B9045
| B9045 | ||||
| Location Map ( geo) | ||||
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| From: | Sutherland (ND349950) | |||
| To: | Kirk Bay (ND363930) | |||
| Distance: | 1.8 miles (2.9 km) | |||
| Meets: | Pier, B9046, unclassified | |||
| Highway Authorities | ||||
| Traditional Counties | ||||
| Route outline (key) | ||||
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The B9045 is the longer of the two classified roads on the island of Flotta in the Orkneys.
The route starts at the ferry pier by the oil terminal in the north west of the island, from where there are ferries to Hoy and Mainland. This is the only place where the road number appears on a sign. Due to the development of the oil terminal, the original line of the road is now lost, with a new road built around its southern end. The route therefore heads south, climbing steadily past the turning for the airport and on up between some small plantations of Spruce Trees. It then curves round to head east, reaching a summit of around 45m before dipping back down towards the shore of Pan Hope. Before reaching the shore, the route meets its original line, and turns south east to follow it into the main settlement, Whome, where it reaches a crossroads. Here, the route bizarrely TOTSOs twice in quick succession, first right then immediately left, to essentially continue ahead, while the mainline sweeps left to become the B9046.
Until this crossroads the road has been S2, but now heading south through small fields, the road is single track as it crosses the hillside towards Kirk Bay ahead. A few sharp zigzagging bends lead the B9045 gently down the slopes to the island's southern coast, where it ends at the junction where the road bends left along the shore.
History
Prior to the construction of the oil terminal, which began in 1974, the route took a more direct route from the ferry pier to Whome. Indeed, it didn't even start at the pier, but instead at a junction near the shore roughly where the current junction with the road to the airport is. From here it headed directly inland along a short straight before a right angled left turn, quickly followed by a right angled right turn. This then lined the route up with the surviving road on the far side of the terminal, and formed a single long straight. There was a left turn on this straight which led out to the Golta Peninsula, and there were also a handful of properties along the two roads, all of which were demolished to make way for the terminal.