Crashes along the A9 road are “completely unacceptable” say Highland officials following five crashes in 10 days.
The A9 Inverness to Perth road has been a consistent source of frustration amongst those who use it.
It runs for more than 110 miles between the two cities, however, only 30 miles is dualled leaving bottlenecks when merging on to single carriageway.
The A9 then heads further north all the way to Thurso with the vast majority hugging the winding Highland coastline.
Crashes along the road are far from uncommon and are becoming near daily, during the summer months with tourism at its peak in the Highlands.
A recent spate of crashes has led to outrage by local representatives were are exasperated by the ongoing A9 woes.
Ten days of A9 crash chaos
- August 4 – Crash involving motorcycle north of Cromarty Bridge.
- August 1 – Aviemore crash involving a lorry, car and van which left three people hospitalised.
- July 27 – Crash involving two vehicles near Cromarty Bridge. Drive issued with fine.
- July 26 – Crash near Carrbridge involving a car, lorry and bus. Three adults and one child hospitalised.
- July 26 – Crash on the A9 near Dornoch. Motorcyclist airlifted to hospital.
On July 27 fire crews were also called to a car on fire on the road.
And now, a Highland councillor says immediate improvements are needed at hotspots such as the Aviemore and Carrbridge junctions to prevent collisions.
Bill Lobban, councillor for Badenoch and Strathspey has been demanding action on the A9 for more than a decade.
Speaking to The Press and Journal, he said no-one should face losing their life over a mistake.
He said: “They need to dual the A9 from beginning to end.
“There’s no doubt about it, bad driving is a contributory factor but you shouldn’t lose your life because you make a mistake and by dualling it, particularly in the areas of the junctions, you would remove the opportunity for people to make a mistake.
“It is now getting to be ridiculous. It is every single it’s every single day, almost there is something coming up from one part of A9 or another.
Sometimes it is on the dual carriageway but the majority of them are on the single carriageways and the junctions in particular.”
“We also need to do something about the number of vehicles that are driving the wrong way doing the dual carriageways.”
A9 ‘neglected’ as upgrades called for
Scottish Conservative MSP for Highlands and Islands region Jamie Halcro Johnston said: “The latest string of accidents on these roads reinforces the human cost of the SNP’s neglect of Scotland’s rural lifeline routes.
“It is completely unacceptable that those who rely on these roads face a significant risk to their safety on such a regular basis.
“The continual delays to upgrade these roads just highlights the SNP Government’s contempt for rural communities.
“This shameful betrayal to upgrade these roads continues to put lives at risk on a daily basis.
“Rather than continuing to dither and delay, it is vital the SNP get on with upgrading these roads to avoid any more needless loss of life.”
Mr Halcro-Johnston agreed that it mostly comes down to “bad driving” but the “road is not helping” pointing to the Carrbridge and Aviemore junctions as particularly bad spots.
He added: “All these crashes at Carrbridge junction, they made the junction a crossover so an underpass or an overpass, depending on which one is suitable.”
Local officials have campaigned tirelessly for the A9 to be dualled, however, progress has been slow.
The Inverness to Perth leg was supposed to be completely dual carriageway by 2025 but this has been pushed back by the Scottish Government to 2035.
A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “We have clearly set out our delivery plan in parliament, which anticipates the completion of the entire A9 dualling programme between Perth and Inverness by the end of 2035.
“We are entirely committed to the completion of the programme, as seen through the recent award of the Tomatin to Moy contract.”
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