Driving in Moray: Public say dualling A96 best way to make it safer

Dualling the full length of the A96 has been identified as the public's top suggestion to improve safety on Moray's busiest road.

A total of 4594 people responded to a survey conducted by Transport Scotland – with 96% identifying themselves as car drivers.

The results of the public consultation were revealed yesterday by the government agency.

A total of 49% say they want the full route dualled between Inverness and Aberdeen.

The second most popular suggestion amongst the public (12%) was to provide more opportunities to overtake.

A total of 11% opposed dualling any or all of the route.

Sandy Jamieson, Transport Scotland's A96 programme manager said: "The Scottish Government is committed to fully dualling the A96 between Inverness and Aberdeen and we have been undertaking a transparent evidence-based review of the corridor.

"Given the sheer volume of responses received and the high level of options this generated, it has rightly taken Transport Scotland more time than originally anticipated to examine and appraise all of these options.

"These views have helped us understand how the A96 corridor is used given the climate emergency and the changes to everyone’s lives following the Covid-19 pandemic, and the extent to which these challenges will impact on how people travel on the A96 in the future along with the opportunities it offers.

"The Transport Minister will be organising a meeting early next year for north and north-east MSPs to hear directly from the review’s project team."

A halt has currently been called on all new road building projects in Scotland, including dualling the A96 as well as the main A9 route south to Perth.

The SNP and the Scottish Greens have called the halt while an assessment is carried out on what effect such projects would have on global warming.

It's previously been stated that this assessment would be made public by the end of this current year.

See the results of the public consultation in full HERE