RJDG14 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 28, 2021 13:57
What I understand the least would be why the Scottish stretch of the Coventry - Glasgow route (all 3 roads combined) has 2 numbers - it's the M74 from Glasgow to Abington and the A74(M) from Abington to Gretna, yet the two route number variants share the same junction numbering scheme. The A74(M) is also an anomaly under the Scottish numbering system, whereby a motorway will generally supersede an A road, with the A road being downgraded to a B road and the motorway taking on the A road's number in the form of M(number).
Junction numbers are interesting on the 74. There's no doubt that plans existed for it to become part of the M6 once the motorway from Glasgow to Carlisle was continuous. Signs containing the designation 'M6' patched over by 'A74(M)' appear all along the route but even on the disguised M6 signs, the junction numbers (which follow the M74 system) do not appear to have been patched on. Take
this sign on the A701 approaching A74(M) J15, the 'A74(M)' patch for the SB slip has come off revealing 'The SOUTH, Carlisle, M6', but the JNo appears to have never been patched, always appearing as 'J15'.
Side note: The part of the sign pointing northbound appears to simply say 'A74(M)' without any patch at all.
The lack of M6-system junction numbers on A74(M) signage may have been an attempt by some with more nationalist sympathies in the Scottish Office to sabotage the M6 decision, which is highly likely to have been controversial (yet 'English' road numbers like A1 and A68 having lengthy sections through the Borders aren't?).
A possible exception to all of this is,
this flag sign pointing to the NB slip at J16. It appears to have the junction number patched on. It may be covering an M6-system junction number (if so, then presumably J52), but I have a feeling that parts of the A74(M) may have had no junction numbers when they first opened (IIRC, a lot of Ax(M) roads didn't); the patch therefore could well represent the later addition of a JNo.
As for the numbering of A74(M), most A-road m'way upgrades are usually given Mx designations with the number of whatever A-road they take the place of. Nontheless, Ax(M) roads do exist in Scotland, normally as short bypass or spur sections, and seeing as the A74(M) consisted mostly of disjointed bypasses separated from each other and from the M74 by lengthy sections of vanilla A74, this number was probably seen as suitable at the time.
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