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Factfile - Images - Timeline - Exit List
The M80 takes Glasgow traffic north. It gets traffic off the M8, north-east to Cumbernauld, then splits. The M80 proper taking traffic to the M9, which in turn leads to Perth, Aberdeen and the Highlands. The other fork, the M876, takes traffic over the Kincardine Bridge to Fife and the M90 towards Dundee and points north-east.
The M80 is still, sadly, far from finished. About 12 miles of the 20 are still only just on the way to being built. The Scottish Executive has announced it will be completing the motorway route, mostly as an on-line upgrade of the existing route. In the meantime the flat roundabout with the A73 has been grade-separated anyway, because the traffic problems there were so awful it couldn't wait.
Because of all this, the M80 doesn't actually meet the M73 yet - the M73 currently terminates on the A80 section instead.
Factfile
| Start | Glasgow (M8) |
| Finish | Stirling (M9) |
| Passes | Cumbernauld |
| Length | 25 miles |
| Terminates | (M73), M876 |
| Spurs | None |
| Meets | None |
Images
Views of the M80 from on and off the road. If you have a photo to contribute, contact me.
Exiting the M8, the M80 opens out. It's threaded through an open corridor in the outskirts of Glasgow. Up ahead, that looks like a big bridge...
Photo by Steven Jukes
Mind your head! The angle this bridge is built at and the curvature of the road give it a false perspective - from here it looks like the white van to the right has only just squeezed under. It's actually much further away: look for the shadow across the road further along and the scale of the railings along the bridge itself.
Photo by Steven Jukes
Approaching the end of the Stepps Bypass section, the road should continue ahead one day, but for now performs a handbrake turn to the right to end on the parallel A80. Notice the empty southbound carriageway to our right here.
Photo by Steven Jukes
Having passed through Cumbernauld, we approach the northern section of the M80. The exit for the A803 splits off, and instantly a third lane opens up to our right.
Photo by Steven Jukes
Some old and tired looking signs herald the M876's starting point. Notice the unusual arrows below the signs - not the usual wide lane designation ones, but circular signs more commonly found on one-way streets and roundabouts.
Photo by Steven Jukes
The final exit, towards Stirling and the Services, is signposted as the end of the M80. From here the only destinations are the A91 and the M9.
Photo by Steven Jukes
Construction Timeline
When the various parts of the M80 were built, listed in chronological order.
| Open | Jct | Section |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | J4-M9 | Haggs - Pirnhall |
| 1992 | M8-J3 | Stepps Bypass |
Exit List
All the junctions and destinations along the route.
| Junction | Southbound | Northbound | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glasgow Greenock M8  |
M8 |
SOUTH |
M8 |
N/A   |
|||||
| Blochairn Parkhead    |
||||||||||
2 miles, 2 lanes  |
 2 miles, 2 lanes |
|||||||||
| 2 | Springburn Lumloch (B765) |
 |
(B765) | Springburn Lumloch (B765)  |
||||||
| 3 miles, 2 lanes |
2 miles, 2 lanes |
|||||||||
| 3 |  |
 |
(B757) | Kirkintilloch Auchinloch B757 |
||||||
| 1 mile, 2
lanes |
||||||||||
N/A |
A80 |
 A80 |
Stirling Cumbernauld A80 (M80) |
|||||||
| Stepps Riddrie A80    |
||||||||||
| M80 becomes A80 for 12 miles | ||||||||||
| 4 | Cumbernauld Glasgow Carlisle A80 (M73 ) |
A803
|
A80 |
A803
|
N/A |
|||||
| Haggs Kilsyth A803 |
||||||||||
| 6 miles, 3 lanes |
1 mile, 3 lanes |
|||||||||
| 5 |  |
M876 |  |
Kincardine Bridge Stenhousemuir Falkirk M876  |
||||||
| 2 lanes |
5 miles, 2 lanes |
|||||||||
| (M9 J9) | (M9 S) (A91) (A872) |
|
Stirling (A91) |
|||||||
| 0 miles, 2 lanes |
||||||||||
| (M9 J9) | N/A |
M9 |
 M9 NORTH |
Perth Inverness M9 |
||||||
With thanks to Fraser for information in this section.
