B9074

The B9074 is a cross-country B-road which connects three of the Shetland Islands.

Route

Mainland

Veensgarth welcome sign

The route starts at a T junction on the mainline of the A970 at Veensgarth and heads south through the village. A mini-roundabout is reached, where the unclassified road crossing was the original line of the A971. The B9074 continues south, dropping to single track as it leaves the village and enters open country. It then kinks to the southwest and can be seen stretching out ahead as it climbs a low hill before descending again to reach the Loch of Tingwall. After passing the small and apparently insignificant Tingwall Kirk, which is in fact the mother church of Shetland, with its remarkably large car park and graveyards, the road bends sharply left and runs along the western shore of the loch, passing a golf course en route. On a bright summers day, a couple of small parking areas allow people to pause and enjoy the scenery of this narrow loch in its shallow valley.

After passing the smaller Loch of Asta, the road continues along the valley to a T-junction on the Scalloway branch of the A970, from where there is a short multiplex west towards Scalloway. Rhe road then turns left to regain its number and become S2. The stream that has been followed since Tingwall becomes a coastal inlet, the East Voe of Scalloway, at the junction, and the road runs along the eastern side of it. The suburb of Blydoit sits on the hillside above the road, with an extensive marina in the Voe itself. Opposite Scalloway Castle, the road climbs a little away from the shore towards Sundibanks and Uradale, before sweeping round to the right to cross the narrow, modern Trondra Bridge onto the island of Trondra.

The Islands

Burra from Trondra

While the bridge itself is single track, the road becomes S2 again on the far side, with good visibility across the bridge for waiting traffic. The road winds around a small hill to the first small village and then heads southwestwards across the island, passing a scattering of properties along the way. Trondra is surprisingly hilly, although none of the hills are particularly high, and so after crossing to the west coast, the road keeps to the west of the hills and remains as flat as possible. The far corner of the island is soon reached and the road drops onto a causeway out into the sound. This connects to a small rocky islet, from where another narrow, modern bridge crosses onto West Burra, widening again on reaching dry land.

Now heading west, the B9074 immediately passes a small industrial estate, before crossing to the west coast through a shallow valley. A steep climb then leads up to a junction with the unclassified road which runs south down the length of the island and also crosses to East Burra. The B9074, meanwhile, winds westwards into Hamnavoe, a surprisingly large village which was originally laid out by the local landowners as a planned fishing village around the harbour. The route winds through a mixture of old and new houses as it descends along Roadside to the west coast and the pier. Maps show that the road does not end here, as would be logical, but climbs to end on the unclassified Highmount at the next bend.

History

For nearly fifty years, the B9074 terminated on the A970 outside Scalloway. However, in 1971 it was significantly extended southwards across newly built bridges, across the island of Trondra and onto Burra in order to reach the fishing port of Hamnavoe. Ironically this means that the original section of the road is the worst-engineered part.

The twin bridge scheme of Trondra Bridge and Burra Bridge connecting the islands to the Shetland Mainland were opened on 18 October 1971 by George Younger, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Development. The 3 mile road reconstruction part of the scheme was completed in 1972 per the 1972 Scottish Development Department Report so some road works may have continued after the bridge openings. The twin 500 feet spans were constructed by Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Co. Ltd..

Heading south from the A970 at Scalloway, the extended B9074 follows a pre-existing minor road as far as the junction for Sundibanks and Uradale. Here, the new road begins, sweeping down to and across Trondra Bridge. Trondra was a sparsely populated island before the bridge was built, with only a rough road connecting the few houses. After making landfall, the road curves left and climbs past a junction. This is new, the old road ran behind rather than in front of the house, so the B9074 soon finds the old island road and follows it, albeit widened and improved, as far as the fork for Cauldhame. The old road then follows the obvious loop past the old school, before being cut by the new road and continuing on the east side. As this section rejoins the new road, it more or less marks the end of the old island road, and the rest of the route over the Burra Bridge is all new.

Unlike Trondra, Burra has had a large population for over a century, with the planned village of Hamnavoe once being a major fishing port. As the B9074 reaches the shore, it therefore soon picks up the old island road, which ran down to the jetty behind the industrial estate. Again, the road across the island has been widened and improved, but mostly online, and certainly within the current road boundaries.

The 1922 MOT Road List defines this route as: Scalloway - Gott