B8028

Strathavon Terrace, Westfield

The B8028 is a lengthy route south of Falkirk, running through the hills and across the Avon Valley to finish on the A801 north of Armadale and Bathgate. It is a varied, cross-country route which is neither fast nor direct. The road was originally unclassified but had gained its number by 1932.

Starting near Falkirk High Station at a traffic-light-controlled TOTSO with the B803 the road heads south, climbing past Callander Wood and into Hallglen, where a roundabout gives access to this large suburb. A sharp left turn brings it alongside the Union Canal, which is crossed with two more sharp bends soon after. Leaving Falkirk behind, the road runs through fields for almost a mile, climbing over a low hill to Shieldhill, where it first TOTSOs left onto the otherwise unclassified Main Street and then right onto the unsigned California Road, the route ahead now being the B810. Although Shieldhill has some older buildings along the main street, the bulk of the village is made up of more modern estates spreading over the hillside to the north.

Shieldhill is left behind, and the road dips down to cross the Polmont Burn, before climbing again to California, a small village which the B8028 skirts to the west. Both villages owe their history to coal mining, with the original badly-built miners cottages mostly being demolished and replaced in the first half of the twentieth century. Heading south still, the road runs between fields and occasional patches of woodland with a series of sharp bends after the summit at Greyrigg Crossroads. Half a mile or so further on, the road comes into Avonbridge, where, the B825 comes in from the east, and the two routes multiplex southwards for a short distance across the bridge before the B825 turns westwards once more. Curiously, the B8028 is the dominant number, perhaps explained by the fact that neither road was classified in Avonbridge in 1922, the B8028 being created and the B825 extended before 1932.

As it leaves Avonbridge, the B8028 curves eastwards, before yet another TOTSO at Westfield; this time the B8047 continues ahead. Heading south once more, the route starts to feel as though it has been cobbled together in a slightly desperate manner, making sharp right-angled turns at three successive T-junctions. It then straightens up, however, and soon reaches the B8084, which follows the former A706. Originally the B8028 ended here but it has now been extended ahead onto an old railway alignment adjacent to the former western end of the A800. The route ends at Couston Crossroads, a staggered junction on the A801.