While the A723 heads north-east towards Hamilton, the A726 goes north-west through open farmland, passing the small village of Chapelton towards the large town of East Kilbride – in 2014 the entire road was quoted as being one of the most dangerous in the world owing to the number of accidents on it,[6] and many of these incidents would originate from this single carriageway section which has a wide variety of traffic types, several tight bends and an open, elevated setting which is liable to be affected by poor weather conditions.

[5] It continues westwards, soon meeting a roundabout identical to the last in design (featuring underpasses for pedestrians and cyclists at each corner and a sunken landscaped area at its centre), with exits for the eastern ends of East Kilbride's town centre (mainly consisting of a series of connected indoor shopping precincts) and Murray residential neighbourhood, then a third roundabout for the western ends of these districts, plus eastern parts of Westwood, West Mains.

This leads on to another one-mile (1.5-kilometre) stretch featuring only one minor junction in either direction which do not allow cross-carriageway movement, until reaching the Philipshill Roundabout at Peel Park.

The Southern Orbital, a high-specification dual carriageway across open countryside for its entire length (but not listed officially as a trunk road, unlike the Queensway),[11] has its first grade-separated exit for the B764 (Hairmyres) within a few hundred yards of its start.

The direction gradually changes from southbound to westbound by the time of reaching the Belle Craig Roundabout with the B767, serving the villages of Waterfoot to the north and Eaglesham to the south.

It leaves the suburban environment after the staggered junction with the A736 at the Hurlet straddling the Glasgow-East Renfrewshire-Renfrewshire border, before continuing onto the south-eastern edge of Paisley at a roundabout with the B771 at Dykebar.