A74 road

A74 shield
A74
Route information
Length6.3 mi (10.1 km)
Major junctions
West end A8 A728 at Gorbals, Glasgow
Major intersections M74
East end A721 at Broomhouse, Glasgow
Location
CountryUnited Kingdom
Constituent countryScotland
MunicipalitiesGlasgow
Road network
A73 A75
The former A74, now B7076, with the Caledonian Railway crossing overhead via the Harthope Viaduct, on the West Coast Main Line in Dumfries and Galloway. One half of the former dual carriageway has been removed.

The A74, also known historically as the Glasgow to Carlisle Road, is a formerly major road in the United Kingdom, linking Glasgow in Scotland to Carlisle in North West England, passing through Clydesdale, Annandale and the Southern Uplands. It formed part of the longer route between Glasgow and London. A road has existed in this area since Roman Britain, and it was considered one of the most important roads in Scotland, being used as a regular mail service route.

The road received a substantial upgrade in the early 19th century under the direction of Thomas Telford, who made significant engineering improvements, including a new route over the Beattock Summit and the Metal Bridge just in England just south of the border. Engineering improvements continued throughout the century and into the 20th, and it became one of the first trunk roads in Britain in 1936. From the 1960s the road started to be replaced by a parallel motorway, largely designated the M74.[1] The last remaining section of all-purpose road on Telford's original alignment, the so-called "Cumberland Gap" between Carlisle and Metal Bridge, was replaced by a motorway in 2008 after years of delays due to a breakdown in discussions between the Westminster and Scottish governments. Currently the A74 is a suburban route of local importance that links the Gorbals and Broomhouse districts of Glasgow, via neighbourhoods in the city's East End.

The road was infamous for its allegedly high accident rate, being dubbed a "killer road", which exacerbated the need to provide an alternative motorway route. Several high-profile accidents occurred, most notoriously the debris of Pan Am Flight 103 in December 1988, which partially fell on the road near Lockerbie and caused several fatalities.

  1. ^ M74 | Glasgow to Gretna, Glasgow Motorway Archive, March 2021