A KEY park-and-ride site for drivers heading into Glasgow will be axed this weekend - to allow work to start on the M74 missing link.
A KEY park-and-ride site for drivers heading into Glasgow will be axed this weekend - to allow work to start on the M74 missing link.
Transport bosses today announced West Street's 74-space car park will close tomorrow night as part of the advance phase of the £650million project.
The Evening Times exclusively revealed yesterday that contractors will start building the vital route in May and the work is scheduled for completion by 2011.
More than 18,000 drivers used the facilities at West Street last year but the gates will permanently shut at 11.30pm tomorrow.
Glasgow City Council acquired the site through a compulsory purchase order and the greenlight for the motorway extension has led to its immediate closure.
A spokeswoman for Strathclyde Partnership for Transport said: "We apologise to users of the car park for the short notice and inconvenience - this was a matter beyond our control.
"Alternative park and ride facilities are available at Shields Road, Bridge Street and Kelvinbridge Subway stations."
It's emerged the tender bid by the Interlink M74 consortium is a fixed price of around £445m, plus an allowance for around £12m for possible mine workings' treatment, on top of £200m spent.
The five-mile route is expected to become one of Britain's most expensive roads - clocking in at around £2000 an inch.
It has been designed to ease congestion on the M8 and will start near Carmyle and run to the M8, west of the Kingston Bridge.
The route will pass over some of the most contaminated and polluted parts of Scotland and backers hope it will transform urban wasteland into business and residential areas. Areas which will benefit include the south and east of Glasgow, Rutherglen and Cambuslang.
Glasgow Shettleston MSP Frank McAveety said: "It will be a major benefit for the Glasgow economy. It will make a massive difference to the job opportunities in the East End."
The six-lane road will cost around £131m a mile, compared with £79m a mile for the widening the M25 round London.
Lesley Sawers, the chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, said: "A decision on the M74 is long overdue and we are pleased the Scottish Government has listened and responded to the case put forward by business and given the project the go-ahead."
Iain McMillan, the director of CBI Scotland, added: "The completion of the M74 will ensure that west central Scotland's connectivity is enhanced, while alleviating the pressure on the busiest stretch of the M8 motorway through Glasgow."
