M8 Completion Approved

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michael769
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Re: M8 Completion Approved

Post by michael769 »

Work to start on £500m M8, M73 and M74 motorway upgrades

Work is set to get underway on a £500m project to upgrade the motorway network in central Scotland.

The Scots Roads Partnership (SRP) will carry out the advance works ahead of signing a contract with Transport Scotland for the full job next month.

The upgrade work will see the six-mile "missing link" completed on the M8 in North Lanarkshire.

Improvements to the Raith Interchange and widening of key sections of the M8, M73 and M74 are also part of the plan.

The work will see upgrading of the M8 between Baillieston and Newhouse to motorway standard.

This will require upgrades to the connections to the M73 motorway at Baillieston and a new junction at Shawhead, which will connect to the A725 East Kilbride road.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-g ... t-25944134
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wrinkly
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Re: M8 Completion Approved

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wrinkly
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Re: M8 Completion Approved

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Parliamentary answer at the bottom of this page.
m80
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Re: M8 Completion Approved

Post by m80 »

wrinkly wrote:Parliamentary answer at the bottom of this page.
"..construction cost of approximately £310 million; significantly below the pre-tender estimate of £415 million.."

Good result. I wonder if the money saved will enable them to accelerate some other road schemes like A9 dualling.
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ScottB5411
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Re: M8 Completion Approved

Post by ScottB5411 »

It does make me wonder if some things have been cut back on though, that's a fairly hefty saving
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IAN
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Re: M8 Completion Approved

Post by IAN »

It looks like this project has passed the 'point of no return'. Has anyone any idea what the latest stage was that a road project was cancelled, or have any projects ever been cancelled after construction has commenced?

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Re: M8 Completion Approved

Post by Bryn666 »

Google "Goat Path Expressway" ;-)
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Re: M8 Completion Approved

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IAN wrote:It looks like this project has passed the 'point of no return'. Has anyone any idea what the latest stage was that a road project was cancelled, or have any projects ever been cancelled after construction has commenced?

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m80
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Re: M8 Completion Approved

Post by m80 »

Nwallace wrote:
IAN wrote:It looks like this project has passed the 'point of no return'. Has anyone any idea what the latest stage was that a road project was cancelled, or have any projects ever been cancelled after construction has commenced?

Ian (M5 Driver)
Not road but GARL...
GARL didn't get to construction stage, it was cancelled during procurement.
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A8000Bob
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Re: M8 Completion Approved

Post by A8000Bob »

A801 bypass of Avon Gorge.
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owen b
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Re: M8 Completion Approved

Post by owen b »

IAN wrote:It looks like this project has passed the 'point of no return'. Has anyone any idea what the latest stage was that a road project was cancelled, or have any projects ever been cancelled after construction has commenced?
The A20 Ashford bypass was under construction at the start of WW2. It didn't restart until several years post war.
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wrinkly
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Re: M8 Completion Approved

Post by wrinkly »

A8000Bob wrote:A801 bypass of Avon Gorge.
Another hoary myth resurfaces.
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Re: M8 Completion Approved

Post by A8000Bob »

wrinkly wrote:
A8000Bob wrote:A801 bypass of Avon Gorge.
Another hoary myth resurfaces.
?
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wrinkly
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Re: M8 Completion Approved

Post by wrinkly »

A8000Bob wrote:
?
I've seen previous discussions of this but I've never seen any evidence that any design for the missing section of the A801 was ever completed, or that any contract to build it was ever advertised, let alone cancelled after work had started. As far as I know the only evidence we have is some advance earthworks, which may have been done partly to provide fill for an adjacent section.

Edit: I suppose it's a question of how you interpret the terms in Ian's question. I was taking it to mean contracts cancelled after work had started. If you interpret "project" in a larger sense, there are probably quite a lot that have been cancelled (or grossly postponed) after some preparatory work has been done on the ground.
Last edited by wrinkly on Sun Feb 02, 2014 21:39, edited 1 time in total.
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Gav
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Re: M8 Completion Approved

Post by Gav »

It may be that the erathworks was part of the contract back then to grade it and prep it for the next stage.
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Re: M8 Completion Approved

Post by A935 »

m80 wrote:
Nwallace wrote:
IAN wrote:It looks like this project has passed the 'point of no return'. Has anyone any idea what the latest stage was that a road project was cancelled, or have any projects ever been cancelled after construction has commenced?

Ian (M5 Driver)
Not road but GARL...
GARL didn't get to construction stage, it was cancelled during procurement.
I have signalling scheme plans for GARL in my archive at work, so it got to at least GRIP 4 or 5. And PCI was obviously a major part of the overall scheme which did get completed.
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M8 Completion Approved

Post by nirs »

Construction actually began on Phase 1 of the Belfast Urban Motorway in 1973 (piling for the elevated section at the north end) but had to be halted shortly after due to civil disorder. The scheme was subsequently cancelled.

Speaking of which: http://www.colourpointbooks.co.uk/more_ ... hp?id=1806

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m80
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Re: M8 Completion Approved

Post by m80 »

No going back now:


"Transport Scotland has announced that the £500million deal to construct the new M8 and make improvements to the M73 and M74 was officially finalised today (Thursday, February 20.)"

http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/New ... ts-project
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Re: M8 Completion Approved

Post by A72 »

m80 wrote:No going back now:


"Transport Scotland has announced that the £500million deal to construct the new M8 and make improvements to the M73 and M74 was officially finalised today (Thursday, February 20.)"

http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/New ... ts-project
And about time, too!

What was the reason for the gap, in the first place? It's always baffled me that the M8 was never built as a continuous motorway.
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Re: M8 Completion Approved

Post by chris486 »

A72 wrote:
What was the reason for the gap, in the first place? It's always baffled me that the M8 was never built as a continuous motorway.
Like most motorways it was built as a series of bypasses which gradually becamed conjoined.

Because the final gap in the motorway was/is fully grade separated, it was left until last.
..
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