Renfrewshire

This article is about the County.
For the Highway Authority, see Renfrewshire Council.

Renfrewshire is a traditional county lying along the southern shore of the Firth of Clyde in the west of Scotland. Since 1996 it has been split into three unitary authorities - East Renfrewshire Council, Inverclyde Council and Renfrewshire Council, with a small portion at the eastern end now covered by Glasgow Council. The County town is not Renfrew, but the much larger Paisley which lies just south of Renfrew, but its suburbs are now continuous with those of Glasgow.

Geography & Economy

The B776 in the rural south of the county

The county is long and thin in shape, running to the south of the Clyde and climbing, sometimes steeply up to the hills and muirs that line the Ayrshire border. Much of the county is urbanised, and consumed by the Glasgow urban area. Even the urban area around Greenock does not feel too far removed from Scotland's largest city, and is certainly in the commuter belt. Greenock and Port Glasgow are, as their names suggest, a part of the historic complex of docks along the Clyde, which also exist further along the shore at Renfrew. Neighbouring Gourock is a more genteel place, and in character it fits more closely with the resorts that line the outer Firth of Clyde, originally serving as day trip destinations for Victorian Glaswegians.

The economy across much of the county is Industrial, the docks and ports of the Clyde having created it, but it has been sustained to a greater or lesser extent even with the closure of so many docks. Some of the towns have suffered a little from the growing dominance of Glasgow, but others survive intact, boosted by the suburban commuterland that now envelops them. Farming and Forestry play a lesser role in the more rural south of the county, but much of this land is now used for leisure pursuits, whether controlled like golf courses or left to nature in the Clyde Muirshiel Regional Country Park.

Roads

The busy M8 near Braehead

The county is well served by the east-west M8 - A8 corridor which runs out from Glasgow past Paisley to Greenock. The A770 / A78 continues the run around the coast to the boundary at Wemyss Bay. Inland, the urban fringe of Glasgow is, as can be expected, well served with a network of A and B roads, but the more rural south has fewer roads, although the scattered settlements still seem well served with B roads at least.

All non-trunk roads within the traditional county are maintained by either Renfrewshire Council, East Renfrewshire Council or Inverclyde Council. The Trunk Roads, which include the A8, A78, A737, A898 and Motorways are managed by Transport Scotland. Ferries cross the Clyde from Gourock to Dunoon in Argyll and a passenger service to Helensburgh in Dunbartonshire. A Vehicle service also sails from Wemyss Bay to Rothesay on Bute.

Route	From	To	Length
M8	Edinburgh, Midlothian	Bishopton, Renfrewshire	61 miles	View
M77	Glasgow	Fenwick, Ayrshire	18 miles	View
M898	Erskine	Erskine Bridge	1 mile	View
A8(M)	Hillington	Southbar	6 miles	View
A8	Edinburgh	Greenock	68.8 miles	View
A77	Glasgow	Portpatrick	91.7 miles	View
A78	Greenock	Monkton	40.60 miles	View
A726	Strathaven	Erskine	31.2 miles	View
A727	Darnley	Philipshill Interchange	5.4 miles	View
A727	Glasgow	Clarkston Toll	5 miles	View
A736	Braehead	Irvine	24.1 miles	View
A737	Glasgow Airport	Shewalton, near Irvine	25.4 miles	View
A739	Craigton, Cardonald	Canniesburn Toll, Bearsden	5.0 miles	View
A740	Glasgow Airport	Johnstone	1.5 miles	View
A740	Paisley	Old Kilpatrick	6.5 miles	View
A741	Paisley	Yoker	5.4 miles	View
A742	Greenock	Inverkip	4.9 miles	View
A754	Braehead	Nitshill	3.5 miles	View
A760	Largs	Auchengrange	13.2 miles	View
A761	Port Glasgow	Glasgow	19.1 miles	View
A770	Greenock	Inverkip	8.0 miles	View
A771	Cardwell Road, Gourock	Gourock Bay	0.3 miles	View
A825	Gourock	Gourock Bay	0.4 miles	View
A877	Glasgow Road	Canal Street	0.5 miles	View
A898	Erskine	Old Kilpatrick Interchange	1.5 miles	View
B762	Hurlet	Eastfield	8.4 miles	View
B763	Dennistoun	Shawlands	4.5 miles	View
B764	Peel Park, East Kilbride	Eaglesham	3.7 miles	View
B766	Battlefield, Glasgow	Thorntonhall	3.3 miles	View
B767	Cathcart, Glasgow	Eaglesham	5.5 miles	View
B768	Ibrox, Glasgow	Eastfield	5.8 miles	View
B769	Crossmyloof, Glasgow	Irvine	21.2 miles	View
B770	Renfrew	Nitshill	3.6 miles	View
B771	Barrhead	Charleston, Paisley	2.1 miles	View
B772	Ferguslie	Lonend	0.9 miles	View
B773	Barrhead	South Nitshill	1.3 miles	View
B773	Gauze Street	Bridge Street	0.1 miles	View
B774	Paisley	Barrhead	2.7 miles	View
B775	Paisley	Lugton	8.2 miles	View
B776	Uplawmoor	Howwood	5.6 miles	View
B777	Kilbirnie	Lugton	7.6 miles	View
B785	Largs	Lochwinnoch	13.3 miles	View
B786	Lochwinnoch	Kilmacolm	8.1 miles	View
B787	Johnstone	Howwood By Pass	3.6 miles	View
B788	Greenock	Kilmacolm	8.1 miles	View
B789	Langbank	Millarston	10.1 miles	View
B789	Paisley	Brookfield	2.7 miles	View
B790	Bridge of Weir	Inchinnan	5.3 miles	View
B791	Paisley Road	Glebe Street	1.1 miles	View
B791	Kilmacolm	Port Glasgow	4.9 miles	View
B815	Erskine	Bishopton	1.6 miles	View
B7050	George Street	Gallow Green Road	0.2 miles	View
B7054	Inverkip Road	Ingleston Street	1.5 miles	View
B7054	Grey Place	High Street	1.5 miles	View
B7087	Greenlaw	Crookfur Interchange	0.3 miles	View
T28	Gretna	Stirling		View
T91	Glasgow	Monkton		View

Key

Motorway

Primary Route

Non Primary Route

Former Motorway

Defunct Route

E Road

Future Motorway

Future Primary

Future Non Primary

Historical Route

Tourist Route

Roman Road

Unbuilt Motorway

Unbuilt Primary

Unbuilt Non Primary

National Cycle Network

Cycle Route

Eurovelo Cycle Route

Junctions

Main Article: Junctions in Renfrewshire

Bridges, Tunnels, and other Crossings

Main Article: Crossings in Renfrewshire