M80 Stepps to Haggs scheme: EIR release

Information requested

Please can you provide me average journey times from Stirling to Cumbernauld both now and before upgrading M80.

Response

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested in this part of your request.

The Scottish Government does not hold specific information on datasets for average journey times from Stirling to Cumbernauld.

Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), the Scottish Government cannot provide information which it does not have.

However, Transport Scotland assess the impact of each road improvement scheme and compare conditions after the schemes have opened with predictions made during their design and development. The main areas that are evaluated include:

• Operation
• Environment
• Safety
• Economy
• Integration
• Accessibility and social inclusion
• Cost to government
• Scheme objectives

Although we do not have specific metrics for the locations requested you may find the following information useful:

The M80 Stepps to Haggs scheme consists of 18 kilometres of new motorway, completed in August 2011, which ties in with the existing M80 at Junction 2 (Robroyston) and north of Haggs.

With regard to the M80 Stepps to Haggs, the 1-year after opening - project evaluation report is shown here:

https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/6382/m80-stepps-to-haggs-1ya-final-report-19-november-2015-19-november-2015.pdf.

The following two table (3.5 a & b) are copied below from the report for ease and represent the change in vehicle speeds between pre and post opening of the new section of motorway.

Table 3.5a: Observed AM Mean Vehicle Spot Speeds (mph)

Location	Direction	Pre Opening (2008)	Post Opening (2013)	Difference
M80 Stepps to Haggs Section
M80 J6a (Castlecary)	Northbound	59	63	4
– M80 J7 (Haggs)	Southbound	64	60	-4
M80 J6 (Old Inns) –	Northbound	60	59	-1
M80 J6a (Castlecary)	Southbound	60	62	2
M80 J5 (Auchenkilns)	Northbound	58	57	-1
– M80 J6 (Old Inns)	Southbound	64	61	-3
M73 Merge –	Northbound	60	61	1
M80 J4a (Low Wood)	Southbound	61	65	4
M80 J3 (Hornshill) –	Northbound	-	65	-
M80 J4 (Mollinsburn)	Southbound	-	66	-
Moodiesburn Bypass
A80 Cumbernauld	Northbound	36	41	5
Road at Moodiesburn	Southbound	37	41	4
M80 South of Scheme Extents
M80 J2 (Robroyston) -	Northbound	50	62	12
M80 J3 (Hornshill)	Southbound	59	56	-3
M80 J1 (Provan) -	Northbound	60	56	-4
M80 J2 (Robroyston)	Southbound	58	42	-16

Table 3.5b: Observed PM Mean Vehicle Spot Speeds (mph)

Location	Direction	Pre Opening (2008)	Post Opening (2013)	Difference
M80 Stepps to Haggs Section
M80 J6a (Castlecary)	Northbound	60	56	-4
– M80 J7 (Haggs)	Southbound	59	60	1
M80 J6 (Old Inns) –	Northbound	61	61	0
M80 J6a (Castlecary)	Southbound	52	57	5
M80 J5 (Auchenkilns)	Northbound	59	58	-1
– M80 J6 (Old Inns)	Southbound	60	57	-3
M73 Merge –	Northbound	57	60	3
M80 J4a (Low Wood)	Southbound	57	64	7
M80 J3 (Hornshill) –	Northbound	-	64	-
M80 J4 (Mollinsburn)	Southbound	-	67	-
Moodiesburn Bypass
A80 Cumbernauld	Northbound	27	40	13
Road at Moodiesburn	Southbound	39	41	2
M80 South of Scheme Extents
M80 J2 (Robroyston) -	Northbound	46	59	13
M80 J3 (Hornshill)	Southbound	61	60	-1
M80 J1 (Provan) -	Northbound	57	54	-3
M80 J2 (Robroyston)	Southbound	57	40	-7

Based on these figures the scheme has improved journey times and reliability, with a 30-40% reduction in journey times during peak travel, equating to a reduction of approximately 15 minutes for people using the route, For further details on the scheme itself these can be found here:

https://www.transport.gov.scot/projects/m80-stepps-to-haggs/m80-stepps-to-haggs/

Transport Scotland and the contractor will continue to monitor the operation of the route, and any notable operational issues arising would be included in subsequent evaluations as part of the on-going evaluation programme of the M80.

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