THE SCOTTISH Government is admitting to concerns over the eventual timetable for the complete dualling of the A9 major trunk road from Perth to Inverness.
Holyrood made a commitment in 2011 to dual the A9 in its entirety at a total cost of £3 billion. Eleven separate dualling schemes were to be involved, all scheduled to be in place by 2025.
Currently, only two sections have been constructed, suggesting that final, overall completion will be considerably later than two years from now.
Facing a barrage of questions in the Scottish Parliament, Infrastructure Secretary Michael Matheson admitted that the Scottish Government is taking a long look at a ‘forward timetable’ for the dualling of the remaining 80 miles of the 110-mile trunk road. He did however confirm a commitment that it would actually happen, but refused to put a completion date on the project.
He revealed that the remaining nine schemes were still only at procurement stage and this process has be impacted by Covid and ‘the significant levels of construction inflation which are now being experienced’.
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