Transport Scotland considers plan for a 30mph speed limit on the M8, Scotland's busiest motorway

It's often said that the M25 around London appears like a car-park!

Fortunately for M25 road users the incident that has caused the hold up is cleared and the car-park closes. However up in Scotland, Glasgow City Council have been in discussion with Transport Scotland to look at a mandatory speed limit on the M8 which could be as low as 30mph as well as barriers to reduce air pollution.

Transport convener Angus Millar has put forward short, medium and long-term measures which could lead to the motorway being scrapped completely.

One of the main medium-term objectives is a plan to downgrade the M8 going through Glasgow to a boulevard-style road, and a garden cap at Charing Cross.

The news about progress being made on the M8 plans were revealed in a council report which will be discussed next week. It said: "Part of the M8 motorway runs through the centre of Glasgow, separating the city centre from the north and west of the city.

"This barrier creates a negative impact on the city centre as a place, in terms of community severance, pollution, noise and blight of adjacent land. The M8 reduces the number of available crossing points for active travel and these are often very car-centric.”

The report also revealed that council officers met with Transport Scotland officials on August 23 to discuss the matter, and this was a "positive" summit which included "alignment of aspirations to reduce car vehicle kilometres."

At a meeting of the city council, an amended motion that stated it was "time to reconsider whether a city centre motorway – very much a transport solution of the 1960s – is the right solution for the 2030s and beyond".