FAQs

1. How long will the road be?

About 5 miles or 7.9 kilometres.

2. What route will it follow?

From where the M74 currently ends, at Fullarton Road Junction near Carmyle, to the M8 Motorway just west of the Kingston Bridge. See The Project and Maps for further details.

3. How many lanes will the road have?

Each carriageway will have three lanes with a hard shoulder, locally reducing to two lanes with a hard shoulder at the connecting link between the M74 and the M8.

4. Where will the junctions be built?

There will be three full four-way junctions at Fullarton Road, Cambuslang Road, and Polmadie Road, with a two-way junction constructed at Kingston.

5. How much will it cost?

We current estimate that the scheme will cost between £375m and £500m.

6. Who will pay for the road?

The Scottish Executive will pay the largest share at 87.35%. Glasgow City, South Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire councils will meet most of the balance. The remainder will come from other sources including the private sector.

7. When will it open?

2011

8. Why is it needed?

The M8 Motorway is becoming increasingly congested throughout the day. This is bad for local communities which are finding diverted traffic coming through their areas. It is bad for the economy of the West of Scotland, which accounts for 60 per cent of Scotland's manufactured goods. Completion of the M74 will reduce delivery times, improve access along the entire Clyde corridor and cut journey times to and from Glasgow Airport and also Mossend Rail Terminal.

9. How many jobs will be created?

An estimated 350 jobs during the three-year construction period. Also, studies show that over 20,000 jobs could be attracted as areas close to the new road become developed and attract inward investment.

10. How will I know what is going on?

There has been full and proper public consultation on this project. For example in the late summer of 2002 a Public Information Exercise was held including public exhibitions in local libraries and other venues. In March 2003 a major public exhibition programme for the Statutory Consultation exercise was held. This website will be continually updated to keep the public informed of progress.

11. Will the scheme help clean up contaminated land?

Yes. It will provide the opportunity to treat and make safe a number of areas of existing ground contamination and act as a catalyst for other developers.

12. How will the road assist economic regeneration of the area?

A number of initiatives have already started planning off the back of the M74 proposals. These include the East End Regeneration Route and the Clyde Gateway project. These complementary schemes will further encourage investment in the area which because of the scheme will have a significantly raised profile in the eyes of the business community. The scheme will itself clean up areas of contamination and will act as a catalyst for others alongside. This is a significant knock on benefit to the local environment that would be lost if the scheme were not to proceed.

13. Will you be opening the road in phases?

No.

14. Will there be any work taking place in advance of the main works?

Yes. We will construct 3 drainage outfalls to the Clyde in advance of the main works. Some building demolitions will also be taking place before the main contract as well as extensive archaeological investigations.

15. Could the costs of the M74 not be better spent on public transport/improving the environment?

Completing the M74 scheme is key to improving the strategic road network in Scotland which is needed to help grow our economy, both locally and nationally. It will also provide additional infrastructure for buses, helping to improve bus operations on local roads by reducing congestion. The scheme will also have environmental benefits by reducing congestion and by allowing a significant amount of ground contamination to be dealt with within the route.

16. Will M74 increase noise in local communities – such as Rutherglen, Govanhill, etc?

The full noise impacts from the new road have been fully assessed and reported in the Environmental Statement. As traffic transfers from local roads to the new motorway, local communities will experience a decrease in road traffic noise. A number of local communities, including Govanhill and parts of Rutherglen, will experience slight decreases in noise levels due to the reduction in traffic volumes on local roads.

17. Will you give special assistance to residents of properties that are shown by the environmental assessment to be seriously affected by the construction or operation of the new road?

Considerable work has already been done to mitigate the impacts of the scheme and these will be implemented. Noise insulation grants can be offered to qualifying properties under the Noise Insulation (Scotland) Regulations 1975 for both construction and operational phases. Compensation can also be paid under Part 1 of the Land Compensation (Scotland) Act 1973. This compensation is payable to claimants from whom no land is taken. Compensation is payable on the depreciation in a property’s market price that can be attributed to seven physical factors resulting from the use of the road; Noise, Vibration, Smell, Fumes, Smoke, Artificial lighting, and Discharge onto the land of solid and liquid substances.

18. Will the M74 not generate more traffic?

Studies undertaken for the proposed motorway show that, with current policy measures, the traffic generated throughout the study area will be very low. The increase will be no greater than 0.2%. The new motorway will relieve traffic pressures on the existing network rather than generate new traffic.