Residents got an insight yesterday into the preferred design for dualling the A9 in their part of the Highlands – and liked it.
Transport Scotland revealed its latest proposals for the five-mile Tomatin-Moy stretch of the route as part of a £3billion upgrade of the north’s busiest road.
The most northerly section of A9 to be dualled so far and will connect existing dual carriageway linking Inverness and Moy with Tomatin and the Slochd Summit.
The details were showcased at a well attended exhibition at Strathdearn village hall in Tomatin. It continues today between 11am and 8pm.
The road is largely being widened along its existing route with junctions considered north of Tomatin and both north and south of Moy.
Encouraged by improved A9 junction safety, Edward Usborne, vice chairman of Strathdearn Community Council, said: “They’ve come up with a number of options. There’s still room for further discussion and, hopefully, they’ll listen to people’s concerns.”
Local Highland councillors Jim Crawford and Thomas Prag both visited the exhibition and agreed that A9 access would be safer and that the upgrade would benefit the village by opening it up for new housing.
Sam MacNaughton, of Transport Scotland, said: “There’s been widespread support for the project which has been difficult because of the constraints in the area, threading the dual carriageway through the area. But the design team are up to the challenges and have come up with solutions that will work.”
A public consultation covering the preferred route for the 7.5-mile Dalwhinnie-Glen Garry section will be held on Wednesday next week (November 23) between noon and 7pm at Dalwhinnie village hall.
