The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Video reveals how junction will look after £35m works
Much anticipated improvements to A9/A85 site will help drive £500m boost to Perth economy, says council
Residents have been given their first glimpse of how Perth will be transformed by £35 million worth of roadworks.
The much heralded A9/A85 junction will unlock land for thousands of homes, creating new businesses and jobs and triggering an estimated £500m boost to the local economy.
Construction, which began in October, has reached another crucial stage with work set to begin on a new reinforced concrete underpass.
Perth and Kinross Council has released a computer-generated clip, which shows how the area will look once work has been completed.
It is hoped the video will offer locals an insight into the work and help make sense of the highly complex three-year operation.
The fly-through shows the new road passing McDiarmid Stadium – controversially cutting through woodland near Perth Crematorium – and running west towards Ruthvenfield, with a new crossing over the River Almond.
The new road will link up with Bertha Park, which is earmarked for more than 1,000 homes and a new secondary school.
Council leader Ian Miller, who praised the fly-through video, has described the work as an “important milestone” in the economic and physical growth of the city.
He said: “This is a hugely significant project, which will bring benefits for both local and through traffic, improve air quality in the city and unlock land for business and housing development.”
A council spokesman said that work by contractors Balfour Beatty was progressing well and scheduled to be completed about two years from now.
“A contraflow system has been installed on the A9 to allow construction of a new reinforced concrete underpass to carry the realigned Perth Lade under the A9, with the structure being built in two halves to maintain traffic flows on the A9,” he said.
This a hugely significant project, which will bring benefits for both local and through traffic ... IAN MILLER, PERTH AND KINROSS COUNCIL LEADER