Hunterston Roundabout
| Hunterston Roundabout | |||
| Location Map ( geo) | |||
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| The Hunterston Coal Dump | |||
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| Location | |||
| Hunterston, North Ayrshire | |||
| County | |||
| Ayrshire | |||
| Highway Authority | |||
| Transport Scotland | |||
| Junction Type | |||
| Roundabout | |||
| Roads Joined | |||
| A78 • Power Station Road • Oilrig Road | |||
Hunterston Roundabout is at the junction of the A78 and the roads leading to the abandoned Oilrig Construction Yard, Hunterston 'A' Power Station operated by Magnox North and 'B' Nuclear Power Station operated by EDF. The oilrig yard is constructed on reclaimed land in the Clyde Estuary and has seen a variety of actual uses, as well as many failed plans over the years. It is now home to 3 large Wind Turbines, but other projected uses for the site are raised from time to time, and it may yet see a new lease of life.
The roundabout is a 4-arm junction on the north-south A78 between Fairlie to the north and West Kilbride to the south. Immediately to the north of the junction, a coal conveyor crosses the road allowing coal from the terminal to the north to be loaded at a secondary rail transfer station. This railway forced the A78 to be moved slightly west to accommodate the roundabout. Of the other 2 arms, only one is open in Spring 2017, Oilrig Road which leads to the Power Stations. Power Station Road, which conversely leads to the former Oilrig site is currently gated, and the road itself forms part of the NCN753 and Ayrshire Coastal Path to the west.
There seems no obvious reason why the road names conflict with their final destinations. Both routes run roughly parallel, either side of the old road leading to Hunterston House and Castle, and indeed they meet again about a kilometre to the west. Here, the road names swap and the current road layout gives priority to the road from the Power Station, which is again gated for the section to the roundabout. There is currently no direct tarred connection between the two sections of Oilrig Road. This suggests that the Oilrig Road came first, and was later cut to put in the power station road, but it does not explain why the road layout is as it is today. However, old maps suggest that in the 1980s the Oilrig Road ran further south at the current junction, and then turned north crossing the power station road on a bridge, so debunking much of the theory above and showing how research 'on the ground' does not always reveal the full story.
Routes
| Route | To | Notes |
| West Kilbride, Irvine | ||
| Fairlie, Largs, Greenock | ||
| Hunterston 'A' and 'B' Nuclear Power Stations | ||
| Oilrig Construction Yard | Gated and Limited Access |