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 M77 west ofNewton Mearns, with the since demolished Netherplace Dye Works on the right. | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Length | 20.0 mi (32.2 km) | |||
| Existed | 1977–present | |||
| History | Constructed 1977–2005 | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| Northeast end | Glasgow Kinning Park (55°50′42″N4°17′49″W / 55.845°N 4.297°W /55.845; -4.297) | |||
| Major intersections |  M8 motorway | |||
| Southwest end | Fenwick | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United Kingdom | |||
| Primary destinations | Glasgow,Kilmarnock,Ayr South-west Scotland | |||
| Road network | ||||
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TheM77 motorway is amotorway in Scotland. It begins inGlasgow at theM8 motorway atKinning Park, and terminates nearKilmarnock atFenwick, becoming theA77 dual carriageway. Changes were made in 2005 segregating a lane on theM8 motorway almost as far as theKingston Bridge, which in January 2006 was extended further onto the bridge itself. It forms the most northerly part of theA77trunk road which links Glasgow toStranraer in the South West of Scotland. (The A77 itself continues toPortpatrick inDumfries and Galloway.)
The original M77 was a short 1.5-mile (2.4 km)spur route which took traffic from theM8 motorway in theKinning Park area ofGlasgow, ending at a roundabout on Dumbreck Road close toBellahouston Park, although prior to this there had been an unused spur running to roughlyIbrox telephone exchange on Gower Street.
A large number of accidents and pollution problems caused in the suburban towns ofGiffnock andNewton Mearns by commuter traffic and heavy lorries (the A77 is the main route for ferry-bound traffic sailing toNorthern Ireland), saw an extension being built to the motorway in 1994 to bypass these areas, which was opened in December 1996. This was fiercely opposed by environmentalists, who set up aroad protest camp,[1] as it meant that the motorway would cut through the historicPollok Country Park. Approval for the extension was granted and construction went ahead. A threatening visit in 1995 to the protesters of 'Pollok Free State' by the ConservativeMember of ParliamentAllan Stewart (then the MP forEastwood, the constituency including Newton Mearns, which the new road would bypass), accompanied by his airgun-wielding son, resulted in a political shot in the foot, contributing to his subsequent resignation, and a fine for his son inPaisley Sheriff Court.[2][3] Stewart chose to stand down as MP for the Eastwood constituency in the nextelection in 1997, where the Conservatives lost the seat anyway to Labour.
The latest upgrade was instigated in 2003, and involved extending the M77 a further 9 miles (14 km) south to the village ofFenwick, nearKilmarnock. This replaced the dangerous 4-lane single carriageway of the A77 that dropped to a two lane single carriageway for the bend just north of the very sharp Mearns Road turn-off, and the A77/B764 (Eaglesham) junction (causing vehicles to queue dangerously on the outside lane on a bend to enter the B764 from the south) which were prone to fatal accidents. The scheme also included theGlasgow Southern Orbital (GSO) which bypasses the B764 Eaglesham Moor Road toEast Kilbride. This also resulted in the closure of junction 5 on its previous site atMalletsheugh and the creation of a new junction 5 slightly further south atMaidenhill. An old slip road still exists, but is closed. The works were completed in April 2005.
In 2006, junction 2 was rebuilt in conjunction with the building of the adjacentSilverburn Shopping Centre. The northbound off-ramp and southbound on-ramp are now routed via the access roundabout to the shopping centre.
In 2010 a relief lane was constructed between Plantation and Junction 1 southbound. The purpose of this was to ease the congestion that regularly occurs during peak rush hour.
The original segment of the A77 between Newton Mearns and Fenwick that previously carried the traffic now accommodated by the M77 has been converted into a two-lane single carriageway with cycle lanes. The remainder of the road through Newton Mearns has been converted into a two-lane dual carriageway with cycle lanes. The cycle lanes end at Eastwood Toll in Giffnock.
| Council area | Location | mi | km | Junction | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glasgow | Glasgow | 0 | 0 | —[coord 1] |  M8 -Glasgow,Edinburgh | no Westbound exit or Southbound entrance from West |
| 1.1 | 1.7 | 1[coord 2] | B768 -Dumbreck,Mosspark | |||
| 2.8 | 4.5 | 2[coord 3] | B762 -Shawlands,Hurlet | |||
| 4.2 | 6.7 | 3[coord 4] |  A726 -Paisley,Hurlet A727 -Thornliebank,Giffnock | |||
| East Renfrewshire | Newton Mearns | 5.8 | 9.3 | 4[coord 5] | B7087 -Crookfur (Newton Mearns) | no Southbound entrance or Northbound exit |
| 7.7 | 12.4 | 5[coord 6] | A726 -East Kilbride,Strathaven A77 -Newton Mearns,Giffnock,Glasgow | |||
| East Ayrshire | — | 12.8 | 20.6 | 6[coord 7] | A77 -Kilmarnock,Newton Mearns,Glasgow | no Southbound entrance or Northbound exit |
| 15.2 | 24.5 | 7[coord 8] | A77 -Kilmarnock,Newton Mearns,Glasgow B778 -Stewarton,Fenwick | no Northbound exit | ||
| 16.3 | 26.3 | 8[coord 9] | A77 - Ayr, Stranraer B7038 -Kilmarnock B7061 -Fenwick | Southbound exit only, Northbound entrance only from A77 | ||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | ||||||
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