IT has taken 36 years of talking, delays, frustration and recriminations - but at last the M74 extension through Glasgow is taking shape.
After 36 years, the M74 'missing link' begins to take shape
IT has taken 36 years of talking, delays, frustration and recriminations - but at last the M74 extension through Glasgow is taking shape.
The so-called "road to nowhere" and "missing link" in the Scottish motorway network will soon be no more.
All along the five-mile route between the Fullarton Interchange near Carmyle and the Kingston Bridge, workmen and diggers are transforming the landscape.
Concrete pillars and giant mounds of earth - which will support the 13 bridges along the route - are being built.
Land at Scotland Street, Eglinton Toll, Polmadie, Rutherglen and Auchenshuggle Woods has been cleared to make way for the road.
The £700million project is expected to be completed by 2011 - easing the traffic flow in Glasgow's South Side and through Cambuslang and Rutherglen.
Its supporters say it is long overdue and will give the west coast economy a shot in the arm.
Today Glasgow City Council leader Steven Purcell said: "Glasgow has argued for decades that completion of the M74 is vital to the future growth of the city and of Scotland; so it is very pleasing to see work progressing so well and the route taking shape.
"It is exciting because we know that the finished road will bring with it opportunities for thousands of individuals and businesses, support East End regeneration and help us deliver the best possible 2014 Commonwealth Games.
"The construction phase itself is also already providing good quality local jobs in a harsh economic climate."
In 1972 work on the M74 was ended - leaving the five-mile gap. Since then costs have rocketed and it is already running three years late.
The estimate in 2001 was £245m - by May last year that had risen to £692m.At £26,400 per ft - or just over £80,000 a metre - it is Britain's most expensive road.
Residents and commuters can now see only a series of giant building sites - as well as the 13 bridges, there will be four major road junctions built, at the Kingston Bridge, Polmadie Road, Cambuslang Road and Fullarton Road.
The viaduct at Port Eglinton in the South Side will be as big as the Kingston Bridge and take traffic over the railway line south from Glasgow Central.
Piling work for seven of the viaduct's 14 piers has been completed and work has begun on one of the columns that will support the bridge deck.
It is the largest construction site in Scotland's road network and one of the most ambitious road building projects in years.
Glasgow City Council, with the approval of the Scottish Government, awarded the contract for the work to the Interlink M74 consortium.
The road will be a three-lane motorway and Transport Scotland says it will ease congestion on the M8 and on local roads on the South Side.
Road accidents will be cut by up to 700 in its first 20 years, it says, and firms which had to move to make way for it will benefit from relocation.
Plans to complete the link were first announced in September 2000 but the project has been beset by delays.
A Public Local Inquiry ran from December 2003 to March 2004 resulting in a decision to proceed in March 2005 Environment group Friends of the Earth abandoned its appeal against the decision in June 2006.
 Workers at the Fullarton Road interchange are still preparing the area |  The flyover pillars wait to be placed at Eglinton Toll |  The scene at Tradeston and Shields Road |  Work between Cathcart Road and Rutherglen |  Looking north from Cathcart Road to Laurieston |
