Douglas Lumsden MSP has called on the Scottish Government to replace a dangerous North East junction with a roundabout as road repairs at the accident blackspot have soared by more than 700%.
New figures obtained by the Scottish Conservatives show 41 repair jobs have had to be carried out at the “crumbling” A90/A952 Cortes junction near Lonmay in Aberdeenshire over the last year.
The number of repairs has more than doubled since 2022/23 and increased substantially since 2019/20 when just five were carried out at the junction.
Mr Lumsden said the statistics illustrated its “woeful state” and urged the Scottish Government to change the junction to a roundabout to increase safety at the blind spot.
It comes as regional transport body Nestrans announced it is looking at putting forward plans to Transport Scotland for a new roundabout at Cortes as part of its A90(N) and A952 transport study.
Amey, which operates the North East trunk road network, has agreed to review the Cortes junction “in terms of operation and road safety” after concerns were raised from Aberdeenshire Council.
Meanwhile, other parts of the A90 across Buchan have also seen a rise in the number of repairs, including at Longhaven at the Teuchan/Cruden Bay junction.
Scottish Conservative North East MSP Douglas Lumsden said: “The huge rise in repairs carried out at the Cortes junction highlights in its current, woeful state, it is simply not fit for purpose.
“You only have about 10 seconds of sight before leaving the junction due to the speed of vehicles approaching. It’s badly built and urgently needs replaced.
“As we have seen with the Toll of Birness which also needs upgraded, our North East trunk road network is continually overlooked in favour of other parts of the country.
“Rather than patching up the cracks at the junction to tick a box and move on, the Scottish Government must commit to upgrading the junction by installing a roundabout in its place.
“Leaving this crumbling junction as it is will only lead to the number of collisions increasing, putting lives at risk.”
