Objectives

The A8 upgrade satisfies the Scottish Government’s five policy objectives of Environment, Economy, Safety, Integration and Accessibility as follows:

Environment

Having carefully identified potential impacts throughout the design process and avoiding or mitigating such impacts as far as practicable through amendments to the design. Specific measures will be set in place to mitigate those impacts that are otherwise unavoidable. 

Economy

Separating strategic and local traffic and reducing conflicting movements at major interchanges. Average travel times for key strategic movements throughout the corridor are predicted to reduce significantly, with estimated journey time improvements of up to 18 minutes for specific movements in the peak periods.

Safety

Providing a higher standard motorway alternative to the current A8 for strategic traffic whilst reducing flows on the all purpose network for more local traffic. 

Integration

Providing motorway connection to Eurocentral and thereafter to the Rail Freight Terminal.

Accessibility

Separating long distance motorway traffic from traffic accessing and exiting local junctions and facilities; providing direct motorway access to the existing and committed employment centres at Eurocentral, Strathclyde Business Park and Ravenscraig and providing new and improved footways / cycleways including crossings of the A8 and M8.