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.

Nicola Sturgeon under pressure to upgrade A9 after road deaths

The next phase of the A9 Dualling programme will see around six miles of the route between Tomatin and Moy upgraded to dual carriageway.

Nicola Sturgeon is facing growing pressure to set out a revised timetable to deliver “long-standing pledges” to dual main roads including the A9 between Perth and Inverness.

Along with the A96 Aberdeen-Inverness road, the multibillion-pound upgrade projects have been hit by delays and doubts.

Former SNP government member Fergus Ewing asked the first minister at Holyrood to publish a timetable for both schemes, saying lives were lost on the A9 over the summer.

Three American tourists died in a crash involving a lorry and a car on the A9 Inverness to Perth road at Ralia, near Newtonmore, on August 10.

Mr Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, said constituents believe “more lives are lost on single carriageway sections because unlike dual carriageways there is no central reservation separating opposing flows of traffic”.

He said Ms Sturgeon must deliver the SNP government’s “long-standing pledges ond ualling of the A9 and A96” and “help save lives in the future”.

SNP MSP Fergus Ewing.

Speaking during First Minister’s Questions, Ms Sturgeon said road safety is of “paramount importance”.

She told MSPs that work continues on the A9 with the section between Tomatin and Moy “currently in procurement”.

A construction contract for this section is expected to be awarded “later this year”.

Work to upgrade 80 miles of the A9 between Inverness and Perth was originally pencilled-in for completion by 2025.

However, only two of the 11 sections have been dualled to date.

A96 dualling

Meanwhile, the government’s target for dualling the A96 between Inverness and Aberdeen was initially to be 2030, but construction is yet to begin.

The A96 dualling programme between Aberdeen and Inverness was plunged into doubt after the SNP struck a power-sharing deals with the Greens last year.

Ms Sturgeon continued: “Design work is progressing on the rest of the programme with the statutory process well underway for seven of the remaining eight schemes.

“The evidence-based review on fully dualling the A96 between Inverness and Aberdeen will report before the end of this year.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during First Minster’s Questions (FMQ’s).

“And we will take forward enhancements on that corridor that improve connectivity between surrounding towns, tackles congestion and addresses safety and environmental issues.”

However, north-east Tory MSP Liam Kerr said the ongoing consultation on the A96 corridor did not offer the option of dualling the A96 between Huntly and Aberdeen.

He asked the first minister if that means the dualling of this stretch has been “quietly dropped” by ministers.

Nicola Sturgeon’s complete lack of response to my question spoke a thousand words.

North-east Tory MSP Liam Kerr.

Ms Sturgeon said: “There is no change to what we set out in the Bute House agreement and in terms of the processes that are under way on that, I have already given detail on that in response to my answers to Fergus Ewing.”

Speaking after FMQs, Mr Kerr said: “Nicola Sturgeon’s complete lack of response to my question spoke a thousand words.

“The review consultation consisted of more than 100 questions and not one mentioned dualling between Aberdeen and Huntly.

“It’s abundantly clear this SNP Government want to kick this upgrade into the long grass despite promising to dual the section more than a decade ago.”