Dunkeld residents want a roundabout on the A9, and they say there’s no need to wait until the road is dualled.
Twelve people have died in road accidents on the Perth to Inverness road this year alone.
And campaigners in Dunkeld say transport bosses must take action now to make the road safer.
But why a roundabout, or ‘eggabout’?
Alasdair Wylie is coordinator of the Birnam to Ballinluig A9 Community Group.
Back in 2018, he was involved in an initiative labelled the ‘A9 Co-Creative Process’.
The process saw the community and Scottish Government agency Transport Scotland work together to come up with options for dualling the Pass of Birnam to Tay Crossing stretch, which includes Dunkeld.
“Eventually, as far as the community vote was concerned, the roundabout was the one that survived as part of a community preferred route for the section,” says Alasdair.
He adds: “It’s something the kids from the school, when they saw the drawings, called an ‘eggabout’.
“It’s oval in shape.”
Transport Scotland officials say they will reveal their preferred design for dualling the Pass of Birnam to Tay Crossing stretch of the A9 in a matter of months.
Scottish Ministers will have the final say on how the road will look.
It is possible Transport Scotland bosses will reject the option of a roundabout in favour of a grade separated junction – one which separates opposing traffic.
When various options were considered before the pandemic, they said a roundabout had advantages. For example, it would limit the impact on the local landscape.
But a roundabout diverges from the A9 Dualling Programme strategy, and it could lead to queuing.
Alasdair says if transport officials chose not to recommend a roundabout, members of the community would want to know why.
“If they don’t recommend the roundabout, they would need to have a very good reason.
“I would expect as a matter of due process they would come and discuss that with the community.”
Could a roundabout happen now?
Alasdair and A9 community group colleague Alison Bryden say a roundabout does not have to be a long term aspiration.
They back the calls of Birnam and Dunkeld Junctions Action Group (JAG) for urgent steps to make the road safer ahead of the dualling project at Dunkeld going ahead.
JAG members have called for a temporary roundabout as an interim measure.
They also want to see better signage, lighting at junctions, a 50mph speed limit at Birnam and Dunkeld, and police cameras.
Alasdair and Alison agree that a temporary roundabout would make the stretch safer.
“We don’t think it’s too ambitious.
“We’ve seen it being done elsewhere.
“When they were doing the upgrading of the junction at Ballinluig, some years back, they put in a temporary roundabout.
“And folk saw that it worked well.”
Alasdair says a roundabout was one of the options on the table when local SNP MSP John Swinney met transport officials recently to discuss the concerns of Dunkeld and Birnam residents about the road’s recent death toll.
Call for urgent safety improvements
Alison owns Invermill Farm Caravan Park, just northwest of the Dunkeld junction on the A9.
Before Co-Creative even started, and feeling the need to take action to prevent accidents on the A9, she got an engineer to draw up plans for a potential roundabout at Dunkeld.
It was similar to the roundabout design which resulted from the community vote.
In addition to accidents involving motorists, Alison can remember incidents in previous decades where pedestrians have been killed trying to cross the road.
“Safety is such a major issue and we should be doing something about the safety of that junction now.”
Conversation