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B9170

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B9170
Location Map ( geo)
Cameraicon.png View gallery (8)
From:  Darra (NJ744474)
To:  Inverurie (NJ761215)
Via:  New Deer, Methlick, Oldmeldrum
Distance:  31.1 miles (50 km)
Meets:  A947, B9027, A981, B9005, B999, A947, A920, B9001, A96
Former Number(s):  A948, A981
Highway Authorities

Aberdeenshire

Traditional Counties

Aberdeenshire

Route outline (key)
B9170 Darra - New Deer - Inverurie

The B9170 is really two completely different routes which were united with a single number when they were downgraded. Originally part of two A roads, which were truncated and now terminate at New Deer, giving rise to the L-shaped B9170. The section that currently runs from Inverurie to New Deer was formerly classified as the A981, and the section that runs from New Deer to Turriff was formerly classified as the A948.

Route

Turriff - New Deer

The route starts on a straightened section of the A947 at Darra, a short distance south of Turriff, and heads northeast through the fields alongside the Idoch Water; this is crossed after a little over a mile, with the road having to climb the steep bank on the north side. Somehow, the road manages to find an easy gradient, and is soon winding along the top of the bank. The road continues to wind upstream above the river, and before long is back on the north bank of what is now called the Burn of Monquhitter. After passing a few more farms, the route turns hard right at a crossroads and heads south, crossing back over the burn. On the far side, the B9027 turns off left, while the B9170 continues ahead, climbing around a double bend into Cuminestown. At the end of Main Street, where the village shop is, the route turns hard left at a T junction onto High Street, which is about half of this long, linear village. A few properties sit behind these main streets, accessed via side roads.

The route has been climbing all the way through the village, and continues to do so as it winds out into open countryside once more. A summit of nearly 150m is reached as it turns south east and starts a gentle descent. This leads down into the valley of the Little Water, which is crossed by the Dam Brig in the middle of a long double bend. A long, sinuous climb through fields leads up to another summit, at around 155m just below the summit of Bruce Hill, and then another gentle descent past some woodland and on down to New Deer. The B9170 runs into the village on Auchreddie Road West, and then meets the A948 and A981 at New Deer Crossroads near the village centre. Here the route TOTSOs right, having completed the former western end of the A948, and begins its journey south on the former A981, a much longer route. As former A roads, both sections of the B9170 are reasonably wide and well aligned, but as a rule quiet.

New Deer - Inverurie

The B9170 at Methlick

New Deer has grown northwards from the crossroads, meaning that the route soon reaches the end of the houses along Stoneybank Terrace and returns to the fields. It runs slightly west of southwards, and is hillier than before, with lots of ups and downs as it cuts across the small valleys that cut into the landscape. After a windy start, some long straights take it across the Black Burn and Burn of Middlemuir . It then curves around the contours of the hill of Belnagoak, and finally drops down to the tiny settlement of Cairnorrie, although it is little more than a collection of farms around a mothballed school, it is more than the scattering of properties passed so far. Now heading south, the B9170 follows a sinuous route across fields as it descends down into the valley of the River Ythan. The final descent is quite steep, and then the route meets the B9005 at a T junction the two routes multiplex across Methlick Bridge and enter Methlick, the B9170 maintaining priority as it is the former A road. Across the river, a sweeping bend curves onto Main Road, but a short distance later, the B9170 TOTSOs right opposite the churchyard onto School Brae.

After passing the school and a small, modern housing estate, the route leaves Methlick behind and climbs out of the valley as it continues southwards. Patches of woodland and a scattering of farms and houses are passed, but for the most part the route winds gently across fields, with a couple of tighter bends. By Formartine's café and farm shop the B999 turns left on its way to Tarves, while the B9170 curves round to run south west across undulating terrain for about three and a half miles, with little excitement along the way! The A947 is then met again at a roundabout on the edge of Old Meldrum, having only covered two thirds of the distance of the B9170 from Turriff. Originally there was a multiplex through town but the B9170 now continues ahead onto the Oldmeldrum Bypass, opened in 2007, and recently renumbered as the A920, creating another multiplex.

The two routes split again at the next roundabout, and then after passing some industrial sites, the B9170 finds its pre-bypass route along Station Road at a third roundabout. Heading southwest once more, the route curves around the Hill of Barra and enjoys another couple of miles of pleasant, but unremarkable countryside to reach a fairly new roundabout, opened in 2015. The Portstown Link Road heads west from here to reach the B9001, while ahead the B9170 passes through the vast new Portstown Development, a new town or suburb just across the river from Inverurie. After curving through the development on Old Meldrum Road, the B9170 crosses the River Urie at Souterford before running through an industrial estate and over a bridge over the Aberdeen to Inverness railway line, next to the station. Old Meldrum Road then winds into the town centre, where it meets the B9144 in the Market Place. The final stretch then leads down the High Street to end on the B993 at a signalised crossroads at the far end.

History

As explained at the beginning, the B9170 was created when the A948 and A981 were curtailed in c1973 and the two sections of former A road were bizarrely united with a single number. Few changes have occurred to the route since, except in Inverurie. Here, the B9170 originally ended in the Market Place on the A96. However, when Inverurie was bypassed, the B9170 and B9001 were extended to connect the town centre to the new bypass. This meant that the two routes multiplexed along the West High Street, before splitting at a mini roundabout. From here the B9170 continued ahead along Blackhall Road to end at a roundabout on the A96. All this was changed in 2017 when the council carried out a review, and adjusted the B9170 to its current route, while creating the B9144 to cover the section along Blackhall Road and West High Street.




B9170
Junctions
Crossings
Roads
Places
Related Pictures
View gallery (8)
Blackhall Road, Inverurie - Geograph - 2546326.jpgMethlick-br1.jpgMethlick-br2.jpgMethlick-br3.jpgInverurie-mkt.jpg
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B9993
Earlier iterations: B9111 • B9145 • B9151 • B9164

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