A9 DUALLING: We are demanding action from the Scottish Government on nine points
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“There is nothing I won’t consider” to make the A9 safer, cabinet secretary Màiri McAllan told the audience at The Inverness Courier A9 Crisis Summit on Tuesday. The transport secretary took notes throughout proceedings as Highlanders, including those whose loved ones have died on the road, questioned the panel.
The Inverness Courier is now putting forward action points to the Scottish Government and Transport Scotland based on the summit including dualling progress and interim safety improvements. These include a new dualling timetable, a working group to meet every quarter, re-classification of the A9, and improved signage.
The summit was arranged to hold the government to account over the A9 after First Minister Humza Yousaf offered an “ironclad” promise to complete it after the SNP admitted it was “unachievable” to meet its 2025 deadline to complete the dualling of the Inverness-Perth stretch.
Top Transport Scotland officials were present to hear the unvarnished opinions of locals, which revealed that many audience members now believe dualling will not happen in their lifetime.
One of the most powerful messages from the audience was from Bill Lobban, the convener of Highland Council.
He said: “My community is sick and fed up of seeing body bags being taken off the A9 – the actual cost of this road is not in pounds, shillings, or pence – the actual cost in this road is the number of people who lose their lives, for no reason.”
Inverness and Nairn MSP Fergus Ewing said he has “no excuses” of his own record, that dualling is now a “credibility” issue and the Scottish Government “must deliver” – we agree on all three points.
The reasons offered for the delays did not convince the audience, many of whom burst out laughing when the transport secretary said there has always been “the political will” to complete the project.
Ms McAllan said: “A successful outcome would be the delivery of the dualling programme. I can’t pre-empt what I am going to say in the autumn. I want to see it happen as soon as possible, I will update parliament about that.”
But that was not enough for campaigner Laura Hansler who said: “Words are fantastic – we have all heard a lot of words – but we need direct action. I do not know what this golden date in the autumn is all about. We need to know what is happening.”
The summit also heard from Fiona Keith, who lost her husband on the A9 due to a head-on collision almost 14 years ago. Her son, who recently passed his driving test, is now travelling on the same road his father died on with very little improvements made. Fiona put safety suggestions to the panel, including signage that makes clear when you are on a single-carriageway section.
The SNP made the longed-for manifesto promise in 2007 – the year the party took power for the first time – to dual the A9 but since then just 11 miles have been completed.
More than 330 people have now been killed in more than 250 collisions on the A9 between Inverness and Perth since 1979 and around a third of those have lost their lives since 2009.
And it is not letting up – the number of fatal accidents from the beginning of 2022 up until now is 15 which took the lives of 21 people, the majority of them died on single-carriageway sections between Inverness and Perth.
We are asking the government and its transport agency to agree to the following action points, to re-establish trust, keep communication open and, most importantly, finish dualling the A9.
The Action Points:
Dualling:
- A final date for the completion of the dualling programme.
- A detailed schedule for the completion of each of the remaining sections.
- Information on contract type – clearly state if sections will be paid for as the government can afford or a lump sum?
- Join a locally based A9 working group to meet every quarter.
Safety:
- Reclassification of the A9 to allow the introduction of 60mph or 70mph signs rather than National Speed Limit signs.
- Better signage indicating the change from single-carriageway to dual-carriageway and overtaking lanes.
- Clear road lines at junctions and double white lines at accident black spots.
- The creation of temporary rest-stops and toilet facilities.
- Working with car hire and motorhome companies to give foreign drivers guidance in their own language.
