Action, not words, is being demanded by a public campaign to get the A9 dualling moving as the number of lives lost on the road continues to rise.
A9 Dual Action Group has been actively pushing for the public to get behind an online petition to the Scottish Parliament.
The petition - calling on parliament to urge the Scottish Government to deliver on a 2011 commitment to address safety concerns on the A9 - now has over 2600 signatures in its first week having only gone live on Wednesday November 30.
Driving the campaign is Laura Hansler, who was moved to act by the exponential rate of fatalities.
When relatives of some of those lost in recent accidents contacted her, she decided to break her silence.
These devastated families do not want their loved ones forgotten and as part of a drive to get dual carriageway put in urgently all the way from Inverness to Perth, relatives would like a memorial to those killed.
The campaigners ask firstly for a revised timetable and detailed plan for dualling each section to be published.
Secondly they want evidence the dualling work will be completed by 2025.
Thirdly they ask for the memorial to those who have lost their lives in road traffic incidents on the A9.
The A9 Dual Action Group previously made contact with Fergus Ewing MSP and Kate Forbes MSP.
Now they want to make the work promised for the key Scottish trunk road to be a hot topic that will not be sidestepped by politicians.
The campaigners highlight that in 2011, the Scottish Government pledged as “priority” an ambitious dualling scheme to be completed by 2025, between Perth to Inverness in its entirety.
Since then, 59 people have lost their lives on the Perth to Inverness section of the A9, based on figures provided by Transport Scotland.
The group asks whether there should be an investigation into the procurement procedure associated with this project and highlight “the need for mandatory safety features to be deployed on the A9 before any further loss of life.”
The A9 Dual Action Group is also concerned that, more than 10 years after being labelled a priority, “it is looking increasingly likely the Scottish Government will fail to deliver on their commitment to complete the A9 dualling project by 2025.”
Facebook page admin Laura Hansler told the PA: “If you look at the M8 and M9, the kind of events we sadly see too often on the A9, these just would not be tolerated.
“There are 33,000 vehicles travelling daily on the A9. People forget what a major road it is. There are people going about their normal business, HGVs keeping supplies going and also a considerable number of holiday makers.
“It is very fashionable to be Scottish right now - we have the NC500 and the Outlander Effect. Everybody’s heading up the A9 to admire our landscape. Sadly this has resulted in an unsustainable influx of traffic on the infrastructure.
“This road, the A9, is no longer fit for purpose. It is becoming my stock sentence, but it is worth repeating: This road is no longer fit for purpose.
“We were promised a dualling solution by 2025, by there are eight projects outstanding. There is no movement.
“Personally I query the procurement for contract work. I’m not happy, it’s far too fragmented.
“Perth to Inverness, it should be one entire project, not broken down the way it has been.
“The road safety in the bits in between the sections that are dualled, that is the critical issue. It’s where all these head on crashes have taken place.
“I’ve been driving the A9 for 20 years. It is a most confusing drive even for those familiar with it. Only three weeks ago I was in the fog, leaving Perth. I was disorientated. I really had to keep an eye on how far I’d come.
“When a couple of bereaved families made contact with me, that’s when this nightmare came too close to home for me to stand back any longer.
“I have never lost anyone myself, but during an exchange on Messenger, I learnt through heart-breaking, firsthand accounts of how normal life was changed forever, irreparably, in an instant.
“It was truly horrific. People going shopping, taking part in working life, going to collect a friend.
“Then something going wrong. In the blink of an eye.”
The A9 petition is not the first one Miss Hansler has experience with - the retired NHS cardiac rehabilitation manager living in Kincraig fought to keep the Inverness Fire Service control centre open when that came under threat by making a direct petition to the Scottish Parliament.
The public support for that resulted in 7500 signatures so Laura believes the A9 road safety petition has the potential to exceed that given how regularly tragic car accidents are in the headlines.
“I don’t think Change.org petitions have any clout, they circulate and do nothing. This petition to the Scottish Parliament has a reasonable chance of spurring action,” she added.
“We intend to take the bull by the horns.
“There is a problem with the A9. We cannot wait and watch.”
Scottish Parliament petitions can collect signatures for a maximum of four weeks so this one will be looking to gather clicks of support until December 28.
A link to ‘PE1992: Dual the A9 and improve road safety’ is at: https://petitions.parliament.scot/petitions/PE1992
