B777
B777 | ||||||||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||||||||
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From: | Kilbirnie (NS314536) | |||||||||
To: | Lugton (NS412530) | |||||||||
Distance: | 7.6 miles (12.2 km) | |||||||||
Meets: | B780, A737, B7049, A737, B775, A736 | |||||||||
Highway Authorities | ||||||||||
Traditional Counties | ||||||||||
Route outline (key) | ||||||||||
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The B777 is a rural B-road in north Ayrshire.
The route starts at a mini-roundabout on the B780 by the Auld Kirk in Kilbirnie, and heads south along Kirkland Road past the graveyard. After passing through a small group of houses, the road crosses the River Garnock at an old, narrow bridge controlled by lights, and then turns south to run along the east bank for a short distance. Kirkland Road becomes Main Road, with houses strung along the roadside on the left, with a couple of green spaces between, and more houses can be seen across the river. A series of tighter bends turn the route east to go over the Ayrshire Coast Line by Glengarnock station. The towns schools now sit up to the left, looking out across fields to the south, and the route becomes more rural as it winds eastwards through the small community of Longbar, and out across fields. The roofs of bonded warehouses can be seen down to the left, and then a small industrial estate is passed as the route approaches Beith.
At the edge of the town, the route curves round to the right to follow a new alignment, with a screen of trees on the left shielding the housing behind. The southern end of the A737 Beith bypass is then met at the Manrahead Roundabout. Originally the B777 multiplexed along the A737 into town; now it has a useless multiplex along the B7049 which has taken on that road's pre-bypass route. The B777 regains its number in the town centre by turning right into New Street, which as its name suggests is a short straight route lined with modern housing. At the far end is a T-junction where it TOTSOs right into Head Street, and so finds its original alignment again. A snaking tree lined section climbs quite steeply up, before levelling out. It then crosses the A737 bypass at grade, meaning through traffic on the B777 can ignore the detour via Beith town centre, although a roundabout is planned for this junction. Open country starts on the other side of the A737 and the road continues east across the fields, and soon reaches the small village of Gateside.
After going through Gateside there are no more settlements on the route although it does pass a number of scattered houses. The route takes a winding course across the undulating landscape, passing to the south of the Lochlands Hills, and twice crossing the 130m contour, despite trying to find a level route. Eventually a T junction is reached where the B775 turns off to the left, after which the route skirts the grounds of Caldwell House, and curves round to the south to end at a T-junction on the A736 near Lugton Bridge.
History
The only changes to have occurred to the route are at Beith, and both have been made in the last fifty years. The Beith bypass opened in the 1920s, but the old line of the A737 through the town was simply renumbered as the B7049, and the only change to the B777 was a new crossroads on the bypass. Much more recently, the route has been realigned at the southern end of the town to meet the Manrahead Roundabout. Prior to this, it followed Old Willowyard Road, which is now just a cycle route, to meet the B7049 further north. In the town centre itself, the B7049 has been diverted away from Main Street, which resulted in the B777 also being diverted onto New Street, rather than using Mitchell Street.