Nine months of roadworks to hit Glasgow’s M8 at Junction 26
£10m bridge refurbishment and resurfacing on Scotland’s busiest motorway to run from September to May with speed restrictions and lane closures
Drivers on Scotland’s busiest road face up to nine months of disruption as a £10 million programme of works on Junction 26 of the M8 begins on Monday.
The works will focus on upgrading and resurfacing four bridges — Hillington Interchange East, Hillington Interchange West, Hillington Rail and Hillington Slip — that were built in 1968 and have deteriorating surfaces and structural elements. The bridges carry the M8 over local roads and a railway; Transport Scotland and contractor Amey say repeated emergency repairs have made a full resurfacing and a programme of repairs necessary. Two lanes in each direction will be maintained throughout the works and a short break is planned over the festive period, but disruption is expected to run until 10 May next year.
Work is split into five phases running from 8 September until 10 May. The first phase, which runs until 1 October, will establish a contraflow on the M8 mainline at Junction 26, close Lane Two and Lane Three of the eastbound carriageway and introduce narrow running lanes. The eastbound on-slip road will be closed and traffic diverted. During daytime hours, drivers north of Hillington Interchange bound for Renfrew and Braehead should follow the interchange to King's Inch Road and Old Govan Road, joining the M8 eastbound at the Junction 25A (Braehead) on-slip. After 19:00 drivers are asked to join the M8 eastbound via the Junction 24 (Helen Street Interchange) on-slip. Traffic wishing to use Junction 26 from the south will be directed to use the Junction 24 on-slip.
Phase 2 starts on 2 October and runs until 14 December and will close lanes 1 and 2 eastbound, with the eastbound on-slip remaining closed. Phase 3 begins on 15 December and continues to 8 February, primarily for barrier upgrades; Lane 3 will be closed in both directions during that period, with a planned break from 18 December until 5 January. Phase 4 runs from 9 February to 2 March and will see Lanes 2 and 3 closed westbound; the westbound off-slip will be closed at night and for one weekend, with the contractor warning of "significant delays". The final phase runs from 3 March to 10 May and will include a night-time westbound off-slip closure and a contraflow in westbound Lanes 1 and 2.
Temporary average speed cameras and a 40 mph limit will be in place in both directions for the duration of the works. Amey said the restrictions are required to protect workers and the travelling public. The programme includes bridge waterproofing, concrete repairs, resurfacing, expansion joint replacement, edge beam strengthening and barrier upgrades.
Using traffic modelling, Amey estimated that the first phase could add up to six minutes to journeys off-peak and as much as 15 minutes during peak times. It said phases 4 and 5, which involve greater work on westbound lanes, are likely to bring more substantial delays. A spokesman for the contractor said the proactive maintenance is intended to reduce the risk of deterioration that could lead to more disruptive unplanned closures in future and to protect a vital part of Scotland’s trunk road network that supports communities, road users and businesses.
The Junction 26 programme is one of several ongoing maintenance projects on the M8. Temporary repairs to the Woodside Viaduct near Charing Cross have been under way for four years and are now planned to continue until the second half of 2027, later than an earlier expectation of late 2023. Work on footbridges at Kirkwood Street and Cornwall Street is scheduled to run until December, resurfacing around Charing Cross continues through September, and masonry repairs at Junction 15 are expected to finish in the coming week.
Transport Scotland and Amey said motorists should allow additional journey time, follow diversion routes and signage, and obey temporary speed limits while works are carried out. The agencies emphasised that maintaining the route is intended to safeguard long-term reliability and reduce the likelihood of reactive, disruptive closures to the region’s busiest motorway.