Work to extend the M74 in Glasgow moved a step closer to completion today as the foundations were laid for its link up with the M8.

The project - the largest infrastructure scheme currently on the ground in Scotland - is a key part of the Scottish Government's current £2.5bn programme of investment in transport infrastructure over the next three years.

Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson said that, in addition to providing hundreds of jobs for the construction industry, completing the M74 from Carmyle to the Kingston Bridge and the M8 will return significant benefits to Scotland and its businesses by offering a quicker, safer and more efficient routes to get their goods to market, reducing congestion in and around Scotland's largest city, and capturing the long term economic benefits that the Commonwealth Games will bring in 2014.

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The Transport Minister, who was speaking at the site of the M74/M8 Westbound viaduct, where the erection of the piers of the junction is now underway, said: "Today marks the beginning of a significant phase of construction of the M74 Completion project - a symbolic moment when two of Scotland's major motorways are brought together.

"While our investment in transport infrastructure will be crucial in the sustainable growth of Scotland's economy for years to come, it is also bringing jobs to the hard-pressed construction industry now."

Chair of South Lanarkshire Council's Enterprise Resources Committee, Councillor Chris Thompson, said: "We are delighted at the progress being made by the M74 completion project."

David Welsh, Interlink M74 Joint Venture Project Director, added: "We have made significant progress on site since being awarded the M74 Completion project in March last year."

The M74 Completion, which will continue the M74 motorway from Fullarton Road Junction, near Carmyle, to the M8 motorway west of the Kingston Bridge, is anticipated to open in 2011, completing the missing link between the two motorways.

The project is a partnership between the Transport Scotland, the principal funder, and Glasgow City, South Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire Councils.

The contractor is Interlink M74 JV, a joint venture comprising Balfour Beatty, Morgan Est, Morrison Construction and Sir Robert McAlpine, four of the UK's major civil engineering contractors.

It is anticipated that the road will open in 2011 costing just under £445m plus an allowance of approximately £12m for possible treatment of mine workings along the route.

(GK/JM)