Fergus Ewing calls on the 'huge SNP majority' to 'tell the Green minuscule minority' that ‘We are in charge – not you’
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Fergus Ewing has asked whether the “huge SNP majority will tell the Green minuscule minority – ‘We are in charge – not you’”’ in bid to finally get the dualling of the A9 moving forward.
The Inverness and Nairn MSP has used his column in the Courier to ask several scathing questions of the Scottish Government arguing that too much of the transport budget has ended up in the central belt and it is time that changed.
Mr Ewing wrote: “A few readers have rightly pointed out that there is no such thing as a ‘killer road.’ True. It’s human error that, sadly, causes incidents. But what is also undoubtedly true, is that the single carriageways are unforgiving of driver error. With nothing in the middle of the road to separate traffic in different directions, the risk of head-on collisions is far far greater, and the consequences more serious.
“Expert studies suggest that these risks are in general terms, three times greater on single than dual carriageways, and no less than ten times greater than on motorways.
“So in the Highlands, the grisly truth is that you and I, and our families, who drive the A9 regularly, are at far greater risk than if we drove along the M8 for example.”
He added: “Rather the question is: Is it not time for the whole of rural and Highland Scotland to get a shout from the Transport Budget.
“Just look at the billions spent on Motorways in Glasgow and the central belt, Trams, Forth Crossing, Borders Railway, and Aberdeen Peripheral road. All the slices of the transport budget cake which we were promised ended up there, not here.”
He concluded: “The challenge and real questions to the Scottish Government are: Will they for several years between now until 2030 and beyond if necessary, put their capital budget into our projects, and not central belt ones, and
“Will the huge SNP Majority tell the Green minuscule minority – ‘We are in charge – not you.’ We shall see.”
