B7076 and B7078
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This feature originally appeared on Nick Allan's now-closed website. All text and pictures on this page are his work.
The A74 was the only dual-carriageway route from Scotland to England. It was a low-standard dual carriageway that carried large volumes of traffic while having many at-grade intersections with both other major roads as well as farm tracks. It also had bus stops and houses along its length. A new motorway was constructed parallel to the existing road, leaving the old road to be used as a local access road and one of the carriageways turned into a cycle-path. Today it is amazing to think that all the traffic on the six-lane motorway just a few metres away was once carried upon the empty tarmac that is now the B7078 and B7076.
The images work from just north of Lockerbie on the B7076 to south of Lesmahagow on the B7078. Each group of images has a link to an Ordnance Survey map that marks where the photographs were taken. The map opens in a new window each time, so you can have many maps open at once. Cardinal directions are given on the assumption is north up the road towards Glasgow and south is down the road towards Carlisle, and so having the road as the north-south axis of the images.
The first four photographs were taken just north of Lockerbie on the B7076, north of A74(M) junction 17.
The first is facing south standing in the former northbound lanes of the A74. There road is passing over a bridge, although this is very difficult to see thanks to all the growth on the northbound carriageway. The giveaway is what appears to be a break in the barrier on the side of the southbound carriageway, which seen up close is the brick papaphet for the bridge. Quite why this isn't protected by a barrier is a bit of mystery.
The second photograph shows the view northwards. One can see that the northbound carriageway has been landscaped over north of the access road to the houses to hide it. The houses must certainly be a lot quieter right now, as they would've had the road thundering past their back gardens.
Looking south again in the third photograph one can just make out the bus stop by the fence of the house. This would have originally been located in a small layby as buses used to stop on the A74. The road was littered with signs warning of buses stopping on the carriageway. Remember, this road was effectively a motorway before! Quite strange that they haven't bothered to move the bus stop since they removed the carriageway.
In this photograph, the lane markings of the old carriageway can be seen. The dashed markings closest to the photographer were the old sliproad/junction edge markings. The next set of lines are the centre line, and the lines after that are the old lines to indicate the edge of the right-turn gap in the central reservation. Beyond that are the accompanying right-turn lane markings for the southbound carriageway.
The next photos were taken just south of Johnstonebridge on the B7076, south of A74(M) junction 16.
The abandoned petrol station was abandoned even when the A74 was in use as long as I can remember. In the distance the new A74(M) can be seen taking a lower alignment on the hillside. The original carriageways have been completely redesigned around here, with the northbound completely removed and the southbound widened to accommodate two large cycle lanes on either gutter.
On the opposite side of the road is this abandoned something. No idea what it was.
Nick Allan, this page's author, asked if anyone knew what was here... three people did!
Alistair Bell remembers it:
Opposite the abandoned petrol station was a tiny petrol station abandoned in the 1970s. The A74 dual carriageway was officially opened in 1973 and some artefacts from the original two lane road remained for some years where the original road was converted into a carriageway for the new road. Some old garages were briefly coverted to HGV weigh stations. I spent my childhood travelling up and down this road in the 1970s & early 1980s. My folks remeber the dual carriageway being built in the late 60s/early 70s and it is bizarre to think that all the traffic went on this road! I remember it taking a long time to reach Glasgow from Carlisle.
Bernadette Molloy went that way regularly:
Across the road from the old petrol station there lay another one - also a Little Chef which we used to stop at.
And Ian Buckle was a regular:
The site on the northbound side, opposite the abandoned petrol station, was a Little Chef. It closed down as soon as the new service area opened. It was always my breakfast stop when making early morning trips to the Scottish Highlands.
The roadsign for the A74(M) also indicates that this is probably not the permanent name for the road. The road number is on a separate bit of sticker that is wider than the blue space allocated for it. One would assume that the blue backing to the words A74(M) will be removed to reveal "M6". The rebuild of the carriageways as mentioned in the caption for the first Johnstonebridge. The former northbound carriageway is completely removed and you'd be hard pressed to know it was there.
These photographs were taken just south of Beattock Village on the B7076.
Once again the northbound carriageway does a vanishing act!
Like the bus stop at Lockerbie, not all signs have been relocated. This sign for Beattock services looks very out of place, firstly for its positioning and more importantly its size. As it is designed to motorway-traffic standards it is absolutely massive compared to normal signage.
And here's the sign close up. It really is huge. One can tell it's from the A74 era, as it has a blue border for local destinations. The blue and black border distinctions were scrapped before this section was bypassed, so the sign is from the A74.
The A701 took over some of the former A74 alignment around Beattock Village. These next few photographs were taken just south of junction 15 of the A74(M).
Part of the old northbound carriageway has been kept along this stretch to be used as the a cycle path. At this driveway entrance the road shows through really well. One can pick out catseyes and lane markings quite easily.
Here a catseye can be seen and one of the former lane markings and over by the cycle path the old solid edge line can be seen.
Facing the other way for a moment the old junction edge markings can be seen underneath the current cycle path markings, along with the taper for the exit road from the carriageway.
Turning around again (please don't get dizzy now) we look at the junction markings from the other direction. Beyond the cycle path centre line the old carriageway edge markings can be seen, along with a junction edge marking to the left of the current cycle path centre line.
Opposite the junction is this signpost. Once again one can see how "A74(M)" appears so out of place and appears to have been stuck over something else. The words are so small compared to the rest of the sign that it would seem fairly sensible to assume that the white backing behind the current road number can be removed to reveal "M6".
The Harthope Bridge where the West Coast mainline crosses over the top of the A74 was always a landmark on journeys up and down the A74.
To get the road through the bridge it made quite a quick chicane. Always a bit hairy when travelling along, it now looks a bit empty today, with the former southbound carriageway now a storage yard for presumably railway related maintenence objects. In the foreground some bollards appear to have been removed from the southbound carriageway. These were presumably installed to prevent people driving in there and were then removed again to allow maintenence access. Once again the old lane markings are very clearly visible.
Further up by March Farm, a bridge over the west coast mainline reveals the former road once again.
The old northbound carriageway shows up at this bridge, with the left-hand edge marking standing out particularly. On the remaining southbound carriageway the road is festooned for its entire length with two way traffic signs and reminder arrows painted on the pavement. The right hand edge of the carriageway has been removed but the former lane marking can be seen...
...here. Turning round, the cycle path crosses from one former northbound lane to the other, revealing a lane marking as it does so with a few more visible in the foreground. The pavement is in apparently good condition here.
Just a little bit further north up by Beattock Summit, the original A74 carries straight on while the new B7076 takes a little dogleg to climb over the A74(M) to the other side and returns to the old A74 on the other side of the new motorway.
The carriageway edge line gives away the road's former alignment as it the burned out remains of the line head straight ahead while the cycle lane has been curved to provide a perpendicular junction with the B7076. The original A74 continued straight over the path of the motorway and took a slight left turn as it did so.
Just over the other side of the new A74(M) from the previous photograph the B7076 picks up the old A74 again, with the old bridge over the River Clyde.
Facing south, the current B7076 straddles both former carriageways of the A74. It is hard to believe that a dual carriageway was squeezed over this bridge. It was hard to believe when it was!
Turning to face west at the same point, the former northbound carriageway can be seen, complete with lane markings, as well as the new motorway directly behind it.
And turning to face east, the old carriageway can be seen in conjunction with a rather long forgotten sign, without a junction for it to sign anymore.
And here's a close up of the sign, looking a little bit tattered.
Further north on the B7078, on the moors north of Abington, a junction with the cycleway once again reveals the former northbound carriageway.
Facing north at this point, the cycle path (incidentally cycle route number 74) can be seen to take the long climb up the hill with the sweeping bend. Just beyond the cycle path centre line markings, the former lane marking of the northbound carriageway can be seen running into the scrub. The wide central reservation also shows up in this photograph, with a line of trees separating the carriageways.
Spinning through 180 degrees to face the south the former lane markings can be seen again.
A little bit further north once more and a hotel has made use of the former road as car-park. The cycle path takes over one complete lane of the former northbound carriageway that has been resurfaced in a different tarmac.
The cycle lane joins the carpark here, with the solid centre line marking the edge being of the bumpy type used to delineate the hard-shoulder on motorways.
This northwards view affords the best look so far of how the former road would've looked with two carriageways completely intact.
Further north still, the road runs uphill from its modern counterpart, with the cutting made for both carriageways standing out quite obviously.
The cutting for the former carriageway stands out quite clearly here. Yet more of the two traffic signs are visible. A layby has remained on the former northbound carriageway, providing a resting point for cyclists. Over to the right, the M74 can be seen sweeping over the moor.
Finally just north of M74 junction 12 we witness the former A74 in all its full-size glory.
This is the first chance to see the A74 as it once was, complete with grassy central-reservation and narrow lanes.
Taking a few steps to the left reveals the former A74 climbing up a hill and over a bridge. It is strange to think that this is once what the main north-south road out of Scotland looked like.
North of junction 11 the former road continues as it once did, as a full dual carriageway, even if there is no-one to use it!
Facing northwards the B7078 climbs another hill, with its old fashioned dual-carriageway design.
While facing southwards the road takes a sudden turn onto the northbound sliproad of M74 junction 11 to briefly become single carriageway to get underneath the motorway. Originally it would've continued on a straighter alignment across the path of the current motorway.
At the top of the hill shown a couple of photos ago, the old A74 looks very empty, as well as an abandoned M74 construction site. This part of the road was one of the earliest stages to get bypassed with the extension of the M74 southwards from its former terminal at junction 9 near Blackwood. This was part of the road ran straight through the middle of the town of Lesmahagow. Still, for some unknown reason, the decision was made to keep both carriageways.
Northwards, the old road looks exceptionally erie here, with the long abandoned portakabins either side of the road. An old right-turn lane is visible in the foreground as the road makes it arrow-straight course over the horizon.
Southwards, a pub is the only active inhabitant of the old road at this point.
The long abandoned portakabins on the east side of the B7078. One assumes they were part of an M74 construction site.
The portakabins on the the west side of the B7078, directly opposite those shown in the picture above.
Text and images by Nick Allan.
