The M80 is a

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

in Scotland's

central belt The Central Belt of Scotland is the Demographics of Scotland, area of highest population density within Scotland. Depending on the definition used, it has a population of between 2.4 and 4.2 million (the country's total was around 5.4 million in ...

, running between

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

via

Cumbernauld Cumbernauld (; ) is a large town in the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, most-populous locality in Scotl ...

and Denny and linking the M8, M73 and M9 motorways. Following completion in 2011, the motorway is long. Despite being only a two lane motorway, parts of the M80 Stepps Bypass are used by around 60,000 vehicles per day. The M80 was constructed in three sections. The first section, from the village of

Haggs Haggs is a small village in the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The village is situated south-west of Bonnybridge, north-northeast of Kilsyth and south-southwest of Denny, on the east side of the M80 motorway which separates it from Ban ...

to the M9 near Stirling, opened in 1974, followed in 1992 by the section from the M8 to the town of Stepps. The section from Stepps to Haggs was completed in September 2011, though it partially opened in February 2011 when the Moodiesburn bypass, from Stepps to the M73 at Mollinsburn, was completed; the section of the A80 from Mollinsburn to Haggs was then upgraded.

Route

M8 to Stepps (junctions 1 to 3)

This section of road was originally envisioned during the M8's construction in the 1960s, but was not realised until 1992, and is also known as the 'Stepps Bypass'. It begins at M8 junction 13 in the Glasgow suburb of Blochairn. Construction began in 1990. It runs to the north of Stepps, under the Cumbernauld Railway Line with exits for

Bishopbriggs Bishopbriggs (; ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the northern fringe of Greater Glasgow, approximately from the Glasgow city centre, city centre. Shires of Scotland, Historically in Lanarkshire, the area was once part of ...

Lenzie Lenzie () is a small affluent town by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway in the East Dunbartonshire council area and the historic county of Dunbartonshire in Scotland. It is about north-east of Glasgow city centre and south of Kirkintilloch. At ...

and

Kirkintilloch Kirkintilloch (; ; ) is a town and a Burgh of Barony (The Baron of Kirkintilloch) in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the Forth and Clyde Canal and on the south side of Strathkelvin, about northeast of central Glasgow. Historically ...

, where it continues onto the new section, completed in 2011. Railway Bridge over the M80 Motorway - geograph

Stepps to Haggs (junctions 3 to 7)

The Stepps to Haggs section was completed in September 2011, completing the M80 route. A short section of offline upgrade takes the route from the former terminus at junction 3 (Stepps), to a new junction with the M73. After this, the route follows an on-line upgrade of the former A80 through Cumbernauld. It is mainly two-lane dual carriageway.

Haggs to Pirnhall (junctions 7 to 9)

At the junction with the A803, the road rejoins the older section of the M80 (opened in 1974) and runs for about until it meets the M876 for traffic towards the Kincardine Bridge. The M80 then continues north, passing to the west of Denny and after meets a junction with the A91 (the same roundabout interchange also hosts Stirling Services) and then merges into the M9 just outside Stirling at

Bannockburn Bannockburn () is an area immediately south of the centre of Stirling in Scotland. It is part of the City of Stirling. It is named after the Bannock Burn, a stream running through the town before flowing into the River Forth. History Land in ...

M80 Stepps to Haggs completion

The M80 Stepps to Haggs Completion Project connected the two-halves of the current motorway via an online upgrade of the existing A80, passing through

and Auchenkilns, and the offline creation of new motorway from Stepps to Mollinsburn. Although various plans were considered from the 1970s to 1990s to connect the two sections of motorway, it was not until 2003 that a definitive timeline for proposing, developing and executing a completion plan was announced. Two routes were proposed for development: the so-called Kelvin Valley route, which would create a bypass to the north of the existing line of the A80, and the "online" upgrade of the existing A80 to motorway grade. In October 2005, the project was put to a public inquiry, which ended in August 2006. The Kelvin Valley route was not chosen as it would have breached the

Antonine Wall The Antonine Wall () was a turf fortification on stone foundations, built by the Romans across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth. Built some twenty years after Hadrian's Wall to the south ...

and destroyed the

Castlecary Castlecary () is a small historic village in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, directly adjacent to the border with Falkirk Council, Falkirk. It has long been associated with infrastructure, being adjacent to Red Burn, a bridged river, a Castra, Roma ...

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

; instead the online upgrade of the A80 through Cumbernauld was selected. Originally budgeted to cost £130180million, but was estimated to cost £320million, preparatory works were started in November 2008, and construction work began in January 2009. The project was completed in September 2011. The upgrade plans were set into three discrete phases. Phase one involved the creation of of road from Stepps, routing north of Muirhead, Moodiesburn and Chryston, and meeting the line of the existing A80 at Mollinsburn with the construction of a new interchange, connecting the M80 with the M73 and the western section of the A80. Phase two required the online upgrade of the A80 between Mollinsburn and Auchenkilns, with the attendant upgrade of adjoining on-slip and off-slip roads, meeting the Auchenkilns Interchange. The interchange was opened in November 2005 after the online

grade separation In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights ( grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tr ...

of the Auchenkilns Roundabout from the line of the dual carriageway created a grade separated

dumbbell interchange The dumbbell, a type of free weight, is a piece of equipment used in weight training. It is usually used individually and/or in pairs, with one in each hand. History The forerunner of the dumbbell, halteres, were used in ancient Greece as li ...

, linking the A80 (and subsequently the M80) with the A73 and B8048. Phase three saw the A80 upgraded online from Auchenkilns to the Haggs Interchange east of Cumbernauld – also seeing some junctions being upgraded, but with some being removed – completing the connection of the western M80 to the eastern M80, and connecting to the M876 and M9 motorways. The M80 crosses the Glasgow to Edinburgh via Falkirk railway line and

Forth and Clyde Canal The Forth and Clyde Canal is a canal opened in 1790, crossing central Scotland; it provided a route for the seagoing vessels of the day between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde at the narrowest part of the Scottish Lowlands. This allow ...

Junctions

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Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, , - , 1.7 , 2.7 , 2 , B765-

, , - , rowspan="6",

North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the north-east of the Glasgow City council area and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns, and villages. It also borders East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk (co ...

, rowspan="3", Moodiesburn , 3.5 , 5.6 , 3 , –

, Stepps , , - , 6.9 , 11.0 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , 4 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , Moodiesburn,

, bgcolor="ffdddd" , No Eastbound entrance or Westbound exit , - , 7.3 , 11.8 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , — , bgcolor="ffdddd" , –

Gartcosh Gartcosh () is a village in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The village lies about east of Glasgow, and about northwest of the town of Coatbridge. According to a 2012 estimate, the population of Gartcosh was 2,130 people. Expansion of the village ...

, bgcolor="ffdddd" , No Westbound entrance or Eastbound exit , - , rowspan="3",

, 9.0 , 14.5 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , 4a , bgcolor="ffdddd" , – Balloch,

, bgcolor="ffdddd" , No Westbound entrance or Eastbound exit , - , 9.4 , 15.1 , 5 , –

Carluke Carluke (; ) is a town that lies in the heart of the Lanarkshire countryside in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, northwest of Lanark and southeast of Wishaw. Carluke is largely a commuter town, with a variety of small stores and supermarkets a ...

, Airdrie , , - , 11.6 , 18.7 , 6 , –

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B816-

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Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

, rowspan="2", — , 13.3 , 21.4 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , 6a , bgcolor="ffdddd" , B816-

, Allandale , bgcolor="ffdddd" , No Southbound entrance or Northbound exit , - , 13.9 , 22.3 , 7 , –

Banknock Banknock () is a village within the Falkirk council area in Central Scotland. The village is west-southwest of Falkirk, east-northeast of Kilsyth and north-northeast of Cumbernauld. Banknock is located on the Bonny Water, north of the For ...

, , - , Denny , 15.2 , 24.4 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , 8 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , – Kincardine,

, bgcolor="ffdddd" , No Northbound entrance or Southbound exit , - ,

, — , 20.6 , 33.1 , 9 , –

Grangemouth Grangemouth (; , ) is a town in the Falkirk (council area), Falkirk council area in the central belt of Scotland. Historically part of the Counties of Scotland, county of Stirlingshire, the town lies in the Forth Valley, on the banks of the Firt ...

Dunblane Dunblane (, ) is a town in the council area of Stirling in central Scotland, and inside the historic boundaries of the county of Perthshire. It is a commuter town, with many residents making use of good transport links to much of the Central Be ...

–

Cupar Cupar ( ; ) is a town, former royal burgh and parish in Fife, Scotland. It lies between Dundee and Glenrothes. According to a 2011 population estimate, Cupar had a population around 9,000, making it the ninth-largest settlement in Fife, and the ...

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

– Denny,

, ;Coordinate list

References

External links

Glasgow Motorway Archive - The M80 Motorway

m80steppstohaggs.com (archive)
{{DEFAULTSORT:8-0080 Motorways in Scotland Transport in Glasgow Transport in North Lanarkshire Transport in Falkirk (council area) Transport in Stirling (council area)