A96 accident statistics raised at First Minister's Questions
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First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been urged to “stop the delaying tactics” and finalise the dualling of the A96 in full after three serious collisions on the road in as many weeks.
At FMQs on Thursday, Scottish Conservative north-east MSP Liam Kerr voiced fears that more crashes will occur on the deadly route unless the SNP Government delivers on its decade-long promise to upgrade the road.
Mr Kerr highlighted several accidents in recent weeks to Ms Sturgeon, including one near the junction for Morgan McVeigh’s at Colpy where two pensioners were seriously injured after a lorry and four cars collided.
Plans to upgrade the A96 have been put on hold after the SNP formed a coalition with the Greens last year.
As part of the power-sharing deal, a review of the project costing an additional £1.8 million was undertaken after the Greens raised “urgent” environmental impact concerns about dualling the A96.
This has now also been delayed after Transport Scotland confirmed 16 options for the Aberdeen-Inverness route are being looked at in the first half of this year, with the results being put out to further public consultation before a final decision can be reached.
In parliament, Mr Kerr asked the First Minister: “In a spate of crashes on the A96, two weeks ago, two people were seriously injured, last week three people were hospitalised and just yesterday (Wednesday) two more were hospitalised.
“Gillian Martin MSP wrote persuasively at the weekend ‘we must dual the A96 for safety, equity, and environmental reasons’.
“However, it is reported that no final decision on dualling has been or will be made perhaps for years.
“First Minister, how many more accidents and injuries will it take before her government listens to the people of the north-east, stops the delaying tactics and delivers on its decade-old promise to dual this appalling road?”
In her response, Ms Sturgeon refused to give a timescale for the conclusion of the review.
She said: “The transport secretary will keep parliament updated as appropriate.”
Mr Kerr later added: “The SNP Government is neglecting users of the A96 and hiding away from reality to appease their Green partners.
“Not only have the dualling plans ground to a halt, the actual review of the project has also been delayed which sums up the farcical approach taken by the Scottish Government to upgrading one of the country’s most dangerous roads.
“We are not even a month into the new year and several people have already been seriously injured in collisions.
“These incidents must be a wake-up call for the SNP to finally fulfil its promise of upgrading the road to ensure it as safe as possible for motorists.”
