B749

The B749 is a short B-road through the Ayrshire town of Troon.

Route

The route starts on the unclassified Harbour Road, at the entrance to the pierhead area. The harbour is still busy, with a considerable volume of timber passing through in addition to other commodities. The route heads heads inland, eastwards along Harbour Road, with houses soon appearing on the right and a large marina in the inner harbour to the left. Beyond that is the old ferry terminal, although this has only been used intermittently in recent years since the Irish service ceased. The B749, however, doesn't reach the ferry port, but instead heads for the town centre. When it reaches a public garden it makes a dogleg to the right, with a double TOTSO onto Templehill. The unclassified road ahead passes the ferry terminal and is signposted as all routes except town centre, soon meeting the B746. However, the council list for a time suggested that the B749 continues along Harbour Road to the roundabout, where it becomes the B746 (neither route having a connection to the A759 if this is the case). There is no other evidence that the route has moved, however.

The B749 then runs parallel to Harbour Road on the opposite side of the park for a short distance before curving right along Templehill, which is wide enough for perpendicular parking bays in front of the shops on the right, and meeting a set of traffic lights at a crossroads. The A759 starts here and heads off to the left, whilst the B749 continues ahead along Ayr Street, which is not as wide as Templehill. It passes the church and civic centre with the occasional view of the sea down side streets to the right. As the route continues it becomes more residential and quickly becomes the nearest public road to the coast, although there are usually buildings in the way meaning the sea cannot be seen. Eventually, the houses come to an end, but the shallow dunes still rise up between road and beach, keeping the sea hidden from view. All of the houses along here are large old stone properties, mostly semi detached, which will get the views across the Clyde to Arran and beyond from upper floor windows at least.

Royal Troon Golf Club and the B749

Eventually the route reaches the golf course and turns sharp left onto Craigend Road to go inland. This is the edge of town, with a few very large properties set back behind the trees on the right, and the golf course stretching away to the south. The route soon crosses the Ayrshire Coast Line, beyond which the route of the B749 is again unclear. Historically it TOTSOed right into Southwood Road, and most maps still show this. However, signage on the ground reflects the long term reality that through traffic continues ahead onto the parallel Monktonhill Road. The two roads meet again at Monktonhill (with Southwood Road having to TOTSO again), after which the B749 continues for a short distance before ending on the A79. Traffic from the B749 must turn left here (and use Monktonhead Roundabout on the A78 for a right turn) but all other movements are allowed. Before the construction of the A79 traffic had to bear left here anyway as the road ended on the A78.

History

There have been very few changes to the route of the B749 over the years. The short link road between Harbour Road and Templehill replaces a diagonal alignment that cut across the grass by the Memorial Garden. This change appears to have been carried out when the harbour saw some redevelopment and Port Ranald Drive was built. At the opposite end of the route, the move onto Monktonhill Road has only been confirmed by the council lists in the 2020s, although traffic has been directed this way for at least a dozen years beforehand.

The 1922 MOT Road List defines this route as: Junction with A78 near Monkton - Troon