Ballinluig Junction
Ballinluig Junction | |||
Location Map ( geo) | |||
Looking south at the new slips | |||
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Location | |||
Near Pitlochry | |||
County | |||
Perthshire | |||
Highway Authority | |||
Transport Scotland | |||
Junction Type | |||
GSJ | |||
Roads Joined | |||
A9, A827 | |||
Junctions related to the A827 | |||
Junctions related to the Perthshire Tourist Route | |||
Ballinluig Junction is where the A827 meets the A9 a few miles south of Pitlochry. As originally built, when the A9 was dualled, the junction was a simple at-grade turning from the A9, with a break in the central barrier. The most unusual thing was that the A827 actually crossed the A9 before the physical junction. However, in recent years the junction has been re-modelled to remove the central crossing.
The original layout saw the A827 carried across the A9 for one very simple reason. Immediately to the west of, and parallel to the A9 lies the main Perth-Inverness Railway Line. At the point where the A827 arrives, there simply isn't a lot of room to insert sliproads, especially with the height difference and gradient taken into account. As a result, the original design took the simple decision of carrying the A827 across the new dual carriageway onto the former A9 alignment, and then connecting the two.
However, as years went by and traffic levels increased, the junction became notorious, not so much for accidents, as for being impossible to cross the southbound carriageway to reach the A827 or northbound A9. The result saw the engineers tackle the impossible, and somehow squeeze a pair of sliproads in between the railway and the northbound carriageway. A new roundabout was built on the A827 to link these slips in, and they then head south at first, where the gap is slightly wider, before the on-slip doubles back sharply to meet the A9. This required the construction of two new railway bridges, and the demolition of one house, but has improved the junction no end.
History
Before the A9 was dualled past Ballinluig, it ran through the village on what is now the A827 spur to the southbound A9. The A827 was also on a different alignment, and arrived from the old Ballinluig Bridge, so crossing the field to the north of the modern flyover route. The two roads therefore met at a simple T Junction in the middle of Ballinluig village. Old maps suggest that before being cut off by the railway, the A827 may have forked to meet the A9 to the south as well (although this was before the road numbers had even been thought of!). The old railway bridge no longer survives, following the construction of the A9 dual carriageway.
Routes
Route | To | Notes |
Perth | ||
Inverness | ||
Logerait, Grandtully, Aberfeldy, Kenmore |