Paisley

Paisley is a large town, and Primary Destination, west of Glasgow. It is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire, although the urban area is now contiguous with that of Glasgow, and indeed the old county town of Renfrew to the north. Glasgow Airport is sited to the north of the town, on the other side of the M8 motorway, whilst the new town of Linwood lies to the west, the former factory sites now largely redeveloped as industrial estates and retail parks. The town has an industrial heritage, although the Abbey next to the Town Hall points to an older and more varied history.

Roads

With the M8 now snaking its way westwards along the northern edge of Paisley, and the A737 dual carriageway passing to the west, a lot of the through traffic has been removed from the town. It is still a busy place though, with the A726 and A761 passing through and the A741 terminating. The inner ring road around the town centre has left a pleasant shopping centre within, but the northern side is an awkward one way system past the station, the eastern flank a mere B road, and the whole lot hampered by traffic signals and at grade junctions.

To the south of the centre, the B774 and the B775 stretch out through the suburbs and into the open country beyond, although the former soon reaches Barrhead. The A726 once formed a southern bypass to Glasgow, but as the urban area expanded, it got absorbed, chopped about and the section left in Paisley is now just another urban arterial, stretching past Barrhead to the M77. It is yet to see the upgrades and re-routing of the eastern section, which now forms part of the Glasgow Southern Orbital.

Paisley Relief Road

Hammills Bridge on the Paisley Relief Road was completed in 1972 per the 1972 Scottish Development Department Report, a new bridge over River Cart connecting Gordon Street to Mill Street. The 1974 OS One inch map shows it as a continuation of B772, later renumbered to A761.

Routes

Route	To	Notes
M8	Greenock, Erskine Bridge (M898)
M8	Glasgow
A737	Irvine (A78), Kilbarchan, Johnstone
A726	Erskine
A726	East Kilbride, Harlet
A741	Renfrew
A761	Bridge of Weir, Linwood
A761	Glasgow
B771	Barrhead, Cross Stobs
B774	Glenburn
B775	Lugton
B789	Elderslie, Johnstone
B7050		short link between B775 and A761
A740	Erskine	now A726
B772		link south of town centre, line roughly where A761 is now
B773		short link near Abbey
B789	Bridge of Weir	now A761
A8(M)	Greenock	now M8
A8(M)	Glasgow	now M8
Johnstone M'way	Irvine, Johnstone
Paisley - Hamilton M'way	Hamilton (M74), Kilmarnock (M77), East Kilbride