The M90 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. It runs from Junction 1A of the M9 motorway, south of the Queensferry Crossing, to

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. It is the northernmost motorway in the United Kingdom. The northern point goes to the western suburbs of Perth at Broxden. A small part of the M90 (across the Friarton Bridge to the southeast of Perth) was originally numbered as the M85 motorway.

History

The first section of the M90 opened in 1964 to coincide with the opening of the

Forth Road Bridge The Forth Road Bridge is a suspension bridge in Central Belt, east central Scotland. The bridge opened in 1964 and at the time was the List of longest suspension bridge spans, longest suspension bridge in the world outside the United States. ...

and Masterton junction (Junction 2). The next section of the M90, the Crossgates – Kelty and Cowdenbeath Bypass, opened on 1 December 1969. The stretch between Kinross and the Milnathort Bypass opened in December 1971. Two sections were due to begin construction around 1973 and 1974, however, they were put on hold because of the

1973 oil crisis In October 1973, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) announced that it was implementing a total oil embargo against countries that had supported Israel at any point during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which began after Eg ...

. The section from Arlary (Junction 8 with A91) to Arngask was opened in March 1977. Arngask (Glenfarg) to Muirmont opened in 2 October 1980 connecting with the completed Friarton Bridge (which was originally numbered M85, and opened in 1976) and Perth Bypass to Broxden. The M90 was extended southwards across the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate ...

over a new

cable-stayed bridge A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which wire rope, cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or wikt:stay#Etymology 3, stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, norm ...

, the Queensferry Crossing, in 2017. A short stretch of the A90 connects the two parts of M90: the short M90 section from the M9 and the much longer M90 section that crosses the Queensferry Crossing and extends to Perth. This short length of the A90 was required at this point as motorway regulations would have prevented certain classes of traffic from using this section of road.

Details

The M90 leaves the east-west M9 near

Kirkliston Kirkliston is a village and parish to the west of Edinburgh, Scotland, historically within the county of West Lothian but now within the City of Edinburgh council area limits. It lies on high ground immediately north of a northward loop of the ...

and heads north. The motorway is interrupted by a short stretch of the A90 from where the A90 from Edinburgh joins the M90. The road continues, however the M90 during this stretch is called the A90. Once it reaches the junction to the south of the Queensferry Crossing the A90 becomes the M90 again at that point. The crossing opened as part of the motorway on 30 August 2017; the bridge is configured as a dual two lane carriageway and has a speed limit of . Previously, the M90's most substantial engineering feature was the Friarton Bridge in Perth, a tall concrete pillared structure which traverses the

River Tay The River Tay (, ; probably from the conjectured Brythonic ''Tausa'', possibly meaning 'silent one' or 'strong one' or, simply, 'flowing' David Ross, ''Scottish Place-names'', p. 209. Birlinn Ltd., Edinburgh, 2001.) is the longest river in Sc ...

. The bridge carries eastbound traffic from Broxden towards Dundee and along the Firth of Tay. The road constitutes most of the southerly part of the A90 corridor from

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 ...

, through Perth,

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

and

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

Peterhead Peterhead (; , ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is the council area's largest settlement, with a population of 19,060 at the 2022 Census for Scotland, 2022 Census. It is the largest fishing port in the United Kingdom for total landi ...

along Scotland's

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

coast. A large part of the northern section of the motorway follows the route of the former main railway line between Perth and Edinburgh via

Glenfarg Glenfarg (Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Fairg) is a village in the Ochil Hills in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Until 14 June 1964, the village had a railway station, Glenfarg railway station, on the Railways of Kinross#The Glenfarg Line, main line betw ...

Kinross Kinross (, ) is a burgh in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, around south of Perth, Scotland, Perth and around northwest of Edinburgh. It is the traditional county town of the Counties of Scotland, historic county of Kinross-shire. History Kinro ...

and the

Forth Bridge The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, west of central Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is considered a symbol of Scotland (having been voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in ...

, which was closed in 1970 despite this not being recommended by the

Beeching report Beeching is an English surname. It is either a derivative of the old English ''bece'', ''bæce'' "stream", hence "dweller by the stream" or of the old English ''bece'' "beech-tree" hence "dweller by the beech tree".''Oxford Dictionary of English Sur ...

. The Kinross and Milnathort Bypass, the section of the M90 between Fruix and Arlary, was the first motorway in Britain to be constructed using concrete pavements that were not reinforced. Both the south- and north-bound carriageways have since been overlaid by tarmac. Near to its northern terminus, the motorway splits into two branches. The construction of this three-way interchange required the removal of approximately of material, which was mostly rock. The motorway bends through in an

acute angle In Euclidean geometry, an angle can refer to a number of concepts relating to the intersection of two straight lines at a point. Formally, an angle is a figure lying in a plane formed by two rays, called the '' sides'' of the angle, sharing ...

, on a compound curve partly of and partly of in its radius. One branch heads in a north-easterly direction, flowing into the A90 at its end, numbered junction 11this branch was formerly the M85 motorway, until the A85 was renumbered as A90. The other branch forms part of the western bypass of Perth, and meets the A9 at its end, numbered junction 12.M90 J12 Broxden
sabre-roads.org.uk (retrieved 2013-01-16) The gradient is 4.57% uphill and 5.65% downhill on this section. The slip roads forming this branch merge with shared priority to allow

HGVs A large goods vehicle (LGV), or heavy goods vehicle (HGV), in the European Union (EU) is any lorry with a Gross combined weight rating, gross combination mass (GCM) of over . Sub-category N2 is used for vehicles between 3,500 kg and and N ...

(also known as Large Good Vehicles or Heavy Goods Vehicles) to maintain momentum on the steep upgrade. The Broxden to Muirmont slip road at the centre of the interchange has a radius of , necessitating maximum superelevation of 7%. The M90 forms part of the Euroroute E15 which runs from

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

Algeciras Algeciras () is a city and a municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Located in the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, near the Strait of Gibraltar, it is the largest city on the Bay of G ...

, however this is not signposted within the UK.

Issues

The M90 lacks hard shoulders for an section. In this section there are emergency lay-bys (rest areas) at intervals instead. The M90 here has another of the tightest corners on the UK motorway network, for which some traffic can be forced to slow down. The corner cuts through the northern side of the

Ochil Hills The Ochil Hills (; ) is a range of hills in Scotland north of the River Forth, Forth valley bordered by the cities of Stirling, Perth, Scotland, Perth and the towns of Alloa, Kinross, and Auchterarder . The only major roads crossing the hil ...

and has a curve radius of . A recommended minimum of was standard at the time of construction. This corner also coincides with one of the steepest sections of the motorway, for which north-bound HGVs are sign-posted to stay in a low gear and often brake continuously through the turn. South-bound HGVs are normally substantially reduced in speed as they make the incline.

Junctions

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, — , 0 , 0 , — , –

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 ...

, , - , rowspan="3", Queensferry , 2.6 , 4.1 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , 1 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , –

, bgcolor="ffdddd" , no Eastbound exit or Southbound entrance , - , 4.0 , 6.5 , 1a , – Queensferry, Newton , , - , rowspan="6",

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

, 6.7 , 10.8 , 1b Ferrytoll , – Queensferry
B981-

Inverkeithing Inverkeithing ( ; ) is a coastal town, parish and historic Royal burgh in Fife, Scotland. The town lies on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, northwest of Edinburgh city centre and south of Dunfermline. A town of ancient origin, Inverke ...

Rosyth Dockyard Rosyth Dockyard is a large Royal Navy Dockyard, naval dockyard on the Firth of Forth at Rosyth, Fife, Scotland, owned by Babcock Marine, which formerly undertook refitting of Royal Navy surface vessels and submarines. Before its privatisation i ...

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Rosyth Rosyth () is a town and Garden City in Fife, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth. Scotland's first Garden city movement, Garden City, Rosyth is part of the Greater Dunfermline Area and is located 3 miles south of Dunfermline city cen ...

, 7.7 , 12.4 , 1c , –

, Kincardine
B921- Hillend, Kirkaldy , , - , 8.2 , 13.2 , 2 , A823(M)– Rosyth,

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...

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, 10.6 , 17.1 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , 2a Crossgates , bgcolor="ffdddd" , –

Glenrothes Glenrothes ( ; ; , ) is a town situated in the heart of Fife, in east-central Scotland. It had a population of 39,277 in the 2011 census, making it the third largest settlement in Fife and the 18th most populous locality in Scotland. Glenroth ...

, bgcolor="ffdddd" , no Northbound entrance or Southbound exit , - , 11.3 , 18.2 , 3 Halbeath , – Glenrothes
- Dunfermline , , - , rowspan="2", — , 14.9 , 23.9 , 4 , B914- Kelty , , - , rowspan="8",

Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. It is bordered by Highland (council area), Highland and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus, Scotland, Angus, Dundee, and F ...

, 17.6 , 28.3 , 5 , B9097-

Crook of Devon Crook of Devon is a village within the parish of Fossoway in Kinross-shire about west of Kinross on the A977 road. Its name derives from the nearly 180-degree turn, from generally eastwards to generally westwards and resembling the shape of ...

, , - , rowspan="3",

, 20.7 , 33.3 , 6 , –

, Crook of Devon , , - , 21.9 , 35.2 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , 7 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , – Milnathort,

, bgcolor="ffdddd" , no Southbound entrance or Northbound exit , - , 24.1 , 38.8 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , 8 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , –

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 ...

, bgcolor="ffdddd" , no Northbound entrance or Southbound exit , - , rowspan="2", Bridge of Earn , 32.5 , 52.3 , 9 , – Bridge of Earn, Gateside , , - , 34.7 , 55.8 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , 10 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , - Perth , bgcolor="ffdddd" , Motorway splits into two, southbound entrance and Northbound exit only for A912 , - , rowspan="2",

, 36.0 , 58.0 , 11 , –

–

Oban Oban ( ; meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William, Highland, Fort William. During the tourist seaso ...

, On the Eastern branch after the split , - , 37.5 , 60.4 , 12 , -

–

perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, On the Western branch after the split ;Coordinate list

References

External links