Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Gas firm to halt A9 roadworks after ‘extreme’ delays near Dunkeld

SGN will stop work this weekend after a furious backlash at long hold-ups affecting Perthshire and the Highlands.

Traffic queues on the A9 during the roadworks near Dunkeld. Image: Kenny Smith/DC Thomson
Traffic queues on the A9 during the roadworks near Dunkeld. Image: Kenny Smith/DC Thomson

Gas firm SGN will pause roadworks on the A9 near Dunkeld after a week of traffic chaos and hours of delays to journeys.

The company is fitting a new gas pipeline but has been condemned for poor communication.

Visitors to Pitlochry attraction The Enchanted Forest were among business sounding the alarm at the impact of the roadworks.

Its director, Nela Popovic, wrote to SGN cheif Mark Wild asking for a pause earlier this week.

Perthshire MSP John Swinney continued his angry response in parliament today as the new pause was confirmed.

“Over my years in parliament I’ve had many calls with many leaders of corporate organisations,” he said.

“I have never had one quite so disengaged as with the chief executive of SGN on Friday.”

SGN announce pause

SGN has been working since October 23 on the high pressure pipeline serving homes across the region, including Birnam, Logierait, Dunkeld, Aberfeldy and Pitlochry.

“After listening to feedback from customers and our stakeholders, we’ve decided to pause work later this week,” SGN said in a statement today.

“This will enable easier travel for those attending bonfire night events and the final weekend of the Enchanted Forest before we move into the next section of our project at the A9.”

The Enchanted Forest is a popular attraction at Pitlochry. Image: Supplied.

The road will be fully open from Friday until Sunday night.

However, work resumes “first thing” on Monday and is due to continue right through to March next year.

Perthshire politician Murdo Fraser raised the massive delays in a question to the Scottish Government in Holyrood today.

“These delays are devastating for those travelling the A9 to and from the Highlands, for those making local journeys in Perthshire to go to work or take children to school, and for the tourist economy including events such as the Enchanted Forest,” he said.

The length of the expected works will damage the wider Highlands economy, it was claimed.

‘Regrettable’

Fiona Hyslop confirmed the pause in parliament. Image: PA

Inverness and Nairn MSP Fergus Ewing said: “As well as the extreme economic damage to businesses locally and in the whole of the Highlands, if it goes on until February it will be on a devastating scale.”

Highlands MSP Edward Mountain said he was delayed for two and a half hours on the A9 in both directions.

“I know how much those roadworks are strangling the Highlands,” he said.

SNP transport minister Fiona Hyslop met senior management at SGN on Monday.

Today she said: “I understand that these works have regrettably caused significant disruption for communities and businesses in the region, a point made forceably to me by the local constituency MSP John Swinney.”

Conversation