More than £37 million has already been spent on initial work to upgrade two major stretches of the A96 between Aberdeen and Inverness – which may not ever be fully dualled.
The price tag, which emerged in a freedom of information response from the Scottish Government, prompted fears taxpayers cash could end up “thrown down the drain”.
A £5m review into plans to fully dual the full route connecting the two cities has been dogged by delays and is now well over a year late.
Where has the money gone?
Since 2018, £19.8m has been spent on preparation works to dual the route between Aberdeen and just east of Huntly.
A further £17.6m has gone on the Hardmuir to Fochabers stretch – a combined total of more than £37m for the two sections ahead of any upgrade.
An additional £12.5m has also been spent on initial work for dualling the Inverness to Nairn section, including Nairn bypass.
But this section was always exempt from the review. Construction plans there took a step forward last month.
The review was ordered after the SNP and Greens formed a power-sharing deal in summer 2021.
Scottish transport minister Fiona Hyslop refused a meeting request from Tory North East MSP Douglas Lumsden to discuss why the review has been delayed by more than a year, saying she has a “fully committed diary”.
‘Thrown down the drain’
Mr Lumsden said: “It would be a public scandal if more than £37 million of taxpayers’ money was thrown down the drain simply to appease the SNP’s Green coalition partners to the detriment of residents.”
Buckie-based Highlands and Islands Tory MSP Tim Eagle said the “constant neglect” of the A96 is “risking the safety of motorists, hampering our emergency services and putting off potential investors in our economy around Moray”.
The long road to a dual carriageway
The promise to dual the route connecting the two cities was made by the SNP in 2011.
The scheme is supposed to be delivered by 2030 but construction work is yet to begin and a revised timescale has yet to be confirmed.
Speaking to the P&J in Inverness on February 14, Ms Hyslop said she expects the full review with recommendations for the route to report back to her “imminently”.
Orders for the Inverness to Nairn stretch were published last month, three years later than promised.
In a letter to Mr Lumsden on February 29, she said official advice is under “active consideration”.
She added: “Following due consideration by ministers of this advice received from Transport Scotland on the emerging outcomes, there will be a consultation on the outcomes, including the planned wider meeting with interested MSPs, before a decision can be reached.”
Government roads agency Transport Scotland said “the current plan” is to fully dual the route.
“The significant interest in the review’s initial consultation, with nearly 4,600 responses, generated 11,000 options to improve the corridor and it’s only right that appropriate time has been taken to examine and fully appraise these,” the agency said.
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