Contractor named for delay-hit £185m A9 upgrade

A visualisation of junction improvements as part of Tomatin-Moy A9 upgrade

The Scottish government says it intends to award Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering Ltd a contract worth almost £185m to upgrade a stretch of the A9 to dual carriageway.

It was forced to retender the work for the Tomatin to Moy section last year after only one contractor showed interest in the job.

The six-mile (10km) stretch of road, south of Inverness, forms part of wider delayed work to dual remaining sections of single carriageway between Inverness and Perth.

Ministers have set a target of upgrading Tomatin to Moy by the end of 2027.

In December, then Transport Secretary Mairi McAllan said completing the overall £3bn dualling project had been delayed by 10 years until 2035.

She said a new rolling programme of improvements was "achievable" and there would be "no let up" in the work.

But opposition MSPs said communities had been waiting since SNP manifesto commitments in 2007 and 2011 to see the road upgraded by a target date of 2025.

The Scottish government said in February last year finishing by 2025 was "unachievable".

Two sections of single carriageway totalling 11 miles (18km) of road have been upgraded over the past decade.

But 77 miles (124km) of the route has still to be dualled.

When completed the new Tomatin to Moy section would provide about 20 miles (33km) of continuous dual carriageway between Inverness and Slochd.

Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: "Once work starts on Tomatin to Moy, it will not stop until dualling between Perth and Inverness is complete.

"The award of this contract for A9 Dualling: Tomatin to Moy will start our rolling programme of construction to dual the A9 between Perth and Inverness and reinforces our steadfast commitment to deliver on our plan."

Planned timetable

Expected completion dates of the remaining sections under the new programme, subject to contract and funding processes, are:

• Tomatin to Moy - by the end of 2027

• Tay Crossing to Ballinluig - by the end of 2028

• Pitlochry to Killiecrankie - by the end of 2030

• Pass of Birnam to Tay Crossing - by the end of 2032

• A9 North (Crubenmore to Kincraig and Dalraddy to Slochd) - by end of 2033, at the earliest

• A9 Central (Killiecrankie to Glen Garry, Glen Garry to Dalwhinnie and Dalwhinnie to Crubenmore) - by end of 2035, at the earliest