B954
| B954 | ||||||||||
| Location Map ( geo) | ||||||||||
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| From: | Muirhead (NO344344) | |||||||||
| To: | Dykend (NO249575) | |||||||||
| Distance: | 17.5 miles (28.2 km) | |||||||||
| Meets: | A923, A94, B952, A926, B952, B951 | |||||||||
| Former Number(s): | A927 | |||||||||
| Highway Authorities | ||||||||||
| Traditional Counties | ||||||||||
| Route outline (key) | ||||||||||
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The B954 is a cross-country B-road in east Scotland which has been substantially extended.
Route
Muirhead - Alyth
The route starts at a forked TOTSO on the A923 at Muirhead, just outside Dundee. The two roads head west together before the B954 bends to head northwards on Newtyle Road. The route rises and falls a couple of times as it crosses two small valleys on a good, straight modern alignment before reaching the small village of Auchterhouse. The B954 turns in the village to follow the Auchterhouse Burn upstream along a long straight to the low watershed. A Railway line also used to sneak through this narrow break in the Sidlaw Hills, utilising the shallow gradient on this side, but the winding descent into Newtyle is much steeper, and the railway took a long horseshoe bend around the village. The road can manage the gradient more easily and drops down through the fields on Dundee Road.
Newtyle is an old grid iron village which mostly lies to the east of the main road, making it seem smaller to passing traffic than it really is. On the far side of the village the road passes a disused railway bridge - where the bridge deck has been removed. There is then a short straight and flat section with the railway embankment clearly visible to the right before the line crosses again - and again the bridge deck has been removed. Shortly afterwards the road reaches the Belmont Arms and bends sharply left to go over a dismantled railway line close to the long-gone Alyth Junction station. Alyth itself is some distance away, but the name was chosen as this is where passengers changed trains to get to Alyth.
The B954 continues north across wooded land to enter Meigle, a much prettier village with a jumble of old buildings clustered around the church. Just south of the church, the B954 forks, with a spur turning right onto Strathmore Place to reach the A94. The mainline continues ahead, curving to the right onto Ardler Road to reach a T-junction on the A94. There is then a short multiplex north along the A94 to the edge of Meigle before the B954 regains its number by turning right. A steady descent across the relatively flat land of Strathmore leads to Bridge of Crathies across the River Isla. The northern side of Strathmore is a little steeper, and so the route climbs steadily out of the valley through farmland with blocks of woodland to reach a roundabout on the edge of Alyth. Here it meets the A926 and B952 which heads into the town. This is the original southern end of the B954 - all that has gone before was numbered A927 until the 1970s.
Alyth - Dykend
From the roundabout, the B954 heads north east, bypassing Alyth to the east. After passing a golf course and crossing the Alyth Burn it reaches a T-junction where the B952 (which has gone through the town centre) comes in from the left. The B954 TOTSOs right here as if determining how best to cross the hills ahead. It quickly bends to the left at the next junction to start the climb, squeezing between two hills to find some flatter land beyond. There are few houses to be seen as the road winds through the fields, crossing a series of shallow valleys, each draining the hills to the south and west. After reaching a summit on the shoulder of a low hill, the road dips down to cross the River Isla at the narrow Bridge of Craigisla, after which the road bends sharply right to climb out of the valley.
The B954 then has to TOTSO left at the next junction at Formal farm, and heads north once more, climbing steadily round the Knock of Formal. The road is narrower now, having lost the centre line, and it can be a squeeze for two cars to pass in places. Finally it levels out to cross the moors, reaching a summit of 278m before descending gently. A series of narrow, windy bends above the Melgam Water lead down to Dykend where the route widens again just before ending on the B951 at a crossroads.
History
As a former A road, it is perhaps not surprising that the southern section of the B954 has seen some substantial improvements in the past. The two long straight sections past Dronley and North Dronley between Muirhead and Auchterhouse date from the 1960s, with the old road winding back and forth across the landscape. The old and new routes first diverge just south of the East Adamaston junction, where the old road can be seen looping to the west across the side road and then crossing the Lundie Burn as it curves around the field, largely overgrown with the tarmac broken up. The next section of the old road remains in use as the loop road serving Dronley, but as it rejoins the modern B954, the old road can be seen continuing north alongside the new road for a time. Another loop to the west follows, with the old bridge over the Dronley Burn a prominent landmark visible from the new road.
A short section of old road has then been lost before it reappears as a loop road at North Dronley serving the houses. Beyond this, however, the B954 seems to stick to the original line of the A927 through Newtyle to Alyth, and there are no obvious signs of improvements on the original B954 section either.
