Complete Scotland's roads....

[Gav]

Looking at the comments on scottish motorways - then thinking about it...

How would I complete the scottish road network ?

That M74 M8 fast link - Get that built and complete the Avon Gorge link.

A90 Dundee Northern bypass - M90 D2M standard.

A9 Perth to Inverness dual with grade separation Western Perth motorway D3M

A77 Dual and grade separation for Ayr bypass as far south as Maybole.

A77 Girvan bypass

A77 Girvan to Stranraer level and improve alignment.

A71 Dual and realign from Kilmarnock to the M74.

M74 upgrade to D3M the D2M section

M8 Upgrade D2M to D3M between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

A1 upgrade all single carriageway to dual.

Edinburgh bypass D3M

Edinburgh bypass northern extension to A90

Edinburgh distributor west approach improvements

Edinburgh northern distributor

Gyle Roundabout

Hermiston Gait roundabout

Sherrif Hall roundabout

A7 dual southern Edinburgh approach.

[matt-thepie]

M80 Haggs to M73 as D3M like it should have been.

Grade separate Broxden. Upgrade the A9 to M9 from Broxden to Stirling and grade separate Keir roundabout.

Fix the horrible terminal junctions on the AWPR. Once they're built...

Dual the A90 from Ellon to Toll of Birness and grade separate the Toll of Birness itself. It's dangerous and has been for too long.

[PeterA5145]

Dual A75 at least as far as the existing short stretch of D2 west of Dumfries.

[exiled]

Money no object, it would be for me

A75 D2 from the border to Stranraer
GSJ the A9 both from Stirling to Perth, and around Perth.
A Dundee relief road to the north, D2 minimum GSJ
A1 to the border D2
Improve as much as possible the A77 from Ayr, GSJs around Ayr.

Definitely raise the A720 to motorway.

[Glen]

Dual the A90 from Ellon to Toll of Birness and grade separate the Toll of Birness itself. It's dangerous and has been for too long.

Surely a roundabout will suffice if safety is the issue?

A75 D2 from the border to Stranraer

Seriously, a continuous dual carriageway?

[exiled]

Dual the A90 from Ellon to Toll of Birness and grade separate the Toll of Birness itself. It's dangerous and has been for too long.

Surely a roundabout will suffice if safety is the issue?

A75 D2 from the border to Stranraer

Seriously, a continuous dual carriageway?

A75 AADF.jpg

If money is no issue!

[djw1981]

Re-align to HQ S2 or (ideal world D2) the A701 from Dumfries to M74.
A75 DC or lots of S2+! to permit safe overtaking of HGV
A77 the same south of Ayr.
Sort out A83 over rest and be thankful (if money no object)
A801 Avon Gorge
Gyle/Gogar/hermiston/maybury/barnton/A720 needs looking at from scratch
A720 to gain an extra lane

[roadtester]

Definitely build the M7.

I don't know where it would run from and to but that number definitely has to find a use somewhere!

[badbob82]

I agree about the M74 upgrade to D3M.

But in the meantime an upgrade to D3M for the couple of miles between Larkhall (J7) and Hamilton (J6) would suffice. This section is a riot in the peaks.

It wouldn't even require new bridges. The traffic from the A72 at J7 could use a filter, that would leave again at J6. Just omit the hard shoulder through the railway bridge (eg M5).

[michael769]

I don't know where it would run from

From my house to my work. Simples!

[orudge]

As others have said, my money-no-object wishlist would be:

- Finish A9 Inverness - Perth and A96 dualling. Close any gaps in the existing DC sections.
- More grade separation and gap closing on the A90 between Aberdeen/Stonehaven and Dundee.
- Fix the AWPR connection at Stonehaven, grade separate the AWPR/Fastlink roundabout.
- Dundee northern bypass, to expressway standard
- Grade separate Broxden, Kier, Inveralmond roundabouts. Potentially consider extension of M9 along A9 to Perth - if not, close gaps.
- Widen M80 to proper D3M at least between M876 and M73.
- Widen M74 to D3M. (Rename to M6...)
- Widen M8 to D3M between Glasgow and Edinburgh.
- Grade separate M8/A720 junction and A720/A1.
- Dual A1 to the border to expressway standard.
- Potentially a better A720 - A90 link, although fixing the M8 junction may make this less important.
- D3M from Queensferry Crossing to A92 (although might have been more useful if the new bridge was D3M).
- Reclassify the silly little bit of A90 that we'll have at South Queensferry to M90, provide an appropriate slip road for access to the local road network at the M90/A90 junction for non motorway traffic.
- Grade separate the A92 junctions at Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes, extend the D2 to the A914 junction at least. Ideally D2 all the way to Dundee - would provide a more useful alternative to the M90.
- Build the Rosyth northern bypass, extending the A823(M), although realistically the new road would probably be D2.
- Dual A90 to Peterhead.

A better link between the to-be M6 and Edinburgh would probably also be good, whether it is an A702 upgrade or indeed the Fastlink.

I've not included much in the way of improvements in the west or southwest simply because I've not really driven those roads! No doubt the A82 should be looked at. I would probably also try to extend the M77 to Ayr.

[NICK 647063]

Glen wrote:
matt-thepie wrote:
Dual the A90 from Ellon to Toll of Birness and grade separate the Toll of Birness itself. It's dangerous and has been for too long.

Surely a roundabout will suffice if safety is the issue?

exiled wrote:
A75 D2 from the border to Stranraer

Seriously, a continuous dual carriageway?
Attachment:
A75 AADF.jpg

If money is no issue!

Even if money was no issue you would NEVER get a road dualled with an AADT of Just over 4,000, this would only happen if say this was been upgraded to form a major link and traffic was going to increase massively......A WS2 has a design volume of 13,000 to 21,000 VPD....even that would be overkill!

[Owain]

Definitely build the M7.

I don't know where it would run from and to but that number definitely has to find a use somewhere!

Edinburgh to Newcastle, following the A68 route, to meet a completed M1

I'd also renumber the whole '74' route as M6. The A702 could then become A74 (complete with bypasses around places like Biggar).

Dual A75 at least as far as the existing short stretch of D2 west of Dumfries.

Yes, definitely.

A75 D2 from the border to Stranraer

Seriously, a continuous dual carriageway?

A75 AADF.jpg

I've been backwards and forwards along the A75 in recent weeks. It's okay at night (***really good fun***), but it's a terrible grind during the day. Perhaps the EU could help with the cost.

I think the A77 would make more sense as a fully-dualled route meeting the A75 at a roundabout replacing the current A75/A751 T-junction.

[exiled]

Even if money was no issue you would NEVER get a road dualled with an AADT of Just over 4,000, this would only happen if say this was been upgraded to form a major link and traffic was going to increase massively......A WS2 has a design volume of 13,000 to 21,000 VPD....even that would be overkill!

British AADT standards might not be used via a Scottish Government transport minister with a roads interest and an unlimited credit card. Irish motorways often have AADT levels lower than those quoted for a WS2

[exiled]

A better link between the to-be M6 and Edinburgh would probably also be good, whether it is an A702 upgrade or indeed the Fastlink.

I've not included much in the way of improvements in the west or southwest simply because I've not really driven those roads! No doubt the A82 should be looked at. I would probably also try to extend the M77 to Ayr.

I think we should encourage a compromise and when the D3 is installed on the M74, renumber route 74 and the M6 as the M5.

[djw1981]

Glen wrote:
matt-thepie wrote:
Dual the A90 from Ellon to Toll of Birness and grade separate the Toll of Birness itself. It's dangerous and has been for too long.

Surely a roundabout will suffice if safety is the issue?

exiled wrote:
A75 D2 from the border to Stranraer

Seriously, a continuous dual carriageway?
Attachment:
A75 AADF.jpg

If money is no issue!

Even if money was no issue you would NEVER get a road dualled with an AADT of Just over 4,000, this would only happen if say this was been upgraded to form a major link and traffic was going to increase massively......A WS2 has a design volume of 13,000 to 21,000 VPD....even that would be overkill!

The problem here is not the total number of vehicles, rather the flow. It comes in bunches - westbound before a ferry departure and eastbound after a ferry arrival. Thus people try to overtake the HGV. With checkin times for ferries getting smaller, the overlap between the two flows increases and occurs at different places along the road.

Patches of D2 or S2+1 may deal with the issue but would need some modelling to ensure that they occured suitable distances from the port at the west and the motorway in the east

[northernlight]

Lots of good suggestions, if it seems like a bit of a wishlist.

What about dualling the A81 from Glasgow to Calendar, and providing better access for this strategic route from Glasgow to the Central Highlands?

[djw1981]

Is it strategic? Unless going from north Glasgow, most traffic will take M80/M9/A84 which is quicker and goes past larger settlements

[cb a1]

Even if money was no issue you would NEVER get a road dualled with an AADT of Just over 4,000, this would only happen if say this was been upgraded to form a major link and traffic was going to increase massively......A WS2 has a design volume of 13,000 to 21,000 VPD....even that would be overkill!

The A9 at Granish (north of Aviemore) has an AADT of about 7,000. This is part of the A9 dualling programme!

British AADT standards might not be used via a Scottish Government transport minister with a roads interest and an unlimited credit card. Irish motorways often have AADT levels lower than those quoted for a WS2

The AADT figures are in DRMB and are guidelines, not standards

[PeterA5145]

Even if money was no issue you would NEVER get a road dualled with an AADT of Just over 4,000, this would only happen if say this was been upgraded to form a major link and traffic was going to increase massively......A WS2 has a design volume of 13,000 to 21,000 VPD....even that would be overkill!

The A9 at Granish (north of Aviemore) has an AADT of about 7,000. This is part of the A9 dualling programme!

Dualling also has benefits in terms of safety and journey time reliability as well as capacity, of course