Road safety measures for Cortes junction not sufficient warns MSP
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A North East Scotland MSP has warned that bollards which are to be installed at a dangerous north-east junction are not the answer to reducing the “terrifying” number of collisions in the area.
MSP Liam Kerr wrote to transport minister Jenny Gilruth voicing his concerns at the number of serious accidents occurring at the A90/A952 Cortes junction after a seven-year-old girl and a woman had to be airlifted to hospital following a crash in March.
Mr Kerr has called on the Scottish Government to fast track plans to replace the junction with a roundabout but in a response to his letter, Ms Gilruth said bollards were to be installed to improve safety on the route.
It was also confirmed that Cortes should be a priority site for safety improvements due to its collision history.
The plans for a roundabout are included in the Nestrans regional transport strategy and are currently being considered as part of Transport Scotland’s Strategy Transport Projects Review 2 (STPR2) process.
Mr Kerr said: “Bollards are not the answer to reducing the terrifying number of collisions that we are seeing at the Cortes junction on a weekly basis.
“The Scottish Government has even admitted there is a major safety issue at the junction but Jenny Gilruth is delusional if she thinks bollards are enough to stop these serious accidents from happening.
“It appears they haven’t bothered to look at the reasons behind these collisions and instead just decided something must be seen to be done, whether or not it provides the solution.
“We need to see a proper upgrade which is why I fully back plans from Nestrans to install a roundabout to replace the junction.
“Improvements to our north-east trunk road network have been overlooked for too long and the installation of bollards feels like another move from the Scottish Government to simply tick a box and move on.
“Cortes must be included in the final STPR2 report along with the Toll of Birness to prevent any further fatalities occurring at these horrendous junctions.”
