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A9 dualling project
Infrastructure project in Scotland From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The A9 dualling project is an ongoing infrastructure project in Scotland to upgrade the A9 between Perth and Inverness from a single carriageway to a dual carriageway. A dual carriageway allows drivers to overtake safely, as they do not have to meet oncoming traffic; and the crash barriers on the central reservation greatly reduce the frequency of head-on collisions. As most of the A9 is currently a single carriageway, drivers may have to overtake heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and other slow-moving vehicles as they are limited to 50 miles per hour (80 km/h), 10 miles per hour (16 km/h) lower than the speed limit for cars and motorcycles. The A9 has been dubbed Scotland's most dangerous road. In 2022, there were 17 fatalities, its highest level in 20 years before falling to four in 2023.
The project was announced in November 2011 with construction starting in September 2015. This started with a 5-mile (8 km) section between Kincraig and Dalraddy (near Aviemore) followed by the 6-mile (10 km) Luncarty to Pass of Birnam in February 2019. This project was originally due to finish in 2025, but has since been delayed to 2035 for various reasons. As of 2025[update], two out of eleven sections have been completed, totalling 11 miles (17 km), leaving 77 miles (124 km) to be upgraded. Work started on the third section between Tomatin and Moy in October 2024 and is due to be finished in 2028.
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History
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Early upgrades
The 138-mile-long (222 km) section of the A9 between the Bridge of Allan and Inverness, via Perth, was substantially rebuilt during the 1970s and 1980s. The rebuilt road follows essentially the same route as before except where it bypasses towns and villages instead of running through their centres. Between Perth and Inverness, the road has been dubbed Killer A9,[3] because of accidents and fatalities where dual-carriageway sections merge into a single carriageway; the principal cause is that motorists drive at excessive speeds to overtake lines of slower-moving vehicles before the dual carriageway ends. Dangerous overtaking manoeuvres on long single-carriageway stretches of the road are also common causes of accidents.[4]
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The most significant alteration of the A9 route was the realignment of the route north from Inverness, crossing the Moray Firth via the Kessock Bridge, cutting through the Black Isle and back across the Cromarty Firth. This shortened the route by 14 miles (23 km), bypassing Beauly, Muir of Ord and Dingwall. Construction of the Kessock Bridge began in 1976, and was completed in 1982.[5]
Since 2007, the Scottish Government has given serious consideration to converting the entire Perth–Inverness section to dual carriageway with more grade separated junctions, with the initial estimated cost at £600 million.[6] In late 2008, the Scottish Government's transport plan for the next 20 years was announced. It brought forward planned improvements to the A9 to try to stimulate the economy and protect jobs.[7] This included a commitment to full dualling of the road between Perth and Inverness.[8] Work costing a total of £8.5 million was undertaken at Moy, Carrbridge and Bankfoot. Northbound overtaking lanes were created and the carriageway was reconstructed at both Moy and Carrbridge. Junction improvements were also made at Moy and at the Ballinluig junction, south of Pitlochry.[7][9]
Speed cameras
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In July 2013, the Scottish Government announced a plan to install average speed cameras on the A9 between Perth and Inverness. This was undertaken with an aim to reduce accidents and fatalities on the road, and was the second permanent average speed camera scheme in Scotland.[10] Simultaneously, an increased speed limit for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) from 40 mph (64 km/h) to 50 mph (80 km/h) was introduced to help mitigate driver frustration.[11] Both became operational in late 2014.[12] This was before the single carriageway speed limit for HGVs was increased in England and Wales from 40 to 50 mph in 2015.[11]
The A9 Safety Group claim that the speed cameras have had a "positive influence" on road users, with the number of drivers breaking the speed limit by over 10 mph (16 km/h) decreasing by 97%.[13] Improvements to safety include at least a 40% reduction in fatalities, and this has been attributed, at least in part, to a reduction in speeding, from 1 in 3 vehicles to just 1 in 15.[14] The average speed cameras may be removed after the A9 dualling project is done.[15]
Road safety statistics
The A9 has been dubbed the most dangerous road in Scotland.[16] In 2022, despite the installation of average speed cameras, 17 people died on the A9, of whom 13 were on the stretch between Perth and Inverness, where much of the route is single carriageway.[16][17] This was the highest number of fatalities in a one-year period over the past 20 years. However, other recent years had few fatalities; there was one death per year between 2019 and 2021, and four deaths in 2023.[18] As of July 2023, 335 people had been killed on the Perth-to-Inverness stretch of the road since 1979 (an average of 7.6 deaths per year), 59 of which occurred between 2011 and 2022 (an average of 5.4 deaths per year). The "A9 Dual Action Group" was established to bring attention to the statistics. It submitted a petition to the Scottish Parliament in December 2022, calling on the Scottish Government to follow through on its 2011 commitment to convert the remaining 77 miles (124 kilometres)[19] of single carriageway into dual carriageway by 2025.[3] In 2023, the Scottish National Party (SNP) stated that the dualling of the road would not be complete by 2025.[20][21]
The annual average daily traffic (AADT) of the A9 varies between Perth and Inverness from 8,500 around Pitlochry, 22,500 around Perth and 37,000 around Inverness.[22]
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Construction
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Announcement
In November 2011, the Scottish Government announced that it would upgrade the entire road between Perth and Inverness to a dual carriageway.[23] The design contract was split into three lots with Lot 1 (Glengarry to Dalraddy) awarded to a CH2M / Fairhurst joint venture in April 2014.[24] Lot 2 (Pass of Birnam to Glengarry) was awarded to Jacobs in August 2014[25] and Lot 3 was awarded to an Atkins / Mouchel joint venture in December 2014.[26]
Completed sections
Award of the construction contract for a preliminary section (outwith Lots 1 to 3) of the £3 billion project was awarded in June 2015.[2] Work began on the first 5 mile (8km) section between Kincraig and Dalraddy (located just south of Aviemore) in September 2015.[27] After a slight delay, this section was opened to traffic two years later on 30 September 2017.[28] It is an isolated stretch of dual carriageway (i.e., this section is not an extension of an existing dual carriageway or something that fills the gap, as was done for the second and third section down below). A 2+1 road section (also known as WS2+1) of the first section was removed due to the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) CD 109 requirements of having a minimum of 2km of single carriageway in between, as well as an existing bridge in the way.[29]
The second section of the project was the 6-mile (10 km) section between Luncarty and Pass of Birnam, the first section of what was single carriageway just north of Perth. After having the £96 million contract awarded to Balfour Beatty in autumn 2018,[30] construction works began in February 2019.[31] This section was scheduled to finish in spring 2021. However, like the Kincraig to Dalraddy section, it also experienced a slight delay meaning that this section was finished in August 2021 with off-carriageway works to finish by 2022.[32] The first two schemes combined meant that Transport Scotland has converted 11 miles (17 km) of single carriageway to dual carriageway.
Proposed sections
Since 2022, no sections of the A9 were either upgraded or under construction. This has also occurred between September 2017 and February 2019 meaning that no major works were carried out in the whole of 2018.[33] The project will be delivered via a hybrid approach, utilising both 'design and build' (D&B) and 'mutual investment model' (MIM) contracts.[34]
The third section to be upgraded is between Tomatin and Moy, also 6 miles long.[35][36] This is the northernmost section of single carriageway for the scheme. In November 2023, Transport Minister Fiona Hyslop announced three contractors have been shortlisted for this scheme: John Graham Construction Ltd, Sacyr UK Ltd and Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering Ltd.[35] The £150 million contract was awarded to Balfour Beatty in July 2024 with construction set to last around three years.[37][38] Some preparation works to this section include trees being cut down and a new railway bridge on the Highland Main Line, which were done in 2021 and 2022, ahead of the main construction work.[39][40] The new railway bridge is also wide enough should the Highland Main Line be doubled in the near future. Preparatory works on this section began in October 2024, and major construction started in May 2025.[41][42][43] It's also reported that the section has risen to £308 million from £254 million in July 2024 and before that, £197 million.[42]
In April 2024, Transport Scotland began procurement for the 5-mile (8 km) section between Tay Crossing (aka, Jubilee Bridge) and Ballinluig project. This involved publishing a Prior Information Notice for a £155 million contract to complete this section.[44] Initial ground survey and borehole samples took place for the section in 2020.[45] In August 2024, three contractors have been shortlisted for this scheme: Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering Ltd, Wills Bros Civil Engineering Ltd and John Graham Construction Ltd.[46] The contract is expected to be awarded in summer 2025.[46] Transport Scotland also made orders for the 15-mile section between Dalraddy and Slochd in December 2024. This is followed by Crubenmore to Kincraig weeks later, leaving the Pass of Birnam to Tay Crossing section to not have started the statutory process.[47][48]
A Prior Information Notice was published for the 4-mile (6.4 km) section between Pitlochry and Killiecrankie in May 2025. This will be the fifth section of the project which passes through nearby designated environmental sites including the River Tay Special Area of Conservation. The contractor for this section will also upgrade existing at-grade junctions at Pitlochry North and Pitlochry South and convert them into a grade separated junction.[41]
Table
If only the year is shown, it means that construction should start or finish by the end of that year. Unless stated otherwise, the source for the table is:[49]
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Delays
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The construction project started in September 2015, and was originally scheduled for completion in 2025,[51][52][27] but in February 2023, the Scottish Government reported that the original deadline was "unachievable".[53] A review from the BBC stated that the civil engineers knew that finishing the project by its original deadline of 2025 was going to be impossible for years.[54] In December 2023, Transport Scotland announced that this deadline has been postponed by a decade to late 2035 and announced a new delivery plan.[55][56] Former first minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon stated that the reason for the delay was because it "faced significant challenges beyond their control, including from Brexit and the Covid[-19] pandemic"[57] and apologised that the 2025 deadline cannot be met. She did not apologise because of the Scottish National Party (SNP) or because the Scottish Government "messed up".[57] Other factors include the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[53]
However, these claims were not well received by residents at the northern end of the A9, and it was pointed out that issues such as Brexit, Covid and the War in Ukraine weren't factors when the project started to slow down,[58][59] with former First Minister, Alex Salmond, believing the project became less of a priority after he left the Scottish Government in 2014.[60] The first two sections of the scheme were already delayed by no more than a couple of months. Only 11 out of 90 miles of the A9 were converted to dual carriageway from 2015 to 2023, leaving 79 miles to be dualled. This means that as of January 2025, the project is far from completion.[54] According to a 2012 report, Alex Neil, Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment, said that the "2025 [deadline] was challenging but achievable"[61]
In March 2024, Fergus Ewing, a longstanding MSP, and former minister in the Scottish Government, issued a public letter to Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop highlighting delays to the project and continuing fatalities on the road.[62] A month prior to this, Ewing was suspended by the SNP for criticizing the party's negligence with particular emphasis on the A9 and A96 dualling delays.[63] In November 2024, the SNP announced plans to slash the national speed limit on single carriageway roads nationwide from 60mph to 50mph,[64] causing major concern from campaigners that it would further push back dualling of the A9, or lead to the project being cancelled outright, and that a further reduced speed limit would only increase frustration and lead to more accidents.[65]
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Criticism
Plans to dual the A9 and A96 have been criticised by Patrick Harvie of the Scottish Greens, who has said the plans were incompatible with the Scottish Government's climate initiatives.[66] A study in 2016 found that the dualling project would cost more to construct than it would bring in, including wider economic benefits.[67] The Scottish Government was criticised by the Highland Council for stalling the project.[16] However, in 2024, the Transport Secretary of the Scottish Government stated that Net zero Scotland would still need roads and the government had committed to continuing with the dualling project.[68] The First Minister John Swinney, has feared that the government may de-prioritise the project after the finance secretary warned about not being able to afford its capital commitments.[69]
The A9 runs through the site of the Battle of Killiecrankie. Expanding the road in that location will destroy some of the historic battleground. Transport Scotland said dualling the road will have "some impact" on the site.[70]
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Notes
- up from £3 billion in 2015.[2]
References
External links
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