M74

M74
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From:	Glasgow (NS576643)
To:	Abington, Lanarkshire (NS929246)
Length:	32.5 miles (52.3 km)
Meets:	M8, M77, M73, A725, A702, A74(M)
Primary Destinations
Glasgow •
Highways Authorities
Transport Scotland, DBFO
Traditional Counties
Lanarkshire
Route outline (key)
M8 Outer Carriageways, Glasgow M74 Glasgow - Abington
Junction List
Junc Northbound Southbound (M8 j22) M8, M77 Start of M8 Outer Carriageway (M8 j21) No Exit M77 (via u-turn), Shields Road 1 (A8, M8) A8 1A A728 A728 2 A724 A724 2A A74 A74 3 A763 No Exit 3A No Exit (A74) 4 M73, A74 M73 Bothwell services (Southbound Only) 5 A725 A725 Hamilton services (Northbound Only) 6 A723 A723 7 No Exit A72 8 A71, B7078 A71, B7078 9 No Exit B7078 10 B7078 No Exit 11 No Exit B7078, (A70) Happendon Services (Between J11 & J12) 12 A70 No Exit Abington services (At J13) 13 M74 Begins A702, B7078; A74(M)

The M74 forms the northern section of the motorway running between Glasgow and Gretna, and hence the English border.

The last section of the M74 was opened on the evening of 28 June 2011, extending the motorway westwards along the south side of Glasgow, past the city centre and bypassing sections of the M8 and the Kingston Bridge.

Contents 1 Junctions 1.1 Abington Interchange 1.2 Fullarton Road Interchange 2 Services 2.1 Happendon services 2.2 Bothwell services 2.3 Hamilton services 3 History 3.1 Glasgow Extension 4 Opening Dates 5 Links 5.1 CBRD 5.2 You Tube

Junctions

Abington Interchange

The Abington Interchange is where the A74(M) and M74 change numbers, and also forms the main access to Edinburgh from the motorway network. It was formerly a fork junction between A74 and A73. During the motorway construction in the early 1990s, the junction was rebuilt into the present layout.

Fullarton Road Interchange

The Fullarton Road Interchange was the Glasgow terminus of the M74 for over 15 years until 2011. It was originally a flat roundabout, flared ready for the extension of the motorway. It is now a standard grade-separated roundabout junction. The roundabout, now J2A following completion of the M74 extension, was J1 of the M74, and links it to the only remaining section of A74.

Services

Happendon services

Happendon is an unusual MSA, as it is actually bypassed by the motorway and is located on the B7078, the former A74. It is located between junctions 11 and 12, and traffic wishing to visit the services must exit at one junction, and rejoin the motorway at the next junction.

Bothwell services

Bothwell services serves only the southbound side of the M74, and is located between junctions 4 and 5. It is one of the oldest MSAs in Scotland, and one of the smallest.

Hamilton services

Hamilton is a small run-down services that is only accessible from the northbound side of M74 between junction 5 and 6. The main building is not open 24 hours, although the fuel station (and small shop therein) is.

History

Glasgow Extension

An extension to the M74 was completed in 2011 from the previous northern terminus to meet the M8 at Kingston, Glasgow, near the south end of the Kingston Bridge. The previous terminus, Fullarton Road Interchange, had been J1. To get round this problem, Junctions 1, 2 and 3 were renumbered 2A, 3, 3A, and the sequence of junctions numbers is now 1, 1A, 2, 2A, 3, 3A, 4, 5, ... . For some reason the use of letters beyond A was avoided, otherwise only J1 need have been renumbered.

The extension ends on the outer carriageways of the M8, which continue to the M77 junction. Officially this will remain part of the M8, however they could be considered to be part of the M74.

Opening Dates

Links

CBRD

• CBRD Motorway Database
• CBRD Futures: M74 Glasgow - Carmyle
• CBRD Futures: M74 J5 Improvement

You Tube

• M74 Extendtion flyover April 2010