A national memorial to those who have died on one of Scotland’s most notorious roads would “etch every name” into the minds of politicians, campaigners have said.
Laura Hansler, a road safety campaigner, has accused SNP ministers of showing “a complete and utter disregard and disrespect” to those killed on the A9 in Perthshire and towards Inverness after repeated failures to introduce dual carriageways.
Some 335 people have died in 252 collisions on the Perth-to-Inverness section of the route since 1979 - with last year at a 20-year high of 13 deaths.
A £3 billion project has seen only 11 of 88 miles dualled despite an SNP manifesto promising a 2025 completion.
Calls to improve safety have intensified in recent years after former transport minister Jenny Gilruth said in February that the 2025 deadline was “unachievable” due to delays including the impact of the Covid pandemic, Brexit and the war in Ukraine.
Hansler made the case for an A9 national memorial to MSPs on the recent citizen participation and public petitions committee.
She said: “Not only should every name be etched into the memory of every minister ever involved with dualling the A9, it is by a small measure an apology to our families and our communities.”
Hansler also raised the case of an 18-year-old man who died after a crash on the road near Inverness last month.
“One can’t help but think that had the transport minister and Transport Scotland got on with their jobs then maybe, yet again, we wouldn’t be in this situation - a family wouldn’t be burying their son and a community wouldn’t be without its loved ones,” she said.
Her call comes after the Civil Engineering Contractors Association said they had known “for many years” that the promise to dual the road by 2025 would not be met.
It also claimed Transport Scotland was “the worst client to work for in the UK”, due to the contract placing more risk on builders than was found in other parts of the UK.
Procurement issues have also arisen on the section of the A9 road between Tomatin and Moy, where just one unsuccessful tendering offer was made by a contractor.
She said she hoped a new contract would be awarded for this section before the end of the year.
However Lawrence Shackman, director of major projects at Transport Scotland, said: “It is extremely tight to award by the end of the year.
“That is certainly a target that we’re aiming for, but we’ll have to wait and see on when the new minister has decided on the procurement route and when that should be launched.”
After the session, a spokesman for Transport Scotland said: “To see lives cut short because of road accidents is deeply unfair, and it is our view that road casualties are avoidable and can be stopped.
“One death on our roads is simply one too many.
“Road safety remains an absolute priority, and we are determined that we continue to make investments which support our road safety framework to 2030.”
First minister Humza Yousaf was also accused of “betraying” drivers over the Scottish Government’s failure to dual the A9.
This came as it was revealed the Scottish Government had underspent its 2022/23 budget by almost a quarter of a billion pounds.
At First Minister’s Questions last week, Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross grilled Mr Yousaf.
He asked: “How many more people have to die before this road is fully dualled?”
He added: “The SNP have broken their promises to dual the A9 for 16 years... it’s clear he is betraying people from Perthshire to the Highlands.”
Mr Yousaf insisted he was “committed” to dualling the road but refused to set a new timetable for finishing the work until the issue is looked at again.
He said: “It is important in these infrastructure projects that value for money is an obligation we have to adhere to and therefore we will give an update in autumn 2023.
“We have a cast iron guarantee to ensure that we dual the A9 from Perth to Inverness.”
