Hamilton
Hamilton Hamaltan | |||
Location Map ( geo) | |||
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County | |||
Lanarkshire | |||
Highway Authority | |||
South Lanarkshire | |||
Hamilton is a large town to the south east of Glasgow, lying near the confluence of the River Avon with the River Clyde. Although still identified as a separate town, there is very little open country between Hamilton and Bothwell - Uddingston to the north, which are equally close to the urban sprawl of Glasgow itself. To many, therefore, Hamilton is now part of the Glasgow urban area. Despite this, it maintains a busy town centre, with a good range of shops and services. Retail parks and industrial estates lie to the north, and in the north west of the town is the race course, which forms part of the open space surrounding the Strathclyde Country Park on the opposite side of the M74 and River Clyde.
The main route past the town is, therefore, the M74 motorway. The Hamilton Interchange lies just a short distance to the east of the town centre, and is a fully free-flowing Octopus layout which connects to the A723. This in turn runs directly from Hamilton town centre to Motherwell town centre just a couple of miles to the east. Both the A723 and A72 head south out of town, quickly finding the open countryside of Lanarkshire, although each soon reaches another town. The A72 is the former route of the A74, which once ran through Hamilton town centre, before the motorway opened. The A72 now terminates in the centre, instead of a few miles to the south, and it is then the B7071 that continues the old A74 route into Glasgow.
Between them, these routes form an inner ring road for Hamilton, the dualled A723 cutting close to the centre, and separating one shopping street from the main pedestrianised area. In the meadows by the motorway junction, a retail park has been built alongside the A72, whilst the A724 which starts to the west of the town centre heads north west into Glasgow.
The B7071 follows the former line of the A74, and in so doing it runs north to the A725 at Bothwell. Here, the Raith Interchange is being thoroughly rebuilt as part of the M74 / M73 / M8 improvement works, but the B road continues, connected only by a spur, through Bothwell and Uddingston to meet the A721, which takes over the former A74 route towards the city. To the west of Hamilton, the B755 provides a link through suburbs, whilst the B7012 provides a fragmented route in Blantyre to the northwest.
Routes
Route | To | Notes |
Glasgow | ||
Carlisle | ||
East Kilbride | ||
Bellshill (B7070), Coatbridge, Edinburgh (A8) | ||
Lanark, Larkhill (B7078) | initially former A74 | |
Motherwell | ||
Strathaven | ||
Rutherglen, Glasgow, Blantyre | ||
link in south west of town | ||
Blantyre | ||
Uddingston, Bothwell | former A74 | |
Glasgow, Rutherglen, Blantyre | now B7071 | |
Carlisle, Lanark (A72), Larkhill | now A72 | |
Uddingston, Bothwell | now B7071 | |
East Kilbride, Blantyre | became A776, now B7012 | |
East Kilbride, Blantyre | now B7012 | |
Stirling, Cumbernauld (M80), Edinburgh, Coatbridge (M8) | ||
Greenock, Paisley (M8), Kilmarnock (M77), East Kilbride |