A804

This article is about the current A804 which flanks the M8 motorway.
For the original A804 elsewhere in Glasgow, see A804 (Kelvingrove - Townhead).

Route

The A804 is essentially the all-purpose version of the M8 Glasgow Inner Ring Road, barely leaving the line of the motorway for its entire route.

Glasgow Inner Ring Road

The A804 beings its life at a junction with the A814 Broomielaw in the Anderston suburb of Glasgow. Well, at least it was a suburb before it was levelled in its entirety to make way for the M8. The terminal junction sits aside the River Clyde and directly under the Kingston Bridge carrying monstrous amounts of said motorway's traffic splat bang through the centre of Glasgow. The road parallels its blue-signed cousin on the underpasses up to junction with the A814 (again, on an alternative northern routing). This, M8 Junction 19, is one of the busiest junctions in Glasgow, being a major exit for Glasgow City Centre, westbound traffic via the Clydeside Expressway, and for the Scottish Exhibition Centre, and is usually hampered by tailbacks for Expressway traffic seeking the M8 eastbound – some daft road planner built the free-flow links in the wrong direction, probably anticipating the Glasgow Inner Ring Road. This most common movement cuts across A804 traffic, which is severely marginalized at this junction with very slow traffic light priority.

The northbound A804 is behind that elevated offslip, and the slip in the foreground leads to the southbound A804!

The A804 North Street finally clears the débâcle. At this point, the M8 is headed from bridge into trench, and the A804 carriageways split and are carried on opposite sides of the motorway, elevated in comparison to the sunken motorway. The whole contraption meets St. Vincent Street, a major through-route for suburban traffic to and from the City Centre, and Sauchiehall Street, another – the latter of these, combined with Woodlands Road forming Glasgow's rendition of Charing Cross – complete with entry slip to M8 eastbound at junction 18. The junctions are so close here the numbers seem fairly arbitrary. The Mitchell Library is passed on the west.

Now the A804 is single carriageway, the two halves having met at Charing Cross, and carries on as St. George's Road, offering a slip westbound to the A82 Great Western Road (directly under two M8 Junction 17 slips – very close junctions) and turns right on to Maryhill Road, now headed east-west for another jaunt under the motorway. Traffic gets a chance to join the M8 westbound for the first time directly under the elevated split carriageways and is now New City Road. The whole contraption soon meets the terminus of the A81 Garscube Road at a roundabout-like traffic light controlled junction.

The A804 between & underneath the M8 carriageways near the A81 junction

The carriageway soon performs another sharp right onto Dobbies Loan, terminating the A879 in the process, at M8 [Dobbies Loan|Junction 16]]. (Really, really close junctions.) Now headed southeast into from the City Centre again as Dobbies Loan, the alignment turns sharply northeast as Kyle Street, then Baird Street (another right hand turn), skirting the City Centre near Buchanan Bus Station. Another dive under the elevated M8 is performed, and two Junction 15 slips fly overhead (Did I stress how close these junctions are?). Junction 15 access is made by joining the A803 Springburn Road here, at the A804's terminus in Townhead. Just over two miles in length, this windy route has seen four TOTSOs, and has run in sight of the M8 for almost the entire distance – partly aside it, partly submerged beneath it.

Original Author(s): Erath

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