B917

Pitkierie

The B917 is a short road in west Fife running parallel to the original route of the A90, now the B981 and A909, allowing traffic to avoid the centre of Cowdenbeath.

The B917 begins on the the B981 (former A90) at a fork junction just south of Hill of Beath. It heads north east at first, along Main Street and Old Perth Road, through Hill of Beath and skirts round the west side of Cowdenbeath. The town has, for the most part, grown out to meet the B917 but the housing estates all back on to the route with fields to the west. A single road, Moss Side Road, gives access to the southern parts of the town. A small industrial estate then sits to the west of the route, and shortly after it reaches a mini roundabout in the older part of Cowdenbeath. There are houses facing onto the road for a short distance, followed by playing fields and a cemetery before the B917 leaves the town behind.

After crossing the shoulder of Craigbeath Hill, the B917 descends a long, fairly straight hill to Cantsdam Bridge, where it crosses a small burn and meets the B912 from Dunfermline at a mini roundabout. The B917 turns right here, but quickly curves round to head north once more as it follows Cantsdam Road and then Oakfield Street into Kelty. Oakfield climbs up and quickly meets the A909 (former B914) at a mini roundabout in the centre of the town. Historically, this was a tiny hamlet called Oakfield, with Kelty lying to the north, each of them being mining communities with the own pits. Over the years, the settlements have grown and merged together. The B917 continues ahead at the junction, climbing along Main Street past the shops, and then after cresting the ridge it dips down, the road now lined by houses, many of them set back behind lawned areas. The B917 then curves round to the right onto Black Street where Main Street continues ahead to Kelty Bridge, and soon leaves the houses behind. It is, however, now only a very short run between fields to the end of the route at a T-junction with the B996 (the former A90).

History

Apart from the growth of Cowdenbeath, and perhaps a widening of the road, the southern end of the route hasn't changed since it was first classified. At the northern end, however, the B917 has been extended through Kelty. It originally ended on the B914 (now the A909 at the crossroads, but was extended north along Main Street and Black Street in 1935. Although it may appear as though Main Street used to continue through Kelty Bridge and on to meet the B996 at the bend where it almost meets the motorway, old maps show that this was never more than a track, and the current bend on the minor road to meet the B996 at Blairforge has always been the route of the road.

The 1922 MOT Road List defines this route as: Crossgates - Kelty