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Call to spend surplus Queensferry Crossing cash on Laurencekirk junction

Jill Fotheringham.
Jill Fotheringham.

Surplus cash from the Forth Crossing project should be used to improve safety at the south Laurencekirk junction on the A90, campaigners claim.

Sir Robert Smith MP said: “The crossing at Laurencekirk is dangerous and investment is long overdue.

“There is an opportunity now to do something about it and the chance must be grasped.”

Alison McInnes MSP said: “The case for the flyover has been made time and again, yet the Scottish Government continues to ignore the pleas for a proper, safe junction.

“The underspend on the new Forth crossing presents an opportunity for the Scottish Government to think again.”

Jill Fotheringham, who has been vocal about the crossing in the past also contacted Keith Brown, the Scottish Transport Minister, to ask him to commit part of the Queensferry crossing surplus to traffic safety in the Mearns.

She said: “Some of that money could be well spent on bringing grade separation to the south junction at Laurencekirk and ease the stress of journeys for thousands of commuters in the north east.

“As another winter approaches the misery for us all will be intensified as rush hour will soon have to be negotiated in darkness.”

Attempts to reduce the accident toll on the road with a speed reduction from 70mph to 50mph have been largely unsuccessful, with more than 20,000 motorists caught speeding through the stretch in just four years.

A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “Road safety is paramount in all that we do, and recent statistics show that there have been no fatal or serious accidents at the southern Laurencekirk junction since 2005.

“A review of the safety improvements implemented at Laurencekirk in 2010 shows a substantial reduction in injury accidents over the three-year period following the installation.

“We will continue to support work led by Nestrans and Aberdeenshire Council on calls for a grade-separated junction.”

A recent report from Bear Scotland noted there had been fewer accidents around Laurencekirk over the last three years due to new signs, speed limit variation and road modifications.