The A92 is a major road that runs through Fife, Dundee, Angus, Aberdeenshire, and Aberdeen City in Scotland. From south to north, it runs from Dunfermline to Blackdog, just north of Aberdeen.

History

The A92's original route in southern Fife is now numbered as the A921, following a largely coastal route through Burntisland and Kirkcaldy. It then headed north-west through Glenrothes and Cupar on the current route of the A91 and A914. The former route connects with the M90 at Junction 1c via Burntisland and Kirkcaldy and links into the Thornton bypass.

The A92 acted as the main trunk road connecting Dundee to Aberdeen until the completion of the A90. before connecting directly onto the Thornton Bypass, which was completed by early 1983, and opened on 16 August of that year.

Some of the original plans were for this new road to be a Motorway, but it was decided in the early 1980's to keep it as a high-quality dual carriageway. This section was officially opened with Sam Torrance driving (a golf ball) down the road. The new section had works beginning in August 1996, and was built three months ahead of schedule, costing £8.4m.

The Bankhead Roundabout, at the edge of Glenrothes, was built in 1993. In Arbroath, there is currently works to narrow the dual carriageway road, to provide more space for active travel options.

Designed by Tayside Regional Council, and built by Torith Civil Engineering, the Inverkeilor bypass opened in 1989.

Numbering

The A92 formerly continued north from Stonehaven through Aberdeen, and terminated at Fraserburgh. The section between Stonehaven and Aberdeen was renumbered A90 in 1994. Upon completion of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR) in 2018, the section between Stonehaven and Blackdog was once again numbered as A92. The section between Blackdog and Fraserburgh has now been renumbered A90 and A952.

The section of the A92 between Dundee and Aberdeen was formerly part of the Euroroute system, on route E120, a closed loop connecting Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee and Perth.

Route

Starting at its junction with the M90 motorway, at the Halbeath Junction (junction 3 of the M90) on the east of Dunfermline, it runs north east past Cowdenbeath, Lochgelly, Kirkcaldy. From the Redhouse Roundabout, just north of Dysart, it heads in a much more northernly direction through Glenrothes, and then bypassing Freuchie, Ladybank and Newport-on-Tay. The road is a dual carriageway from the M90 to Glenrothes town centre, changing to a single carriageway at the Preston Roundabout, as it passes through the northern side of the town, before switching back to dual carriageway north of Glenrothes near Balfarg (i.e. until it meets the A912 towards Perth and the A914 towards St Andrews). Again, it reverts to a single carriageway at the New Inn roundabout, just south of Freuchie, until a few miles short of the Tay Road Bridge at Dundee. The section through Fife is often described as the East Fife Regional Road.

The road then travels across the Tay Road Bridge, the A92 travels along the south of Dundee, briefly merging with other roads. At the Scott Fyffe Roundabout in the Craigie area of Dundee, the road continues along the east coast bypassing Monifieth, Carnoustie and Muirdrum. When it reaches Arbroath, it becomes the main trunk road heading north along the coast. Skirting Inverkeilor, the road continues as the main trunk road through Montrose and St Cyrus, before skirting Benholm and Johnshaven. It then enters through Inverbervie, Roadside of Kinneff and Roadside of Catterline, before passing the Fowlsheugh Nature Reserve and then reaching the outskirts of Stonehaven where the road once again becomes dual carriageway. From here, the A92 runs parallel with the A90 for around 2 miles. The road then continues past Stonehaven, Muchalls, Newtonhill, and Portlethen heading into the city of Aberdeen at the Bridge of Dee. The road heads in a northernly direction through Aberdeen, to the west of the city centre. At Persley, it turns east, heading towards Bridge of Don. It then heads north for about three miles, before terminating at Blackdog, where the road once again merges with the A90.

The 16-mile section of the road from Dundee to Arbroath was upgraded to dual carriageway standard in 2005 and significantly improved both the safety of the route and the journey time between the two towns. Between Arbroath and Stonehaven the road is a single carriageway apart from a very short section of dual carriageway near Gourdon. The road returns to dual carriageway from Stonehaven heading north to Aberdeen, briefly returning to single carriageway at the Bridge of Dee, and then again returning to single carriageway between the Haudagain and Parkway roundabouts in Aberdeen. The remainder of the road from the Parkway roundabout to the termination point at Blackdog is dual carriageway.

Changes

In 2024, work began to reduce the A92 within Arbroath to single-carriageway as part a remodelling that will see a dedicated cycle path and additional green space added.

Archaeological

The A92 road traverses lands on which prehistorical archaeological sites are present. Examples of these features include Gourdon Hill and the Stone of Morphie, both situated slightly to the west of the A92 alignment.

References

  • The Motorway Archive. M90. Inverkeithing to Perth motorway and M85. Perth by-pass
  • A92 - Roader's Digest: The SABRE Wiki
  • East Fife Regional Road - Roader's Digest: The SABRE Wiki