28 killed and more than 300 injured on A9 since 2021

The Herald Scotland

3 days ago

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A promise to fully dual the single carriageway between Perth and Inverness by 2025 was first made in the SNP's 2007 manifesto, with plans to widen around 80 miles of road in 11 sections formally set out in 2011.
However, little more than 11 miles — in just two sections —were dualled in 12 years.
Six miles of the trunk road from Moy to Tomatin, south of Inverness, are currently being upgraded under a £185m contract.
In 2023, the Scottish Government admitted the dualling would now not be completed until 2035 at the earliest.
According to the figures obtained by the Tories, 28 people were killed between 2021–22 and 2024–25, including 13 in 2022–23 alone.
There were 321 collisions resulting in injury during that period, 134 of which were considered serious and 159 classed as minor.
Scottish Tory transport spokeswoman Sue Webber accused the Scottish Government of a 'shameful betrayal' of those who rely on the road, which runs through the First Minister's Perthshire North constituency.
'These shocking figures reveal the appalling casualty toll on the A9,' she said.
'The SNP first promised to upgrade Scotland's most dangerous road in 2011, yet 14 years later lives are still being lost and motorists and local communities will have to wait at least another decade for upgrades that should have been completed by now.
'The SNP's shameful betrayal of those who rely on the A9 — including John Swinney's own constituents — is unforgivable.
'Every day that goes by without this vital road being dualled is putting more lives at risk.'
The Tories have suggested passing emergency legislation to accelerate the project, including expediting environmental studies — a move they claim could see the A9 fully dualled by the end of the next Scottish Parliament.
'Enough is enough. Dualling this road is a matter of life and death,' Ms Webber said.
'That's why the Scottish Conservatives are stepping up with bold action to get the job done, by proposing an emergency law to fast-track the dualling of the A9 by the end of the next Parliament.'
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Fergus Ewing, the newly independent MSP for Inverness and Nairn, said: 'Evidence from the Road Safety Foundation has shown that the risk of being in a road accident is three times greater on single carriageways such as the A9 compared with dual carriageways — and ten times greater than on motorways.
'Because the A9 now changes from dual back to single and so on, this further heightens these risks. With no central barrier to separate the cars, head-on collisions are a far greater risk.'
The ex-SNP minister added: 'Every single one of these accidents involves a family, and those where deaths have occurred will be devastated.
'The dualling of the A9, promised by this year, will not happen by 2035 in my view — and at the heart of my campaign in Inverness and Nairn will be that the next Government must complete the dualling.
"It is my unfinished business. It's the SNP's shame.
'Never have promises been so clearly broken — and the lack of any sense of contrition or humility from the SNP leadership is in itself surely reprehensible.'
A Transport Scotland spokesman said: 'Our sympathies are with the families and friends of those who have lost loved ones and those who have been injured on Scotland's roads.
'One death is one too many, which is why we have increased our road safety budget to a record £48 million to address road casualties across the road network.
'The Scottish Government is committed to fully dualling the A9 and there is now continuous dualling construction taking place on the A9 from now until 2035 with the third section Tomatin to Moy already under construction and the award of the fourth section Tay Crossing to Ballinuig this summer and with the procurement process for the fifth section Pitlochry to Killiecrankie starting this summer, which will mean 50% will be dualled by 2030, 85% by 2033 and completion by 2035.
'We have prioritised funding for A9 Dualling within our annual budgets and we are also actively considering whether there is any way that we can fast-track work, including opportunities for undertaking 'advance works' ahead of main construction contracts.
'In the meantime, additional investment has supported junction improvements, improved markings and targeted road safety campaigns to improve A9 safety.'