East Kilbride

East Kilbride is a new town, and Primary Destination located south of Glasgow. It was the first of Scotland's new towns, with work starting in the mid 1940s around the old village of East Kilbride, much of which survives as the 'Village' to the north of the modern town centre. The town is characterized by a lot of green space, large parks surround the centre and are dotted through the suburbs, with green corridors between housing estates. The town is also surrounded by a narrow green belt, keeping it separate from the urban are of Glasgow itself. Large industrial areas lie around the edge of the town, with Retail Parks often neighbouring them.

Main routes

The main road through the town is the Glasgow Southern Orbital (GSO), the east end of which is the western end of the A725, whilst the southern section is part of the A726. The A725 was extended westwards from Raith near Hamilton, through Blantyre over the former A776 and then into East Kilbride over the former southern end of the A749, which is now curtailed at the junction. This last section is called Kingsway, and terminates on the A726 Queensway. The A726, then has come north from Strathaven, and become a dual carriageway within East Kilbride. It then meets the A725 and takes over as the GSO, heading west past the town centre and then turning south on the western fringe of the the town to meet the A77. The former line of the A726 continues north west as the extended A727.

Within the town, the B761 follows part of the former A726 route, although as much again is now unclassified. The B783 provides a link north from the B761 to the A725 / A749 junction, and the B764 heads south west to Eaglesham, although no longer continuing beyond the village and across the moors to the A77. Most of the suburbs of the town, however, are served by, often high quality, unclassified distributor roads. Roundabouts proliferate, particularly in the newer parts of town, but Grade Separated Junctions are few and far between, even on the GSO.

Northern Distributor Road

The 2.7 mile road from Phillipshill Roundabout (A726) to Kingsgate Roundabout (A749) was opened on 10 June 1991 by Allan Stewart, MP. Work had been completed in 8 phases, starting in 1986. Contractor was Shanks & McEwan (Contractors) Ltd., cost £4.8 million.

Routes

Route	To	Notes
A725	Coatbridge, Glasgow, Carlisle (M74)	Former A776
A726	(M77), Kilmarnock, Glasgow, Paisley, Eaglesham, Busby avoiding low bridge
A726	Strathaven
A727	Paisley (A726), Glasgow (B767)	Former route of A726
A749	Glasgow
B761		Follows former route of A726 some of the way
B764	Eaglesham
B766	Glasgow, Castlemilk, Carmunnock
B783		Link in north of town
B7012	Blantyre	Former route of A725
A726	Paisley, Glasgow (B767), Busby	now A727
A726	Hamilton	now A725
A749	Strathaven	now A726
A776	Hamilton	now A725
B744	Glasgow	now A749
B744	Strathaven	now A726
Paisley - Hamilton M'way	Greenock (M8), Paisley, Kilmarnock (M77)
Paisley - Hamilton M'way	Edinburgh, Coatbridge (M8), Carlisle, Hamilton (M74)

Links

• Undiscovered Scotland