Plans for the new East Airdrie Link Road have taken a significant step forward with the approval of the Outline Business Case by Glasgow City Region City Deal Cabinet.
The 10km single carriageway road will run from north of the M8, at the A723/Newhouse Interchange, to the A73 north of Stand/Riggend with associated active travel links.
It will connect communities from Calderbank and Chapelhall to the south and Riggend to the north, to local facilities and employment opportunities.
The East Airdrie Link Road (EALR) will also provide the primary access to the planned Monklands Replacement Hospital at Wester Moffat, Airdrie.
We have developed a preferred route for the EALR, following initial site investigations, and consultants have been appointed to produce detailed plans. The council is consulting with landowners, residents and businesses throughout the process.
The new road is supported by £72.8m of funding from the UK and Scottish governments through Glasgow City Region City Deal and from the council’s capital programme.
Approval of the Outline Business Case by the Glasgow City Region City Deal Cabinet on 6 August allows the council to progress with this detailed stage of development and access the next stage of funding.
“The East Airdrie Link Road and the wider Pan Lanarkshire transport corridor will create a strategic north/south link across North Lanarkshire, opening up new opportunities for housing, business and industry and improving access to employment and training for our residents,” said Council Leader Jim Logue.
“Active travel links and the improved road network will improve connectivity between local communities, as well as across North Lanarkshire and the Glasgow City Region. The improved transport network will also remove barriers to economic growth and the regeneration of Ravenscraig, one of the largest areas of vacant and derelict in central Scotland, and other key development sites.”
The costs of the EALR project have increased from an estimated £85 million when the project was first planned in 2014/15 to £185 million as a result of inflation and rising road construction costs, further design work required after detailed ground investigations, the scale of bridges and structures required, and the realignment of the road to accommodate the new hospital.
The additional cost will be covered by £50 million from the Ravenscraig Access Infrastructure (RAI) North project which has been removed from the City Deal programme, and from the current and future council Strategic Capital Investment Programme
At the meeting on 6 August, Glasgow City Region City Deal Cabinet agreed to remove the RAI North project from the programme following a review of all City Deal projects to ensure they are achievable and can be delivered within the City Deal budgets.
RAI North was designed to upgrade 3km of the A723 between Ravenscraig and Holytown to dual carriageway and create a shared footpath/cycleway. The project will be reviewed as funding becomes available in future. The council will consider plans for active travel facilities along the A723 and present proposals to the Enterprise and Fair Work Committee at a later date.
Progress continues on RAI South, which will see a new roundabout at the junction of Airbles Road and Windmillhill Street in Motherwell and a road link with pedestrian and cycle paths into the Ravenscraig site. A bridge was built last year to allow the road to go under the West Coast Main Line railway, and demolition will start this month on a number of buildings to create space for the project.