The Scottish Government has been urged to spend money saved on the new Firth of Forth crossing on a flyover at a notorious north-east road junction.
Campaigner Jill Fotheringham, who has spent 10 years campaigning for action at the junction of the A90 Aberdeen-Dundee road and the A937 Laurencekirk-Montrose road, claimed it would be a worthwhile investment.
West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine Liberal Democrat Sir Robert Smith and Alison McInnes, a Lib Dem north-east MSP, echoed her remarks and Montrose councillor David May claimed the case was “overwhelming”.
Ms Fotheringham spoke out after Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon revealed that the budget for the Queensferry Crossing – due to open to traffic by the end of 2016 – was now between £1.35billion-£1.4billion.
It has been revised down from the previous range of £1.4billion-£1.45billion.
Ms Fotheringham, a florist from Montrose who is backed by thousands of local people, has urged Transport Minister Keith Brown to act.
In a letter to the minister, she wrote: “Now I’m sure you will find many ways of using up this money but I hope you will forgive me for being selfish here and suggesting that some of that money could be well spent on bringing grade separation to the south junction at Laurencekirk.
“The situation is becoming intolerable and is only getting worse.”
Sir Robert said the crossing at Laurencekirk was “dangerous and investment is long overdue”.
“There is an opportunity now to do something about it and the chance must be grasped,” he added.
But a spokesman for Transport Scotland said the Queensferry Crossing savings had already been allocated to the project to upgrade the A9 to full dual carriageway between Inverness and Perth.
He added that the money meant that work on the Kincraig and Dalraddy stretch of the road would start next summer, about six months earlier than originally timetabled.
The spokesman said regional transport partnership Nestrans was still working on a government-funded study to establish the best solution for the road network near Laurencekirk.
“We are working with them and Aberdeenshire Council to identify the most robust solution in the light of calls for a grade separated junction,” he added.
