Single-track Road - Single-track Roads in Scotland

Single-track Roads in Scotland

The term is widely used in Scotland, particularly the Highlands, to describe such roads. Passing places are generally marked with a diamond-shaped white sign with the words "passing place" on it. New signs tend to be square rather than diamond-shaped, as diamond signs are also used for instructions to tram drivers in cities. On some roads, especially in Argyll and Bute, passing places are marked with black-and-white-striped posts. Signs remind drivers of slower vehicles to pull over into a passing place (or opposite it, if it is on the opposite side of the road) to let following vehicles pass, and most drivers oblige. The same system is found very occasionally in rural England and Wales. Sometimes two small vehicles can pass one another at a place other than a designated passing place.

Some A-class and B-class roads in the Highlands are still single-track, although many sections have been widened for the sake of faster travel. Recently the A830 "Road to the Isles" and A851 on Skye have had all their single-track sections replaced with higher-quality single-carriageway road.

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