A new Angus road link to the A90 could help alleviate a “period of doom” in the local oil industry, it has been claimed.
A potential pot of up to £400 million is being worked towards by councils in Angus, Dundee, Perthshire and North East Fife, following the announcement of a £250 million City Deal for Aberdeenshire earlier this year.
Angus Council has approved a study to see whether the region around Hill of Stracathro could accommodate a heavy goods route that would link Montrose and the trunk road next to its Brechin junction.
Any road from either Mill of Dun or Hillside would require major upgrades, and the route under the Hillside Rail Bridge would need lowered.
Local Liberal Democrat councillor David May welcomed the topographical study as good news in a troubled period for oil jobs.
Councillor May said: “It is estimated that one third of the jobs in the oil industry have already gone, and I know from direct contacts in the industry that more are planned, and Montrose is directly being affected…
“I back the report as we need to do as much as possible to make our transport links to the A90 as good as possible to attract jobs to our town and to Angus.
“I agree that there are local considerations as the low bridge at Hillside limits capacity for HGVs on this road, so the recommendations of a feasibility study are to be welcomed.
“The planned developments on our former aerodrome and the possibility of work in the renewable sector will be boosted if the road system to the A90 is improved.
“As far as the Montrose and Angus economy is concerned this report should, in a period of doom for oil-related jobs, be a welcome boost and be positive news for the medium and long term.”
The study was approved at a meeting of Angus Council’s communities committee, where strategic director Alan McKeown said another link to Montrose and Brechin would “substantially increase the advantages that Angus already has.”
He said: “This is part of our view of what a City Deal would deliver, in terms of large-scale strategic thinking…
“This would reduce the time trucks are travelling, would save them money, and open up additional opportunities for development.”
Several regions across Scotland have already benefited from City Deals, which are designed to improve the economies of areas surrounding the major cities.
Lord Andrew Dunlop — the under-secretary of state at the Scotland Office — visited Dundee this week and called for Tayside’s councils to bring forward proposals for a city deal.
