The A7 is a major road, partly a

trunk road A trunk road is a major highway with a specific legal classification in some jurisdictions, notably the United Kingdom, Sweden and formerly Ireland. Trunk roads are planned and managed at the national-level, distinguishing them from non-trunk ro ...

, that connects

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in Central Scotland to

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,4 ...

. The A7 meets the

M6 motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 motorway, M1 and the western end of t ...

close to Carlisle, which connects to the English motorway network.

Route description

Edinburgh to Hawick

The northern terminus of the A7 is the junction at North Bridge with Princes Street in

, also the northern terminus of the A1 and the southern terminus of the A900. The road passes Cameron Toll, before meeting the Edinburgh City Bypass at the Sheriffhall Roundabout. South of the bypass, the A7 continues through Midlothian past

Newtongrange Newtongrange () is a former mining village in Midlothian, Scotland. Known in local dialect as ''Nitten'', or ''Nitten by the Bing (mining), Bing'' (), it became Scotland's largest mining village in the 1890s, with the sinking of the Lady Victor ...

and

Gorebridge Gorebridge is a former Pit village, mining village in Midlothian, Scotland. Gorebridge has an annual Gala Day which always takes place on the 3rd Saturday in June. This is much like a town fair, with rides and games. The gala day has a tradit ...

. Continuing from

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

into the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

, the road bypasses Heriot then passes through Stow to reach

Galashiels Galashiels (; , ) is a town in the Scottish Borders with a population of around 12,600. Its name is often colloquially shortened to "Gala". The town is a major commercial centre for the Borders region with extensive history in the textile in ...

. The A7 becomes a

at the southern boundary of Galashiels. It continues south to Selkirk; a bypass here has been proposed for years but not implemented. This section of the A7 runs parallel to the Borders Railway which opened in 2015;

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and railway infrastructure manager, infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. ...

and MPs met during construction to mitigate the effect of works traffic on the road.

Hawick to Langholm

In Hawick the A7 continues along the north bank of the

River Teviot The River Teviot (; ), or Teviot Water, is a river of the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, and is the largest tributary of the River Tweed by catchment area. The Teviot is an important river for wildlife, especially the Atlantic salmon, but ...

to cross the river at the Albert Bridge and follows the south bank of the river towards

Langholm Langholm , also known colloquially as the "Muckle Toon", is a burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, southern Scotland. Langholm lies between four hills in the valley of the River Esk in the Southern Uplands. Location and geography Langholm sits n ...

, then bypasses Canonbie. South of Langholm the road has been improved, allowing for overtaking.

England

Continuing across the English border, the A7 goes through Longtown, before meeting the A689 and the M6 at the Greymoorhill Roundabout. The A7 becomes a dual carriageway close to the Kingstown Industrial Estate on the northern fringe of

. Continuing as a single carriageway road, the A7 crosses the River Eden over Eden Bridge. At Hardwicke Circus Roundabout in the centre of Carlisle, the A7 meets the A595 to the west and southern Cumbria, then continues to form part of Carlisle's one way system through the city centre, meeting the A69 and finally becoming the A6 near

Carlisle railway station Carlisle railway station, or Carlisle Citadel, is a Grade II* listed railway station serving the cathedral city of Carlisle, Cumbria, Carlisle, Cumbria, England. It is on the West Coast Main Line, south-east of and north north-west of . It ...

. The English section was detrunked in 2005.

Safety

In the late 1970s, the A7 was described as being slow and tortuous. It was the 28th most dangerous UK road in 2017. The A7 Action Group was founded in 1990, and continues to lobby for safety improvements to the road, including a bypass of Selkirk.

Major junctions

Note: Junctions are listed northbound from

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:7-0007a Roads in Cumbria Roads in Scotland Transport in Dumfries and Galloway Transport in Edinburgh Transport in Midlothian Transport in the Scottish Borders Old Town, Edinburgh Bonnyrigg and Lasswade Galashiels Selkirk, Scottish Borders Hawick Langholm Carlisle, Cumbria