Murdo Fraser MSP has urged the SNP Government to “listen” to what was said at a Parliamentary Committee along with an A9 dualling campaigner and “get on with the job.”
The Scottish Conservative politician spoke at the conclusion of the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee: Inquiry into the A9 dualling project, which was recently held at the Scottish Parliament. Mr Fraser highlighted the record of the UK Conservative Government between 1979 and 1997, who dualled 62 miles of the road during this period – they were responsible for roads in Scotland then. This compares with just 11 miles built by the SNP Government over the last 18 years.
Speaking during the debate, Mr Fraser said: “That puts into context the very slow progress we have seen under the SNP Government. We have a Government that has failed us with a broken promise. So, I would urge the Cabinet Secretary for Transport to listen to everything that was said at this debate and to listen to the petitioner, Laura Hansler, and get on with the job of dualling the A9.
“Traffic has grown by around five times what it was when the present A9 was built in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s and that shows the need for continued infrastructure. The case for progressing this dualling is unanswerable. Every fatality on the A9 is a tragedy to the family involved.
“Road accidents carry horrible consequences for those involved, and there is also an economic cost to this when the road is closed. As we saw recently following a fatal accident near Ballinluig, which I wrote to the Cabinet Secretary about, when the road is closed you end up with diversion routes being clogged up, as happened here from Kirkmichael to Pitlochry. Locals get stuck in a jam, lasting sometimes two to three hours due to being unable to move as HGVs are trying to overtake each other on a very narrow road that is totally unsuitable to be used as a diversion.
“And that causes even more concern if another accident happens on that road due to emergency vehicles being unable to get to the accident because of congestion.”
Mr Fraser continued: “I think people in Parliament would rather hear the truth from Government Ministers on dualling this road even though it may be uncomfortable. We were promised the road would be dualled by 2025, but it wasn’t. I hope this latest pledge to dual the road by 2035 is kept but I have to say I think we will believe that when we see it on past record.
“There have been calls to accelerate the dualling programme, but the response from the SNP Government has been described as ‘disappointing.’ I think it is worse than disappointing, I think the response from the SNP Government is dismal. I fear that we currently have a lack of urgency of where we go from here.
“I urge the SNP Government to listen to everything that has been said during this debate, listen to the committee and listen to the petitioner, and get on with this vital work before more lives are lost.”
