M9 motorway (Scotland)

The M9 is a major motorway in Scotland. It runs from the outskirts of Edinburgh, bypassing the towns of Linlithgow, Falkirk, Grangemouth and Stirling to end at Dunblane.

M9
M9 highlighted in blue
Looking northwest from junction 1, 2012
Route information
Maintained by Transport Scotland
Length	33.0 mi (53.1 km)
Existed	1968–present
History	Opened: 1970 Completed: 1980
Major junctions
Southeast end	Newbridge
Major intersections	M8 motorway J1a → M90 motorway J7 → M876 motorway J8 → M876 motorway J9 → M80 motorway
Northwest end	Dunblane
Location
Country	United Kingdom
Constituent country	Scotland
Counties	Edinburgh, West Lothian, Falkirk, Stirling
Primary destinations	Edinburgh Airport Falkirk Stirling
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones
← M8 → M11

History

The first section was Polmont and Falkirk Bypass which opened on 28 August 1968^[1] This was followed by the Newbridge Bypass which opened on 25 November 1970,^[2] the third section Lathalllan to Muriehall (Linlithgow), which joined the two together opened on 18 December 1972.^[3]

In April 2022, work began on a new junction at Winchburgh. Winchburgh Developments contributed £40 million towards the construction cost.^[4]

Route

The road is approximately 30 miles (48 km) long, and runs in a roughly north-west direction from the M8. It meets the A8 at Newbridge – a traffic blackspot before the junction was grade separated. Its next junction is with the M90, the first part of which used to be a spur of the M9 towards the Forth Road Bridge. This spur ended at the single carriageway A8000 road 2 miles (3.2 km) short of the bridge, but was extended in September 2007 to meet the A90 at Scotstoun.^[5]

The road shares space with 1 mile (1.6 km) of the M876 en route to the Kincardine Bridge east of Stenhousemuir, at this point the motorway has 3 lanes in each direction, making it the most northerly stretch of motorway in the UK to be 3 lanes wide. At Stirling it meets the M80 (junction 9 of both motorways), taking over the main route through the Carse of Lecropt to the final roundabout at Dunblane. From there, the A9 runs all the way to Thurso. Moto services are located at the M9/M80 junction, accessed via a roundabout which allows access to all routes.^[5]

Junctions

Speed limit sign at the exit for Edinburgh (Junction 2)

M9 motorway
North-westbound exits	Junction	South-eastbound exits
Start of motorway	M8 J2	Glasgow, Livingston M8 Edinburgh M8
Edinburgh Airport A8 Broxburn, Uphall, Bathgate A89	J1 (Newbridge)	Edinburgh Airport A8 Broxburn A89
Queensferry Crossing, Perth, Dundee M90	J1a (Kirkliston)	Queensferry Crossing, Perth, Dundee M90, Aberdeen A90
Winchburgh B8020	J1b (Winchburgh)	Winchburgh B8020
No access	J2 (Old Philpstoun)	Uphall B8046 Forth Road Bridge, Kincardine Bridge A904
Linlithgow A803 Bo'ness A904	J3 (Linlithgow)	No access
Bathgate, Livingston A801 Polmont A803	J4 (Lathallan)	Bathgate, Livingston A801 Linlithgow A803, Kirkliston B9080 Polmont A803
Grangemouth, Falkirk A905	J5 (Beancross)	Grangemouth, Bo'ness A905
No access	J6 (Earlsgate)	Grangemouth, Falkirk A905
Kincardine Bridge M876	J7 (Kinnaird House)	Kincardine Bridge M876
Glasgow M876	J8 (Hill of Kinnaird)	No access
Stirling A91	J9 (Bannockburn)	Denny A872 Glasgow, Carlisle M80
Stirling services
Stirling, Callander, Crianlarich A84	J10 (Craigforth)	Stirling A84
Perth, Inverness A9 Bridge of Allan A9 Doune B824 Dunblane B8033	J11 (Keir) (Terminus)	Start of motorway

See also

• List of motorways in the United Kingdom