First minister 'clearly understands' A75 concerns

First Minister John Swinney has said he "clearly understands" the depth of concern about a key transport link through south-west Scotland after hearing calls for its upgrade.

Ferry operators and local road campaigners met him at Crocketford Village Hall to press for more work on the A75 which runs between Gretna and Stranraer.

The route carries million of pounds worth of goods every day to and from the ferry ports at Cairnryan.

Mr Swinney said he could promise a "mixture of different things" which would hopefully make a difference to users of the road.

The meeting followed the announcement in November that Jacobs UK Ltd had been selected as technical advisors to take forward the design and assessment of A75 bypass options at Springholm and Crocketford.

Mr Swinney said he had taken on board what he had heard from local residents, businesses and campaigners.

"I clearly understand the depth of concern there is within the local community about the A75 and the issues of road safety," he said.

"It's vital that people are able to live in safety and to access transport routes in the locality - I've heard that message loud and clear.

"What I want to make sure is that we seize every opportunity we can to improve the situation."

He said a commitment was there to look at bypass options for two villages but they would look at other measures to solve the "complicated interaction" between lorries using the ferry ports and more local traffic.

"That can sometimes be really difficult as an interaction and we have to be mindful of that and and to make sure we've got all available safety measures taken to try to improve the situation as swiftly as we possibly can do," he said.

As part of that he said he had committed to look at the possibility of average speed cameras.

However, he stressed that at a time of "enormous demands on public finances" they would have to undertake projects "as quickly and as expeditiously" as they could.

Conservative MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries Finlay Carson welcomed the visit as a chance for Mr Swinney to hear from ferry companies, transport groups and local activists.

He said they had "some hope" that their views had been taken on board.

"It is quite clear the A75 needs investment and we need it sooner rather than later," he said.

"I am really pleased that engineers have been appointed to look at the route and the technical details for the bypasses at Springholm and Crocketford."

He said they had also been promised any previous studies of potential bypass routes would also be taken into account.

Mr Carson said it would probably be a couple of years before the assessment was complete and some time after that before work would begin but he remained optimistic progress could be made on the bypasses.

"It is a signal that it is going to happen and that is far more than we have had in the past," he said.

South Scotland Labour MSP Colin Smyth said people wanted to see "action, not just warm words" from the Scottish government.

He said the only funding committed to the A75 was £5m from the UK government to look at bypasses for Springholm and Crocketford.

"It's time for the Scottish government to stop ducking their responsibilities, and put their money where their mouth is by committing to funding the building of the bypasses when that design work is completed," he said.

He said people in the area were asking for their "fair share" and were sick and tired of being the country's "forgotten region".