http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/road/projects/m8m73m74
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
"M8 M73 M74 Motorway Improvements"
(13 posts)-
Posted 13 years ago #
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"
David Miller (@BBCDavidMiller)3/28/12 2:04 PM
Contractors being invited to bid for upgrading work on A8, M8, M73 and M74. Total cost for central Scotland motorway upgrade now £415m."
Posted 13 years ago # -
About time.
Posted 13 years ago # -
I doesn't really cost £415m. It costs £508m, when you include VAT and inflation. Still, what's an extra £93m...oh, its around what the Scottish Government plans to spend on cycling for the whole country over the next five years.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Oh the poor hard pressed construction industry. They must be having hard times, only a £2 billion bridge, £1 billion tram, £1/4 billion borders rail, £x million Aberdeen bypass to build. Come on, they need more fat, juicy government contracts that they can squeeze for 'unexpected' extra costs...
Posted 13 years ago # -
Roads, bridges, rails and trams are exactly the kind of things we should invest in during a prolonged recession. Not everything will go well, some budgets will be overspent and some schedules will slip but we will get tangible assets as a result.
Some cycle infrastucture would be welcome too, of course.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Some cycle infrastucture would be welcome too, of course.
Indeed - the works include....
* 16 km (nearly 10 miles) of pedestrian/cycle path
* Provision of new pedestrian/cyclist links including bridges over the Raith roundabout to the north and south of the M74, a new link to the proposed National Cycle Network 74. and signalised crossing pointsPosted 13 years ago # -
And for nothing, they'll invent the word "signalised" for us ;)
So when this "vital missing link" is completed will we then "need" to spend another good part of a billion pounds on some other vast waste of concrete and asphalt?
There's some doublethink going on here that we wont spent massive amounts of money on "new" motorways, cause motorways are bad, mmm'kay, but we'll happily spend billions tinkering with the ones we've already got.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Er.....so the new Forth bridge is not a new motorway then? I think it is...
Posted 13 years ago # -
I dunno if it's technically an A road to motorway standards or what. I think current bridge is A90 until you hit the Fife side?
But that's just me being pedantic! I'm sure someone in the bowels of the Scottish Government transport department would love to connect the M90 with the M9, motorway all the way. Just so it looks nicer on the map.
I was out behind Queensferry on Tuesday evening, cycled past the bit where the new road is going to curve around the south and west of the town before turning to head north. PS and I passed the bit down on the Hopetoun road back in January where it will fly out across the river. It's going to be bloody imposing on the landscape up close. More so than the current bridge.
Posted 13 years ago # -
"
M8 upgrade: Missing link to cost £28m a mile"
http://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/scotland/m8-upgrade-missing-link-to-cost-28m-a-mile-1-2201899
Posted 13 years ago # -
"M8 upgrade: Missing link to cost £28m a mile"
This missing link in the motorway network has been in the wings since 1964 - it probably cost £28M for the whole road then... so £415M is a bargain then...
Posted 13 years ago # -
but we'll happily spend billions tinkering with the ones we've already got.
I think there is a positive relationship between a reluctance to build new "grand schemes" and fixing up the infrastructure we already have. Having bad roads (and the M8/A8 is a very bad road) isn't in anyone's interest The bang-per-buck will be higher than for new build and the chance of a white elephant (other colours of large mamals are available) is low.
Posted 13 years ago #
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