Fed-up road users are having their say on what should take priority as patience runs out at the massive delays to deliver the promised A9 dual carriageway.
The campaign to dual the route from Inverness to Perth includes a call to set up a memorial to all those who have died on the road.
A public consultation on the proposals is receiving mixed views – and most think the SNP should just get on with it and finish the job, if they want a fitting memorial.
“The only one that will mark the cost of lives to date is to get the A9 fully dualled as quickly as possible,” wrote one respondent, in line with many more.
“Please just spend the money fixing the road,” one person demanded. “Then names will not need to be added to a memorial.”
Another respondent wrote: “The memorial will be the total dualling and safety features in place.”
The best legacy would be to make the road safe.
– A9 petition response.
A common theme is to let families who lost loved ones in road collisions answer any question about a national memorial.
Some people on the parliament’s consultation site also suggested any national memorial should be to all victims of any road crash.
A9 petition gathers pace
Dozens of responses are now with the Scottish Parliament, where the main petition had been signed by more than 4,100 people as of Friday.
Petitioner Laura Hansler, from Kincraig near Aviemore, admits the national memorial idea would be effective even if the concept forces government ministers to think about the real people killed in crashes on the road.
“When you think of the number of names it makes it real,” she says.
“Thinking of the people who died means ministers can’t just leave then as statistics in a drawer somewhere.”
If not part of the immediate plan, a national memorial could be considered in years to come like in England, she suggests.
A monument was unveiled in a ceremony in Warwickshire this summer.
SNP government meeting
Meanwhile, Ms Hansler met SNP ministers Mairi McAllan and Fiona Hyslop – who between them oversee road infrastructure policy – on Tuesday.
She was supported at the meeting by SNP MSP Fergus Ewing, a vocal critic of his own party’s failure to meet its long-held electoral promise.
READ MORE: How the campaign for A9 dualling has unfolded
The meeting, which involved officials from government agency Transport Scotland, was held one week before MSPs return to parliament.
Focus will be on First Minister Humza Yousaf to say something meaningful on the A9 project when he stands up on September 5 to deliver a statement on his programme for government.
The formality will be first chance Mr Yousaf has had as leader to fully set out his stall on planned legislation after taking over from Nicola Sturgeon in spring.
Former leader Alex Salmond had promised to finish the A9 job in 2008, setting a 2025 target just three years later in government.
You can view the public petition on the Scottish Parliament website here.
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