Highland Council’s planning, development and infrastructure chairman has rejected suggestions the Inner Moray Firth area is receiving the lion’s share of funding.
Councillor Thomas Prag said he understood the frustrations of Lochaber people because the Caol-Fort William link road had been talked about for a long time.
But he pointed out that the Inverness West Link Road had been discussed for about 30 years.
Mr Prag said: “Everybody always thinks the money goes to the Inner Moray Firth area, but I don’t think the evidence supports that.
“The whole of the Highlands needs Inverness and the rest of the Inner Moray Firth to work because it makes the rest of the economy work. And Inverness needs the west coast and Fort William to work too.”
He added that the council had scheduled meetings with Transport Scotland about roads infrastructure and he had asked for the Fort William project to be on the agenda.
Caol and Mallaig councillor Allan Henderson said: “I do feel that some of our Inverness colleagues don’t realise that we have the same problems as they have with our road network.”
Mr Henderson wants a Scottish Transport appraisal guidance study carried out as he believes it would show that the link road was needed as part of the trunk road network, in which case it could qualify for Scottish Government funding.