B9070

The B9070 is arguably the most important classified road on Sanday, being the link to the island's ferry terminal at Loth. It is also the highest-quality road on the island; the entire route was upgraded to S2 standard between around 1990 and the early 2000s, including white lines and plenty of signs, which are generally lacking on the rest of the island!

Spurness

The route starts at Loth ferry terminal, where the ro-ro Sanday Ferry departs for Kirkwall, Stronsay and Eday, and heads north along Spurness. The road passes by the wind turbines built in 2004 and continues on a generally straight alignment along the eastern slopes of the Gump of Spurness, the second highest point on Sanday. The tiny settlement of Stove lies below, at the head of Stove Bay, and then after crossing the summit of 37m, the route descends into Braeswick. Here a sweeping right hander leads onto the original line of the route, everything so far being a modern extension for the new ferry terminal. After a short run east, it turns north east and passes through the scattered houses of the South End of the island, and eventually climbs relatively steeply up Warsetter Hill, the highest point on Sanday.

From the summit at 45m, the route continues north east along a nearly dead straight road for a couple of miles, rising and falling as it passes above Backaskaill Bay. This takes it into the centre of the island, by Bea Loch, where it turns sharply right and then finishes at a T-junction with the B9068 a short distance later. From here traffic can turn left for Burness, or right for Lady Village and Kettletoft.

History

The B9070 originally started on the coast at Hegglie Ber and headed east through Braeswick. The westernmost section was declassified in the early 1990s when the B9070 was extended to Loth due to the construction of the new ferry terminal; the island's main port used to be Kettletoft at the southern end of the B9068. There is now a reasonably sharp corner on the B9070 at Braeswick where the old road meets the new road.

The 1922 MOT Road List defines this route as: Braeswick - Broughtown