Southannan Roundabout

Southannan Roundabout lies to the south of Fairlie and gives access to Clydeport's Hunterston Coal Port. This vast complex is constructed partially on reclaimed land and includes a private nature reserve in a lagoon created by the curved embankment for the railway line. Coal is shipped in and unloaded, before being reloaded onto trains which carry it to many of the coal-fired power stations still operating across the UK. Much smaller volumes of coal are taken away by road for domestic and small scale commercial use, and it is for this reason that the large roundabout was built on the A78 to accommodate the access road.

The junction then is a large 3-arm roundabout, with the A78, formerly a pleasant coastal route, now running north south behind vast embankments screening the port area from view. Immediately to the north of the junction, the railway line passed over the road before curving round the lagoon. The port access road heads west, and it as well as the western side of the roundabout are on reclaimed land, previously the beach and foreshore. The port opened in c1979, and the roundabout appears to date from the same time.

Routes

Route	To	Notes
A78	Irvine
A78	Fairlie, Largs, Greenock
	Clydeport Hunterston Coal Terminal