The Scottish Roads Partnership (SRP) has been awarded a £500 million deal to construct the M8 and make improvements to the M73 and M74 by Transport Scotland.
The contract includes the operation and maintenance of the project roads over 30 years. The SRP is a consortium employing a construction joint venture of Ferrovial Agroman and Lagan.
The deal represents the first roads infrastructure scheme and the largest contract to be awarded as part of the Scottish government’s £2.5 billion non-profit distributing (NPD) model, helping to deliver economies of scale and efficiencies for the public purse.
Transport Minister, Keith Brown, said: “This marks a significant milestone in the timeline of what is a major transport infrastructure project for Scotland. Not only will these works vastly improve connectivity across Scotland’s central belt, the project will deliver far reaching benefits to the wider Scottish economy.
“We’ll see the creation of hundreds of new jobs which will leave a lasting legacy of a highly-skilled workforce, bolstering Scotland’s construction industry. In addition, the project will act as a catalyst to attract significant inward investment and stimulate continued growth of our business communities.”
William James Haughey, Chairman of SRP, added: “We look forward to using our infrastructure design, build, financing and operations expertise to deliver these important infrastructure improvements, whilst ensuring we provide best value, bringing economic growth and employment to Scotland, as well as benefits to road users.”
Funding for the project will come from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and a group of investors managed by Allianz Global Investors.
SRP’s construction contractor – a joint venture of Ferrovial Agroman and Lagan - will be responsible for completing the motorway network between Glasgow and Edinburgh through the construction of a new M8 between Baillieston and Newhouse.
The project also includes work to significantly improve the Raith Interchange and widen key sections of the M8, M73 and M74.
The new roads are expected to be open in Spring 2017.
