IN A hectic last day at the SNP’s annual conference, members passed a resolution that will make it party policy to “allocate the necessary resources and expertise” to dual the A9 and A96.
The roads have been at the centre of a heated debate for a number of years with the death toll on the A9 reaching a 20-year high in 2022.
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Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross has pleaded with the SNP to make it a priority, hinting just a fortnight ago that the UK Government could intervene to ensure the work gets done.
But after a resolution presented at the P&J Live by five party members was welcomed overwhelmingly by members, it’s hoped that progress might finally be made.
Elgin City North councillor Jérémie Fernandes was one of five members to stand up and present the case for the dualling of the roads.
It’s reported in the Press and Journal that he held up an SNP Grampian region manifesto from 1990 which called for the dualling of both roads.
In the nearer past, the party’s 2007 manifesto – the first year they won the most seats in Holyrood – promised to dual the roads.
That promise has a timescale of 2030, though that appears unlikely with the scheme’s future currently subject to an “evidence-based” climate review.
Cllr Fernandes told activists that the biggest issue he hears about when door-knocking across the North-east is the lack of dualling being carried out on the roads.
His sentiments were echoed by Huntly councillor Gwyneth Petrie, who said the regions development has been “continually hampered”, adding that travel times in the region constantly acts as a “deterrent” for families moving to the area.
There was some opposition to the plans, as SNP member Rhodri Griffiths said reopening former rail lines in the area should be a priority.
“It [dualling the roads] may have been party policy for a long time but that in itself is proof we should be questioning it”, he said.
Griffiths added that driving are to blame for road accidents, not the lack of dualling of the routes.
He only received a handful of support from members in the hall as they voted comfortably in favour of dualling the roads.
