M74 motorway

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M74 motorway

Length

35 miles
56 km

Direction

Northwest - Southeast

Start

Glasgow
Tollcross

Primary destinations

East Kilbride
Hamilton

End

Abington

Construction dates

1966 - 1991

Motorways joined

4 -

M73 motorway
13 -

A74(M) motorway

Euroroute(s)

E 05

M74 near Larkhall.

A74(M) motorway

Length

45 miles
72 km

Direction

Northwest - Southeast

Start

End

Construction dates

1991 - 1999/Under construction

Motorways joined

13 -

M74 motorway

Euroroute(s)

E 05

The M74 motorway is a major motorway in Scotland, running from the southern outskirts of Glasgow to the Anglo-Scottish border at Gretna. In conjunction with the M6 motorway, it forms one of the two major cross-border routes between Scotland and England. It is part of the unsigned international E-road network E05.

Although the entire motorway is usually referred to as the M74, more than half of its length is officially designated as the A74(M) motorway; see Numbering confusion below.

1 Present route
2 Southern extension
3 Northern extension
4 Numbering confusion
5 Junctions
6 See also
7 External links
- 7.1 Official sites on the upgrades
- 7.2 Other sites

[edit] Present route

The M74 begins at a roundabout in the Glasgow suburb of Tollcross. It runs in a roughly south-easterly direction past the Clyde Valley towns of Bothwell, Hamilton and Motherwell before meeting the cross-country A71 at Larkhall. It passes west of Lanark and beyond Abington, Moffat and Lockerbie, before terminating at the border near Gretna after around 80 miles, six miles short of the connection to the M6 motorway - this short section remains part of the A74 road.

The M74 (from Junction 4 southwards) and A74(M) are part of the E05 Euroroute which runs from Greenock to Algeciras. North from Junction 4, the E05 takes a short stretch of the M73 connecting to the M8, then proceeds westwards through Glasgow to Greenock; and southwards continues on the M6 through England.

[edit] Southern extension

There had been plans to complete the motorway link from the M74 to the beginning of the M6 at Carlisle (known as the "Cumberland Gap") for some time. However the project was delayed due to a number of arguments: the Scottish Executive in Scotland and the Highways Agency in England have attempted to trade away responsibility for building the road - a largely Scottish route in the north of England - and a long-standing agreement for the Executive to build it expired only recently. The Highways Agency has finally agreed to build the road, and it is expected to open towards the end of 2008. Construction began on July 25, 2006.

[edit] Northern extension

A controversial scheme to extend the motorway exists in Glasgow. The Scottish Executive plans to extend the motorway by 5 miles through the south-eastern suburbs of the city to meet the M8 near the Kingston Bridge in an attempt to relieve the chronic congestion of that section of the M8 and to open up land for regeneration in what is a deprived area of the city. The road is planned to be elevated on an embankment and cut through the suburbs of Dalmarnock, Polmadie, Rutherglen, Govanhill and parts of the Gorbals. The city centre section of this motorway would perform a similar role to the never-built southern flank of the Glasgow Inner Ring Road planned in the 1960s, and first set out as a scheme in the Bruce Report of the 1940s, but only half-completed (as the M8 between Kingston Bridge and Townhead).

A public inquiry into the upgrade plans was completed in July 2004 and published in March 2005, recommending against the building of the road on environmental and commercial grounds - in particular air pollution, worries about chromium dumps from old industrial works beneath the route and implications for funding of public transport. However, then-transport secretary Nicol Stephen announced that the Executive intended to build the road despite the inquiry's outcome as they felt that insufficient weight had been given to the economic benefits the scheme would bring. Local residents and politicians have opposed the scheme since its inception, and started a number of campaigns against its construction. Particularly vocal on the issue is Scottish Socialist Party MSP Rosie Kane, who participated in a similar demonstration against the M77 motorway in the city. The "JAM74" group was formed to initiate a legal challenge against the decision which was feared would delay construction for over a year, but in late June 2006, this was withdrawn by the campaigners. With the acquisition of land and buildings which stand in the path of the extension now complete, it would appear that the way is clear for the construction of the link, and as of March 2007 works to clear vegetation and obstacles from the route have commenced.

Complementing the extension would be the city council's proposed East End Regeneration Route which will connect the new section of the M74 with the M8 at the Provan Gas Works interchange with the M80. The new road will be an urban corridor, making use of existing stretches of road, and building new filler sections on derelict land. Currently at the planning stage, it is not expected to be completed until 2010 at the earliest.

[edit] Numbering confusion

Although the motorway is usually referred to in public as the M74 motorway, this is not the de jure nor the de facto situation. South of Abington, the road is officially the A74(M) motorway and this is noted on each sign in this southern section of the road (save for one erroneous "M74" sign at Gretna Green services). However, as the motorway is one continuous route and has a continuous junction numbering system, its entirety is usually referred to as M74. Typically, upgraded A-road designations like A74(M) are retained for short bypasses of existing road, whereas the M74/A74(M) is one continuous intercity route.

There is a long-standing plan, once the southern extension of the road is complete, to rename the motorway as part of the M6, creating a 350-mile motorway from Rugby to Glasgow. When the A74(M) was constructed in the 1990s, many of the signs were given patches with the A74(M) number on - these patches can be peeled away to reveal "M6" underneath. The Scottish Executive, however, has denied there are plans to rename the motorway.

[edit] Junctions

The interchange with the M73.

Road sign on the A702 showing the change in designation.

M74 Motorway
Northbound exits	Junction	Southbound exits
Tollcross, Glasgow City Centre, THE NORTH A74 Cambuslang, Rutherglen	J1	Start of Motorway
Shettleston, Cambuslang, A763	J2	No Access
No Access	J3	Tannochside, Uddingston A721
Stirling, Kincardine Bridge, M73 Uddingston, Mount Vernon, A721	J4	Stirling, Kincardine Bridge, Edinburgh M73
		Bothwell Services ^{Southbound only}
Bellshill, Coatbridge, East Kilbride Edinburgh A725	J5	Bellshill, Coatbridge, East Kilbride, Edinburgh A725
Hamilton Services ^{Northbound only}
Hamilton, Motherwell A723	J6	Motherwell, Hamilton A723
No Access	J7	Lanark, Larkhall A72
Kilmarnock, Edinburgh A71 Larkhall B7078	J8	Kilmarnock, Edinburgh A71
No Access	J9	Kirkmuirhill, Blackwood, Lesmahagow, Coalburn B7078
Lesmahagow, Kirkmuirhill, Blackwood B7078	J10	No Access
No Access	J11	Edinburgh, Ayr B7078, A70 Happendon Services
Edinburgh, Ayr, A70 Happendon Services	J12	No Access
Road continues as M74	J13	Edinburgh A702 Lanark A73 Abington Services
A74(M) motorway
Northbound exits	Junction	Southbound exits
Edinburgh A702 Lanark A73 Abington Services	J13	Road continues as A74(M)
Crawford, Thornhill A702	J14	Crawford, Thornhill A702
Moffat, Dumfries A701	J15	Moffat, Selkirk A701
Johnstonebridge B7076 Annandale Water Services	J16	Johnstonebridge B7076 Annandale Water Services
Lockerbie B7076	J17	Lockerbie, Dumfries B7076
Lockerbie, Dumfries B723	J18	No Access
Ecclefechan B7076	J19	Ecclefechan B7076
Eaglesfield, Annan B722	J20	Eaglesfield, Annan, Kirtlebridge B722
Kirtlebridge, Kirkpatrick Fleming B7076 Canonbie, B6357	J21	Canonbie B6357 Kirtlebridge, Kirkpatrick Fleming B7076
Gretna Green Services
No Access	J22	Longtown, Gretna Green, Gretna B7076
Dumfries, Stranraer, Gretna A75	J23	No Access
Start of Motorway	J24	No exit
B7076 A6071	J24	Road continues as A74* to THE SOUTH, Carlisle, M6*

[edit] See also

List of motorways in the United Kingdom

[edit] External links

[edit] Official sites on the upgrades

[edit] Other sites

	Motorways in the United Kingdom
Great Britain: M1 • M2 • M3 • M4 • M5 • M6 • M6 Toll • M8 • M9 • M10 • M11 • M18 • M20 • M23 • M25 • M26 • M27 • M32 • M40 • M42 • M45 • M48 • M49 • M50 • M53 • M54 • M55 • M56 • M57 • M58 • M60 • M61 • M62 • M65 • M66 • M67 • M69 • M73 • M74 • M77 • M80 • M90 • M180 • M181 • M271 • M275 • M602 • M606 • M621 • M876 • M898
A1(M) • A3(M) • A38(M) • A48(M) • A57(M) • A58(M) • A64(M) • A66(M) • A74(M) • A167(M) • A194(M) • A308(M) • A329(M) • A404(M) • A601(M) • A627(M) • A823(M)

	Northern Ireland: M1 • M2 • M3 • M5 • M12 • M22 • A8(M)	edit

Past: M16 • M41 • M63 • A18(M) • A40(M) • A41(M) • A102(M) • A6144(M) Unbuilt: M12 • M13 • M15 • M31 • M64 Future: M4 Toll