| The St George's Cross interchange is where the motorway
turns through about 90 degrees at the NW corner of the Inner Ring Road.
The intersection allows access to the A82, the dual-carriageway leading out to NW Glasgow, and to local streets in the Charing Cross area. The motorway, and parts of the junction, are in a short "cut and cover" tunnel. The A804 comes in from the south with one carriageway on either side of the motorway, goes around the NW side of the motorway and finishes leading to the east underneath the elevated motorway. |
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Approaching J17 northbound. The single lane which joined at J18
stays segregated and will split off again at J17.
The yellow lights for the matrix displays are flashing, but with no other sign shown - this is most unusual, but is standard on the M8 when there's congestion over several miles. On quieter rural motorways, flashing yellow lights are used as a general warning of a hazard ahead, with a recommended speed of 30 mph, but a matrix would normally be showing the advisory speed limit. I suspect that an advisory 30 limit is a bit pointless when the average traffic speed is 10-15. |
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The marked hump in the motorway is due to yet another suburban rail line crossing underneath in a shallow tunnel. |
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Looking south, the hump for the railway is even more pronounced.
The southbound auxilliary lane only joined at J18 and leaves again at J19, so the lack of traffic is only to be expected. |
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This office building is built right over the top of the motorway.
The bridge upon which it stands was built with the motorway in the early 1970s, but the office block was only added in the mid-1990s. |
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The St George's Cross Interchange includes a short section of 'cut and cover' tunnel. |
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The split for J17 actually occurs just inside the tunnel.
Note the unusual use of a green-backed sign on a motorway. |
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The curve marks the transition from the north- south alignment between J17 and J19 to the east-west alignment. |
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The ground above the tunnel has been landscaped, but the A804 traffic
makes the green space inaccessible.
The two lanes of traffic under the camera are queuing to join the eastbound motorway. This is the main access point for much of Glasgow's west end, and it's all funnelled into a single lane on the ramp - with queues stretching back miles at peak hours Evening rush hour traffic isn't pretty... |
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... and lunchtime traffic isn't that much better.
Looking south under the office building, the motorway can be seen climbing out to the south. |
Index: M8 Glasgow Previous: M8 Glasgow - J19-18 Next: M8 Glagsow - J18-17 (Part II)
