Sandyford Toll Roundabout

Sandyford Toll lies on the Ayr bypass, and is a historic junction which has been changed and complicated by the construction of the bypass. Historically, it was a crossroads where the B742 terminated on the A719, with an unclassified road continuing north west - a road which was later cut off by the construction of Prestwick Airport. With the construction of the bypass, a roundabout was built and the A77 arrived from the north, taking over the former A719 route to the south. The roundabout is a 4-arm junction, but it is not what you might expect.

The roundabout has been built a short distance to the west of the old junction, in order to avoid demolishing a farm, and the A77 now passes through from north to south as a dual carriageway. The old unclassified road has been diverted a little to meet the roundabout, and now accesses a couple of farms lying on the perimeter of the airport. To the east, there is a single exit, which runs directly to the old junction. Here, the A719 turns off and heads north, whilst the B742 continues east. Nothing wrong with that, except that according to the signage at the roundabout, it is the B742 which leaves the roundabout, and so the A719 techincally multiplexes with the B road for the few metres between the junctions. Of course, mapping shows the more sensible option, and doubtless the councils own records also contradict the signage.

When the bypass was originally built in the 1960s, the junction was a T junction rather than a roundabout, with the A719 continuing in a direct line to meet the new bypass, and the old T junction with the B742 remaining intact. Even when the roundabout was later added, it appears that the A719 / B742 junction remained the same, only to be adjusted to the current layout more recently.

Routes

Route	To	Notes
A77	Ayr, Stranraer	Former A719
A77	Glasgow, Kilmarnock, Irvine, Greenock (A78), Prestwick (A79)
A719	Galston	Reached via B742
B742	Mossblown, Annbank
		Sandyford Road, unsigned

[{Category:Ayr]]