Drive to finish dualling A9 on track with 75 miles to go

● Ministers still ‘committed’ to do £3bn work by 2025

Ministers have insisted they are on track to complete the remaining 75 miles of A9 dualling in seven years’ time as they unveiled plans for the next section.

Detailshavebeenannounced for the stretch north from Killiecrankie to link with an existing dual carriageway section in Glen Garry, which leads to the Drumochter summit.

The Scottish Government’s Transport Scotland agency, which is in charge of the project, described it as “another milestone” in their “ambitious” £3 billion plans due to be finished by 2025.

So far, only five miles of the 80-mile Perth-inverness project have been completed with the opening of the stretch between Kincraig and Dalraddy, south of Aviemore, in September. Work is expected to start on the next section to extend the existing Perth dual carriageway north from Luncarty to the Pass of Birnham, near Dunkeld, early next year.

Draft orders and an “environmental statement” showing the line of the Killiecrankie-glen Garry section have been published.

They include a new junction with slip roads at the House of Bruar shopping complex, north of Blair Atholl,

Exhibitions of the new route will be held from 1pm-9pm on 13 December in Killiecrankie Village Hall and 1pm-9pm on 14 December in Blair Atholl Village Hall.

Economy secretary Keith Brown said yesterday: “Today marks a further significant milestone in our plans, with draft orders being published for a well-used 13-mile stretch of the road between Killiecrankie and Glen Garry.

“This is just the start as we expect to publish draft orders for further dualling projects over the coming months.”

A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “We are committed to dualling the A9 between Perth and Inverness by 2025, one of the biggest transport infrastructure projects in Scotland’s history.

“The work is progressing apace, with the Kincraig to Dalraddy section now open to traffic and bidders being sought for the Luncarty to Pass of Birnam section.

“In addition, the design work on the remaining schemes of the dualling programme is well underway, with over 90 per cent of the dualling programme having now reached preferred route status.

“We have today published the draft orders for the stretch between Killiecrankie and Glen Garry with more to come over the coming months.”