The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Crash toll sparks plea for review of notorious A85.
MSP leads calls for probe into high accident and death rate on A85 trunk road
An “urgent review” is needed of one of Tayside’s most notorious roads, it has been claimed.
Newly-released figures show the A85 is one of the most dangerous roads in Scotland.
The trunk road, which stretches from Perth to Oban, has been the site of 33 serious or fatal collisions over an 18-month period from January 2017.
Conservative Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Liz Smith has written to Transport Secretary Michael Matheson urging his department to probe the high accident and death rate.
Campaigning alongside local residents and Perth and Kinross councillors, Ms Smith wants the road to be improved and speeding issues to be addressed.
She said: “For far too long, motorists using the A85 have had to endure a trunk road that puts them in danger, and that simply cannot continue.
“Community campaigners, councillors and myself have been lobbying on this for years but still we see speeding issues unaddressed as well as a failure to carry out the infrastructure upgrades that are badly needed.
“Too many families and communities have suffered tragic losses as a result of inaction on the A85.”
Transport Scotland said it has put in place measures to tackle dangerous driving and highlight road safety, particularly through the Stirlingshire and Argyll and Bute stretches.
These steps include barriers and speed cameras, while new signage has been installed in Perthshire near Almondbank.
A spokesperson for the agency said: “We assess the safety performance of the trunk road network on an annual basis by screening all locations where three or more personal injury accidents have occurred in a three-year period.
“We have made substantial investment on the A85 in recent years through provision of new bend signing between Lochty and Methven.”
In October 2018, firefighters cut free a passenger trapped in a car following a crash near Almondbank.Last January, a man was hospitalised after a collision between Comrie and St Fillans. Two motorcyclists were also airlifted to Ninewells from the A85 near Comrie after a crash in October.