M8
M8 highlighted in blue
The M8 motorway looking towardsGlasgow'sWest End
Route information
Part ofE05 andE16
Maintained byTransport Scotland
Length	60.3 mi (97.0 km)
Existed	1965–present
History	Opened: 1965 Completed: 2017
Major junctions
East end	Sighthill 55°55′28″N3°18′46″W / 55.9244°N 3.3128°W /55.9244; -3.3128 (M8 motorway (eastern end))
Major intersections	J1 ->A720 road J2 →M9 motorway J3 ->A899 road / J8 →M73 motorway/A8(M) motorway J13 →M80 motorway J21 →M74 motorway J22 →M77 motorway J30 →M898 motorway
West end	Langbank 55°55′24″N4°33′01″W / 55.9234°N 4.5504°W /55.9234; -4.5504 (M8 motorway (western end))
Location
Country	United Kingdom
Constituent country	Scotland
Counties	Edinburgh,West Lothian,North Lanarkshire,Glasgow,Renfrewshire
Primary destinations	Edinburgh Edinburgh Airport Livingston Glasgow Paisley Glasgow Airport Greenock
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones
←M6 Toll →M9

TheM8 is the busiestmotorway in Scotland.^[1] It connects the country's two largest cities,Glasgow andEdinburgh, and serves other large communities includingAirdrie,Coatbridge,Greenock,Livingston andPaisley. The motorway is 60 miles (97 km) long. A major construction project to build the final section betweenNewhouse andBaillieston was completed on 30 April 2017. The motorway has one service station,Heart of Scotland Services, previously named Harthill due to its proximity tothe village.

With the advent of motorway-building in the United Kingdom in the late 1950s, the M8 was planned as one of a core of new motorways, designed to replace theA8 road as a high-capacity alternative for intercity travel. The motorway was constructed piecemeal in several stagesbypassing towns, beginning in 1965 with the opening byMinister of State for ScotlandGeorge Willis of the bypass ofHarthill. In 1968 the Renfrew Bypass was opened as the A8(M), becoming part of the M8 when the motorway to the west was connected.^{[citation needed]} The Glasgow inner city section was constructed between 1968 and 1972, using a scheme outlined in theBruce Report, which was published as theSecond World War was closing, and which set out a series of initiatives to regenerate the city.^[2] Bruce's scheme evolved into what would become theGlasgow Inner Ring Road, a motorway "box" which would encircle the city centre, connected to the Renfrew Bypass at its south western corner, and the Monkland Motorway (built over the former route of theMonkland Canal) towards Edinburgh at its north eastern corner. Together, these three sections of motorway make up the present day M8.

Most of the motorway's length was complete by 1980. Since then, there has been a newinterchange with theM80 motorway added in 1992, a 4-mile (6.4 km) eastern extension fromNewbridge to the then-newEdinburgh City Bypass in 1995, and the new junction on the approach to theKingston Bridge in Glasgow connecting to the new M74 extension in 2011.^[3] As part of the Scottish Government's 'M8 M73 M74 Motorway Improvements programme', on which construction began in early 2015,^[4] the remaining unfinished section between Baillieston (J8) and Newhouse (J6) was built, alongside other major improvements enhancing connectivity to the local road network, M73, and M74.^[5][6] The new section was fully opened on 30 April 2017.^[7] On 6 December 2019, the Southbar interchange (J29a) was reopened to facilitate new housing in theBishopton area, having been previously closed during the 1970s.^[8]

From the Edinburgh City Bypass, the road runs west to junction with theM9 motorway (for theForth Road Bridge), bypassing to the north ofLivingston and south ofBathgate. It continues across Scotland'sCentral Belt. The next section – originally designated the Monkland Motorway – begins on the boundary of theGlasgow City council area at theM73 motorway junction (the main interchange for all routes south via theM74 motorway) before passing through the districts ofBarlanark,Riddrie,Dennistoun andTownhead (following the route of the abandonedMonkland Canal) on the way directly into thecity centre. The central section – the uncompleted Glasgow Inner Ring Road – contains numerous junctions serving local communities includingCowcaddens,Garnethill,Kelvingrove andAnderston. It then crosses theRiver Clyde on theKingston Bridge, runs west throughKinning Park,Bellahouston andHillington before leaving Glasgow. Continuing west, it bypassesRenfrew andPaisley (carrying traffic directly over what was the main runway atRenfrew Airport, closed in 1966) before servingGlasgow International Airport, running to the south ofErskine, and terminating atLangbank, around 10 miles (16 km) east ofGreenock.^[9]

The M8 nominally comprises sections of theinternational E-road network, namelyE05 (Langbank-Baillieston)^[10] andE16 (Baillieston-Edinburgh),^[11] although neither is signposted – no such roads are in the United Kingdom.

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The central Glasgow section of the M8 is unusual amongst UK motorways (and more similar to many US Interstates) in that it directly bisects an urban city centre, whereas most other motorways bypass such centres. This section is mainly elevated on a concreteviaduct, lowering pollution concentrations but exposing some public spaces, roof terraces and other parts of buildings to noise and shading.^{[citation needed]}

Some slip roads in the Glasgow section unusually enter and exit from the overtaking (right-hand) lane.

The motorway includes one of the busiest river crossings inEurope, Glasgow'sKingston Bridge.

Several incomplete structures were built around the motorway - at least 3 have been demolished or reused from the 1960s dubbedBridges to Nowhere. A few incomplete structures remain.

The cause of mosttraffic congestion on the urban section is traffic from the M73 and M80 routes onto the eastern section of M8 which within 2 miles (3.2 km) reduces from five lanes to two on the Kingston Bridge approaches. Prior to the construction of the M74 extension, attempts were made to minimise delays on this section; these included restricting exits around the Kingston Bridge, aramp metering programme, and expanded use of electronic signing above and beside the motorway as part of the CITRAC (Centrally Integrated TRAffic Control) system.^[12][13]

The M8 is also criticised as a barrier to wildlife access (for example the reintroduced beaver) from the north of Scotland to theSouthern Uplands.^[14]

Successive failed attempts were made to build the southern flank of the Glasgow Inner Ring Road envisaged by the Bruce Report of the late 1940s. The eastern section had been planned to run north–south close to the High Street of Glasgow, through or under Glasgow Green to the southside of the Clyde. Public opinion was strongly against this and the eastern section was shelved, with a much laterM74 connecting the far-eastern areas of Glasgow. This section, which is an extension of the M74 was built to a different route, intended to funnel long-distance traffic from the north and south which is bound for the southern Clyde Coast and allow it to bypass the urban section of the M8. Following many years of intensive political discussion and legal battles, the M74 completion began in 2008 and opened in June 2011. Indications are that the new road has been successful in reducing traffic levels on the urban section of the M8.

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• 
  The M8 south ofBroxburn, West Lothian
• 
  Kingston Bridge
• 
  M8 motorway fromCharing Cross, Glasgow
• 
  M8 nearing the west terminus of the motorway atLangbank, with views over the Clyde
• 
  M8 route in relation to UK motorway network

• List of motorways in the United Kingdom

Wikimedia Commons has media related toM8 motorway (Scotland).

• Scottish Roads Archive - The M8 Motorway
• CBRD
  • Motorway Database – M8
  • Videos – M8
• Pathetic Motorways – A8(M) Renfrew Bypass
• The Motorway Archive – M8
  • Eastern Scotland Section
  • Western Scotland Section

• Motorways in Scotland
• Transport in Edinburgh
• Transport in Glasgow
• Transport in Renfrewshire
• Transport in West Lothian
• Transport in North Lanarkshire

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