on to some windy bends. There is then a much shaper lefthand bend at Newlands, turning the route westwards past the Adamton Estate before it passes under the A77 without a junction. On the far side the road winds past a farm and soon meets the security fencing around Prestwick Airport, with high fences on both sides of the road a little further on. The airport lies to the left, with a large industrial park between the road and runway, while more industrial sites sit to the right, all on former military land. There used to be a couple of fields surviving before the road entered Monkton, but new housing is now spreading across these.

The B739 therefore enters Monkton on Baird Road, which curves between modern housing to meet Kilmarnock Road (the former A77). Here, through traffic is directed right to reach the bypass but the B739 TOTSOs left to follow a traffic-calmed route into the centre of Monkton. It then continues ahead at a signalised fiveways junction at the end of Main Street (the former A78) and continues along Station Road where the traffic-calming continues. On the edge of town the route meets the airport again, and this time the runway is clearly visible to the left. The road follows the boundary fence, with an industrial site on the right accessed by two roundabouts, beyond which the route comes to an end at a thrid roundabout on the A79.

History

The interim road layout in Monkton in 1964

The whole of the B739 was unclassified when road numbers were first allocated in 1922. However, in the 1950s the growth of Prestwick Airport destroyed the old road east of Prestwick (the B742, which still exists to the south east of the A719). A new Class II road was allocated to the north of the airport and given the B739 number. This is first shown on the 1958 OS One Inch sheet, but is not marked on the 1956 edition.

Originally the B739 started on the A719, as it does today, and headed west into the centre of Monkton, where it followed Tarbolton Road to end on the original line of the A77. By 1964, the B739 had been slightly realigned in Monkton to follow Baird Road to meet the former A77 line, renumbered as the A79 since the bypass opened. By 1967, the A79 had also been moved following expansion of Prestwick Airport, and so the B739 was extended along the newly rerouted Station Road to meet the A79 as it still does today. Prior to the new A79 alignment, the route had crossed the extended runway on the level for a number of years.