Residents living along the routes of a major road dualling project have banded together to urge more people to speak out against the “illogical” proposals.
Rural communities have been holding numerous public meetings about the dualling project for the A96 Aberdeen to Inverness road.
Proposed routes were unveiled by Transport Scotland last month outlining various options for the section of the road between Huntly and Inverurie.
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A campaign group named A96 Action has since been created and one founder member Joe Narducci spoke out about the main concerns. He said: “We are a network of concerned residents, farmers and business owners.
“We do not believe that the public have been given enough time to provide comment, nor that Transport Scotland have made enough effort to make all residents affected by the routes aware.
“We do not believe the route north of Inverurie is fit-for-purpose due the increased flooding risk to Inverurie and surrounds – especially where a bridge would be needed at Kintore.
“The increased length of the route resulting in increased cost and greenhouse gas emissions, the removal of large swathes of prime agricultural land and the fact that no evidence has been provided to demonstrate that this route will alleviate the traffic problems in Inverurie.”
The group has urged people to give feedback to Transport Scotland before the November 22 deadline and believe the existing A96 road should be dualled instead.
Transport Scotland previously said a thorough review had been carried out and noted that the number of roadside properties and junctions made the widening of the road problematic.
A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “Community and stakeholder engagement is at the heart of all our road schemes including the A96 Dualling East of Huntly to Aberdeen scheme.
“Having held public exhibitions recently to let the public see the initial options, with over 2,000 people attending, we are progressing our plans with a view to identifying a preferred option next year.”
