No street lights will be installed at a north-east accident black spot despite calls for safety improvements after a spate of serious collisions.
North-east MSP Liam Kerr asked transport minister Humza Yousaf whether the government would consider putting in lights at the Toll of Birness junction on the A90 Ellon to Peterhead road.
The call for an upgrade comes only weeks after a retired school teacher died following a collision on the busy stretch of carriageway.
Dorothy Cruickshank was one of six people taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary following the smash on April 5. The 66-year-old died in hospital ten days later.
In his response to Mr Kerr, Mr Yousaf said: “In the last five years, no injury accidents at the A90 Toll of Birness junction have occurred in the hours of darkness, therefore there is no evidence to suggest that street lighting would reduce the risk of accidents occurring and we have no plans to install it.”
Local campaigner Gillian Owen, who is spearheading the Why Stop At Ellon? Campaign to extend the A90 dual carriageway, said she is disappointed by the news.
“You’ll understand how disappointed I am but the fight goes on,” she said yesterday. “I still feel measures should be taken.
“The accidents may not have been actually at the junction but the near misses that happen constantly do not take cognisance of the time of day and I believe that adding street lights will have a positive impact.”
Mrs Owen, a councillor for the Ellon and District ward, added: “It may well get people to slow down as they approach that area.” She has previously mooted installing a roundabout at the junction to improve the flow of traffic.
North-east transport partnership Nestrans is currently reviewing transport links between Aberdeen, Ellon, Peterhead and Fraserburgh.
Among a long list of possible improvements is investment in dualling the A90 from Ellon to the Toll of Birness, and reconfiguring the junction to make it safer.
A further Nestrans report is due back this summer.
