Calls have been made to dual the A90 north of Ellon after “eye watering” new figures show almost 5,000 repairs have had to be carried out to the 35-mile stretch connecting Peterhead and Fraserburgh over the last four years.
North East politicians have slammed the state of the major route and said the “astronomical” repair numbers illustrate that the road is “not fit for the 21st century”.
The new statistics, released by Transport Scotland following a freedom of information request, show 4,825 repairs have been made to the A90 between Ellon, Peterhead and Fraserburgh since 2021.
A massive 556 of these have involved filling in potholes, while others include fixing collision damage, collapses to the road surface, cracks, corrosion and flooding.
The A90 north of Ellon is known as one of the worst roads in the North East for collisions, with areas such as the Toll of Birness being a prevalent accident blackspot.
Nestrans has now compiled a list of options to be presented to Transport Scotland to improve safety and cut journey times on the route, including creating a roundabout at the Toll of Birness and the Cortes junctions.
Scottish Conservative North East MSP Douglas Lumsden said: “These eye watering figures lay bare the shocking condition of the A90 north of Ellon which isn’t fit for the 21st century.
“Lives are being put at risk because of the sorry state the A90 has been left in after decades of neglect by the SNP government.
“It is now 18 years since Alex Salmond promised to dual the road in his first 100 days in office, yet communities across Aberdeenshire are still suffering the tragic consequences of this road which is wholly inadequate for the level of traffic using it.
“Rather than patching up the cracks to tick a box and move on, the Scottish Government must commit to dualling the road north of Ellon once and for all.”
Fraserburgh and District councillor James Adams said: “The North East coast is the engine room for Scotland, yet the A90 connecting Peterhead and Fraserburgh has been left as an afterthought by this SNP government.
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“The dangers presented by the A90 impacts our emergency services, as well as industries such as freight, fishing and farming.
“I am especially concerned that as we approach winter, the risk of daily accidents and near misses will heighten.
“It’s high time the Scottish Government stops turning its back on North East motorists and finally upgrades the A90 to prevent more lives being lost.”
