B9177

The B9177 is the former route of the A9 as it descends Drumossie Brae into Inverness from the south.

Inshes

The southern end of the route is at the Bogbain dumbbell junction, which now also provides access to the large new housing estates of Milton of Leys, developing on the hills to the south of the Highland Capital, and is therefore now better known as the Milton of Leys Junction. Heading north, the B9177 loosely follows the A9 along its eastern side until it reaches the B9006 at Cradlehall. Here, the B9006 takes over the former route of the A9 into the city centre.

History

The first section of the A9 Inverness dual carriageway bypass to be opened came to an end at the sharp bend on the current B9177, where it sits tight against the A9. This was only the location of a temporary terminus, however, with the section to the north built in 1976, while that to the south opened in c1978, removing the junction at this location.

Previously, old stretches of the A9 from Newtonmore to Daviot had all received a consecutive series of numbers from B9150-4 (although the use of the B9151 number is speculative). Presumably these had been reserved en bloc for such use, and the council either miscounted or had not previously intended this section to carry a new Class II number. Either way the B9177 number was not the lowest available, with a number of lower numbers remaining unused at the time.