Argyle Street is a major thoroughfare in the city centre of

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 ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. With

Buchanan Street Buchanan Street is one of the main shopping thoroughfares in Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland. It forms the central stretch of Glasgow's famous shopping district with a generally more upmarket range of shops than the neighbouring streets: ...

and

Sauchiehall Street Sauchiehall Street () is one of the main shopping streets in the city centre of Glasgow, Scotland, along with Buchanan Street and Argyle Street. Although commonly associated with the city centre, Sauchiehall Street is over in length. At its ...

, Argyle Street is one of the main shopping streets in the city centre. It is the longest street by distance in the city centre, running for .

Overview

It begins in the south-eastern corner of the city centre, at the

Trongate Trongate is one of the oldest streets in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Trongate begins at Glasgow Cross, where the steeple of the old Glasgow Tolbooth is situated, being the original centre of medieval Glasgow, and goes westward changing its n ...

, where it is

pedestrianised Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in whi ...

as far as Queen Street. This section forms the major shopping section of the road, including the St. Enoch Centre and the Argyll Arcade (a Victorian arcade principally containing jewellers). Closed to most traffic, this section forms a taxi and

bus corridor Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...

for services travelling to the east and south-east of the city. After crossing the junction with Union Street / Jamaica Street, it passes underneath the expanse of railway lines at

Glasgow Central Station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Main Concourse at Glasgow Central Station.JPG , caption = The main concourse , borough = Glasgow, City of Glasgow , country ...

(the so-called '' Hielanman's Umbrella'') before becoming a major thoroughfare ( A814) connecting the city centre to the M8 motorway and the Clydeside Expressway running alongside the River Clyde; however while traffic continues freely on the expressway, Argyle Street itself, which ran north-west through

Anderston Anderston ( sco, Anderstoun, gd, Baile Aindrea) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland. It is on the north bank of the River Clyde and forms the south western edge of the city centre. Established as a village of handloom weavers in the early 18th cent ...

until the redevelopment of the area in the 1960s, now terminates as a through road after passing under the motorway at

Anderston railway station Anderston railway station serves Glasgow's financial district of Anderston and, across the M8 motorway, the housing schemes of both Anderston West and the Blythswood Court estate of the Anderston Centre. It is also close to both the Hilton and ...

, instead existing as an address in two unconnected sections. The route then joins St. Vincent Street at

Finnieston Finnieston is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, situated on the north bank of the River Clyde roughly between the city's West End and the city centre. Finnieston is home to the SECC and SSE Hydro, where many musical concerts, sporting events a ...

Sandyford Sandyford () is a suburb of Dublin, located in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. Sandyford Business District makes up much of the suburb and encompasses 4 business parks: Sandyford Business Park, Stillorgan Business Park, Central Park and S ...

and is revived as a major thoroughfare as it heads out towards the West End of the city. It connects with

Kelvingrove Art Gallery Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is a museum and art gallery in Glasgow, Scotland. It reopened in 2006 after a three-year refurbishment and since then has been one of Scotland's most popular visitor attractions. The museum has 22 galleries, h ...

, and the road itself ends just beyond the Kelvin Hall on a bridge over the

River Kelvin The River Kelvin (Scottish Gaelic: ''Abhainn Cheilbhinn'') is a tributary of the River Clyde in northern and northeastern Glasgow, Scotland. It rises on the moor south east of the village of Banton, east of Kilsyth. At almost long, it init ...

, where it becomes Dumbarton Road entering

Partick Partick ( sco, Pairtick, Scottish Gaelic: ''Partaig'') is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch, to the east Yorkhill and Kelvingrove Park (across the River Kelvin), and ...

History

Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery - geograph

Originally known as Westergait, Argyle Street led west from

to the city's West Port, the western gate out of the city's walls. It was renamed in honour of the

Duke of Argyll Duke of Argyll ( gd, Diùc Earraghàidheil) is a title created in the peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The earls, marquesses, and dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most powerfu ...

, some time after the removal of the West Port in 1751, as a result of the expansion of the city westward. The old West Port Well stood at the beginning of the street. On both sides of the street stood courts where businesses operated: Sysdney Court, Morrison's Court, Moodies's Court, Wellington Court, Wilson's Court, Buchanan Court, Turner's Court and Pratt's Court. Major reconstruction of the area at the turn of the 1970s which saw the construction of the

Glasgow Inner Ring Road The Glasgow Inner Ring Road was a proposed ring road encircling the city centre of Glasgow, Scotland. Construction of the roads began in 1965, and half of its circumference was completed by 1972, but no subsequent construction was made and the r ...

, the demolition of Anderston Cross and its replacement with the Anderston Centre complex changed the line of Argyle Street, the eastern half now terminating underneath the Kingston Bridge approach viaduct whilst the main vehicle route over the motorway runs along St. Vincent Street, leaving a 250-metre stretch of the western half of road in Anderston isolated as a

cul de sac A dead end, also known as a cul-de-sac (, from French for 'bag-bottom'), no through road or no exit road, is a street with only one inlet or outlet. The term "dead end" is understood in all varieties of English, but the official terminology ...

References

External links

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Argyle Street
at ''Glasgow History'' {{coord, 55.85851, N, 4.25789, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Streets in Glasgow Shopping streets in Scotland Pedestrian streets in the United Kingdom History of Glasgow