The ceremony to lay the first stone of the M8 motorway between Glasgow and Edinburgh took place recently in Newhouse (North Lanarkshire, Scotland). The event, hosted by the First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, marks the beginning of the project for the Ferrovial led Scottish Roads Partnership consortium which includes Cintra, Amey, the investment funds Meridiam and Scottish Widows and Ferrovial Agroman who have been contracted to complete the construction phase.
During the ceremony, Alex Salmond highlighted that this is one of the major infrastructure projects in Scotland, valued at £500 million (more than €597 million). He also pointed out that as well as improving the M8, M73 and M74, this project will create close to 1,000 jobs during its construction.
The project M8 M73 M74 Motorway Improvements was awarded to the joint venture Scottish Roads Partnership (SRP) in August 2013, while the commercial and financial parts of the contract were agreed in February 2014. The construction works began immediately and completion is expected for spring 2017.
The last part of the motorway between Glasgow and Edimburgh to be completed
This project will complete the motorway network in central Scotland between the country’s two main cities, Glasgow and Edinburgh. In order to relieve high traffic congestion and boost local development, the segment of the A8 road between Baillieston and Newhouse will become a motorway. The contract also includes improvements to Raith Interchange and expanding several segments of the M8, M73 and M74. The project involves the construction of 28.6 km of motorway. 12.4 km will be newly constructed and another 16.2 km will consist of improving the existing road.
SRP has awarded the JV led by Ferrovial Agroman the contract for the design and construction works, and Amey has been awarded the operations.
The licence term will last for 33 years from the date the contract is signed. The project will be executed on an availability payment basis, which means that the toll operating company’s payment will be based on the level of the service provided.
