Glasgow’s M8 Bridge to Nowhere completed

Glasgow’s notorious Bridge to Nowhere over the M8 has finally been completed, despite being initially built in the 1970s.

Picture: Sustrans

The £1.3 million pedestrian crossing will be opened by Transport Minister Keith Brown, and was finished with help from the Big Lottery Fund.

The Anderston Footbridge will now connect Central Station to the Forth and Clyde Canal through Kelvingrove Park.

The bridge was initially built to connect to a retail complex which was never built and has hung over the Marriot Hotel car park ever since.

Part of National Cycle Network, it will link with new lanes, segregated from motor traffic, on the city’s Waterloo Street. At the other end it joins to bike paths connecting to Kelvingrove Park.

Transport Minister Keith Brown said: “After more than 40 years as the Bridge to Nowhere, it is brilliant news that this infamous landmark has finally been completed and will serve as a vital link in Glasgow’s network of walking and cycling routes.

“Importantly, it also provides a safe route for the community of Anderston to access the city centre and it will form part of the legacy from the Commonwealth Games.

“Road safety considerations are a barrier for many people who might be considering cycling for everyday travel, however this new route will help remove that barrier and I hope to see cycling increase in this part of Glasgow in the coming months.”

The idea was conceived in 2006 when the Big Lottery Fund ran a competition called Living Landmarks.

Sustrans won more than half the votes in a public TV poll the next year, receiving funding to build 84 projects across the UK under the heading “allowing people to get to where they want to”.