A9 dualling project

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A9 dualling project
A9 dualling Gelly Overbridge.jpg
Dualling work in 2021 between Luncarty and Pass of Birnam, the second section of the scheme.
LocationScotland (Perth to Inverness)
ProposerTransport Scotland
Project websiteTransport Scotland's programme
StatusPartially complete[a]
TypeUpgrade to dual carriageway
Cost estimate£3.7 billion[1][b]
Start date2015
Completion date2035 (initially 2025)

In 2011, Transport Scotland envisioned a plan to upgrade the remaining 90 miles (145 km) of the A9, a trunk road in Scotland, between Perth and Inverness from a single carriageway to a dual carriageway. According to this plan, the road will be widened from one to two lanes per direction (two to four lanes total). It also means there will be an increase in speed for cars and motorcycles from 60 mph to 70 mph (97 km/h to 113 km/h).

A dual carriageway allows drivers to overtake safely, as they do not have to meet oncoming traffic; and the crash barriers on the central reservation will greatly reduce the number of head-on collisions. As most of the A9 is currently a single carriageway, drivers may have to overtake heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and other slow-moving vehicles as they are limited to 50 mph (80 km/h), 10 mph (16 km/h) lower than the speed limit for cars and motorcycles. The project started in September 2015 with a planned completion date of 2025, but has since been deferred to 2035 for various reasons. As of 2024, two sections of the project have been completed—the Kincraig to Dalraddy (near Aviemore) in September 2017, and the Luncarty to Pass of Birnam (near Perth) in August 2021, totalling 11 miles (17 km).

The A9 has been dubbed as Scotland's most dangerous road. In 2022, the number of fatalities rose to its highest level in 20 years.

History

Early upgrades

The 138 mi (222 km) section between Bridge of Allan and Inverness, via Perth, was substantially rebuilt during the 1970s and 80s, but it follows essentially the same route except where it bypasses towns and villages instead of running through their centres. Between Perth and Inverness, the road has been dubbed Killer A9,[3] because of accidents and fatalities where dual-carriageway sections merge into a single carriageway; the principal cause is that motorists drive at excessive speeds to overtake lines of slower-moving vehicles before the dual carriageway ends. Dangerous overtaking manoeuvres on the long single-carriageway stretches of the road are also common causes of accidents, as are the non-grade separated junctions along the northern sections, where drivers make a right turn across the opposing traffic flow.[4]

One of the sections of dual carriageway built in the late 1970s/ early 1980s; this is the section in the north of Perthshire between Dalnacardoch and Dalnaspidal

The most significant alteration of the A9 route was the realignment of the route north from Inverness, crossing the Moray Firth via the Kessock Bridge, cutting through the Black Isle and back across the Cromarty Firth. This shortened the route by 14 mi (23 km), bypassing Beauly, Muir of Ord and Dingwall. Construction of the Kessock Bridge began in 1976 and it was completed in 1982.[5]

Since 2007, the Scottish Government has given serious consideration to converting the entire Perth-Inverness section to dual carriageway with more grade separated junctions, with the initial estimated cost at £600 million.[6] In late 2008, the Scottish Government's transport plan for the next 20 years was announced. It brought forward planned improvements to the A9 to try to stimulate the economy and protect jobs.[7] This included a commitment to full dualling of the road between Perth and Inverness.[8] Work costing a total of £8.5 million was undertaken at Moy, Carrbridge and Bankfoot. Northbound overtaking lanes were created and the carriageway was reconstructed at both Moy and Carrbridge. Junction improvements were also made at Moy and at the Ballinluig junction, south of Pitlochry.[7][9]

Speed cameras

The average speed cameras which became operational on the A9 in Oct 2014

In July 2013, the Scottish Government announced a plan to install average speed cameras on the A9 between Perth and Inverness. This has been undertaken with an aim to reduce accidents and fatalities on the road, and was the second permanent average speed camera scheme in Scotland.[10] Simultaneously, an increased speed limit for heavy goods vehicles from 40 mph (64 km/h) to 50 mph (80 km/h) was introduced to help mitigate driver frustration.[11] Both became operational in October 2014,[12] before HGV speed limit increase would then apply to England and Wales on single carriageways from 40 to 50 mph.[13]

The A9 Safety Group claim that the cameras have had a "positive influence" on road users, with the number of drivers breaking the speed limit by over 10 mph (16 km/h) decreasing by 97%.[14] Improvements to safety include at least 40% reduction in fatalities, and this has been attributed, at least in part, to a reduction in speeding, from 1 in 3 vehicles to just 1 in 15.[15] The average speed cameras may be removed after the A9 dualling project is done.[16]

Road safety statistics

See also: Killer A9

It has been reported that the A9 is dubbed the most dangerous road in Scotland.[17] In 2022, despite the installation of average speed cameras, 17 people died on the A9, of whom 13 were on the stretch between Perth and Inverness, where much of the route is single carriageway.[17][18] This has meant that the number of fatalities rose to its highest level in 20 years; between 2019 and 2021, only one death was reported per year.[17][18] However, this plummeted to just four deaths the following year, with half of them on single carriageway sections.[19] As of July 2023, 335 people had been killed on the Perth-to-Inverness stretch of the road since 1979 (an average of 7.6 deaths per year), 59 of which occurred between 2011 and 2022 (an average of 5.4 deaths per year). The "A9 Dual Action Group" was established to bring attention to the statistics. It submitted a petition to the Scottish Parliament in December 2022, calling on the Scottish Government to follow through on its 2011 commitment to convert the remaining 77 miles (124 kilometers)[20] of single carriageway into dual carriageway by 2025.[21] In 2023, the Scottish National Party (SNP) stated that the dualling of the road would not be complete by 2025.[22][23]

The annual average daily traffic (AADT) of the A9 varies between Perth and Inverness from 8500 around Pitlochry, 22,500 around Perth and 37,000 around Inverness.[24]

Construction

Announcement

In November 2011, the Scottish Government announced that it would upgrade the entire road from Perth to Inverness to dual carriageway.[25] The design contract was split into three lots with Lot 1 (Glengarry to Dalraddy) awarded to a CH2M / Fairhurst joint venture in April 2014.[26] Lot 2 (Pass of Birnam to Glengarry) was awarded to Jacobs in August 2014[27] and Lot 3 was awarded to an Atkins / Mouchel joint venture in December 2014.[28]

Completed sections (2015-2021)

Construction works for the (now completed) dual section of the A9 near Alvie

Award of the construction contract for a preliminary section (outwith Lots 1 to 3) of the £3 billion project was awarded in June 2015.[2] Work began on the first 5 mi (8 km) section between Kincraig and Dalraddy (located just south of Aviemore) in September 2015.[29] After a slight delay, this section was opened to traffic two years later on 30 September 2017.[30] It is an isolated stretch of dual carriageway (i.e., this section is not an extension of an existing dual carriageway or something that fills the gap, as was done for the second and third section down below). A 2+1 road section (also known as WS2+1) just of the first section was removed due to the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) CD 109 requirements of having a minimum of 2km of single carriageway in between, as well as an existing bridge in the way.[31]

The second section of the project was the 6-mile (10 km) section between Luncarty and Pass of Birnam, the first section of what was single carriageway just north of Perth. After having the £96 million contract awarded to Balfour Beatty in autumn 2018,[32] construction works began in February 2019.[33] This section was scheduled to finish in spring 2021. However, like the Kincraig to Dalraddy section, it also experienced a slight delay meaning that this section was finished in August 2021 with off-carriageway works to finish by 2022.[34] The first two schemes combined meant that Transport Scotland has converted 11 miles (17 km) of single carriageway to dual carriageway.

Proposed sections

Since 2022, no sections of the A9 were either upgraded or under construction. This has also occurred between September 2017 and February 2019 meaning that no major works were also carried out in the whole of 2018.[35] The project will be delivered via a hybrid approach, utilising both 'design and build' (D&B) and 'mutual investment model' (MIM) contracts.[36]

Tomatin to Moy

The third section to be upgraded is between Tomatin and Moy, also 6 miles long.[37][38] This is the northernmost section of single carriageway for the scheme. In November 2023, Transport Minister Fiona Hyslop have announced three contractors have been shortlisted for this scheme: John Graham Construction Ltd, Sacyr UK Ltd and Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering Ltd.[37] The £150 million contract was awarded to Balfour Beatty in July 2024 with construction set to last around three years.[39][40] Some preparation works to this section include some trees being cut down and a new railway bridge on the Highland Main Line, which were done in 2021 and 2022, ahead of the main construction work.[41][42] The new railway bridge is also wide enough should the Highland Main Line be doubled in the near future. This stretch is expected to start construction by the end of 2024.[43] Preparatory works on this section began on 21 October 2024, and is expected to begin main construction in spring 2025.[44][45] It's also reported that the section has risen to £308 million from £254 million in July this year and before that, £197 million.[44]

Tay Crossing to Ballinluig

The A9 single carriageway (pictured) north of the Jubilee Bridge is scheduled for dualling in 2025

In April 2024, Transport Scotland began procurement for the 5-mile (8 km) section between Tay Crossing (aka, Jubilee Bridge) and Ballinluig project. This involved publishing a Prior Information Notice for a £155 million contract to complete this section.[46] Initial ground survey and borehole samples took place for the section in 2020.[47] In August 2024, three contractors have been shortlisted for this scheme: Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering Ltd, Wills Bros Civil Engineering Ltd and John Graham Construction Ltd.[48] The contract is expected to be awarded in summer 2025.[48]

Table

If only the year is shown, it means that construction should start or finish by the end of that year. Unless stated otherwise, the source for the table is:[49]

Section Status Start of work End of work Contract
Kincraig to Dalraddy Complete Sep 2015[29] Sep 2017[30] D&B
Luncarty to Pass of Birnam Complete Feb 2019[33] Aug 2021[50] D&B
Tomatin to Moy Prep works
underway[c] 		Spring 2025[45][d] Spring 2028[45] D&B
Tay Crossing to Ballinluig In preparation 2025 2028 D&B
Pitlochry to Killiecrankie In preparation 2026 2030 D&B
Pass of Birnam to Tay Crossing In preparation 2028 2032 D&B
Dalraddy to Slochd In preparation 2028 2033 MIM
Dalwhinnie to Crubenmore In preparation 2028 2033 MIM
Crubenmore to Kincraig In preparation 2030 2035 MIM
Glen Garry to Dalwhinnie In preparation 2030 2035 MIM
Killiecrankie to Glen Garry In preparation 2030 2035 MIM

Delays

The construction project started in September 2015 and was originally scheduled for completion in 2025.[51][52][29] but in February 2023, the Scottish Government reported that the 2025 deadline was "unachievable".[53]A review from the BBC stated that the civil engineers knew that finishing the project by its original deadline of 2025 was going to be impossible for years.[54] In December 2023, Transport Scotland announced that this deadline has been postponed by a decade to late 2035 and announced a new delivery plan.[55] [56] Since 2022, no sections of the A9 were either upgraded or under construction. This has also occurred between September 2017 and February 2019 meaning that no major works were also carried out in the whole of 2018. Former first minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon stated that the reason for the delay was because it "faced significant challenges beyond their control, including from Brexit and the Covid[-19] pandemic"[57] and apologised that the 2025 deadline cannot be met. She did not apologise because of the Scottish National Party (SNP) or because the Scottish Government "messed up".[57] Other factors include the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[53] The first two sections of the scheme were already delayed by no more than a couple of months. Only 11 out of 90 miles of the A9 were converted to dual carriageway from 2015 to 2023, leaving 79 miles to be dualled. This means that the project is far from completion.[54] According to a 2012 report, Alex Neil, Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment, said that the "2025 [deadline] was challenging but achievable"[58]

In March 2024, Fergus Ewing, an SNP politician that is also an MSP (Member of Scottish Parliament) member since 1999, issued a public letter to transport secretary Fiona Hyslop highlighting delays to the project and continuing fatalities on the road.[59]

Criticism

Plans to dual the A9 and A96 have been criticised by Patrick Harvie of the Scottish Greens, who has said the plans were incompatible with the Scottish Government's climate initiatives.[60] A study in 2016 found that the dualling project would cost more to construct than it would bring in, including wider economic benefits.[61] The Scottish Government was criticised by the Highland Council for stalling the project.[17] However, in 2024, the Transport Secretary of the Scottish Government stated that Net zero Scotland would still need roads and the government had committed to continuing with the dualling project.[62] The First Minister John Swinney, has feared that the government may de-prioritise the project after the finance secretary warned about not being able to afford its capital commitments.[63]

The A9 runs through the site of the Battle of Killiecrankie. Expanding the road here will destroy some of the battleground. Transport Scotland say dualling the road will have "some impact" on the site.[64]

Notes

  1. ^ Only two sections were complete, first being Kincraig to Dalraddy in September 2017, and Luncarty to Pass of Birnam in August 2021, totalling 11 miles (17 km). This leaves another 79 miles (126 km) of single carriageway left to be upgraded. Prep works started on the 6-mi section in Oct 2024 between Tomatin and Moy
  2. ^ up from £3 billion in 2015.[2]
  3. ^ from 21 October 2024
  4. ^ Although preparatory works started on 21 October 2024, main works is expected to begin in spring 2025

References

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  11. ^ "HGV speed limits in the UK". Archived from the original on 13 May 2024. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
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