The SNP’s transport minister has denied claims a transport review of the A96 is delaying delivery of the road scheme.
The £3 billion project – if it goes ahead in full – would dual the entire route of the A96 between Aberdeen and Inverness.
But this was cast in doubt after a power-sharing deal was struck between the SNP and the Greens last year.
As part of this, it was agreed the decision to fully dual the route would instead be subject to an “evidence-based review” which will report by the end of this year.
Speaking at Holyrood, Scottish Conservative north-east MSP Liam Kerr said the move would see delivery of the scheme delayed.
He asked Jenny Gilruth to confirm if the scheme will be taken forward or would the Scottish Government “scandalously waste £78m of taxpayers money”.
Figures revealed earlier this year showed almost £80m has been spent on the scheme so far.
‘We are not delaying the scheme’
In response, Ms Gilruth said: “I think that is an inaccurate representation of the situation as it stands.
“We are not delaying the scheme. As Mr Kerr will know the Bute House agreement sets out that we will take forward a transport enhancements programme on the corridor itself.
“We’ve already undertaken substantial development work on the programme which tells us that dualling the entire A96 will involve substantial offline new roads which essentially means changing the route of that part of the current road.
“All road projects in Scotland including the A96 programme are subject to a detailed review and assessment work to ensure we deliver the right schemes and keep impacts on the environment to the absolute minimum.
“I’m sure Mr Kerr will agree the climate emergency necessitates that all governments irrespective of their politics ensure that future road building is not detrimental to our environment.”
Former SNP minister Fergus Ewing pushed the Ms Gilruth to deliver the Nairn bypass and dualled route between the town and Inverness.
Ms Gilruth said: “He will know that the A96 Inverness to Nairn, including the Nairn bypass which runs from Inverness to Hardmuir, is separate to the wider A96 review process which is currently being undertaken.
“We do continue to progress the preparation stages of this scheme to enable that completion of the statutory processes and subject to no legal challenge being received ministers will then have the relevant powers to acquire the land necessary. ”
The SNP government first committed to dualling the A96 in 2011 but more than a decade on, construction work is yet to get off the ground.
They said the “current plan is to fully dual the route between Inverness and Aberdeen”.
But this is subject to a “transparent, evidence-based review” which is currently underway and will report its findings by the end of the year.
Greens north-east MSP Maggie Chapman revealed last year she is confident it will “not be viable” to fully dual the road for environmental reasons.
This was followed by contractors behind part of the A96 dualling project shutting their Forres office last Hogmanay, blaming the impact of an SNP-Green deal.
SNP warned scrapping full A96 dualling could risk £78m in wasted work