The Tories have blamed reckless drivers for cash being “wasted” installing controversial average-speed cameras on the A90
The devices will be used on the Blackdog to Balmedie stretch of the busy Aberdeen-Fraserburgh road until work on the city bypass is finished.
Temporary speed restrictions have been put in place across the north-east as work on the £745million Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR) is carried out.
But countless motorists have been caught flouting the 50mph limit on the A90.
Last night Peter Chapman, who is standing for the Scottish Conservative’s in Banffshire and Buchan Coast, said the cameras would not be needed if drivers would simply “abide by the temporary speed restriction”.
Police say they have been receiving “daily” calls about motorists driving too fast, and one travelling at 90mph in the 50mph limit passed within 6ft of workmen on the carriageway.
Mr Chapman said: “It is disappointing that public money will have to be spent erecting average-speed cameras to make sure that drivers abide by the temporary speed restriction of 50mph – that shouldn’t have to happen.
“However, the safety of those working on the construction of the AWPR is paramount and Transport Scotland and the local councils involved in the project have a responsibility to take what steps are required to prevent accidents at the site.”
The average-speed cameras are expected to stay in place until the works are completed and the reduced temporary speed limit is removed from the Balmedie-Blackdog stretch of the A90.
It is understood there are currently no plans to have average-speed cameras installed permanently on the route.
Aberdeen Roads Limited is working with Transport Scotland, Aberdeenshire Council, and the North Safety Camera Partnership to instal the devices.
The Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route-Balmedie to Tipperty project is expected to finish in late 2017.
In 2014, average-speed cameras – which opponents in the north refer to as “yellow vultures” – were installed on the notorious A9 Inverness-Dunblane road.
Figures released by Transport Scotland earlier this year indicated they had failed to lower the number of fatal accidents between Inverness and Perth, although the Scottish Government insists that while looking at the route in full, down to Dunblane, there have been fewer fatalities and serious accidents.
The other candidates standing in Banffshire and Buchan Coast are the Scottish Liberal Democrats’ David Ronald Evans, Scottish Labour’s Nathan Joel Morrison and the SNP’s Stewart Stevenson.
