Kate Forbes pledges to get A9 dualled as quickly as possible and avoid "unacceptable and unthinkable" delays
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MSP Kate Forbes is pledging to kick-start A9 dualling as quickly as possible if she is elected First Minister.
The SNP leadership candidate, describing the issue as “a matter of life and death”, said today she would instruct Transport Scotland to review its procurement policies and publish a revised timetable by June.
Failure to do so, the Finance Secretary said, would result in an “unacceptable and unthinkable” date of 2050 or later for completion of the dualling work.
Ms Forbes said: “Industry tells me that they want the A9 to be dualled from Perth to Inverness by the end of this decade, but only provided the way the work is procured changes radically.
“They say that unless this happens it may take till 2050 or even beyond to finish the job. That is unacceptable and unthinkable.
“Not only because a car is a necessity for most Highland people, not some kind of luxury item, but also because, as we have seen so tragically last year, it is a matter of life and death.”
Highlighting grave fatality statistics on the route, she continued: “Thirteen lives were lost in incidents on the A9 between Perth and Inverness.
“Of those, all but one occurred on single carriageway sections.
“Evidence from transport experts proves that fatalities are three times as likely to occur on single carriageway than dual, and 10 times more than on motorways.
“Roads themselves do not cause incidents, but single carriageways with difficult junctions, swift change between single and dual, and many foreign drivers unfamiliar with the road or driving on the left, are unforgiving of driver error.
“There is also no central reservation to separate opposing flows of traffic.
“In my first week in office, I will instruct Transport Scotland to consider whether it can deliver a plan to do this work by the end of the decade. A timetable must be published by June at the very latest and certainly not in the autumn.
“Transport Scotland have had nearly two years since the election to do this, and since Covid we have all known that the 2025 target would not be met.
“I want Transport Scotland to work collaboratively with the civil engineering industry to devise means, whether by framework agreement or otherwise, to accelerate the progress.
“Risk sharing should be practised as I believe it is in England and some local authorities.
“Promises matter. Where we make them, we must keep them. It’s about honesty and trust, and that shall be my approach if I am elected First Minister.”
