B9049

This article is about the current B9049 to the west of Quoyness on Hoy.
For the original B9049 to the east of Quoyness, see B9049 (Quoyness).

The very short B9049 heads along the shore at the bay of Quoys

The B9049 is possibly the second shortest (after the B9065) and almost certainly the most pointless of Orkney's B-road network. It cuts less than a third of a mile from the B9047's length in the three-quarters-of-a-mile that it runs for. It also completely fails to serve the nearby ferry pier at Linksness, which is served by an unclassified road instead. This is the second use of the B9049 number on Hoy, but was in use here by 1932. Curiously, though, the southern end of the road wasn't even marked on maps before the 1920s.

The route starts on the B9047 a short distance south of the junction with the road to Linkness Pier and runs in a straight line south east to Quoydale. Here, it leaves the old road behind and strikes off across the fields, slowly converging on the B9047 once more, ending roughly opposite the unclassified road to Rackwick on the south coast. The B9049 is 0.8 miles long, the B9047 taking 1.1 miles end to end, including a TOTSO with the minor road to Murra, as opposed to the two give ways at the ends of the B9049. In many ways, it would make sense to divert the B9047 along the shorter route and do away with the B9049 altogether, but then with so little traffic, what's the point?