MOTORWAY MISERY
16,000 extra vehicles clogging M8 ... and more on way
THOUSANDS more vehicles are clogging up the M8 around Glasgow Airport leading to longer delays, a confidential report has revealed.
AN increase in traffic is causing more congestion on the M8 around Glasgow Airport, according to a confidential report.
Drivers trying to get to the airport on the only method of transport available are facing longer delays, especially at peak times.
The Evening Times has seen the study of traffic volume on the motorway, which shows an extra 16,000 vehicles a day are using the stretch of the road running west from Glasgow city centre.
Business leaders and Glasgow Airport officials said this confirms what they had been witnessing and was further evidence that alternative methods of reaching the Airport are needed.
The opening of the M74 extension through the southeast of the city to the Kingston Bridge has led to more traffic from junction 22 at Kinning Park to junction 29 just after Glasgow Airport.
While the new road has been successful in taking some traffic away from the M8 in the east of the city and through the once-notorious bottleneck at Charing Cross, it has had the consequence of adding to problems in the west.
The report shows the extra traffic has led to queues of cars and lorries and longer journey times to and from the city centre to the Airport and to the Renfrewshire region.
Using monitoring equipment on the motorway and traffic cameras, Jacobs tracked traffic volume and flow between the interchange with the M73, east of Glasgow through to St James interchange at Paisley, just after the Airport slip road, and split it into five sub-sections.
The section with the biggest increase in congestion was the stretch to the Airport.
The report for Transport Scotland, carried out by transport consultants Jacobs, stated: “There has been a constant and relatively significant increase in traffic levels between junction 22 and junction 29 from 2011 to 2017, which again is driven by the M74 Extension with the traffic attracted on to the M74 route re-joining the M8 along this section.
“This has led to a 22% increase in traffic levels on this section between 2008 and 2017, and is consistent with the equivalent decrease observed on the Glasgow East sub-section. This is likely to have had a noticeable impact on congestion.”
The data in the report shows that in the evening peak-time vehicle speeds are reduced, particularly around junction 26 to Hillington and Braehead.
The Jacobs report said it provided some evidence that average speeds have gradually reduced between 2014 and 2017 between 4pm and 7pm.
‘‘ Rail is the most obvious route forward
The report concluded: “The data indicates that congestion has eased to the east where there has been a reduction in traffic, but increased to the west where traffic flow and journey times have shown increases.”
Business leaders said the analysis confirms what they had experienced in recent years.
Stuart Patrick, chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, said: “We had gradually noticed increasing issues at peak times. We also had feedback from our colleagues in Renfrewshire that the overall sense of congestion was increasing and having an impact on surrounding streets.
“This report seems to show that is, in fact, the case.
“The solution can’t be the re-allocation of road space or more roads. Rail is the most
obvious route forward. This adds lustre to the argument that we need to reduce congestion to the airport.”
Mr Patrick said the report shows the success of the M74 project but forecasts for increased economic growth in Glasgow mean action on the M8 congestion around the airport is clearly needed.
He added: “The M74 has had a positive impact at the other end of the city and clearly that investment has paid off. But we now have a challenge in the west and there is not an obvious road or motorway scheme that will address it.”
Glasgow Airport has been calling for action to address congestion.
Plans for a Glasgow Airport Access Project are included in the Glasgow City Deal but have stalled following concerns over the impact on the wider rail network. A spokesman for Glasgow Airport said: “This confirms what we have known for some time and what we have experienced and what people travelling to the airport and the wider Renfrewshire area for several years have told us. There needs to be a solution to address this.”
No-one at Transport Scotland was available to comment on the report.