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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
National
David McLean

The 'pathetic' Glasgow motorway that's barely even one mile long

If you're an experienced driver from the Glasgow area then chances are you've ended up travelling along the infamous M898 at one point or another.

Measuring just one mile in length, the UK's highest numbered motorway also has the dubious honour of being one of the nation's shortest.

The Renfrewshire roadway, which links the M8 with the A898 at Erskine Bridge, has built up such notoriety that it has earned pride of place on the popular Pathetic Motorways website.

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But what makes the M898 so 'pathetic', we hear you ask? After all, it's pretty much an essential corridor for conveying traffic off the M8 and across the Clyde.

Well, not only is the motorway incredibly short, but it's also extremely tight and narrow with no hard shoulders on either carriageway. The single-lane slip roads off the M8 aren't much fun either.

In fact, many critics have even labelled the M898 as little more than a spur of the M8.

Pathetic Motorways explain: "If you come onto the M898 from the M8, the slip roads are all narrow and tight, so require great care, and a relatively low speed.

"By the time you straighten up, and collect the other lane, it's time for the 'End of Motorway' signs and the former site of the bridge toll booths."

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Officially opening to traffic on December 27, 1970, the M898 was laid in advance of the completion of the Erskine Bridge the following year.

Since its inception, the M898 has long been one of the shortest motorway in the UK, but is far from being in first place in that regard. That particular honour actually goes to another motorway near Glasgow - the A8 at Baillieston, which is just over 280 metres in length.

While the M898 has its fair share of critics, there are plenty motorists out there who will happily leap to the the 53-year-old motorway's defence. Some even say it's their favourite motorway in the country.

Responding to Pathetic Motorways, Steven Kelly wrote: "[The M898] does exactly what it says on the tin - gets you to the Erskine Bridge quickly. For those people coming from the north and wishing to avoid Glasgow, the Bridge and the M898 make a welcome sight.

"There are those who say it should just be a spur of the M8 - well I’m not one of them. It’s got a unique distinction (will there ever be an M1000?) and it’s one of the oldest parts of the Scottish motorway network."

Another poster, Gareth, added: "I personally think this is the best Motorway in the UK. Without it I would be very stuck and have to drive around the city to get to the A82.

"It may be pathetic but it is very very handy and those bends are nothing after you have been on an American Highway slip road. Believe me!"

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