M74 impact investigation

Three years of research

The impact of the M74 extension on Rutherglen communities will be revealed next month.

A three-year study is expected to report its findings next month.

Claims the M74 extension would isolate communities and damage people’s health and wellbeing will be proven true or false when the initial findings of a three-year study are revealed next month.

The Glasgow Centre for Public Health have confirmed the results of their research into the permanent effects of the M74 extension will be revealed on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the five-mile stretch of road opening this summer.

The centre, in partnership with several public agencies, launched an investigation into the road’s impact in a bid to find out if the “very serious and undesirable results” predicted for local communities in the 2004 public inquiry have come to fruition.

It has looked at Rutherglen residents’ travel behaviour, physical activity, their perceptions of their neighbourhood environment and road traffic accidents.

For two years researchers surveyed people living close to the new motorway, monitored some residents’activity patterns, completed face-to-face interviews and documented physical changes in the area.

With initial findings of the study now ready, researchers are hoping Rutherglen people will help them understand the results more fully and put their findings into the context of their daily lives.

Fiona Crawford, a consultant in public health and one of the lead researchers at the Glasgow Centre for Population Health, said she was looking forward to speaking to Rutherglen residents at the community engagement event on May 10.

She said:“We are very keen to shine a light on what the evidence is around the impact of the M74 and to share our initial findings with local people who live and work in the area, so they are involved and they can help us make sense of the findings so far.

“At the recent feedback event in Rutherglen Shopping Centre our researchers got some really helpful comments.”

The biggest change to the urban environment in Rutherglen in a generation, Fiona said the M74 study will be crucial to informing and influencing future decisionmakers on whether or not to proceed with other major projects that are similar in nature.

The initial findings on the M74 will be discussed on May 10 at The Lighthouse, 11 Mitchell Lane, Glasgow. To book a place email carol.frame@glasgow.ac.uk.

A final report will then be submitted to the National Institute for Health Research in July.