Livingston
Livingston Baile Dhunlèibhe | |||
Location Map ( geo) | |||
| |||
County | |||
West Lothian | |||
Highway Authority | |||
West Lothian | |||
Transport Scotland Roads | |||
M8 | |||
Places related to the M8 | |||
Places related to the A71 | |||
Places related to the A89 | |||
Places related to the A705 | |||
Livingston is a new town lying on the banks of the River Almond between Edinburgh and Glasgow, though nearer the former. Started in the early 1960s, it is perhaps the grandest plan of the Scottish new towns, with a substantial town centre development surrounded by parkland, a grid iron of major and distributor roads providing access to the less formally planned housing estates and two substantial industrial zones on the edges of the town. The handful of buildings of old Livingston survive in the Livingston Village area, and a few buildings of the village of Livingston Station also survive. The other villages now part of the urban area all lie on the fringes - Polbeth, Mid Calder and West Calder.
The main structure of Livingston's grid iron of roads is provided by the parallel A71, A705 and M8 / A89 routes, which all run loosely west to east. They are connected to the east by the north south A899, on which the A705 starts, heading westwards. Starting at the south, the route of the A71 has been diverted south, the former line through Mid Calder now mostly being the B7015. It therefore now runs to the south of East and Mid Calder, before turning north a little to meet the end of the A899, and then swinging south west again to rejoin its original route into West Calder.
The A705 starts on the A899 at the Coulsland Interchange near the middle of the town. This is one of two Cloverleaf Junctions that were built, and the only surviving one, indeed the only one left in Scotland. The other one, Houston Interchange lies a little to the north and connects with an unclassified road, but has had half the slip roads removed and roundabouts installed on the unclassified route. The A705 also previously ran further north, the B7015 also following part of its former route from Mid Calder, although moved northwards around Livingston Village. The A705 then resumes its old route soon after it meets the B road, and continues west to Whitburn.
The A89 follows the old route of the A8, although the original route through Broxburn is now the A899, a route which was extended via a sharp turn through the new town. The A8 was effectively replaced past Livingston by the new motorway, the M8, which runs parallel to the A89 past Livingston, the two connected by J3, Livingston East Roundabout on the A899 and J3a, Starlaw Interchange on the A779. This last A road is a short link between the A89 and A705 at the western edge of the town.
The B7015, as mentioned above, largely follows the former routes of A roads through the eastern part of the town, but then continues in a strange circuitous route, doubling back on itself through an industrial area to find its original route west to Fauldhouse, running parallel and to the north of the A71. The B8046 has also been greatly extended in the east side of the town, continuing south from Uphall along the former A767 to Mid Calder, and then continuing to meet the A71 a little further south. The rest of the important roads in the town are unclassified distributor roads.
Routes
Route | To | Notes |
Glasgow, Falkirk (M9) | ||
Edinburgh, Forth Road Bridge, Airport | ||
Kilmarnock, Polbeth, West Calder | ||
Edinburgh | ||
Bathgate | ||
Edinburgh (A8) | ||
Seafield, Blackburn, Whitburn | ||
Glasgow (M8), Bathgate (A89), Deans | ||
Dechmont, Uphall, Broxburn | ||
Whitburn (A706), Armadale (A89), The Pyramids Business Park | ||
Fauldhouse | ||
East Calder, Edinburgh (A71) | ||
Pumpherston, Uphall |
Named Junctions
Image | Name | Classified Road(s) | Grid Reference | More Info | Map |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Almond Interchange | A899 | NT060674 | |||
Almondvale Roundabout | NT044660 | ||||
Appleton Parkway Roundabout | NT023680 | ||||
Barracks Roundabout | NT021680 | ||||
Boghall Roundabout | A89 • A779 • A7066 | NS998682 | |||
Braehead Roundabout | B7015 | NT045674 | |||
Bubbles Roundabout | NT050667 | ||||
Burnside Roundabout | NT057667 | ||||
Campus Roundabout | NT044664 | ||||
Centre Interchange | A899 | NT061670 | |||
College Roundabout | NT046665 | ||||
Cousland Interchange | A705 • A899 | NT056682 | |||
Crofthead Interchange | A71 | NT055658 | |||
Deans Roundabout | NT018683 | ||||
Detchmont Roundabout | A89 • A899 | NT046707 | |||
Elburn North Roundabout | NT038685 | ||||
Hospital Interchange | A705 | NT044677 | |||
Houston Interchange | A899 | NT052690 | Was a cloverleaf | ||
Knightsbridge Roundabout | NT041690 | ||||
Livingston East Roundabout | M8 • A899 | NT047701 | |||
Lizzie Brice's Roundabout | A71 • A899 | NT067662 | |||
Mill Roundabout | A705 • B7015 | NT030671 | |||
Multiplex Roundabout | NT051664 | ||||
Moss Interchange | NT046688 | ||||
Newpark Roundabout | A71 | NT046653 | |||
Newyearfield Roundabout | NT040681 | ||||
Oakbank Roundabout | A71 | NT069658 | |||
Retail Park Roundabout | NT049663 | ||||
Rosebank Roundabout | NT035655 | ||||
Starlaw West Roundabout | M8 • A779 | NT001674 | |||
Tailend Roundabout | A779 | NT018674 | |||
Terrace Roundabout | NT054668 | ||||
Toll Roundabout | A705 • A779 | NT022670 | |||
Town Centre Roundabout | NT057669 | ||||
Wilderness Roundabout | A71 | NT039648 | |||
Williamston Interchange | A71 | NT060659 |