How many more people have to die on the A9 before the SNP finally lives up to its pledge to dual Scotland’s most notorious road?
How many more families have to go through the anguish of picking up the pieces of shattered lives before the Holyrood government keeps a promise it made in its manifesto a full 16 years ago?
The raw statistics for the death toll on the Perth-Inverness stretch of the A9 stands at a heartbreaking 335 since 1979.
This statistic alone shows that this vital artery to the Highlands has been unfit for purpose not just for years, but for decades.
They are not mere numbers. Behind them are stories of loss, grief – and deep frustration that such an important route is being treated, campaigners believe, like a “country backroad”.
Transport Minister Fiona Hyslop, First Minister Humza Yousaf and the rest of the SNP administration in Edinburgh must at last live up to the commitments made by their party and dual the A9.
We pledge to continue to hold all of them to account until they deliver.
The state of the road has for years been a national scandal – it is now a national tragedy.
The expected total covers hotels for government officials, flights, venue hire and other expenses in the consultation phase of changing the limit on single-carriageway roads.
A 20mph speed reduction will be imposed from next month.
A sculpture should coincide with the delayed trunk road improvement.
Laura Hansler has led the campaign to see the route dualled between Perth and Inverness.
A 49-year-old man was killed in a four-vehicle crash on the A9 near Ballinluig on Tuesday, with a further three people taken to hospital.
John Erksine is an ex-Holyrood official who helped run the A9 dualling probe and, after a leaked report on its findings, explains why it is “personal” to so many Highlanders.
