North Lanarkshire has one of the fastest growing economies in Scotland, the most ambitious council housebuilding programme in the country, record levels of infrastructure investment, and dozens of new schools.
With a skilled workforce, flexible land and premises, an ambitious digital infrastructure and excellent transport links, North Lanarkshire provides solid foundations for a range of businesses to locate, invest and grow across a great mix of industry sizes and sectors.
Through The Place, The Vision, North Lanarkshire Council is delivering an ambitious programme of economic regeneration and growth including £3.5 billion of investment, creating 12,000 jobs and generating an additional £1 billion for the local economy.
City Deal Projects
A8 / M8 Corridor Access Improvements
The A8 / M8 Corridor Access Improvements Programme will deliver a number of sub-projects aiming to enhance connectivity and improve employment and business access to key strategic sites from Newhouse to Bargeddie. It will deliver a new road access junction and strategic active travel infrastructure along the A8/M8 corridor.
The programme consists of two sub-projects:
The Orchard Farm Roundabout sub-project will provide a new roundabout junction on the A8 at Orchard Farm, to unlock access to strategic economic investment locations and business / industrial development sites to the north and south of the A8. It has been recognised by key stakeholders as vital for securing commercial development interest and associated growth potential in these sites.
The Eurocentral Access Infrastructure sub-project will provide 10km of new active travel routes along the A8 / M8 corridor, linking local communities with key employment destinations such as Maxim, Eurocentral and Newhouse. It will also create links from Whifflet train station and Bellshill train station through local communities.
Gartcosh / Glenboig Community Growth Area
The Gartcosh / Glenboig Community Growth Area Programme is an enabling programme designed to support the development of the Community Growth Area (CGA) located to the north west of Coatbridge and south east of the villages of Chryston and Muirhead, which has been identified for planned urban expansion in order to help accommodate the demand for new housing and associated facilities.
The City Deal programme includes the construction of a new link road from Glenboig to Gartcosh Business Park, and the upgrade of existing road infrastructure, to provide a link road of ‘Local Distributor’ road standard (designed for higher traffic than residential (general access) roads) between Glenboig and Junction 2A of the M73 Motorway. The investment in the link road provides the infrastructure to support delivery of the overall CGA, which forms part of the 2022 North Lanarkshire Local Development Plan (LDP).
The programme consists of two sub-projects: Part 1 and Part 2.
Pan Lanarkshire Orbital Transport Corridor
The Pan Lanarkshire Orbital Transport Corridor Programme is a large-scale project which will create new and upgraded transport infrastructure in North Lanarkshire, supporting the economic regeneration of the area. It aims to link the M74 in the south with the M80 in the north. The project will improve orbital and Pan-Lanarkshire connections across Glasgow City Region and release opportunities for commercial and housing development in Ravenscraig.
The programme is made up of five sub-projects
The Ravenscraig Infrastructure Access (RIA) sub-project aims to support the regeneration of Ravenscraig and open up new opportunities for development across North Lanarkshire. It provides new road and active travel routes, and improvements to existing routes, to improve connections from Ravenscraig north to the M8, and to create new connections south to Motherwell and the M74. The infrastructure works will create the road and public transport network required to support the development of a further 3,300 homes and 160,000sqm of civic/community, office, retail and employment development.
The RIA is made up of three sub-projects: West Coast Main Line (WCML) crossing, New Dual Carriageway Ravenscraig to Motherwell, and Dualling of Airbles Road and Junction Improvements.
The East Airdrie Link Road sub-project will create a new single-carriageway road link between Newhouse (north of the M8) and Stand / Riggend (A73), providing a direct north-south route through North Lanarkshire and to the wider City Region, as well as providing new active travel (walking, cycling and wheeling) routes in the Airdrie area. It will improve journey times and transport reliability; improve connections between residential areas, town centres, business centres, employment and education; and improve air quality by relieving congestion.
The Motherwell Town Centre Interchange sub-project creates a new transport hub for Motherwell, improving facilities and transport links to Motherwell Rail Station and increasing the role of the station as a key transport interchange. The project consists of upgrading and reconfiguring the infrastructure around the Rail Station (Muir Street and the station forecourt) to improve traffic congestion in the town centre, improve the local environment, and improve accessibility to public transport. The design was developed in consultation with ScotRail to complement works by ScotRail to upgrade Motherwell Station.