M9 motorway (Scotland)

M9 motorway
The M9 at Newbridge near Edinburgh
Route information
Length:	33.0 mi (53.1 km)
Existed:	1968 – present
History:	Constructed 1968–80
Major junctions
From:	Newbridge
	M8 motorway Junction 2 & M876 motorway M80 motorway Junction 9
To:	Dunblane (A9)
Location
Primary destinations:	Edinburgh Falkirk Stirling
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones

The M9 is a major motorway in Scotland. It runs from the outskirts of Edinburgh, bypassing the towns of Linlithgow, Falkirk, Grangemouth and Stirling to end at Dunblane.

The road is approximately 30 miles (48 km) long, and runs in a roughly north-west direction from the M8. It meets the A8 at Newbridge – a traffic blackspot before the junction was grade separated. Its next junction is a motorway spur towards the Forth Road Bridge. This spur was extended in September 2007 and now meets the A90 at Scotstoun, instead of ending at the single carriageway A8000 road 2 miles (3.2 km) short of the bridge.

The road shares space with 1 mile (1.6 km) of the M876 en route to the Kincardine Bridge east of Stenhousemuir, at this point the motorway has 3 lanes in each direction, making it the most northerly stretch of motorway in the UK to be 3 lanes wide. At Stirling it meets the M80 (junction 9 of both motorways), taking over the main route through the Carse of Lecropt to the final roundabout at Dunblane. From there, the A9 runs all the way to Thurso. Moto services are located at the M9/M80 junction, accessed via a roundabout which allows access to all routes.