B800
B800 | |||||||
Location Map ( geo) | |||||||
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From: | Newbridge (NT118728) | ||||||
To: | Queensferry (NT124776) | ||||||
Distance: | 3.3 miles (5.3 km) | ||||||
Meets: | A89, B9080, B907, A90, A904 | ||||||
Former Number(s): | A8000 | ||||||
Old route now: | B907 | ||||||
Highway Authorities | |||||||
Traditional Counties | |||||||
Route outline (key) | |||||||
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The B800 starts on the A89 at Newbridge, west of Edinburgh, and runs northwards alongside the River Almond to cross the B9080 (former A9) in Kirkliston before reaching Queensferry on the Firth of Forth, where it swings to the west to connect to the A90 Forth Bridge Road, although it originally continued ahead along what is now the B907 to end in the centre of town on the original line of the A904.
The main claim to fame of the B800 was that between 1970 and 2009 its northern section from just north of Kirkliston was upgraded to be the A8000 (although some early maps show the southern section upgraded as well). This was as a result of the construction of the M9 spur, thus making the road the main route south of the Forth Road Bridge. What started as a busy dual carriageway from the M9 to the bridge terminated on a roundabout just north of Kirkliston, and traffic to the bridge was forced to take this humble S2 up to the A90 at Queensferry. The result was inevitably terrible congestion.
Eventually, the M9 spur was extended over the old roundabout without any access to the quiet Kirkliston road, although the A8000 did not revert to being the B800 again for a couple of years after the M9 spur was extended and the junction closed. Having once been linked directly to one of the busiest routes in the UK, the B800 has thus returned to being a peaceful, local B road. The B800 now ignores the M9 spur, which passes overhead, and heads north to cross over the A90 west of the Scotstoun Junction, heading into the suburbs of South Queensferry. It comes to a roundabout beside Tesco and then turns left to another roundabout at Echline Junction just south of the Forth Road Bridge; the A904 continues out the other side.