Whiteinch Interchange

The junction between the A739 and A814 Clydeside Expressway at Whiteinch is a typical tangle of Glaswegian sliproads twisting and turning where you least expect them to go. The junction appears to be little changed from when it was constructed, presumably around the time that the Clyde Tunnel opened in the early 1960s.

A739 Routes

Leaving the tunnel

Heading south on the A739, you can only access the A814 city bound, although there are plenty of unclassified residential roads providing this connection (via traffic lights) to the north. When leaving the Clyde Tunnel, traffic can make a straightforward left turn onto the westbound A814, however turning right, citybound, is a bit more circuitous. both options include a right hand merge onto the A814 mainline.

A814 Routes

We shall start with Westbound traffic, which is provided with a very simple left turn slip into the Tunnel. Just beyond this, the road splits again, with the left lane remaining as the A814, and the right lane turning north onto the A739. This may not be a particularly orthodox layout, but it is nothing compared to what citybound traffic has to deal with.

Saving the best for last, lets take a look at citybound traffic on the A814. First things first, this is no straight forward dual carriageway. We drop to a single traffic lane on the approach, and then turn sharply to the left, apparently to join the northbound A739, but there is no such connection. Instead, the northbound slip from the A739 joins the A814, on the outside! The flyover then takes traffic across the A739, turning west then south as it does in a great loop. The road is now back to almost being a standard dual carriageway, but not before a left slip turns off for the Clyde Tunnel, and then a right slip joins from the southbound A739. Before this final slip fully merges, the remaining A814 traffic is forced to split once more, with the left lane dropping down to a roundabout, and then the right lane merges with the A739 traffic.

Crossing the A814 on the way to the tunnel

So what of that slip to the Tunnel? Well, it sets off heading east, away from the tunnel, then does a 180 degree curve, crossing over the A814 in the process, to join the westbound offslip from the A814 and so drop down onto the A739 and into the Tunnel.

This is clearly an insane junction, with an imaginative design. Whether it was designed like this due to land constraints, or just to be different is not yet clear, but the roller coaster of concrete ramps bridges and underpasses really is something to be experienced!

Routes

Route	To	Notes
A739	The North, Aberfoyle (A81), Anniesland Cross
A739	The South, (M8 West, M77) Govan, Clyde Tunnel
A814	Clydebank, Dumbarton, Scotstoun 1, Whiteinch Diversion
A814	(M8 East), City Centre, SECC, Partick 1 1/2