Scottish Government to award contract for dualling section of A9

The Scottish Government will award a contract for the dualling of a section of the beleaguered A9 to a construction giant.

Balfour Beatty will be tasked with dualling the road between Tomatin and Moy, at a cost of £184.7m, Transport Scotland announced on Tuesday.

The Scottish Government has been roundly criticised for its failure to dual the road between Perth and Inverness – despite having set a target of 2025 for doing so.

A new target of 2035 has since been set.

Transport secretary Fiona Hyslop said once construction begins on the six-mile stretch, 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,” she added.

“Major transport infrastructure supports the local community and businesses, providing jobs and delivering economic growth throughout the project and beyond.

“It has been fantastic to see the impact contractors working on the advance works have already brought to the local community, and I look forward to delivering further benefits to local businesses and communities through our investment in the construction of this section.”

It was issues with the Tomatin to Moy section which led to former transport minister Jenny Gilruth saying the initial 2025 deadline was “unachievable”.

A previous attempt to secure work resulted in just one tender which far exceeded the £115m anticipated cost and did not represent value for money for the taxpayer.