A major consultation on the future of under-threat plans to dual the A96 has cost taxpayers more than £1.8 million so far, it was revealed.
The review into the project’s environmental impact was branded an “abysmal waste of money” as SNP ministers came under renewed pressure to push ahead with the £3 billion upgrade.
It emerged that a four-week survey gathering the views of locals who used the road got just 4,600 responses and 93 email replies.
The SNP committed to fully dualling the A96 more than a decade ago, but the scheme has been cast into doubt due to their Holyrood deal with the Greens.
It’s feared works between Inverness and Nairn – which had previously been safeguarded by ministers – could be axed entirely due to cuts.
The Scottish Greens are opposed to widening the road between Aberdeen and Inverness. Party MSP Maggie Chapman says it will “not be viable” due to climate consequences.
But north-east Tory Liam Kerr warned “life-saving” improvements to the A96 were essential and insisted the project could not be ditched.
It comes as we revealed the Highland region has Scotland’s deadliest roads with more than 100 deaths since 2016.
More than half of the tragedies recorded in the past six years in the area took place on the A96, A9 and A82.
SNP promises to dual the A9 have also come under intense scrutiny after it emerged earlier this year a key blueprint for the scheme was behind schedule.
Mr Kerr claimed the review into widening the A96 had been “unnecessary”.
‘Politically driven review’
He said: “This politically driven review has been shown to be yet another abysmal waste of taxpayers money.
“More than a decade has gone by since the SNP pledged to dual the route with no meaningful progress and now thanks to the politicking of central-belt based Green MSPs.
“It’s time for the SNP to stop pandering to their Green partners and get on with these life-saving improvements.”
Aberdeenshire Tory Alexander Burnett said: “The SNP are betraying communities in the north-east by continually stalling on this much-needed upgrade.”
The SNP and Greens faced claims in July their review into the future of the A96 had been skewed to ensure it gave them the result they wanted.
Stewart Nicol, chief executive of the Inverness chamber of commerce, said he was “extremely concerned” about how the consultation had been framed.
He claimed the study ignored the economic benefits which should come from the upgrades for businesses.
The four-week consultation survey was launched in May this year.
At the time transport minister Jenny Gilruth said uncovering the climate impact of the dualling project was “essential”.
A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government remains absolutely committed to delivering improvements along the A96 corridor which improves connectivity between surrounding towns, tackles congestion and addresses safety and environmental issues.
“A transparent, evidence-based review of the programme to fully dual the A96 between Inverness and Aberdeen is well underway and will report by the end of the year. This is sensible good governance for major investment of this kind.”
Conversation