A road safety expert is concerned delays to dualling the A9 could threaten the future of the scheme on environmental grounds.
Neil Greig, policy and research director at road safety charity, IAM Roadsmart, said the SNP-Green coalition at Holyrood has led to fears new roads will not be built.
He wants “urgent action” to dual the road between Perth and Inverness after a “huge spike” in crashes last year.
In our interview, he warns:
- Building new roads will be seen as “unacceptable” by SNP-Greens.
- It’s “inevitable” more lives will be lost.
- It was “clear” government would miss 2025 target.
Dualling the A9 between Inverness and Perth will no longer be completed by 2025 with a revised target timescale yet to be published.
SNP Government minister Mairi McAllan said last week it is her “intention” to outline “next steps” for the route by autumn this year.
But she failed to confirm if this will include dates for delivering the remaining nine out of 11 sections of road that still need to be dualled.
A9 dualling delays
On the delays, Mr Greig said: “What really worries me is that all this delay has now led to the road being looked at again from an environmental perspective and more and more because of the SNP-Green coalition.
“We’re worried that building new roads is just seen as unacceptable.
“That’s our worry. That by delaying and delaying you’re getting the situation where a government that’s pledged to reduce traffic by 20% by 2030, can’t really be seen to be building more roads.”
Road chiefs have been working on small-scale so-called “hygiene” issues to tidy up road linings, improve road signage and lighting at junctions on the route.
But Mr Greig said dualling the road would improve junctions, and help remove crashes that take place head on, side on and by overtaking.
He also thinks more roadside stopping places, nicer laybys and more toilets should be provided along the route to tackle driver fatigue.
Mr Greig said: “The A9 is an unforgiving road for mistakes. You can say that about most ‘A’ roads and rural roads in Scotland.
“That’s where dualling is so important. It removes that right turning traffic across dual carriageways.”
‘Huge spike’ in deaths
The SNP first promised to dual the A9 in 2007 but the government admitted earlier this year this was “simply no longer achievable” because of economic pressure.
The road safety expert, who is part of the A9 Safety Group, said the government must take “urgent action” to dual the road due to a “huge spike” in deaths.
A total of 13 people lost their lives on the route between Inverness and Perth last year.
He said: “These are big, big numbers for a road these days when you’ve got a couple of hundred people being killed in Scotland in the whole year, to have that many in one year is really bad.
“This idea of the A9 as this killer road, that went away for a while, it’s coming back now with a vengeance because of these numbers.”
Greens against full dualling
The Greens have long been opposed to the expansion of either the A9 and A96 connecting Inverness with Perth and Aberdeen.
When they signed their power-sharing agreement in August 2021, they agreed to a large scale review of the A96, which was the less advanced scheme.
Mark Ruskell, Greens transport spokesman, described each death as a “terrible tragedy”.
He added: “When I speak to local communities the message is clear. They want us to improve the dangerous junctions, reduce speeds and make the A9 safer.
“Sections of the dualling will still need to be completed, but our focus has to be on safety.
“Dualling every square inch with miles and miles of faster roads is not the answer, and sadly tragedies have continued to happen on sections that have already been dualled.
“Investing in safe junctions and speed reduction measures and signage in key areas can be done quicker and would have a big impact while progress in dualling key sections is made in the long term.”
‘Firmly committed’ to dualling
A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “The Scottish Government remains firmly committed to completing the dualling of the A9 between Perth and Inverness.
“The £3 billion investment (at 2008 prices) to dual the A9 between Perth and Inverness is one of the biggest transport infrastructure projects in Scotland’s history.
“An announcement to Parliament is expected on the overall Programme in Autumn 2023.”
On the A96, the spokesman added: “We remain absolutely committed to improving the A96. The current plan is to fully dual the route and as part of this process we are undertaking a transparent, evidence-based review of the programme with the outcomes of this expected to be ready for consultation later this summer.
“We also remain absolutely committed to dualling the Inverness to Nairn section including the Nairn bypass and we continue to progress the preparation stages of the scheme with a view to completing the statutory process for that as soon as possible.”