Elgin

Elgin is the county town of Moray in North East Scotland. The former Cathedral City lies on the River Lossie and is a busy and popular place both to live and for tourists. Elgin lies at the junction of the A96 Trunk Route from Aberdeen to Inverness, and the A941 which links south to the A95 and A9. The city has grown considerably in recent years, with a large area of new housing to the south and some to the north, and plans for more. As Elgin is the largest town in Moray, indeed between Aberdeen and Inverness, it is a natural centre for the vast rural hinterland surrounding it, stretching from the coast of the Moray Firth deep into the Cairngorm Mountains to the south. The economy of Moray is very reliant on tourism, particularly the mountains and Distilleries in the south of the county, but it is also a significant producer of food (Walkers Shortbread, Baxters etc) and has both RAF Lossiemouth and the Military base at Kinloss, all of which feed into Elgin's Economy.

Despite the A96 passing just to the north of the town centre, the town does not have a bypass of any form. The town centre relief roads date back to the 1980s or earlier, and moved the traffic out of the historic centre, but no further work has been carried out until recently. At one time a loop to the south of the town centre, passing the railway station, was signed as a bypass, and at busy times this can still be a useful timesaver for those who know it. With plans to dual the entire A96, the prospect of a bypass is now becoming real with a variety of route options being discussed. Despite the A96 being a busy road carrying a lot of traffic, it is thought by some that the majority (perhaps 75%) of traffic using the A96 within Elgin is either local traffic or traffic originating / terminating in the city. If this is true it would question the need for a dual carriageway bypass of Elgin as proposed.

The A941 crosses the A96 in Elgin, running north to Lossiemouth and south to the A95 at Craigellachie. It too used to pass through the centre of town, in narrow streets, but has been moved around the west side of the centre, creating a short multiplex with the A96. Going south it then resumes its original course just before crossing the railway line. Its northern leg was also slightly realigned, this time to the east. A little further west on the A96, the B9010 heads south west on a circuitous route to Forres, which is reached directly on the trunk road. The only other classified road in Elgin is the B9012, which forks off the A941 in Bishopmill, north of the town centre and heads north west to the coast at Hopeman.

Junctions

As the A96 passes through Elgin, there are no less than 9 roundabout for through traffic to negotiate, with an additional 4 on the southern arm of the A941. The two junctions between these two main roads are, naturally, both roundabouts. The western one is a four arm junction, with turning lanes on all approaches and the one-way High Street making the fourth arm as an exit only. The other roundabout is a simpler 3 arm junction, also with turning lanes on all approaches. There is only one roundabout on the multiplex section between, primarily being the access to Tescos.

Routes

Route	To	Notes
A96	Inverness, Forres, Nairn
A96	Aberdeen, Fraserburgh (A98)
A941	Lossiemouth
A941	Craigellachie, Dufftown, Perth (A95)
B9010	Miltonduff, Dallas
B9012	Duffus, Burghhead