M6 Carlisle - Gretna
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Scheme Outline
Upgrade of the existing A74 dual carriageway between the terminus of the M6 at Guards Mill to the Scottish Border, where the A74(M) commences, to dual three-lane plus hard shoulder motorway standard, including the replacement of a railway bridge and construction of a new parallel service road. It will close the "Cumberland Gap" where six miles of sub-standard dual carriageway connects two modern three lane motorways. There is speculation that the A74 number will be replaced with M6, and upon completion, the A74(M) and M74 in Scotland will assume the M6 number to provide a consistently numbered cross-border route. It seems far more likely that the M6/A74(M)/M74 route number sequence will remain for the forseeable future.
Timeline
- 1970
- M6 Carlisle Bypass section is opened to traffic, terminating on the A7 with the M6 flowing directly onto the existing A74.
- 1992
- Scottish Executive completes A74 upgrades in Scotland. The road is now three-lane motorway, A74(M), to the English Border. Signs on the new road, and those pointing to it, have the M74 and A74(M) numbers on removable plates, with the intention that they will be removed to reveal "M6" when the upgrade in England is complete.
- 2001
- The Highways Agency allows an offer from the Scottish Executive to upgrade the last A74 section in England to motorway to lapse.
- 2002
- The Highways Agency confirms the upgrade will go ahead.
Project Statistics
- Cost
- £174m (was £70m in 2003)
- Finance
- Central Government
- Estimated duration of works
- 2006-2008
- Length of works
- 6 miles
Progress
- 2003
- Contractor is named as Carillion. Detailed design work begins.
- 2004
- The Highways Agency's planned timetable is to publish orders in Autumn 2004, hold the public inquiry in Autumn 2005 and start work in Spring 2006.
- March 2006
- The upgrade is officially approved, following the public inquiry in the Autumn, and work is due to start shortly. The cost has rised by £104m since the contractor was named in 2003.
- August 2006
- Construction work has now started on-site, with contractors' facilities set up on the Longtown Ministry of Defence site.
- October 2006
- Site clearance is now well underway, earthworks have been started and heavy plant moved into place near structures.
- June 2007
- Bridgeworks are now well underway at the River Esk and the West Coast Mainline railway. Extensive earthworks are also underway for the widening work.
- July 2008
- Traffic is now using the new railway bridge, meaning that the old one can be decommissioned and demolished.
Southbound, the current end of the motorway formation, with a fifteen-year-old line of cones shunting traffic back onto the old dual carriageway.
Photo by Andy Taylor-Lloyd
Bridgeworks in progress over the railway line.
Photo by Andy Taylor-Lloyd
More information
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With thanks to Toby Speight, Chris McKenna, Jonathan Gray, Andy Kettles, Jim Rayner, Peter Naylor, Philip Ewan, Gerry McKenna and John McQuade for information on this page.
