Motorists look set for more misery with a nine-week stretch of separate roadworks lined up for the busy A9 Perth to Inverness road.
Drivers may face lengthy delays with temporary speed limits being put in place during the resurfacing and maintenance programme. This coincides with busier roads during the tourist season, and other work taking place to inspect rock slopes near Killiecrankie, as part of the £3 billion A9 dualling programme.
The maintenance work has been rolled out by BEAR Scotland at a cost of £700,000.
Work began on Monday at Killiecrankie and Ballinluig, with further roadworks set to start on Monday, June 5 at Moulinearn.
The longest period of disruption could occur at Killiecrankie, where maintenance works will be carried out to improve drainage components of a retaining wall on the section of the A9, around three miles from Pitlochry.
A temporary speed limit of 50mph will be in place throughout the period of the roadworks.
To compound this, there are further traffic restrictions on the A9 between Killiecrankie and Glen Garry, with rock slope inspections currently being undertaken by Transport Scotland engineers as part of the A9 dualling programme.
Single-file traffic is in place, with work due to last two weeks.
A BEAR Scotland spokesperson said the resurfacing work at Ballinluig will take place for two weeks and will be carried out between 7am and 7pm.
“The A9 and slip roads at the Ballinluig junction will remain open,” she added.
“However, a 10mph convoy system will be in place to keep road workers as well as motorists safe during the improvements. A temporary speed restriction of 30mph will remain in place overnight as traffic will be running over a temporary surface.”
And the third set of roadworks will take place at Moulinearn, lasting two weeks. This resurfacing work will be split into two phases – phase one will see resurfacing take place from 7am to 7pm for five days, beginning on Monday, June 5. Phase two will involve three nights of overnight working from Sunday, June 11, between 7pm and 7am.
The programme is expected to finish by 7am on Wednesday, June 21. A 10mph convoy system will be used during both phases, during working hours.
Average speed cameras have been installed on the A9 from Perth to Inverness as an interim measure to cut speed prior to the A9 dualling programme commencing.
Eddie Ross, of BEAR Scotland, said: “The investment of nearly £700,000 will allow us to carry out this essential programme of work to help ensure the A9 continues to operate as a safe route for motorists.
“We’ve taken steps to avoid impacting motorists as much as possible, including carrying out the resurfacing works outwith the busier weekend.”
A spokesperson for BEAR Scotland said: “The improvements at Ballinluig & Killiecrankie got underway today on the A9.
“As with all our works, we’ve taken steps to minimise the impact to motorists as much as possible by ensuring the convoys in place for safety are lifted outside of working times and at weekends.
“Teams will also monitor any queues and manually adjust traffic management timings as required.
“Once the resurfacing works are completed at Ballinluig the improvements will move to start at Moulinearn.
“The maintenance works at Killiecrankie involve alternate lane closures and a reduced speed limit of 50mph which should have a low impact to motorists.
“We encourage motorists to plan their journeys in advance by checking traffic management for up to date journey info.”
