In front of the Mitchell Library, the motorway passes over the North Clyde railway line resulting in a visible hump in the road that can still be seen at this location. Charing Cross railway station was moved to its existing location, with an office development and car park on the same site.

The retaining walls in the canyon are formed of steel sheet piles held in place with rock anchors. In an unusual and interesting technique, concrete was cast around the piles which were then clad with precast aggregate finished panels to provide an aesthetically pleasing result. The aggregate used was referred to as “walley blue flint”.

On completion the section had two overhead sign gantries, though this was increased to four during the 1980s. These gantries are unusual in that their left hand side rests on top of the retaining walls rather than a steel support. In the 1990s, the gantries in front of the Mitchell Library became the first to be provided with retroreflective sign sheeting. Prior to this, the sign faces were intelligible at night if the internal illumination failed.

The Charing Cross section of the M8 was opened on the 4th of February 1972—the final section of the ring road to do so. There was now a continuous high-speed route between Townhead and Tradeston that removed significant traffic from the city streets and paved the way for wider connections via the Monkland and Renfrew Motorways.

Footage of the opening ceremony, attended by the Secretary of State for Scotland, Mr Gordon Campbell, can be seen below. A number of protestors opposed to the construction of the East Flank of the Inner Ring Road are also in attendance.

The final cost of the scheme was £6 million (£96 million at 2018 prices). The equivalent of £25 million was spent on land and property acquisition and service diversions.