The greening team has brought some sycamore trees to plant on both sides of a road at equal distances. If trees are planted at both ends of the road, planting 1 tree every 8 meters would result in a shortage of 8 trees, while planting 1 tree every 9 meters would result in 8 extra trees. The length of the road is $\qquad$ meters.
【Analysis and Solution】Tree planting problem, surplus and deficit problem.
( Method one )
We only look at one side of the road;
"Divide the length of the road among the trees," transforming it into a surplus and deficit problem:
If a tree is planted every 8 meters, then one side is short of $8 \div 2=4$ trees, meaning the road is $(4-1) \times 8=24$ meters longer;
If a tree is planted every 9 meters, then one side has $8 \div 2=4$ extra trees, meaning the road is $(4+1) \times 9=45$ meters shorter; thus, one side of the road has $(24+45) \div(9-8)=69$ trees; in total, there are $69 \times 2=138$ trees. The road is $\lceil[(138+8) \div 2-1\rceil] \times 8=576$ or $\lceil(138-8) \div 2-1\rceil] \times 9=576$ meters long.
( Method two )
Let there be $x$ trees in total;
$$
[(x+8) \div 2-1] \times 8=[(x-8) \div 2-1] \times 9 \text {; }
$$

Solving for $x=138$; there are 138 trees in total; the road is $[(138+8) \div 2-1] \times 8=576$ or $[(138-8) \div 2-1] \times 9=576$ meters long.