Edinburgh City Bypass
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
| A720 road | |
| Direction | East - West |
| Start | South Gyle |
| End | Old Craighall |
| Roads joined |  M8 motorway A1 road A68 road A7 road A702 road A8 road |
| Euroroute(s) | |
|---|---|
The Edinburgh City Bypass, designated as A720, is one of the most important trunk roads in Scotland. Circling around the south of Edinburgh, as the equivalent of a ring road for the coastal city, it links together the A1 towards north-east England, the A702 towards north-west England, the M8 through the Central Belt towards Glasgow and the A8 leading to the M9 for Stirling and the Forth Road Bridge.
The road is dual carriageway standard throughout, including emergency laybys and hard shoulders in areas.
Between Gogar and Sheriffhall junctions (see below) the A720 forms part of European route E15, which runs from Inverness, in northern Scotland, to Algeciras, in southern Spain. North of Gogar, the E15 runs towards the A90 and the Forth Road Bridge; and south of Sheriffhall along the A68.
[edit] Junctions
The A720 starts at the Old Craighall junction in the east where it meets the A1, from which traffic can approach Edinburgh city centre from the east, or run past Musselburgh and Haddington on the way to England.
This is immediately followed by the Sheriffhall Roundabout, the most congested junction on the bypass. Whereas all the other junctions on the bypass are grade separated, the Sheriffhall location was deemed unsuitable for a flyover due to extensive mine workings underneath. The junction is hence a simple roundabout and the evident traffic problems of forcing all through A720 traffic to halt is evident, worsened by the importance of the roads which intersect here - the A7 which leads north to the city centre and south to Carlisle, the A68 which is a crucial route for traffic to south-east Scotland, and a minor A-road, the A6106. Traffic jams are common at most times of day.
Gilmerton Junction (for the A772, former A7) follows, with Lasswade Junction hot on its heels.
Straiton Junction (A701) is an important junction for the southern suburbs. It is immediately followed by the Lothianburn Junction for the A702, the major route to western England, via Abington and the A74(M).
After the Dreghorn junction and a minor junction near the A70, traffic density again increases at the crucial Hermiston Junction. The junction comprises an underpass for a roundabout serving the main route to Edinburgh from the west (A71), and an overpass for one serving the M8 to Glasgow. The sliproads to and from these junctions are linked, and tied in with the Hermiston Gait retail park, resulting in a tangle of curves and carriageways which is at one point twelve lanes wide.
Finally the road swings north to finish on the A8 at Gogar Junction. From there, traffic can proceed into Edinburgh City Centre by an alternative route through Corstorphine, or can head west out to Edinburgh Airport and the M9 for Stirling, with connecting roads leading to all places north.
[edit] External links
|
||||||||
