Call for notorious Cortes junction to be replaced with roundabout after car crash
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MP David Duguid has written to Scotland’s transport minister urging her to replace a dangerous north-east junction with a roundabout after six people were injured in a collision at the black spot.
The Banff and Buchan MP said the recent crash at the A90/A952 Cortes junction near Lonmay highlighted the need for urgent action to be taken to prevent further “trauma” for families.
In his letter to Fiona Hyslop, Mr Duguid warned the current layout of the road was of “paramount concern” and “unfit for purpose”, causing collisions on a weekly basis.
It comes as six people were taken to hospital following a two-car crash at the junction on Thursday, August 31.
The road was closed for six hours and resulted in an air ambulance, paramedics and fire crews being called to the scene.
The Scottish Conservatives have backed proposals to install a roundabout at Cortes as well as introducing “2+1 lanes” further north, to Peterhead and Fraserburgh, to enable safer overtaking.
The plans are included in the Nestrans regional transport strategy but Transport Scotland did not include them as part of its Strategic Transport Projects Review 2 (STPR2). The document provides an overview of transport investment for the next 20 years.
Mr Duguid said: “The recent crash which resulted in six people being injured shows how incredibly dangerous the Cortes junction is and the pressing need for a replacement roundabout to be installed.
“You only have about 10 seconds of sight before leaving the junction due to the speed of vehicles approaching. It’s badly built and urgently needs replaced.
“As we have seen with the Toll of Birness which also needs upgraded, our north-east trunk road network is continually overlooked in favour of other parts of the country.
"This has been shown in the Scottish Government’s STPR2 which only earmarks the A90 through Dundee for improvement.
“I’m calling on the SNP Government to sit up and take notice of recent collisions as evidence of the need to overhaul this treacherous junction.”
In his letter to Ms Hyslop, Mr Duguid said: “I fully support the proposals from Nestrans and urge you to give some clarity on if you will back these plans, how much you will invest and when we can expect work on improving safety at these junctions on the A90 before another fatality occurs.
“Last week’s incident at the Cortes junction shows that, in its current condition, it is not fit for purpose and is causing trauma to local families on a weekly basis.”
