The M8 was Glasgow' s most ambitious engineering project since the introduction of the railways, cutting the city in two and providing a vital link between east and west, but parts of it never came to fruition.
The history of the M8 can be traced back to the Bruce Report of 1945 which envisaged a rationally-planned, modern utopia encircled by a ring of dual carriageways and arterial roads splaying outwards from all four corners of the inner city.
Much of the report - including the wholesale destruction of Glasgow city centre - was ultimately shelved, but subsequent planning dossiers brought the road proposals back to life.
Here we take a look at one particular part of the M8 that was planned, and in some areas started, but never finished – the inner ring road.
A version of this article first appeared in our sister title, The Scotsman.
1. M8 Kingston Bridge (May 1970)
Constructed between 1965-72, the 2.7-mile-long route, which we now classify as part of the M8, traverses the northern districts of Townhead and St George’s Cross before darting south, carving a deep ravine through Charing Cross and Anderston then rising once more to cross the Clyde via the Kingston Bridge. The route forms what had been intended to be the Inner Ring Road’s north and west flanks. Photo: Glasgow Motorway Archive
2. Ring road sketch
The ring road's completion would have resulted in untold destruction throughout Glasgow’s High Street and Merchant City, threatening historic landmarks such as Glasgow Cathedral, Provand’s Lordship and the Tolbooth Steeple. It did not go ahead, and the two remaining flanks of Glasgow’s Inner Ring Road, as well as a proposed motorway extension through Maryhill, were abandoned at the start of the 1980s following significant public opposition to the continuation of the works. Photo: Glasgow Motorway Archive
3. Inner ring road signage
The 'Inner Ring Road' at Port Dundas pictured in 1972. Signage displaying the Ring Road was still present well into the 1990s. Photo: Stuart Baird www.glasgows-motorways.co.uk.jpg
4. The Charing Cross podium pictured in March 1983
The abandonment of the remainder of the Inner Ring Road and its various connections has left a number of “visible loose-ends” including the large podium north of the Clyde at Charing Cross, which many mistook for an unused bridge. It stood empty until the 1990s when it was finally furbished with an office block as intended. Photo: TSPL