Meeting of the Parliament 28 November 2024
That question does not do credit to Mr Kerr, who I know takes these issues very seriously. He has obviously looked at the summary report, and that is why I think that we need time to study the 2,000 pages of the full report. It is quite clear from the report that it is with regard to the safety measure that the merits of full dualling have precedence. There are other measures in the report, and that is in accordance with the Scottish transport appraisal guidance. That is the normal, objective way in which we look at those things.
Since 2019, there have been a total of 17 deaths on the road. We know that deaths, unfortunately, happen on many roads, and I am particularly concerned about how improvements can take place in the meantime on a whole load of different roads, including on junctions in different areas.
However, from the answers that I have given to him before, Mr Kerr knows that many factors are involved in accidents. Obviously, police investigations bring us statistics, and that is why we are looking at delivering the work. From the work that is taking place at Tomatin to Moy on the A9, people will start to see that we are progressing dualling projects with available funding. That is why it is important that we give the matter due consideration, recognise what the benefits of dualling are compared with other measures and give Mr Kerr’s constituents the opportunity to feed back on that during the 12-week process.