IT is hardly surprising that there is congestion on the M8, given the primitive nature of much of the signage and limited traffic control ("M8 around Glasgow Airport clogged with traffic", The Herald, September 20). The motorway is especially complicated in the Glasgow area, including slip roads in and out of the right-hand lane. Signs are predominantly old and do not make it clear whether a lane diverges at the next junction or if there is a separate slip road. That makes the motorway difficult to use for those not familiar with it and can lead to avoidable and short-notice lane changes, which are a prime cause of congestion and collisions.
Smart motorways, with variable speed limits and peak use of the hard shoulder, are increasingly common in England, but in Scotland only the M90 has a short section of variable speed. The illuminated speed limit signs on the M8 are advisory, not mandatory. Variable mandatory speed limits have been shown to be effective in keeping traffic moving. They enable a speed limit to be set that is appropriate for the level of traffic, whereas fixed limits may be too low or high for the weather, number of vehicles and other factors. With CCTV enforcement, variable speed limits result in a higher level of compliance. Although the speed limit may be lowered, journey time tends not to increase, because traffic flows more smoothly. This has the benefit of reducing emissions, because vehicles are not stopping and starting so much.
It is high time there was a thorough modernisation of motorways in the Glasgow area.
Gregory Beecroft,
4 The Shores, Skelmorlie.
YOU report on a study suggesting different travel means to the airport as it appears to be causing an increase of 16,000 cars a day on the M8. The drop in traffic at Charing Cross will be due to the M74 extension but all the traffic diverted there will just meet again at Kinning Park.
The two main jams are at the M77 on/ off slip and the Hillington on slip, as has been the case for many years. Has any study/count been done on the dedicated roadways in and out from the airport back onto the M8 to confirm the increase comes solely from there? A heavy rail line runs parallel with the M8 less than a mile from the airport, could a station not be built there and run a high-level monorail or similar from there direct into the airport?
George Dale,
21 Oakwood Drive,
Beith.
YOU highlight the growing problem of traffic congestion on the M8 around Glasgow Airport, and the need for an alternative solution to connecting the airport to the centre of Glasgow. In May 2016 you reported on a proposal by the Clyde Monorail company for a high-speed monorail system connecting the airport to the centre of Glasgow. In this proposal an express service from the airport to a terminal adjacent to Glasgow Central Station would take 12 minutes. It would also provide a mass transit system for the south-west Glasgow area, with stations at Renfrew, Braehead, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Govan Cross, Riverside Museum and the SEC. The journey time for a train stopping at these stations would be 24 minutes. Initial ridership studies have indicated that this service could attract more than five million passengers annually. The system would also include a single track spur to Paisley Gilmour Street station, operating a shuttle service with a journey time of two minutes.
Over the past two and a half years this proposal has been brought to the attention of the Scottish Government, the Glasgow and Renfrewshire councils, the Glasgow Airport management and has been discussed in detail at meetings with the Glasgow and Renfrewshire Chambers of Commerce, Peel Ports and a number of local MPs and MSPs. It has been consistently ignored or referred back to the the Glasgow Airport Access Project Team responsible for the current preferred tram/train scheme, a scheme which has been described by the Consultants Jacobs as a “poor use of public money”.
We believe that this proposal presents a way forward in solving the airport connection problem, while improving the transport infrastructure for the south-west Glasgow area, and deserves to be considered seriously by both local councils and the Scottish Government.
James Beckett,
Director Clyde Monorail Limited,
58 Sandholes Road, Brookfield, Renfrewshire.
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