A726 road
This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2021) |
A726 | ||
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Route information | ||
Length | 27.3 mi[1][2][3][4] (43.9 km) | |
Major junctions | ||
Southeast end | Strathaven / Darnley | |
Northwest end | Newton Mearns / Erskine | |
Location | ||
Country | United Kingdom | |
Constituent country | Scotland | |
Road network | ||
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The A726 road in Scotland is a major route with several distinct sections with different characteristics and names; owing to its stages of construction, since 2005 it has two separate parts, the first running between
Route
Strathaven and East Kilbride
The A726's first section begins in the small market town of
On entering East Kilbride, the road becomes Strathaven Road, and remains single-carriageway up to the Torrance Roundabout at Crutherland near Calderglen Country Park. It stayed as such for a further one mile (1.5 kilometres) north until a £23 million project was undertaken in 2019 to convert this to dual carriageway, along with the unclassified Greenhills Road leading from the Torrance Roundabout's other exit, which had become increasingly busy and important as a route for residents living in the south of the town with the expansion of Lindsayfield in addition to the older Whitehills and Greenhills neighbourhoods.[7][8][9] The project had fallen behind schedule by late 2021 and this section of the road was closed for an intended two-week period to expedite matters, but then re-opened early amid complaints from residents living on local rural roads that had seen a huge increase in traffic as a result of the closure.[10]
The direction then becomes north-westerly, with a graded exit for the
The A726 at this point becomes the 'Queensway', the main east–west road through the planned town of the 1950s.
Glasgow Southern Orbital
The Southern Orbital, a high-specification
Nitshill, Paisley and Renfrewshire
The second section of the A726 begins 3+1⁄2 miles (5.5 kilometres) further north from where the first ends, as a continuation of the A727 at Junction 3 of the M77 (completed along with this section of the motorway in 1996).[5] It runs westwards as Nitshill Road – the only part of the entire route within the Glasgow city boundaries – passing the Jenny Lind, Deaconsbank, Arden, Darnley, Southpark Village, Parkhouse, South Nitshill, Nitshill, and Craigbank neighbourhoods, an entrance to the Dams to Darnley Country Park and Nitshill railway station, passing under the Glasgow South Western Line tracks via an arched bridge just before the station. It leaves the suburban environment after the staggered junction with the A736 at the Hurlet straddling the Glasgow-East Renfrewshire-Renfrewshire border, before continuing onto the south-eastern edge of Paisley at a roundabout with the B771 at Dykebar.
Running north-west as Barrhead Road, it has stretches of single and dual carriageway as it passes Hunterhill and Blackhall, meeting the split dual carriageway
While St James Street continues west as the B775 (Underwood Road), the A726 turns sharply north as Caledonia Street then north-west as Greenock Road, becoming dual carriageway just prior to the St James Playing Fields, which it skirts around before passing under the elevated lanes of the start/end of the
The A8 heads west while the A726 continues north to Erskine, running as a 'spine road' through the centre of the town with no properties directly on it (provisions were made to upgrade it to dual carriageway if required, but the town did not expand as originally envisaged);[5] a roundabout serves the central shopping centre and Park Mains High School. To the north of Erskine the road turns westwards, finally terminating at the twin feeder roundabouts (known as the 'Spectacles')[14] for the only junction of the short M898 motorway, connecting either to the Erskine Bridge across the River Clyde to West Dunbartonshire and the A82, or onto the M8 at Junction 30. The road continues as the B815 into Bishopton where it meets the A8.
References
- ^ Strathaven / East Kilbride / South Orbital section = 15+3⁄4 mi (25.5 km)
- ^ "Directions from Glasgow Rd, Strathaven, Scotland, UK ML10 6NA to M77 Junction 5, Newton Mearns, Scotland, UK". Google Maps. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
- ^ Darnley / Paisley / Erskine section = 11+1⁄2 mi (18.5 km)
- ^ "Directions from Nitshill Rd, Glasgow, Scotland, UK G46 8AB to M898 underpass, Erskine, Scotland, UK". Google Maps. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
- ^ a b c d e A726 | Strathaven to Erskine Bridge, Glasgow Motorway Archive, January 2021
- ^ Video: We travel the A726.. the Scottish route ranked one of the deadliest in the world, Daily Record, 13 March 2014
- ^ Eighteen months of misery for East Kilbride drivers when multi-million pound dualling roadworks begin, Daily Record, 6 February 2019
- ^ Greenhills Road / A726 Strathaven Road Corridor Improvements, Construction Map, 27 March 2019
- ^ Project Overview, GSR Project
- ^ Road closure was an 'accident waiting to happen' say angry Lanarkshire residents, Daily Record, 8 December 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2021
- ^ [official-list-of-trunk-roads-3-november-2020.pdf View Official List Of Trunk Roads 3 November 2020], Transport Scotland
- ^ M77 / Glasgow Southern Orbital (GSO), Scotland, Road Traffic Technology
- ^ Project | Hammills Bridge, Systra
- ^ Overview of M898 Motorway, Gazetteer for Scotland
External links
- Media related to A726 road (Scotland) at Wikimedia Commons
- A726, SABRE