A7 road (Great Britain)

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This article is about the A7 road in Great Britain. For the road in Northern Ireland, see A7 road (Northern Ireland).

A7 road shield

A7 road
A7 road map.png
Route information
Length: 92 mi (148 km)
Major junctions
North end: Edinburgh
55°57′12″N 3°11′21″W﻿ / ﻿55.9532°N 3.1891°W﻿ / 55.9532; -3.1891﻿ (A7 road (northern end))
  A900 A900 road
A8 A8 road
A1 A1 road
A700 A700 road
A701 A701 road
A6095 A6095 road
A6106 A6106 road
A720 A720 road
A772 A772 road
A768 A768 road
A6094 A6094 road
A72 A72 road
A6091 A6091 road
A698 A698 road
A6071 A6071 road
A689 A689 road
UK-Motorway-M6.svg M6 motorway Junction 44
A595 A595 road
A69 A69 road
A6 A6 road
South end: Carlisle
54°53′43″N 2°55′52″W﻿ / ﻿54.8954°N 2.9311°W﻿ / 54.8954; -2.9311﻿ (A7 road (southern end))
Edinburgh, Galashiels, Hawick, Carlisle
Road network

The A7 is a major trunk road in the United Kingdom, that runs south from Edinburgh in Central Scotland to Carlisle in North West England.

Present route[edit]


The A7 begins its course in central Edinburgh, at the A1/A7/A8/A900 junction at North Bridge as a non-trunk road before passing through the city's south-eastern suburbs. This part of the A7 was the former route of the A68 road (the old A7 used to be what is now the A701/A772 at Gilmerton).

The road then goes past Cameron Toll, and then meeting at the Edinburgh City Bypass at the notorious Sheriffhall Roundabout that also leads to Musselburgh and Dalkeith via the A6106, Glasgow and Livingston via the M8, Kilmarnock via the A71, Perth and Stirling via the M9 and M90, and Newcastle via the A68, and also the A1 at the bypass' eastern terminus where it heads towards the city centre and the south.

The destination sign on the A7 at the Sheriffhall Roundabout for the A720 Edinburgh City Bypass

After passing the City Bypass, the A7 continues on through the four Eskbank bypasses (B6392, A772 (the former A7), A768 and the A6094) and makes its way past a series of small towns and villages; Newtongrange, Gorebridge and Middleton Moor.

The Scottish Borders[edit]

After travelling through the villages of Midlothian, the A7 then enters through the region of the Scottish Borders, twisting past the villages of Heriot, Fountainhall, and Stow and then passing towards Galashiels, becoming part of the town's ring road, also joining the A72 via the town's northern ring road.

The A7 becomes a trunk road at the junction on the A6091(A68) roundabout just outside Galashiels, then continuing onto the small town of Selkirk. The part of the road between Selkirk and Hawick has lots of realigned stretches, allowing for overtaking. When the A7 reaches Hawick, it avoids the town centre, instead meeting the A698 at the leisure centre. The road then continues along the north bank of the River Teviot to the Sandbed roundabout, from which it then leaves the town.

After leaving Hawick, the A7 carries on through the countryside and enters Dumfries and Galloway towards Langholm, where the two longest B roads in the UK meet; the B709 and B6318, then bypassing Canonbie, which the A7 used to go through and is now called the B7201.

Scotland welcomes arrivals on the A7 with a bilingual sign including Fàilte gu Alba

Auchenrivock Realignment[edit]

The A7 was realigned through the area of Auchenrivock, just to the south of Langholm. The new road, which opened in 2009, has cut journey times between Langholm and Canonbie as well as improving overtaking opportunities. The upgrade contains two junctions which allow local access to Auchenrivock. The remains of the old A7 are now part of a cycle route.

Entering England[edit]

Continuing past the English border, the A7 goes through the small town of Longtown, before meeting the A689 and the M6 at the Greymoorhill Roundabout, which is also junction 44 of the M6, the second last junction before the motorway joins the A74(M) just before the Scottish border.

Beyond Greymoorhill roundabout, the A7 becomes a brief dual carriageway, close to the Kingstown Industrial Estate on the northern fringe of Carlisle. Continuing as a busy single carriageway road, the A7 goes past several main supermarkets, and crosses the River Eden over Eden Bridge.

At Hardwicke Circus Roundabout, a large junction in the centre of Carlisle, the A7 meets the A595 to the west and southern Cumbria and then continues to form part of Carlisle's one way system through the city centre, meeting the A69 and finally becoming the A6 near Carlisle railway station.

The A7 is unique in that it is the only single number A-road in the United Kingdom that does not have a parallel motorway as there is no UK motorway called the 'M7'.

See also[edit]

External links[edit]

Route map: Google / Bing