| Property Name: | A9 dualling project |
| Location: | Scotland (Perth to Inverness) |
| Proposer: | Transport Scotland |
| Official Website: | Transport Scotland's programme |
| Status: | In procurement |
| Type: | Upgrade to dual carriageway |
| Estimated Cost: | £3.7 billion[1] |
| Planned Start: | 2015 |
| Planned Finish: | 2035 (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), and will also have a central reservation. It also means there will be an increase in speed for cars and motorcycles from 60 mph to 70 mph (96 km/h to 112 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 will possibly 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 it will not be finished on time due to delays.
The 138mile 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,[2] because of accidents and fatalities where dual-carriageway sections merge into a single-carriageway - the principal cause being motorists driving 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.[3]
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 14miles, bypassing Beauly, Muir of Ord and Dingwall. Construction of the Kessock Bridge began in 1976 and it was completed in 1982.[4] 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.[5] In late 2008, the Scottish Government's transport plan for the next 20 years was announced. It brought forward planned improvements to the A9 in an attempt to stimulate the economy and protect jobs.[6] This included a commitment to full dualling of the road between Perth and Inverness.[7] 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.[8]
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.[9] They work by measuring the time it takes to drive between two cameras. Simultaneously, an increased speed limit for heavy goods vehicles from 40mph to 50mph was introduced to help mitigate driver frustration. This happened before the speed limit for HGVs would then apply to England and Wales.[10] Both became operational in October 2014.
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 10mph decreasing by 97%.[11] 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.[12] The average speed cameras may be removed after the A9 dualling project is done.[13]
In November 2011, the Scottish Government announced that it would upgrade the entire road from Perth to Inverness to dual carriageway.[14] The design contract was split into three lots with Lot 1 (Glengarry to Dalraddy) awarded to a CH2M / Fairhurst joint venture in April 2014.[15] Lot 2 (Pass of Birnam to Glengarry) was awarded to Jacobs in August 2014[16] and Lot 3 was awarded to an Atkins / Mouchel joint venture in December 2014.[17]
Award of the construction contract for a preliminary section (outwith Lots 1 to 3) of the £3 billion project was awarded in June 2015,. Work began on the first 5mile section between Kincraig and Dalraddy (located just south of Aviemore) in September 2015.[18] After a slight delay, this section was opened to traffic two years later on 30 September 2017.[19] 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.[20]
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,[21] construction works began in February 2019.[22] 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 on August 2021 with off-carriageway works to finish by 2022.[23] The first two schemes combined meant that Transport Scotland has converted 11 miles (17 km) of single carriageway to dual carriageway.
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.
The third section to be upgraded is between Tomatin and Moy, which is also 6 miles long.[24] [25] 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. The £150 million contract was awarded to Balfour Beatty in July 2024 with construction set to last around three years.[26] [27] 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.[28] [29] The new railway bridge is also wide enough should the Highland Main Line be doubled in the near future. 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.[30] Initial ground survey and borehole samples took place for the section in 2020.[31] 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.[32] The contract is expected to be awarded in summer 2025.
If only the year are present, it means that construction should start or finish by the end of that year. Unless stated otherwise, the source for the table is: [33]
| Kincraig to Dalraddy | Complete | September 2015 | September 2017 | |
| Luncarty to Pass of Birnam | Complete | February 2019 | August 2021[34] | |
| Tomatin to Moy | In procurement | 2024 | 2027 | |
| Tay Crossing to Ballinluig | In preparation | 2025 | 2028 | |
| Pitlochry to Killiecrankie | In preparation | 2026 | 2030 | |
| Pass of Birnam to Tay Crossing | In preparation | 2028 | 2032 | |
| Dalraddy to Slochd Crubenmore to Kincraig | In preparation | 2028 | 2033 | |
| Dalwhinnie to Crubenmore Glen Garry to Dalwhinnie Killiecrankie to Glen Garry | In preparation | 2030 | 2035 |
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.
The full scheme was originally scheduled for completion in 2025,[35] [36] but in December 2023 this deadline was postponed by a decade to late 2035.[37] [38] 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"[39] and apologised that the 2025 deadline cannot be met. She did not apologise because of the SNP or because the Scottish Government "messed up". 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.[40]
In March 2024, the SNP MSP Fergus Ewing issued a public letter to the transport secretary Fiona Hyslop highlighting delays to the project and continuing fatalities on the road.[41]
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.[42] A study in 2016 found that the dualling project would cost more to construct than it would bring in, including wider economic benefits.[43] 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.[44]
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.[45]