More than 2,500 people have put their names to a petition calling for the A9 to be dualled by 2025.
Laura Hansler launched the petition on Wednesday last week.
By Monday, more than 2,500 had signed – that’s around 500 signatures a day.
“We’ve got a lot of support from Perth, right the way to Inverness, and all the little villages in between,” said Laura.
“The support is outstanding.”
The petition also calls for a memorial to those who have died on the notorious road.
Families devastated by A9 tragedies
Kincraig resident Laura, who leads the A9 Dual Action Group, has been in touch with two families who have lost loved ones on the Perth to Inverness road.
This year alone has seen the 110-mile stretch claim 13 lives.
“The petition was started on the back of two bereaved families contacting me.
“I am eternally grateful that I personally don’t know anyone that has been in an accident out there, or has lost their life.
“But once you hear first hand experience of an accident and the accident unfolding, and how it affects that family, it has a completely different impact on you.”
The petition is calling for:
- A timetable and detailed plan for dualling each remaining single carriageway section of the A9.
- Dualling work to be completed by 2025.
- A memorial for those who have died on the A9.
Delays
Transport chiefs are a year and a half late in publishing a strategy for dualling the entire A9.
So far, just 30 miles have been dualled.
And it seems unlikely that Transport Scotland will complete the remaining 80 miles by 2025.
In the meantime, Transport Scotland bosses are investing in interim safety measures at accident blackspots.
“One death on Scotland’s roads is one too many and our sympathies lie with all those affected by such tragic incidents,” said a Transport Scotland spokesperson.
“As the Transport Minister has made clear in parliament, the concerning increase in fatal road collisions on the A9 requires urgent attention.”
In the coming months, Scotland’s transport agency will be spending £95,000 on schemes including better signage and road markings at Ballinluig, the B8079 junction north of Pitlochry and at Ralia.
Transport chiefs are also expected to unveil plans to improve safety along the stretch at Dunkeld.
Memorial ‘risk to safety’
Meanwhile, the spokesperson said a memorial could create a safety hazard.
“We understand why people would want to place memorials to remember loved ones lost in such tragic circumstances.
“However, there is a risk to people’s safety particularly for anyone who might visit or tend such a memorial and for those reasons, establishing these at roadsides is not encouraged.
“Families and friends of those bereaved by road deaths may wish to remember those that are important to them in different ways.”
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