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Anger as A9 grinds to a halt with Douglas Ross fuming: ‘another …

Scotland's longest road ground to a halt on Friday - with the prospect of continued delays to come. SGN is currently upgrading part of the gas network between Birnam and Logierait in Perthshire[1].

As part of the work, rolling closures are in place on the northbound carriage of the A9. The first section of the work will last until December 18, but motorists were left fuming on Friday as they faced delays of two and a half hours to get through the works which are on a section of the road under 10 miles long.

Among those caught up in the traffic was Scottish Conservative[2] leader Douglas Ross.[3] He took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share his woes and to say it was another reason the vital trunk road needed to be fully dualled between Perth and Inverness[4] and called on Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop to intervene.

He said: "Two and a half hours to get through this tonight. @SGNgas[5] @FionaHyslop[6] @transcotland[7] something must be done. Shocking and completely unacceptable on this crucial route from Perth to the Highlands. Of course if the A9 had been dualled as promised, this would’t be an issue."

The SNP[10] had vowed to complete the dualling of the road but have kicked the plans into the long grass with just a few sections complete. The A9 is currently one of the most dangerous in Scotland[11] and 2022 was the deadliest year it had experienced in two decades.

Mid Scotland and Fife Conservative MP Murdo Fraser, who is also the party's spokesman for business, economic growth and tourism, told the Scottish Express: "These works are causing enormous disruption and inconvenience for those travelling on this route, but the worst thing about them is that they aren’t even being done to deliver on the SNP’s broken promise to upgrade the A9 in full. Something has clearly gone wrong with the traffic management, and needs to be addressed as soon as possible, or local communities will be in for weeks of chaos. It has not been lost on A9 users that, if the SNP had not broken their promise to dual the road by 2025, they would not be seeing this level of disruption."

The full SGN project on the A9 will be in place until March but the company says it will stop work over the festive period. The first phase is the installation of a new gas main through Birnam, which is 14 miles north of Perth[12].

The full road will be open from December 18 until January 8. SGN said "unforeseen incidents" had added to the delays. Spokeswoman Katie Lobban told the Scottish Express the project was "essential to ensure that homes and businesses in Birnam, Logierait, and Dunkeld continue to receive a reliable gas supply"

She added: "The high pressure pipeline which delivers gas to the wider area currently runs close to the River Tay, and due to erosion on the river bank, we need to move and upgrade this section of our network. This project was planned in close consultation with BEAR Scotland, Transport Scotland, the local authority, and our contractor Morrison Energy Services to ensure minimal disruption. While there is no ideal time to work in the A9, we are working during this time of year to avoid the busier tourism months.

"We’d like to apologise for the disruption and inconvenience that motorists have experienced this week. A number of unforeseen incidents have added to delays in the A9. We know this is a busy route, so are asking motorists to allow more time for their journeys as delays are unfortunately inevitable. Our specialist traffic management team continue to remain on site to clear any congestion as quickly as possible."

A spokesman for Transport Scotland said: "This critical SGN work to relocate the gas main has been scheduled to avoid busiest part of the year on the A9. Together with BEAR Scotland, we are meeting daily with SGN to explore all options to optimise traffic flows and to improve public messaging, including additional roadside variable message signs. Transport Scotland is also exploring options with SGN to reduce the overall project duration for works on the A9 trunk road."

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References

  1. ^ Perthshire (www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk)
  2. ^ Scottish Conservative (www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk)
  3. ^ Douglas Ross. (www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk)
  4. ^ Inverness (www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk)
  5. ^ @SGNgas (twitter.com)
  6. ^ @FionaHyslop (twitter.com)
  7. ^ @transcotland (twitter.com)
  8. ^ 'Raging' Pete Wishart and Murdo Fraser exchange blows over SNP's failure to dual the A9 (www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk)
  9. ^ Pete Wishart is 'sick' of Tories bringing up A9 failure as SNP member blames 'bad driving' for deaths (www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk)
  10. ^ SNP (www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk)
  11. ^ one of the most dangerous in Scotland (www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk)
  12. ^ Perth (www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk)
  13. ^ Facebook (www.facebook.com)
  14. ^ Twitter (twitter.com)
  15. ^ here (www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk)

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