Dualling upgrade to A9 between Tomatin and Moy will not be completed until 2028, Transport Scotland confirms

The completion date for upgrading a section of the A9 has been pushed back until 2028, Transport Scotland has confirmed.

Work on the stretch of road between Tomatin and Moy was expected to be completed by the end of 2027.

Transport Scotland has now said it hopes the road will be operational by spring 2028 if adverse weather does not delay it.

Preparatory works, including the erection of boundary fencing, tree removal, installation of welfare units, surveying and utility works are set to begin next month.

Ministers were forced to push back the original 2025 deadline for dualling the road between Perth and Inverness by a decade after the tender for the Tomatin and Moy stretch returned just a single bid.

Highlands & Islands

Scottish Government reveal A9 work will not be completed by 2025 target

The transport minister revealed that the £3bn project had been hit by delays, including Covid, Brexit and the war in Ukraine.

Balfour Beatty was awarded the contract for £184.7m earlier this year, and Transport Scotland announced on Monday that initial works will begin on October 21, with main construction due to start in the spring.

“I am pleased that, as promised, the Scottish Government is delivering rapid progress on our programme to dual the A9,” transport secretary Fiona Hyslop said.

“News that the main construction works on the Tomatin to Moy section will start in spring is welcome and I am pleased that Balfour Beatty is pressing ahead with these preparatory works.

“This is an important step in our contractor’s programme which should allow them to hit the ground running when main construction work starts next spring.”

The agency said that beginning in November, traffic management measures will be in place overnight on the stretch, including temporary traffic lights, a 30mph speed restriction, and more limited disruption during the day.

Balfour Beatty has also committed to a series of events for locals to discuss the impact of the work.

David Taylor, the firm’s project director, said: “These works will allow us to complete vital preparations for the site to provide safe access to and from the working areas.

“Alongside these site works, we are currently planning our ‘meet the contractor’ events and look forward to sharing our plans for the main works with the community.

“We would like to take the opportunity to thank road users and the local communities for their patience whilst we undertake these important works.”

Douglas Lumsden MSP, the Scottish Conservatives’ spokesman for net zero, energy and transport, said the news was merely a “further delay” and accused Hyslop of pretending it was “progress”.

He said: “It is appalling brass neck from Fiona Hyslop to paint this further delay to the A9 dualling programme as progress.

“The SNP are already a decade behind schedule in upgrading this lifeline road and yet they continue to drag their heels.

“Common sense and public safety dictates that, after years of broken promises, the nationalists pull out all the stops to dual the A9 as quickly as humanly possible.

“It is completely unacceptable that motorists who rely on Scotland’s deadliest road continue to be treated with contempt by the SNP Government.”