NCN 7 Annan to Gretna

[toffee]

To be fair @toffee , sometimes there's no route (if a B road say is deemed to carry traffic of density or speed outside Sustrans parameters). So do you bin the perfectly good NCN for the many miles before and after the gap?
Using the NCN7 as an example and @iandg 's example above on the B725
View attachment 723507

How can you have a gap in a route?

If it isnt complete its not a complete route it is more than one route to different places.

Imagine if the M1 was like that.

 

[Ajax Bay]

How can you have a gap in a route?
If it isnt complete its not a complete route it is more than one route to different places.
Imagine if the M1 was like that.

You are so young (guessing): a black and white approach.
No need to imagine. Remember the M4 before and after the Severn Bridge was built? I won't go on.
What does the last 'N' in NCN stand for?
The 'NCN gap' signs serve to warn cyclists that the route is less benign, although perfectly good for vehicles (of all kinds, including cycles).

 

[iandg]

I think (don't quote me on this!) that a lot of the Scottish declassifications were driven more by motor vehicle speeds than volumes. It's not that there's a lot of cars, it's that the ones that there are tend to be going at 60mph.

That's a possibility, there are some long straight stretches on that road where you can "speed" but generally it's not safe driving above 50mph because of the state of road in places (that doesn't stop some drivers I know).

 

[iandg]

When the bridge at Brow Well was washed away the road was closed for some time. I contacted Sustrans and nothing was done. It would have been easy to put a cycling diversion from Clarencefield through the Comlongon Estate back to the B725 at Cockpool (a bit bumpy and muddy in places but all rideable and mostly gravel tracks). Because nothing was done touring cyclists were passing through Clarencefield (where I live) and following the B724 to Collin and using the A75 and Annan Rd to get into Dumfries. The A75 is the main trunk route to the Cairnryan Ferries and packed with speeding motorists and HGVs. First part (after leaving the B724) is a short stretch of 70mph dual carriageway. I used to "pray" for the safety of those on bikes during the period. Thankfully no accidents happened that I'm a ware of.

 

[Brandane]

Because nothing was done touring cyclists were passing through Clarencefield (where I live) and following the B724 to Collin and using the A75 and Annan Rd to get into Dumfries.

In my earlier post on this thread, I linked to my Garmin map of my ride from the Travelodge on the east side of Dumfries (beside the petrol station on the A75) to Carlisle.
If you zoom in on the map, you can see where I headed east on the footpath alongside the A75, until the footpath (unused by pedestrians) ends.
From there there is a stretch of maybe 500 metres to the B724 junction at Collin where you can turn right to Clarencefield.
I stood and watched the traffic for about 30 seconds, thought better of it, and retraced my ride westbound into Dumfries where I joined NCN7 to Clarencefield. Probably added about 5 miles to my day to avoid a 500 metre stretch of A75. Better than becoming another A75 statistic though.