The Civil Engineering Contractors Association in Scotland is due to give evidence over the A9 dualling project, as part of a petition calling for details of the revised timetable for the project.

The industry body has called the dualling work so far “glacial”, saying that and engineers had long known the project was progressing too slowly to be completed on time.

The target to dual the A9 from Inverness to Perth was 2025.

The Scottish government committed to the date in 2011, when the project was predicted to cost £3bn and it was only in February that then transport minister Jenny Gilruth said the target was “unachievable”, blaming Covid, Brexit and the war in Ukraine.

CECA Chief executive Grahame Barn told BBC Scotland: “We have known for a number of years that the pace at which the design and road orders were coming forward meant it was impossible to achieve 2025 by that time.”

(Picture – Transport Scotland)