The B8071 is one of the roads on Coll. It was originally unclassified but gained its number around 1930, when classified roads were introduced to the island. It starts on the B8070 just north of the Ferry port of Arinagour, and runs north across the island to the B8072, where it turns left to follow the northern coast.
The B8071 now starts at the fork junction by the Free Church at the north end of the village of Arinagour. It heads northwards, curving across the hill and dipping down towards the narrow inlet of Loch Eatharna. At the head of this tidal inlet, the road kinks around the hill and passes a house. Above the road, the hillside is open moorland, and a cattle grid is soon crossed, with some rough fields below the road towards the stream. A mile later, the junction at Arnabost is reached, although Arnabost farm is some distance to the south, and Arnabost itself now just comprises a single cottage and a ruin. The junction can hardly be described as a TOTSO as it is completely unlined, but it is a T junction, where the left turn is the continuation of the B8071, whilst the right turn is the B8072. The condition of the road suggests that turning traffic is evenly split, but straight-through traffic is limited.
Beyond the junction, the road heads south west, through a mixture of sand dunes, rocky outcrops, lush fields and open moorland. There are a scattering of houses in the landscape, but almost as many seem to be ruined as inhabited. Eventually, although less than 3 miles from Arnabost, the road comes to an end in front of Ballyhaugh, formerly a farm and now home to the volunteering and educational charity Project Trust. A track continues ahead, curving round the dunes of Traigh Hogh to reach the unclassified road that leads to the western end of the B8070, although there is no evidence that this has ever been a road.
History
Originally the road started at a fork on the B8070 by the war memorial in the centre of Arinagour. It went round two sides of a triangle (with the B8070 taking the direct route) and also had a spur to the island hotel. After rejoining the B8070 there was a very short multiplex to the next fork. However, this first section is now unclassified.
