A74 Road - Cumberland Gap

The Cumberland Gap was the six miles (10 km) of A74 between the northern terminus of the M6 at Carlisle, and the south end of the A74(M) at the Scottish border. It existed as an isolated stub from 1992 until 2008, when the M6 was extended northwards.

When the M6 was being built, the A74 already existed as a dual carriageway between Carlisle and Glasgow. It was decided therefore that the M6 would terminate on the A74, six miles (10 km) short of the Scottish border. When the time came to build the A74(M) Scotland had gained independence over road building matters, and thus could only build the road up to the border with England. An offer from the Scottish Executive to build the road to meet the M6 was not accepted by the English Highways Agency.. This left a remnant of the old A74 as a six mile (10 km) stretch of two-lane dual carriageway between two long, three-lane motorways.

After years of political battles between the English Highways Agency and the Scottish Executive, followed by a lengthy design and public enquiry phase, approval to build a 6-mile (9.7 km) long extension to the M6 was granted in March 2006, and construction work began on 25 July 2006. The new stretch of road was officially opened on 5 December 2008, the 50th anniversary of the opening of the first motorway in the UK, the M6.