Official Renaming of Alloa Ring Road
Published on:
15
August 2007
Alloa's Ring Road will be officially renamed as King Street next week.
The renaming ceremony will take place on Monday 20th August mid-way along the Ring Road (Asda side) at 2.40pm. You are invited to send a photographer.
The ceremony marks the return of the name King Street to Alloa after almost 40 years. The former King Street originally joined Shillinghill and Izatt Street but was demolished and wiped off the map in 1968 when Alloa was redeveloped.
Alloa Ring Road was built shortly afterwards in the late 1960s to allow traffic to by-pass the town centre. However, due to the current development in Alloa - and with the re-opening of the rail line - the road will no longer by-pass the town but will instead be the main access route to the heart of Alloa.
To reflect this change, councillors agreed that the street should be renamed. During an extensive public consultation exercise earlier this year, the Council received 19 suggestions from members of the public and it was agreed in April that the name King Street should make a comeback.
On Monday, many former residents of the original King Street will attend the renaming ceremony. The event will stir up many happy memories, particularly among those who may have lost touch with former neighbours.
The original King Street had a teeming population and was home to many families. Among the better known landmarks in the street were Blair's Brewery, John Binnie and Son's garage and taxi business, Louis Taylor's scrap yard and John Davie's (slater and plasterer) yard.
One former King Street resident wrote in a letter to the Council, "I have always felt a loss as the street was taken away and only memories of it remain."
Another wrote, "I have very happy memories of living there although life was much harder and we had an outside toilet and washhouse. Our rent was 7/- a week. We had many lovely and kind neighbours and we all helped one another."
