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.