SNP veteran Pete Wishart has demanded a timetable for dualling the remaining sections of the A9 between Perth and Inverness this autumn.
The Perth and North Perthshire MP told the party leadership to meet its long-held pledge to constituents on the third and final day of the party’s conference in Aberdeen.
He spoke up along with activists from all over the north who are fed up waiting to the A9 to be upgraded.
The commitment, which also covers upgrading the A96 Aberdeen-Inverness road, is already party policy but the Scottish Government has come under fire for delays and uncertainty surrounding the projects.
‘I want that pledge to be met’
On the A9, Pete Wishart, Perth and Perthshire North MP, said the road has been a concern of his constituents since being elected more than 20 years ago.
He recalled being a new MP in 2001 when three generations of the same Israeli family were killed for “making a mistake” at one of the road’s junctions.
“I said at that point I would do anything possible to ensure that road is made safe”, Mr Wishart added.
The SNP MP said the government must provide a timetable for all the sections of the route between Perth and Inverness to be upgraded.
He added: “I want that road to be made safe. I want that pledge that we gave our constituents to be met.”
Elgin councillor Jérémie Fernandes held up the SNP’s 1990 Grampian region manifesto which called for full dualling of both roads, demonstrating the long wait.
SNP ‘still committed’ to dualling
Meanwhile, SNP Government minister Emma Roddick, said the leadership is “still committed to these projects”.
She told party members she is in favour of taking action on climate change, but that people such as her younger sister, who is a carer, need a car to do their job.
“We have to show we are able to recognise the different situations that people living in rural areas face travelling around”, the government minister added.
The dualling of the A9 between Perth and Inverness was due to be completed by 2025 but it is delayed. An update is expected later this autumn.
SNP member Rhodri Griffiths, a lone voice of dissent at the conference debate, said he didn’t believe dualling the roads should be party policy.
Instead, he called for rail improvements, and reopening former rail lines, citing examples such as Aberdeen to Peterhead.
The SNP activist went on to blame drivers for road accidents, rather than the fact the routes are not dualled all the way.
“It may have been party policy for a long time but that in itself is proof we should be questioning it”, he added.
However, members voted overwhelmingly in favour of dualling both schemes, with clear support in the conference hall and only a handful of votes against.
Conversation