Cameron Toll
Cameron Toll | |||
Location Map ( geo) | |||
| |||
Location | |||
Edinburgh | |||
County | |||
Midlothian | |||
Highway Authority | |||
Edinburgh | |||
Junction Type | |||
Modified Roundabout | |||
Roads Joined | |||
A7, A6095 | |||
Junctions related to the A6095 | |||
Cameron Toll is a five-armed spiralised roundabout in the south of Edinburgh, linking the A7 to the A6095, and providing the eastern entrance to an eponymous shopping centre. The junction also lends its name to the surrounding area, with connections close by to the A701 and A772 roads as well. Sitting under a curve in the South Suburban Railway means the junction is crossed twice by Cameron Bridge, actually a pair of bridges with low (14'9") clearance. The nature of this important urban junction and the nearby shopping centre inviting goods traffic means the bridges are somewhat prone to being struck.
In the 19th century the junction was marked with a tollhouse on the northeastern corner, serving to divide the Edinburgh-Dalkieth road. For almost all of its life the A68 was the main through route here in an offset crossroads with the A6095 and the unclassified Lady Road, however three changes in three consecutive decades around the turn of the 21st century have brought about the current situation.
The formation of the junction was modified into its present state in 1981 by constructing a link from Old Dalkeith Road to Lady Road curving around the bridges and creating a one-way circulating carriageway. This explains why the "roundabout" is approximately triangular as the north and east sections have always been straight roads. The impetus for the change was the construction of Cameron Toll Shopping Centre on the site to the south-west of the junction. The curved leg of the roundabout has the goods and southern car-park entrance to the centre, giving this junction five arms.
Some ten years after this, the A7 was rerouted atop the A68 through much of southern Edinburgh as part of changes related to the City Bypass construction.
Signage at the junction was then changed in the 2000s to direct city-bound traffic off the A7 at this point, presumably to help it avoid the low bridges. "City Centre" has been poorly patched out on the A7 north exit and replaced with the curious destination of "Old Town", referencing the southern portion of Edinburgh's historic centre. City Centre traffic is now directed down Lady Road back to the A701, with the crossroads at that end expanded concurrently. It still seems bizzare though to send traffic to the centre of a major primary destination via an unclassified road; surely it could have warranted an upgrade to A6095 (zone boundary crossing notwithstanding).
Routes
Route | To | Notes |
City Bypass (A720) Galashiels, Hawick, Jedburgh (A68), Royal Infirmary, Dalkeith | Former A68 | |
Old Town | Former A68. City Centre no longer a destination via A7 | |
Musselburgh, Niddrie, Newcraighall | ||
City Centre, Penicuik, Liberton, Newington (A701) | City centre traffic is directed down the unclassified Lady Road | |
Cameron Toll Shopping Centre |