Further warnings A9 dual target was 'unachievable'

A stretch of dual carriageway on the A9 south of Inverness

Transport Scotland warned Scottish ministers five years ago that a target to dual the A9 between Inverness and Perth by 2025 could be missed.

Papers from the transport agency submitted to a Holyrood inquiry this week said the target was "unachievable" in 2018, with further warnings in 2021.

The Scottish government committed to the date in 2011 - but in February this year Transport Secretary Jenny Gilruth said the target would not be met.

It comes after similar warnings from civil engineers emerged in June.

Transport Scotland said its advice of five years ago was related to a potential move to private financing options for the road-building project.

It said it only knew with certainty late last year the 2025 target could not be achieved.

But A9 safety campaigner Laura Hansler said she was "gobsmacked" by the new evidence to the Holyrood inquiry.

Over the last 10 years, two sections totalling 11 miles (18km) of road have been completed.

About 77 miles has yet to be dualled.

MSPs sitting on the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee are holding the inquiry into delays affecting the A9 project.

The latest evidence it has gathered includes Transport Scotland documents received by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Spice), and submitted to the inquiry on Wednesday.

Spice's summary of the documents details how in August 2018 transport officials advised that pursuing private investment would mean the 2025 target would be "unachievable".

It also mentions a December 2021 discussion paper, produced by officials for ministers, that says the earliest completion date for a privately-financed option would be 2032 - at a cost of £7bn ($9bn).

The traditional, public-funded option would cost £4.5bn and see the project completed in 2034, according to the paper.

The original cost of the dualling was £3bn.

Highlands-based campaigner Ms Hansler said she could understand rising costs due to inflation and other pressures on the construction industry.

But she said she was upset by the warnings of delays and the lack of progress.

Ms Hansler said: "I was gobsmacked by what I read.

"What has happened in that five-year period to bring this to a complete and utter standstill?"

A9 update

Transport Scotland said it was committed to dualling the remaining sections of road, and procurement had started on a third section - a six-mile stretch between Tomatin and Moy, south of Inverness.

A spokesperson said: “The advice provided in 2018 related specifically to the impact of moving to a Mutual Investment Model.

"It did not relate to a traditional capital funding model."

They added: "It was in late 2022 that Transport Scotland knew with certainty that the 2025 date could not be achieved.”

The spokesperson said the Scottish Parliament would be updated in the coming days on the programme for completing the remaining sections.

A procurement process has started for a section between Tomatin and Moy

Speaking in parliament in February, Ms Gilruth said Brexit, the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine had been factors in causing delays.

In October, a former minister told the inquiry that suggestions it could take until 2050 to complete the dualling were "totally unacceptable".

Alex Neil had responsibility for roads in 2011 when the SNP made a commitment to upgrade more than 80 miles of single carriageway.

He said transport officials at the time assured him the project could be completed by 2025.