Kate Forbes will instruct Transport Scotland to publish a revised timetable to kickstart the dualling of the A9 by June if she is elected first minister.
The Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch MSP said failure to do so could result in a date of 2050 or later for completion, which she described as “unacceptable and unthinkable”.
Highlighting the awful fatality statistics over the past year, coupled with car use being “a necessity and not a luxury” for rural communities, the leadership hopeful said it was “a matter of life and death”.
Ms Forbes, who is currently finance secretary, said: “Industry tells me that they want the A9 to be dualled from Perth to Inverness by the end of this decade, but only provided the way the work is procured changes radically.
“They say that unless this happens it may take till 2050 or even beyond to finish the job. That is unacceptable and unthinkable.
“Not only because a car is a necessity for most Highland people, not some kind of luxury item, but also because, as we have seen so tragically last year, it is a matter of life and death.”
Action will be taken within ‘first week of office’
The Press and Journal has been putting pressure on the government to speed up the process to dual the A9 and A96 as a matter of urgency.
The finance secretary continued: “Thirteen lives were lost in incidents on the A9 between Perth and Inverness.
“Of those, all but one occurred on single carriageway sections. Evidence from transport experts proves that fatalities are three times as likely to occur on single carriageway than dual, and 10 times more than on motorways.
“Roads themselves do not cause incidents. But single carriageways with difficult junctions, swift change between single and dual, and many foreign drivers unfamiliar with the road or driving on the left, are unforgiving of driver error.
“There is also no central reservation to separate opposing flows of traffic.
She added: “In my first week in office I will instruct Transport Scotland to consider whether it can deliver a plan to do this work by the end of the decade. A timetable must be published by June at the very latest and certainly not in the autumn.
Promises matter
“Transport Scotland have had nearly two years since the election to do this, and since Covid we have all known that the 2025 target would not be met.
“I want Transport Scotland to work collaboratively with the civil engineering industry to devise means, whether by framework agreement or otherwise, to accelerate the progress.
“Risk sharing should be practised as I believe it is in England and some local authorities.
“Promises matter. Where we make them, we must keep them.
“It’s about honesty and trust, and that shall be my approach if I am elected first minister.”
Last week, rival candidate Ash Regan admitted her party has “neglected” the north of Scotland over road dualling failures and plans to shift away from oil and gas.
She claimed residents had been “forgotten about” but vowed if she was made leader she would bring forward a plan to “make good” on the promises made for the A9 and A96 within her first 100 days.
The third SNP leadership candidate is Humza Yousaf, who held the role as transport secretary from 2016-2018 before moving on to the justice remit and then his current role as health secretary.
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