M74 motorway
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| Route information | |
Part of  E05
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| Length: | 40 mi (60 km) |
| Existed: | 1966 – present |
| History: | Constructed 1966–2011 |
| Major junctions | |
| North end: |
Tradeston 55°51′14″N 4°16′13″W / 55.85383°N 4.270399°W |
  J1 → M8 motorway   J4 → M73 motorway  .svg){kind=small} J13 → A74(M) motorway |
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| South end: |
Abington 55°30′24″N 3°41′51″W / 55.5067°N 3.6974°W |
| Location | |
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Primary destinations: |
Glasgow, Hamilton, East Kilbride |
| Road network | |
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_motorway_(Great_Britain)_map.svg) |
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| Route information | |
| Part of E05
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| Length: | 45 mi (72 km) |
| Existed: | 1991 – present |
| History: | Constructed 1991–1999 |
| Major junctions | |
| From: |
Abington (See M74 above.) |
 J13 → M74 motorway   J22 → M6 motorway |
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| To: |
Longtown 54°59′51″N 3°03′22″W / 54.9975°N 3.0562°W |
| Location | |
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Primary destinations: |
Dumfries, Carlisle |
| Road network | |
The A74(M) and M74 form a major motorway in the United Kingdom, mainly in Scotland, with a short section extending over the border into England. Following an extension opened on 28 June 2011, they connect the M8 motorway west of Glasgow to the English border at Gretna, creating a route from the south to the west of the city. In conjunction with the M6 motorway, they form one of the two major cross-border routes between Scotland and England. They are part of the unsigned international E-road network E05. Although the entire route is usually referred to as the M74, more than half of its length is officially the A74(M); see naming confusion below.
From its junction with the M8 just south of the Kingston Bridge, the newest section passes through the Glasgow districts of Govanhill, Polmadie, Oatlands and parts of the nearby towns of Rutherglen and Cambuslang on an elevated embankment, with junctions at Kingston, Polmadie Road, Cambuslang and Tollcross before connecting to the pre-existing M74. It then runs in a roughly south-easterly direction past the Clyde Valley towns of Bothwell, Hamilton and Motherwell before meeting the cross-country A71 at Larkhall. It passes west of Lanark and beyond Abington, where it changes into the A74(M) and then goes to Moffat and Lockerbie, before making an end-on connection with the M6, near Longtown.
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Wikipedia