Meeting of the Parliament 13 November 2024
Like all the other colleagues, I congratulate Douglas Lumsden on securing the debate. As Mr Lumsden’s motion states,
“driving is an essential part of daily life for those living in rural communities”.
The motion continues by saying that the Parliament
“believes that those communities deserve the infrastructure to allow connectivity that is safe and enables access to vital services”.
I absolutely agree with that. I care about rural communities. It might not be a surprise to colleagues that I will focus my contribution on rural road infrastructure in the south-west of Scotland. As many have said previously, we have raised debates on the matter, we have raised questions for the Government and we have talked about the need for improvements to the main arterial routes, the A75 and A77. We have also raised the fact that both routes are crucial arterial routes for the south-west, and we are hearing that again this evening. Fundamentally, it is time to see much needed upgrades on both those main roads and, of course, on the other roads that serve our south-west area—the A711 through the A714 and the A701 and A709.
Safety has been a key concern for me since coming to this place in 2016. I recognise that road safety week is next week, from 17 November to 23 November. There have been too many fatalities, too many families affected and too many loved ones lost. I thank the A75 and A77 action groups, whose continued campaigning efforts cannot be underplayed.
There is consensus from the Scottish and UK Governments that both the A77 and the A75 must be improved. We have commitments from both Governments, but now the focus must be on transforming those commitments into action as quickly as possible.