A major milestone has been reached on the £500 million M8/M73/M74 Motorway Improvements Project.

Lane restrictions on the M8, M73 and M74 will be removed progressively over the coming days, allowing motorists to gain the full benefits of the new M8 motorway opened in April and the M74 Raith Underpass opened in February.

As part of the multi-million pound scheme, a range of improvements have been built over the last three years including the M8 motorway, upgrades to Raith and Shawhead junctions as well as widening of the M8, M73 and M74 with new lanes.

Announcing the opening of the new roads, Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Keith Brown said the routes will "unleash the economic benefits which lie at the heart of this project and help our economy grow in a sustainable manner".

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"We are just a few days away from seeing the last of the lane restrictions being removed from the motorway network as originally planned," he said.

"When this happens, Scotland's economy will start to see the economic benefit of this half billion pound investment in the nation's infrastructure. These huge improvements to the Central Scotland motorway network, which had been operating significantly beyond capacity, will improve connections for business and road users alike.

"This will result of better journey times during peak periods, better connectivity, journey time reliability, and road safety – improving access to facilities and employment areas."

The Scottish Roads Partnership (SRP), a consortium formed by Cintra, Amey, Meridiam and Aberdeen Asset Management, is the contractor appointed with delivering the infrastructure project.

Gabriel Valtueña-Ramos, General Manager of SRP, said: "We are proud to have delivered this major strategic infrastructure scheme for Scotland, which will bring huge benefits to the economy, as well as improved safety and reliability to road users.

"We will now focus on necessary finishing and snagging works, and local road improvements which follow on from the lifting of motorway restrictions. These will have little impact on the travelling public with the vast majority of these restrictions happening outwith peak hours.

"Our main contractors Ferrovial Agroman UK and Lagan Construction Group Joint Venture have worked tirelessly to deliver these new works, and Amey will operate and maintain the network for the next 30 years."

(LM)