B77

This article is about the former A77 through Maybole.
For other roads with the same number, see B77 (disambiguation).

The B77 is the former route of the A77 through Maybole. It came into being on 31st January 2022 with the opening of the Maybole bypass.

Flag sign on roundabout at one end of the bypass

The route starts at the Smithston Roundabout about a mile south of Minishant on the A77. It curves away from the roundabout, turning south on a revised alignment before narrowing as it joins the original line of the A77. It follows a small burn downstream and under the railway, before winding gently southwestwards across fields. After the B742 comes in on the left at a sharp fork, there is plenty of evidence that this was once the main road. A farm on the right has been bypassed, and then a long wide bend has been cut into the hill with a wide verge climbing up on the right. At the end of a long straight, this wide, modern alignment narrows as the road curves round into Maybole.

After curving past a farm, the route follows the straight Cassillis Road past a variety of housing. Maybole is built on the side of a hill, so buildings on the left are often set below the road, and equally those on the right are climbing up the hill. The junctions too lead to side roads which drop away to the left. After passing the gaunt ruins of an old church, the road narrows again, squeezing down the old streets between rows of old stone houses stood directly at the back of the pavements. It is hard to imagine this as the busy A77, with parked cars along one side and two lanes of traffic squeezing down the remaining narrow strip of tarmac. A staggered crossroads near the centre of the town sees the B7023 cross, but the B77 continues ahead along the High Street, past Maybole Castle and on between the shops, many of which seem to be closed if not derelict.

The High Street climbs steadily past the Town Hall, where it becomes Whitehall, and then widens out as it levels off. Old houses, with some modern infill, continue to line the roadside. A tighter double bend leads onto Kirkoswald Road, which crosses the railway on a skew bridge. On the far side, the route passes a supermarket and the new school campus, as well as a few houses. It is not long, however, before it comes to an end at the Broomknowes Roundabout back on the A77.

The road is anomalously numbered; all other 'B' Roads in Great Britain's mainland are, and have been at least three digits long, save the brief exception of the B38 in Selly Oak, which was swiftly rectified.