Moray and Highland politicians call for Scottish Government to dual A96 after four deaths in two weeks on road

North-east politicians have united to call for the a major trunk road to be dualled following four deaths on the route in less than two weeks.

Conservative Highlands and Islands representative, Douglas Ross MSP, and Independent MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Fergus Ewing, are again pressing the Scottish Government for decisive action on the 100-mile route between Inverness and Aberdeen.

Mr Ross said: “The number of accidents and fatalities on the A96 this summer has been shocking.

"The A96 carries massive volumes of vehicles every hour of every day but it is long past the time for it to be fully upgraded.

"We have seen so many serious accidents with the road being closed and lives lost.

"We have been promised for years that this road is a priority route for the Scottish Government, and it will be dualled yet nothing is done. They must start dualling the A96 in full.

“It’s the very least that the families and friends of people affected by accidents deserve.”

In the last fortnight alone: a 50-year-old woman involved in a two-car crash between Inverness and Nairn on Friday, July 18 died and two other people involved were hospitalised; on July 22, a 65-year-old passenger lost her life and the driver was seriously injured when their car collided with a van east of the Inverness Airport roundabout; and two women aged 48 and 56 were killed and another 15-year old passenger left in a critical condition on July 28 after their car hit a lorry east of Forres.

Mr Ewing said every death is a devastating loss for a family but also pointed out that, alongside grief, there is “anger at broken promises”.

He said: “The A96 must be dualled as the SNP has pledged in election after election since 2007. Even now there is no plan or timetable even for the first section - including the Nairn bypass.

“Had the government any humility, they would apologise but instead they boast about non-existent achievements, even though with over £100 million spent on the A96 programme, not one inch of Tarmac has been laid.

“I have again asked Fiona Hyslop to apologise and issue a clear timetable for the first section, Inverness to Auldearn. She has thus far steadfastly refused to do this.”

The Cabinet Secretary for Transport was asked for comment but she had not replied by the time of writing.

However, Transport Scotland is an executive agency of the Scottish Government.

A spokesperson said: “We remain fully committed to our goal of making Scotland’s roads the safest in the world by 2030.

"In this financial year, we have increased our road safety budget to a record £48 million to help fund safety improvements on both trunk roads and local roads, support high profile campaigns to raise awareness of key issues like speeding, seatbelts and drink/drug driving, as well as advancing the use of technology aimed at making our roads safer.

"We remain determined to save lives and committed to our long-term vision of no-one being killed or seriously injured on Scotland’s roads by 2050."

The Scottish Government’s “favoured position” is to fully dual the A96.

“We are already starting the dualling process from Inverness to Nairn,” said the spokesperson, “including a Nairn Bypass, having acquired the land for the scheme earlier this year.

“We continue to progress the work to determine the most suitable procurement option for delivering this scheme and thereafter a timetable for progress can be set in line with available budgets.”

Transport Scotland published the outcomes of a review in draft for consultation last November. Over 1400 responses were received from stakeholders, communities along the A96 and road users, amongst others.

Ms Hyslop is now considering the feedback along with draft outcomes from the review’s appraisal and assessment work, ahead of a final decision on how best to take forward improvements.

The Transport Scotland spokesperson added: “Any decision on the way ahead for the A96 will need to take into consideration the UK Government’s recent spending review and its impact on Scottish budgets, and the forthcoming update to the Scottish Government’s Infrastructure Investment Plan, expected later this year.”

Transport Scotland also highlighted a national speed management review, with findings and recommendations set to be published later this year.

Meanwhile, Moray SNP MSP, Richard Lochhead, also said his thoughts are with the families and loved ones of all those affected by road traffic accidents on the A96.

He added: “The recent incidents are subject to ongoing police investigations. However, I am in touch with the authorities so I can better understand current trends around road traffic accidents on the A96 in recent months.

“Road safety is one of the reasons many people support dualling the route."

Finally, Moray Council leader, Councillor Kathleen Robertson (Forres, Conservative), added her heartfelt condolences to those affected by the recent spate of accidents.

She said: “Although there are different factors to these accidents, it is without doubt that dualling the A96 would make it a safer road by alleviating driver frustration.

“The increase in heavy traffic as a main route for the large-scale developments at the Green Freeport in Cromarty through to Aberdeen being the head of GB Energy surely merits urgent reconsideration by the Scottish Government of timescales for the A96 to be upgraded.”