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 i ...

in Scotland's

central belt The Central Belt of Scotland is the Demography 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 ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

via

Cumbernauld Cumbernauld (; gd, Comar nan Allt, meeting of the streams) is a large town in the historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth most-populous locality in Scotland and the most populated t ...

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 Bank ...

to the M9 near Stirling, opened in 1974, followed in 1992 by the section from the M8 to the small town of Stepps. The section from Stepps to Haggs was completed in September 2011, though it partially opened in February 2011 when the

Moodiesburn Moodiesburn is a village in Scotland, located northeast of Glasgow, in the North Lanarkshire council area. It is situated on the north side of the A80 road and between the M73 and M80 motorways which converge nearby. Moodiesburn does not di ...

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, starting with the demolition of the notorious Blackhill housing estate which stood in the path of the motorway. It runs to the north of Stepps, under the Cumbernauld Railway Line with exits for Bishopbriggs,

Lenzie Lenzie () is an affluent town by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway in the East Dunbartonshire council area of Scotland. It is about north-east of Glasgow city centre and south of Kirkintilloch. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 8,873. ...

and Kirkintilloch, 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 2-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 Kincardine Bridge is a road bridge crossing the Firth of Forth from Falkirk council area to Kincardine, Fife, Scotland. History The bridge was constructed between 1932 and 1936, to a design by Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners, Consulting En ...

. 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 ( Scottish Gaelic ''Allt a' Bhonnaich'') 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 i ...

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 and destroyed the

Castlecary Castlecary () is a small historic village in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, directly adjacent to the border with Falkirk. It has long been associated with infrastructure, being adjacent to a bridged river, a Roman fort and roads, a nationwide can ...

Roman

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

; instead the online upgrade of the A80 through Cumbernauld was selected. Originally budgeted to cost £130m to £180m, but was estimated to cost £320m, 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,

and

Chryston Chryston is a village in North Lanarkshire, around east of Glasgow, in Scotland. It lies north of its sister village, Muirhead, which is on the A80. The village has around double Muirhead's population, although the exact boundary between the ...

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

dumbbell interchange A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a controlled-access highway crosses a minor road. Design The freeway itself is grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge. Approaching the i ...

, 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 allowe ...

Junctions

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, rowspan="2",

, 0 , 0 , 1 , –

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

, , - , 1.7 , 2.7 , 2 , B765- Bishopbriggs , , - , rowspan="6",

North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire ( sco, North Lanrikshire; gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Tuath) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It als ...

, rowspan="3",

, 3.5 , 5.6 , 3 , – Kirkintilloch, Stepps , , - , 6.9 , 11.0 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , 4 , bgcolor="ffdddd" ,

, bgcolor="ffdddd" , No Eastbound entrance or Westbound exit , - , 7.3 , 11.8 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , — , bgcolor="ffdddd" , – Gartcosh , 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, Airdrie , , - , 11.6 , 18.7 , 6 , –

,
B816-

, , - , rowspan="3", Falkirk , 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 ( gd, Baile nan Cnoc) 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, ...

, , - , Denny , 15.2 , 24.4 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , 8 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , – Kincardine, Falkirk , bgcolor="ffdddd" , No Northbound entrance or Southbound exit , - ,

, — , 20.6 , 33.1 , 9 , – Grangemouth,

Dunblane Dunblane (, gd, Dùn Bhlàthain) is a small 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 ...

–

Cupar Cupar ( ; gd, Cùbar) 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 Fi ...

, St Andrews
– 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)