Triple Crash at A9 Ballinluig Junction

Expressing sympathy for the trauma to all those involved, MSP John Swinney said: "The accident took place directly at the junction and re-enforces the need for the junction to be upgraded. No amount of signage or speed restrictions have made this junction safe and I am deeply frustrated by the delays that have taken place in carrying out improvement work."

He added: “I hope the Scottish Executive will realise the absolute necessity for swift action to upgrade this junction. There have been too many injuries and fatalities at this junction and this latest accident could have been avoided if the junction work had been completed as originally planned.

Action Call

“Action is required now and I demand that the Scottish Executive intensifies its work to deliver a promised new junction that will tackle the unacceptable accident record at Ballinluig."

Echoing the sympathy for those directly affected, Westminster MP Pete Wishart reacted: “It is tragic to see yet another accident at the Ballinluig junction. Nevertheless, this shows once again the dangers of this junction and highlights the need for work to begin on the long-promised junction improvements."

He concluded: “I hope that work will be able to begin on the junction to ensure that no further accident takes place.”

Holyrood Questions

Following up his questions to the First Minister on Thursday 26 October, MSP John Swinney again raised the matter on 3 November. Reporting on that contact, he said: “I asked the Transport Minister if he was in a position to share with Parliament the balance of opinion in the submissions to the national transport strategy on the case for dualling the A9 between Perth and Inverness.

“I also asked what steps he would be taking to direct the national transport strategy to support the dualling the A9. I certainly submitted to it that the case for dualling was robust and should be taken forward as part of the strategy.

“The Minister said that the Executive are are considering the section between Perth and Pitlochry in the strategic projects review and for the rest of the road, they are continuing to work on the issue of journey times and they hope to make further progress in due course.

“I wanted to use this opportunity to keep up the pressure over the A9 issue. There is a compelling case for dualling and I felt that it was important to ensure that the Executive was left in no doubt of the commitment both by the local community and local politicians that the campaign for dualling will continue.

“I hope that we can see progress in this area soon to ensure that the tag of ‘Scotland’s most dangerous road’ is reversed.”