Old M8 images

[ruggedscotty]

irc said:

Terzo123 said:

Why oh why did the planners think it was a good idea to reduce the motorway at Charing cross to 2 lanes.

I can answer this one as my dad did the outline design for the 1963 design. The reason is that the Charing Cross section of the M8 was designed in the early 1960s for 1990 traffic levels. So we have had 29 years of traffic growth past the point the road was designed for. In addition it was not meant to be the only north-south motorway in Glasgow. It was part of a ring road which was only half built. The west flank and North Flank (Kingston Bridge to Townhead) were built.

The south flank wasn't. It was a similar line to the M74 but part of a continuous circle not the current situation where southbound M8 traffic has to exit the Kingston Bridge onto surface roads to get to the M74. Likewise there is no direct access from the M74 west toi the Kingston Bridge.

Probably more importantly the inner ring road would have had a north south motorway completing the circle somewhere east of High Street. Had the full ring road been built the Charing Cross section would not be carrying as much traffic and could hsve coped for longer than it did.

As far as I understand things the old City of Glasgow was very pro roads and had a very good City Clerk who was efficient at their side of the process. Getting the legal stuff done, acquiring land etc. After it became Strathclyde Region in 1976 plans were changed and things became slower.

http://www.glasgows-motorways.org.uk/inner-ring-ro...

Other roads that weren't built include the Maryhill Motorway which would have taken a line between Maryhill and Possilpark out to Allander Toll. No wonder that these days Maryhill Road is at a standstill much of the day whereas Dumbarton Road where The Clydeside Expressway was built flows more freely. A not many people know that nugget is that former Lib Dem leader vince Cable was one of the people who stopped the Maryhill Motorway when he was a local councilor.

"I became a councillor for Maryhill ward on Glasgow City Council. I am very proud of my opposition to the construction of a so-called “motorway on stilts” that, if built, would have cut through Maryhill."

https://www.libdems.org.uk/interview-with-vince

http://www.glasgows-motorways.org.uk/maryhill-moto...

But on the subject of inadequate lane provision a far bigger error was the comparatively recent 2009-2011 M80 upgrade past Cumbernauld. Built as dual 2 lane despite the fact there were 4 lanes feeding in at each end (M73 M80 at the south, M80 M876 at the north) The road was peak hour traffic jams as soon as it opened. I'm told that the civil engineers wanted dual 4 or at least dual 3. Overruled by someone higher up despite the fact dual 3 would only have cost an extra 10% on a £320 million contract.

Your father did a great job, and one that really makes a difference to the traveller. I saw the plans for Edinburgh and wish that they had built what they had planned.... they never did and Edinburgh is the poor relation to Glasgow.

Can we imagine a Glasgow without the M8 with its sweeping through funneling the traffic ? No me neither.... and yes I am well aware of the greater Glasgow plan, and what a plan that would have been.