A74(M) and M74 motorways

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M74 motorway
Road of the United Kingdom
Length	35 miles (56.3 km)
Direction	Northwest - Southeast
Start	Glasgow Tollcross
Primary destinations	none
End	Abington
Construction dates	1966 - 1991/Under construction
Motorways joined	J4 → M73 motorway J13 → A74(M) motorway
Euroroute(s)	E 05

A74(M) motorway
Road of the United Kingdom
Length	45 miles (72.4 km)
Direction	Northwest - Southeast
Start	Abington
Primary destinations	Edinburgh
End	Gretna
Construction dates	1991 - 2008 (Complete)
Motorways joined	J13 → M74 motorway J22 → M6 motorway
Euroroute(s)	E 05

The A74(M) and M74 motorways are two major motorways in Scotland, running from Tollcross on the edge of Glasgow to the English 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 route is usually referred to as the M74, more than half of its length is officially designated as the A74(M); see numbering confusion below.

Contents 1 Route 2 History 3 Current developments 3.1 M74 Northern Extension 3.2 East End Regeneration Route 4 Numbering confusion 5 Junctions 6 See also 7 References 8 External links 8.1 Official sites on the upgrades 8.2 Other sites

[edit] 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 connecting to the M6 motorway in an end on connection.

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] History

This section requires expansion.

An £174m extension of the M6 from Carlisle to the Scottish border at Gretna where it links with the existing A74(M)^[1] was opened on 5 December 2008^[2]

[edit] Current developments

[edit] M74 Northern Extension

Construction work on the £444 million M74 Northern Extension (M74 Completion) to extend the M74 northwards by 5 miles through the south-eastern Glasgow to meet the M8 started in 2008 with completion expected in 2011. There is a £12million allowance for grouting of old mine workings.^{[citation needed]}

The motorway be pass through the suburbs of Dalmarnock, Polmadie, Rutherglen, Govanhill and parts of the Gorbals near the Kingston Bridge in Glasgow on an elevated embankment with junctions at Kingston, Polmadie Road, Glasgow Road in Cambuslang and at Fullarton Road.

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. The extension will involve the demolition of the Rosebery Park football ground.^[3]

The scheme was at the centre of a road protest from local campaigners and environmentalists, however their appeal against the road orders collapsing at Edinburgh's Court of Session in June 2006.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] East End Regeneration Route

Construction of the East End Regeneration Route which will connect the M74 Northern Extensions with the M8 motorway at the Provan Gas Works interchange with the M80 motorway began in 2008 with completion expected in 2011.^[4][5] It will use of existing stretches of road and filler sections on currently derelict land.

[edit] Numbering confusion

Although the motorway is usually referred to in public as the M74 motorway, this is not the actual 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 was 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^{[citation needed]}. 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. One such sign can be seen at the VOSA checkpoint just past the Crawford/Thornhill on-slip states that it is the "M6 South" instead of the "A74 (M)" South. However, when the Scottish Executive was established in 1999, taking over for responsibility for roads in Scotland, Sarah Boyack said that "We have no current plans to rename or redesignate the M74 or A74(M) motorways between Glasgow and the border as the M6". The current Scottish Government have not commented further on the matter.^[6]

Following the building of the original section of the M74 (Maryville to Draffan), the motorway was numbered south-to-north. When the M74 was extended south of Draffan in the late 1980s, it was renumbered north-to-south. Raith remained as J5, while Maryville became J4, allowing for later extension towards Glasgow. Since the M74 is now being extended to meet the M8 south of the Kingston Bridge, it will require renumbering again. Whether this will be a renumbering of the M74/A74(M) or as an extension of the M6 has not been made public knowledge.

[edit] Junctions

M74 Motorway
Northbound exits	Junction	Southbound exits
THE NORTH A74 (Tollcross, Glasgow City Centre, 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 (Cairn Lodge) Services
Edinburgh, Ayr A70 Happendon (Cairn Lodge) 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
Dumfries, Stranraer, Gretna A75	J22	Longtown (A6071) Gretna, Gretna Green B7076 A74(M) now continues as M6 to Carlisle, Penrith and Preston

[edit] See also

• List of motorways in the United Kingdom

[edit] References

1. ^ "M6 Carlisle to Guards Mill Extension". Highways Agency. http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/projects/5069.aspx. Retrieved 2008-01-20. 
2. ^ "M6 North Extension, United Kingdom". Road Traffic Technology. http://www.roadtraffic-technology.com/projects/northextension/. Retrieved 2008-01-20. 
3. ^ Oatlands Regeneration Masterplan
4. ^ "East End Regeneration Route". Glasgow City Council. http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/Residents/Environment/Rivers/RiverClyde/Projects/ClydeGateway/EastEndRegen/. Retrieved 2008-01-21. 
5. ^ "M74 extension: Will the gap ever be filled?". The Herald. 2007-12-10. http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/focus/display.var.1891881.0.m74_extension_will_the_gap_ever_be_filled.php. Retrieved 2008-01-21. 
6. ^ "Scottish Parliament Written Answers". Scottish Parliament. 1999-07-13. http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/pqa/wa-99/wa0713.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-01. 

[edit] External links

[edit] Official sites on the upgrades

• Northern extension
• Southern extension
• Public Inquiry findings

[edit] Other sites

• CBRD Motorway Database - M74
• JAM74: Joint Action against the M74
• Friends of the Earth: Stop Motorway Madness
• The Motorway Archive - M74/A74(M)
• [1]

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