A9 dualling delay: Call for double white lines on confusing stretches
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Confirmation that the 2025 deadline for dualling the A9 between Inverness and Perth will not be met has prompted anger.
This week, we are speaking to different users of the road from lorry drivers to driving instructors for their reactions. Yesterday, it was the turn of farming representative, Ian Wilson, Highlands regional manager for National Farmers' Union Scotland. Today, David Fraser gives his view:
The regular visitor:
Retired businessman and former member of the Cairngorm Chamber of Commerce David Fraser drives the A9 several times a year as he makes the 500-mile journey from Bedford to the Highlands.
The 74-year-old is angry by the delay to the dualling of the A9 but believes an interim measure would be double white lines in the centre of the road along particularly dangerous sections:
"I have been using the A9 since the 1960s. I travel up and down seven or eight times a year as I have family living on the Black Isle.
"There was no dual carriageway when I started doing it. Over the years, it has improved. But the standard of driving has not improved alongside that.
"When I am driving, I see fairly shocking driving all the time. People drive at a constant speed of 50, 60, 70 and catch up with traffic and think they are on the dual carriageway and then overtake – when they are actually on a two-way section.
"They don't even accelerate and carry on at the same speed.
"They get a shock when they see traffic coming the other way. It is a very dangerous thing."
"The road is confusing. People don't know how to drive on a road like the A9 because there are not many roads like it.
"Double white lines in the centre of the road in some of the dangerous spots would be cheap and quick to do."
Related stories:
- Highlands have had raw deal
- Campaigner says sound of sirens is horrible
- Watch: Inverness views on dualling delay
Tomorrow: The Road Haulage Association representative.
