The A74 was a major trunk road in the United Kingdom, linking Glasgow in Scotland to Carlisle in the North West of England. The road has been largely replaced by the M74 and A74(M) motorways and now only two short stubs remain. The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation). ... Motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (English: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within Europe Scotlands location within the United Kingdom Languages English, Gaelic, Scots Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... Carlisle is a city in the extreme northwest of England, some 16 km from the border with Scotland. ... North West England is one of the regions of England. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the United Kingdom (light green), with the Republic of Ireland (blue) to its west Languages English Capital London Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population –mid-2004... The M74 motorway is a major motorway in Scotland, running from the southern outskirts of Glasgow to the Anglo-Scottish border at Gretna. ...

From the 1960s onward, the A74 underwent a process of gradual conversion to motorway standard. The original section of the M74 ran from Uddingston in the south eastern outskirts of Glasgow to Motherwell in the Clyde Valley. The motorway section now extends to Gretna at the Anglo-Scottish border, and was extended northwards in 1992 as far as the Glasgow suburb of Tollcross. The parallel road which was the A74 has been downgraded in two sections as the B7076 and B7078. Uddingston is a village in Lanarkshire, Scotland, on the north side of the River Clyde, approximately 10 miles to the south of Glasgow and is home to Tunnocks. ... Brandon Parade, the main shopping street in Motherwell, on a typical Saturday Motherwell (Tobar na Màthar in Gaelic) is a large burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, between Glasgow and Edinburgh. ... Gretna Green is a small town in the south of Scotland, on the border with England. ... Tollcross is a section of Glasgow, Scotland, north of the River Clyde. ...

Glaswegian section

The small remnant of the original A74 remains in the south eastern suburbs of Glasgow, between the M74's current northern terminus at Tollcross and the city centre. With the construction of the M74 extension into the city centre by 2010, this will likely result in a downgrading of this section.

The "Cumberland Gap"

The Cumberland Gap is the six miles of A74 between the northern terminus of the M6 at Carlisle, and the south end of the A74(M) at the Scottish border. This article concerns the M6 motorway in England. ... Carlisle is a city in the extreme northwest of England, some 16 km from the border with Scotland. ...

When the M6 was being built, the A74 already existed as a dual carriageway between Carlisle and Glasgow. It was decided therefore rather than build the M6 all the way to the border with Scotland, that it would terminate on the A74, six miles short of the Scottish border. This early German Autobahn uses a dual carriageway design. ...

When the A74 in Scotland was upgraded to three lane motorway standard, however it was only built as far as the border. This left a remnant of the old A74 as a six mile stretch of two lane dual carriageway between two long three lane motorways. Motorway mark in Europe. ... This early German Autobahn uses a dual carriageway design. ... Motorway mark in Europe. ...

After years of political battles between the English Highways Agency and the Scottish Executive, followed by a lengthy design and public enquiry phase, approval to build a 6 mile long extension to the M6 was granted in March 2006. This will be a mixture of new road and on-line upgrade of the existing A74. It is expected that by 2009, the M6 will terminate at Gretna with segments of the original A74 road being converted to an all-purpose road running alongside. However it has not yet been confirmed if the A74(M) will be renamed M6 as originally planned in the 1990s - an issue which will surely resurface given that the original A74(M) upgrade was equipped with road signs which could be easily converted to show "M6". The Highways Agency is an executive agency, part of the Department for Transport, in the United Kingdom. ... The Executives logo, shown with English and Scottish Gaelic caption The term Scottish Executive is used in two different, but closely-related senses: to denote the executive arm of Scotlands national legislature (i. ...

Fatal accident

In December 2004, a serious accident took place on this stretch of road, severing one of the main links between England and Scotland for 29 hours. Local newspaper coverage can be found at Cumberland News.

External links

• "Cumberland Gap" Press Release, Highways Agency.
• "Cumberland Gap" Chris's British Road Directory.