Finishing A9 dualling 25 years late is 'unacceptable', says Alex Neil

A former Scottish government minister has told MSPs that suggestions that it could take until 2050 to complete work to dual the A9 between Inverness and Perth were "totally unacceptable".

Alex Neil had responsibility for roads in 2011 when the SNP made a commitment to upgrade miles of single carriageway.

He said transport officials at the time assured him the project could be completed by 2025.

In February, the Scottish government said this date would be missed.

It said Brexit, the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine had been factors in causing delays.

The petitions committee has been gathering evidence on the road-building project.

Over the last 10 years, work has been completed on two sections, totalling 11 miles of road - but about 77 miles of road remains to be dualled.

Mr Neil, a former secretary for infrastructure and capital investment, said he was "extremely disappointed" by delays to finishing the job.

He said: "I see some people suggesting it could be 2050.

"2050 would be totally unacceptable. Any new plan must look at what can be done within the next five or six years."

The SNP MSP described the A9 as one of the most dangerous roads in Scotland, and said there had been 335 fatalities on the Inverness-Perth stretch since 1979.

Earlier, Mr Neil told the committee he had asked Transport Scotland in December 2011 for clear advice on a realistic date for completing the dualling project.

He said it was recognised at the time there were challenges to the work, including those posed by areas of difficult terrain and a requirement for acquire land.

Mr Neil said: "They assured me both physically and financially it was perfectly feasible to achieve the dualling of the A9 between Inverness and Perth by 2025."

In May the following year he said he was sent a memorandum from Transport Scotland setting out completion dates for various sections of carriageway, and the final date given for the last sections was again 2025.

Mr Neil said the delays had been damaging to the Scottish economy.

The A9 is Scotland's longest trunk road and stretches from the north Highland coast to central Scotland.

A Transport Scotland spokesperson said the Scottish government remains committed to dualling the A9 between Perth and Inverness, with work continuing along the route and they would update parliament on the programme in the autumn.

"We were always clear that 2025 was an ambitious target but also a feasible one. The advice provided to ministers in 2012 reflected this and this was the publicly stated position at that time," they said.

"For example, in the press release of 26 June 2012 Mr Neil said "… we have always said that delivery by 2025 was challenging but achievable".

"As with all major infrastructure projects, the programme was subject to the timely and positive outcome of a range of factors such as the completion of public and stakeholder consultation, statutory approval processes, market capacity, supply chain availability and the availability of funding," they added.