THE first official step has been taken towards upgrading the missing stretch of the M8 between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

More than 11 miles of the A8 dual carriageway is to be upgraded and the Scottish Government has published a list of more than 340 plots of land it intends to buy by Compulsory Purchase Order to ensure the project is completed.

The work, stretching from the interchange at Baillieston, Glasgow, to Newhouse, Lanarkshire, will cost between £170million and £210m and will cover 840 acres.

Much of the land - 546 acres - was previously acquired through CPOs in the mid-1990s. New orders will acquire another 294 acres needed to provide drivers with three lanes in each direction - as well as a network of new junctions for local roads.

The M8 is now such a vital commuter and business route that more than 70,000 vehicles a day use the road.

The route includes the Eurocentral complex at Mossend, Lanarkshire, which is undergoing a £300m revamp to attract new businesses and jobs, while close by the old Ravenscraig steel site at Motherwell.

Flyovers will lead drivers off the motorway to new junctions at Shawhead, on the outskirts of Coatbridge, Eurocentral and Chapelhall.

Shawhead will have one new roundabout, Eurocentral will have two, while a series of four roundabouts will be created at Chapelhall.

The Chapelhall Junction will be especially busy, taking traffic to and from the former Ravenscraig steel site, which is being transformed into a mini town, as well as industrial traffic to and from Newhouse.

Thousands of pounds will be spent on ornamental landscaping at Eurocentral and Chapelhall.

Junctions at Baillieston and Newhouse will also be altered.

The scheme includes two replacement railway bridges - for the Cutty Sark near the Showcase cinema leisure complex - and another to take traffic across the North Calder Water on the outskirts of Coatbridge.

But the upgrade could trigger a cash row with the Douglas and Angus Estates, which are owned by the Earl of Home, son of former Prime Minister Sir Alec Douglas-Home.

The estate owns two parcels of land needed to help remodel Shawhead Junction. They are thought to have become surplus to the estates after previous land sales and have remained unmanaged for the past few years.

Estates factor Henry Birch said: "The Government has to have the ability to build these roads and to maintain the country's transport infrastructure, so I do not have an issue with its right for Compulsory Purchase Orders. But there could be a valuation issue and I will have to investigate."

First Minister Alex Salmond promised at the SNP conference last month that the road's upgrade to motorway status would go ahead.

Mr Salmond did not give starting or completion dates, but the new national agency Transport Scotland has indicated it will be late 2008/early 2009, being finished in 2012/13.

Transport Scotland is implementing the scheme and a spokesman said the project would complete a key link in the Scottish motorway network.

The spokesman added: "It will reduce delays for longer distance traffic and improve road safety, allowing safe access for local traffic, including those from developments such as Eurocentral and Ravenscraig."

Neil Greig, of the Institute of Advanced Motorists Trust, said upgrading the A8 to motorway standard would lead to better and safer traffic flows.

"This will be good news," he added.

Although the CPOs could lead to objections, and a public inquiry, transport bosses are confident construction will be finished in plenty of time before Glasgow hosts the 2014 Commonwealth Games. M8 junction upgrades BAILLIESTON INTERCHANGE: Junction layout will be altered BARGEDDIE JUNCTION: Replacement for Cutty Sark rail bridge SHAWHEAD JUNCTION: One new roundabout, possible land row EUROCENTRAL JUNCTION: Two new roundabouts plus landscaping CHAPELHALL JUNCTION: Four roundabouts at key Ravenscraig junction NEWHOUSE JUNCTION: Alterations to present junction layout