The contract for widening work to a stretch of the A9 route in Scotland has been awarded to Balfour Beatty. The firm will carry out the £96 million work to widen the route to dual carriageway status between Luncarty and Pass of Birnam. There has been some comment as to the cost of the work for this 9.5km stretch, however it is complex and includes building four bridges and an underpass along the route, as well as another bridge for a connecting road. In all, widening the 128km stretch of the A9 between Perth and Inverness is costing £3 billion, with the work due for completion in 2025. The first section of the route to be widened, between Kincraig and Dalraddy opened in the third quarter of 2017.
The A9 provides an important link between Scotland’s highly populated Central Belt and the Highlands to the north. It is a busy route both for industry and tourism but has had an unenviable reputation for poor safety standards in the past. Some sections of the route experience severe weather conditions in winter and closures are common in winter. Average speed cameras have been installed and new speed limits set for HGVs in a bid to cut the number of head-on crashes. However dualling the route is seen as the key long term solution to improving transport safety and capacity along the route.
