B802

Kilsyth

The B802 is a medium-length B-road in Scotland's Central Belt.

It starts at a roundabout on the A803 in the centre of Kilsyth, and heads south along a dual-carriageway until the next roundabout, after which it narrows. This section, up until the third roundabout, is a town centre relief road, probably dating from the 1980s, which removed traffic from Main Street. The road continues south through the town along Townhead Street and Howe Road. At the edge of Kilsyth, it swings sharply round to the left and drops down to the junction with the B8023 in an old quarry before crossing the Forth & Clyde Canal. The original bridge (now removed) was a swing bridge slightly to the west, at the point where the B8023 turns and heads westwards.

The road rejoins its original line at Auchinstarry roundabout and continues south, climbing up towards Croy. There is then some confusion as to the current route of the B802. Originally the road turned left at a TOTSO to go through the village, and signage still indicates this route at the junction, and indeed at various places along the route. The OS, however, now mark the route as continuing ahead to avoid the village, and North Lanarkshire Council seem to list both routes as part of the B802, although at least one section of the route through Croy is marked as 'Superceded'. Both routes cross the Glasgow to Stirling railway line before reaching the B8048 at roundabouts; the new western route at Blackwood Roundabout, from where it multiplexes east with the B8048 to rejoin the original route of the B802 at Craiglinn Roundabout.

From Craiglinn, the road heads south west along Westfield Road, before turning south at the next roundabout onto North Road and crossing over the M80 (which is reached via the B8048) into Condorrat. At the next mini-roundabout it reaches Main Street, the now-unclassified original route of the A80 and turns right to follow it for a short distance. After the new A80 route was built in the 1960s, the B802 had a short spur to the east here, serving a junction between the two routes, but this has now been closed up and replaced with the Condorrat Junction on the A8011 further east. The B802 then turns left at another mini roundabout and follows the Condorrat Ring Road for a short distance before it TOTSOs right onto Airdrie Road. The route then dips down to cross the Luggie Water, and so for the first time properly finds open countryside as it climbs over the hill at Myvot.

The B802 in Airdrie town centre

The road continues south across the fields, and crosses the Glasgow to Cumbernauld railway line before traversing undulating terrain past scattered farms and houses. It eventually climbs through Brackenhirst into Glenmavis where it meets the B803, with which there is a short multiplex west along Coatbridge Road. There is then a short rural section, with the road passing between a hill and a golf course, before the road reaches Airdrie. It runs through the northern suburbs along Commonside Street and North Bridge Street before crossing the A8010 (former B801) at traffic lights. Ahead is the town centre and the B802 is one-way northbound along South Bridge Street and Bank Street. Southbound traffic presumably heads west one block on the A8010 to follow a parallel unclassified road, Wellwynd. The two directions meet at traffic lights in the centre of town, on the original line of the A89, which marks the original southern end of the B802.

The road to the south, Broomknoll Street, was originally unclassified, and later numbered as the B799. However, that road was later rerouted and so the B802 continues south to cross the current A89 at a roundabout immediately before going over the North Clyde railway line on Cairnhill Road. It then winds through the southern suburbs to reach open country and meet the B8058 at a roundabout just after. The B802 turns right and continues south through the village of Calderbank and crosses the North Calder Water. The next section has been realigned more than once. Originally, the B799 continued ahead, curving to the south east as it crossed the A8. Then, when the A8 was dualled, the road, now the B802, was turned more forcibly eastwards, with slip roads onto the eastbound carriageway. Withe the more recent reconstruction as motorway, the route has been moved further north again to end on the B799 at a new roundabout, one of four now serving Chapelhall Junction.

The 1922 MOT Road List defines this route as: Airdrie - Condorrat- Kilsyth