Springburn Virtual Museum

Springburn in transition

Springburn Road at Northcroft Road looking towards Balgrayhill, 1950s

By the 1950s Springburn showed up in statistical reports as an area with a high accident rate, sharing the same characteristics of being a heavily built-up main traffic route through a densely populated area with roads like Dumbarton Road in the west of the city and Paisley Road in the south.

Traffic congestion also caused difficulty for local shops, as the only available parking was on the street and access for delivery was becoming more and more difficult. A new road system was seen as the way forward.

The city development plan of 1951 produced the A803 Springburn bypass, which obliterated most of Springburn Road and turned the rest of it into side roads and cul-de-sacs. The new arterial road developments effectively cut Springburn into two and divided a once tightly knit community.

Source: Glasgow City Archives