By Paul Reoch

MEMBERS OF a Perthshire community affected by the dangers of the notorious A9 are to meet the transport minister to express their concerns.

It has been agreed that Auchtergaven Community Council will accompany North Tayside MSP John Swinney to hold talks with Tavish Scott about the upgrading of the Bankfoot junction.

This follows last month’s announcement that work costing an estimated £2.2 million will be carried out on the junction, which has proved to be an accident blackspot over the years.

Orders for the programme will be available for public viewing in just over a year’s time, with work starting in spring 2007.

Last night Mr Swinney, a long-term supporter of dualling the entire A9, told The Courier of his pleasure at the forthcoming meeting.

He said, “At the end of last year, I received confirmation from the minister that work would finally be taking place on the upgrade of the Bankfoot junction.

“I stated at that time that I would be seeking a meeting with Mr Scott on this issue, and I am now pleased to report that the minister has agreed to that request.

“I welcome the opportunity for this meeting as, along with members of the Auchtergaven Community Council, I will be taking forward outstanding issues on the junction.”

He continued, “I greatly appreciate the fact that the junction work is going ahead after such a long wait and concerted campaign. I am also pleased that the plans for the junction make it compatible with further upgrade to make the A9 dual carriageway—which is my long-term wish for the road.”

The details of the meeting and the long-awaited upgrading of the junction will be welcomed by road safety campaigners, but Mr Swinney has insisted that he wants to see work begin as soon as possible.

“I am concerned at the timescale given for the upgrade. It will be the end of this year before the orders will even be published and construction will not begin until spring 2007. We have seen through the experience with the Ballinluig junction that timescales can slip and delays occur.

“I will be using this meeting to flag up these concerns with the minister and to urge him to speed up matters.

“The fact that the minister is willing to meet on this issue, shows how important he views the issue.”

Mr Scott said, “The preferred option to construct a junction improvement and climbing lane with provision for future upgrading to dual carriageway standard has been approved at a cost of £2.2 million.

“Our economic analysis indicates that there are benefits to be gained by including a climbing lane within the scheme and that for a marginal increase in costs it is possible to design the scheme in such a way as to be able to accommodate upgrading to dual carriageway in future years, should that be necessary.”

The date of the meeting with Mr Scott has still to be finalised.