Craigellachie

Craigellachie is a small village about two miles east of Aberlour in the heart of the Speyside Whisky Country. Distilleries are all around, with the Whisky Capital of Dufftown four miles to the south. The village's other big tourist attraction is the spectacular Craigellachie Bridge, built by Thomas Telford, which spans the River Spey, and is now a historic monument with traffic routed across the new bridge downstream. The village is also well served with cycle routes, following the old railway lines, and the Speyside Way long distance path passes through the village.

Junction

There are only two classified roads at Craigellachie, the A95 and A941 which cross at the village, enjoying a brief multiplex as they do so. The modern junction is a pair of T Junctions immediately south of the new bridge, with the main priority given to the A95 Grantown on Spey - A941 Elgin route. Starting from the bridge, the first left turn leads through the village to the now-closed railway station and to Keith on the A95, while the second turns around the back of the village, taking the A941 to Dufftown. Both junctions are provided with right turn lanes on the A95.

For many years, the straight through A95 - A941 route was the primary (but not trunk) road into Elgin from the south. However, in 1996 the A95 became a trunk route as far as Keith, a somewhat smaller town, and the A941 to Elgin lost its primary status, as since 1996 Scotland's Trunk and Primary networks have been officially identical (despite signage in some areas elsewhere suggesting otherwise).

History

The junction at Craigellachie used to be in the heart of the village. With the A941 approaching from the old bridge, it continued straight on, following the modern alignment of the A95, to meet the A95 at Victoria Street. It then doglegged right-left onto Edward Avenue (originally the B9013) to regain its modern route on to Dufftown. The turn towards Dufftown was extremely sharp and rather steep. The A95 had a much straighter route than it does now, initially approaching from the west along the modern A941 route, Edward Avenue, and then running past the Craigellachie Hotel onto Victoria Street. This little connecting street in the middle, which once served both routes, is now closed off due to the sharpness of the former junction, with the A941 banked up higher to ease the climb past the village.

Even when the new bridge opened in 1972, the two roads still crossed in the village, as shown on the 1976 OS Landranger map. The improvements to the B9102 junction are shown, but the bypass, despite being a huge improvement to the narrow streets and awkward junction where the two routes previously met, came somewhat later. However, the alignment of the new bridge does suggest that the bypass was planned at the same time.

Routes

Route	To	Notes
A95	Perth (A9), Grantown on Spey, Aviemore
A95	Craigellachie, Keith (A96)
A941	Dufftown, Cabrach	Former B9013
A941	Elgin, Rothes
B9013	Dufftown	Now A941