Construction of the mid-sections of the route required considerable demolition of property. This was carried out as part of Comprehensive Redevelopment Area works in the early 1970s. In the mid-1970s there were complaints about development "blight" whilst pockets of land were left empty for the future route. It remains one of the most controversial road schemes undertaken in post-war Glasgow.

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An additional grade-separated junction was planned at Keppochhill Road, however this was scaled back due to local opposition. North of Auchinairn Road, the route becomes a wide single carriageway with two lanes in each direction. In the original plans, the northern end of the dual carriageway would have interchanged with the North Link Motorway. These plans were shelved in 1975. At the southern end of the route, it was intended that the Springburn Expressway would continue as the East Flank of the Glasgow Inner Ring Road.