Fiona Hyslop, Scotland’s newly appointed transport secretary, has refused to guarantee that the A9 will definitely be dualled by 2035, in an admission that critics said would leave affected communities “utterly dismayed”.
Last year the Scottish Government was forced to admit its original plan to dual the A9 between Perth and Inverness by 2025 would not be met, and instead officially delayed the project by a decade, says The Scotsman.
However, in an exclusive interview with The Scotsman’s politics podcast The Steamie, transport secretary Ms Hyslop said while the plan was to dual the road by 2035, “things can happen”. When asked if she could guarantee all construction would be finished by this new target date, Ms Hyslop said: “We’ve got a clear and detailed plan set. I do know events can happen, we understand that.
“[2035] is absolutely the plan,” she told The Steamie, “but obviously in terms of events, I’m going to be sensible and say ‘things can happen’. But we have the most detailed plan that is really ambitious for the people in the communities of the Highlands.”
Ms Hyslop, who was elevated to the full Cabinet position last month, said the new plan would see a 50 per cent improvement in dualling by 2030, 80 per cent by 2033, and 100 per cent by 2035.
(Picture – Dreamstime/Fintastique)
