Milestone reached in A9 dualling project

The ambitious project to dual the A9 between Perth and Inverness has reached another milestone.

Draft orders for the penultimate section of the route - Crubenmore to Kincraig - have been published, meaning eight of the remaining nine sections of the carriageway are at the draft order stage.

The only section still at the design stage is the Pass of Birnam to Tay Crossing.

Michael Matheson, cabinet secretary for transport, infrastructure and connectivity, said:“The Scottish Government is committed to dualling the A9 between Perth and Inverness by 2025, one of the biggest transport infrastructure projects in Scotland’s history, and we remain on target to meet that commitment.

“The work is continuing across the route and road users are benefiting from the new dualled stretch between Kincraig and Dalraddy which opened to traffic last year.

“Advance works are already underway on the next section to be dualled between Luncarty and Pass of Birnam and now that we have announced the intention to award the main works construction contract, we expect construction to start in the coming months.

“The design work on the remaining parts of the dualling programme is progressing at pace.

“Hard on the heels of publishing draft orders for the Dalraddy to Slochd scheme last week, we have now done the same for the Crubenmore to Kincraig scheme.

“This means that eight of the remaining nine schemes have now reached that important milestone.

“The last part of the dualling, through the Dunkeld and Birnam area, has been subject to a co-creative process and the community has identified its preferred route option.

“Transport Scotland is now taking forward further design and assessment work on this option to develop it further and consult locally before submitting it to Scottish ministers for consideration.”