B761
B761 | ||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||
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From: | College Milton (NS614546) | |||
To: | East Mains (NS641543) | |||
Via: | West Mains Road | |||
Distance: | 1.9 miles (3.1 km) | |||
Meets: | A726, B783, A725 | |||
Primary Destinations | ||||
Highway Authorities | ||||
Traditional Counties | ||||
Route outline (key) | ||||
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For the original route near Tollcross, Glasgow, see B761 (Glasgow).
The B761 is a short link road in the Lanarkshire town of East Kilbride. It is a modern distributor type route which for the most part runs through a green, often tree lined corridor with very few frontages directly onto the road.
The route starts at an unnamed roundabout on the A726 in the College Milton area of town, and heads north to reach what was a large roundabout at the entrance to an industrial area, but now the B761 continues as a two-way road along the southern side, with signals controlling the exit from the industrial estate. This is where the former A726 route comes in from the left and is now followed along the winding - but obviously upgraded - West Mains Road. Small modern housing estates sit off to the right, while a thick bank of mature trees screen the industrial units on the left. The Kittoch Water is crossed on a wide culvert which means the small stream cannot be seen from the road, which then continues along a route that wouldn't look out-of-place in any New Town. Just before a roundabout is reached, housing appears on the left as well as the right, and beyond it the route passes two schools set amongst the houses. The B783 then turns left at the next roundabout, and the old A726 bears off left just afterwards along a route now closed to traffic.
The B761 now follows a new road, built in the late 1950s which curves southeastwards to bypass the old village centre of East Kilbride. Due to the proximity of older buildings, this section actually looks older than the section before that existed prior to the New Town! The route passes the towns terminus station, and then negotiates two mini roundabouts in quick succession, before curving back to the east around the old churchyard. Beyond the church, the route runs past a row of older semi detached houses which front directly onto the road, as do a couple of business premises opposite. At Priestknowe Roundabout an unclassified dual carriageway turns off right to the modern town centre and then the straightest part of the whole route follows Whitemoss Road to end at the Whitemoss Roundabout on the A725 eastern bypass.
History
The B761 came into existence in c1960. The 1959 OS One Inch Map still shows the A726 as following part of its old route, whilst the extant part of the current route is also numbered as the A726, leading to a disjointed route through the New Town. How accurate this is is uncertain, but the 1961 OS Quarter inch map shows the current A726 route as complete and the route of the B761 is shown as an unnumbered B road. The number first appears on the 1962 1:25,000 and 1963 one inch maps, and remains essentially unchanged to this day.