Scotland’s new Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop says she wants to give the dualling of the A9 the focus it deserves as she laid out detailed plans for the project in Inverness.
The SNP minister chose to visit the Highland capital on Wednesday in her first official engagement since being appointed to her new role last week.
She met with business leaders, road engineers and other interested parties at the city’s Kingsmills Hotel to give an update on the £3.7 billion project.
The SNP announced in December that Perth to Inverness will be dualled by 2035 – a decade later than it was promised back in 2011.
Laura Hansler, from the A9 Dual Action Group, said while there has been “major movement” on the upgrade, Highland communities remain “sceptical”.
Speaking after the event, Ms Hyslop claimed she has the “drive and determination” to deliver the delayed dualling of Perth to Inverness.
She hopes residents in the Highlands will be encouraged when they see physical construction work on the Tomatin to Moy stretch start later this year.
Contractors for this section will be selected in summer with work due to begin a “couple of months” after the contract is awarded.
The Scottish Government has changed the terms of the contract it uses to ensure financial risk is shared 50-50 between themselves and the chosen contractors.
‘More certainty’
Asked if the government recognises the trust it has to rebuild in the Highlands, Ms Hyslop said: “I think there’s more certainty than people may have had to date.
“And I hope my presence here, and with my colleagues, that we’ve given people a sense of confidence and insight in to how this will happen.
“This is the first event I’ve come to in my new role. I want to give this the focus it deserves.”
Transport bosses say half the route will be completed by 2030, 85% by 2033, and remaining works by 2035.
The Scottish Government first pledged to dual the long stretch of road shortly after taking power in 2007.
In the meantime, lives have continued to be lost on dangerous stretches of the route.
Ms Hansler said: “A lot of it is reassuring but there is – and quite rightly so – people who are very sceptical now and they have a right to be sceptical.
“Because we have been here numerous times before. We’ve had the roadshows.”
Ms Hyslop was promoted from transport minister to transport secretary during a reshuffle last week, meaning the transport brief is now represented at cabinet.
Ms Hyslop said she is “confdent” the 2035 timescale is “reasonable and deliverable” but admitted “events can happen”.
“It will be done in a staggered process but continuous progressive work on it which makes the dates for delivery far more achievable”, she added.
“The detailed plans we’ve set out are realisable and doable but I would have to be circumspect as everybody else in the world of construction.”