A9 dualling

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Conekicker
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A9 dualling

Post by Conekicker »

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Mark Hewitt
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Re: A9 dualling

Post by Mark Hewitt »

80 miles of D2? I thought more of it was dualled than that.
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A303Chris
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Re: A9 dualling

Post by A303Chris »

Mark Hewitt wrote:80 miles of D2? I thought more of it was dualled than that.
Unless they are also including upgrading some of the dual sections to GSJ
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Re: A9 dualling

Post by Nwallace »

80 miles doesn't sound right does it.

So Playing in a cycle mapper with OSM:
Luncary to Pass of Brinham is 9.3km
Birnham to Ballinluig is 16.3km
Pitlochry Bypass is 6.6km
Killiecrankie to the Drumochter race track is 21.8km
Dummochter to Crubenbeg is 20.1km
Crubenbeg to Findhorn 46km
Findhorn to Moy 8.5km

And it's Dual into Inverness from there
~128km of Single carriageway
Which is 80 miles
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wrinkly
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Re: A9 dualling

Post by wrinkly »

The item appears to be based on this press release.
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Re: A9 dualling

Post by michael769 »

First of three A9 dualling design contracts awarded

The first of three design contracts for the dualling of the A9 has been awarded.

Joint venture CH2MHill/Fairhurst is expected to design a 26-mile (43km) upgraded stretch of the road between Glengarry and Dalraddy.

The work will start next month, subject to what is known as a mandatory standstill period.

The A9 between Perth and Inverness is to be fully dualled at a cost of £3bn by 2025.

The three design contracts are each worth between £40m and £60m.

Transport Minister Keith Brown said the dualling programme was the most expensive transport project in Scotland's history.

He said: "The appointment of the first design consultancy for this mammoth project marks another significant milestone in this government's commitment to the project - the first government to commit to dual this vital route between Perth and Inverness."

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-hig ... s-27125434
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Re: A9 dualling

Post by Achmelvic »

Good to see some progress being made. Is there any guide to what order the sections will be done? I'm assuming a few at a time to spread the pain over the next 11 years?
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Re: A9 dualling

Post by HandShandy »

Time for me to pull my weight as a Sabre member and provide an update here for those that might have missed the Transport Scotland press releases over the last few days seeing as this is the official A9 dualling thread. Keep your eyes peeled for those clickly links I've embedded into the post.

They have considerably updated the page on the Transport Scotland website for the A9 with links now to each section, this can be seen: here

They have also produced a newsletter (made available yesterday) which will be released quarterly if it's anything like the M8 completion, this can be downloaded here: March 2015 Newsletter

The big news yesterday was the unveiling of the Dalwhinnie Junction options which can be viewed here: Link to PDF of Crubenmore to Dalwhinnie section

Not sure what people's thoughts are on here but I think options A or E are the best - It's nice to see that an at-grade roundabout was NOT considered for this section. My initial fear when I heard this news about the unveiling of junction options was: "oh please don't do an A96 and plonk a roundabout in there"

The BBC news article has a great flythrough video of one of the junction options, it's worth checking out. Link to BBC Video

Kincraig to Dalraddy dualling to start this summer as you all know, if anyone makes the A9 journey often (I do it about twice a year, although I'm looking to minimise that as driving on it with the now-switched-on average speed cameras make the trip about as much fun as having teeth pulled) please post updates on any activity.
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Re: A9 dualling

Post by rileyrob »

I can't help thinking that the Dalwhinnie junction should be built to the north of the village, and lined up with the railway bridge. This would remove the A889/86 through traffic, but if A9 north slips were kept at the present junction then the village wouldn't become a complete dead end. I appreciate that there isn't a lot of traffic, and that the road is the old A9, so of a high standard, but it seems the most sensible long term solution. The problem of the close proximity to the aqueduct is obviously an issue though.
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Re: A9 dualling

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rileyrob wrote:I can't help thinking that the Dalwhinnie junction should be built to the north of the village, and lined up with the railway bridge. This would remove the A889/86 through traffic, but if A9 north slips were kept at the present junction then the village wouldn't become a complete dead end. I appreciate that there isn't a lot of traffic, and that the road is the old A9, so of a high standard, but it seems the most sensible long term solution. The problem of the close proximity to the aqueduct is obviously an issue though.
I'm going to be hated for saying this... but I don't believe the traffic flows on that section of the A9 justify building Grade Separated Junctions to TD 22/06 when Compact Grade Separated Junctions to TD 40/94 would suffice.

I would insist every junction is a simple diamond, or incorporates a roundabout on the side road capable of allowing a 4-axle rigid, with a snowplough, to do a U-turn.

I bet the Designers haven't even considered Winter Maintenance...
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Re: A9 dualling

Post by Bryn666 »

What, you wish to diminish the political significance of the A9 by having compact GSJs?

Off to reeduction camp for you.
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Re: A9 dualling

Post by RichardA35 »

novaecosse wrote:
rileyrob wrote:I can't help thinking that the Dalwhinnie junction should be built to the north of the village, and lined up with the railway bridge. This would remove the A889/86 through traffic, but if A9 north slips were kept at the present junction then the village wouldn't become a complete dead end. I appreciate that there isn't a lot of traffic, and that the road is the old A9, so of a high standard, but it seems the most sensible long term solution. The problem of the close proximity to the aqueduct is obviously an issue though.
I'm going to be hated for saying this... but I don't believe the traffic flows on that section of the A9 justify building Grade Separated Junctions to TD 22/06 when Compact Grade Separated Junctions to TD 40/94 would suffice.

I would insist every junction is a simple diamond, or incorporates a roundabout on the side road capable of allowing a 4-axle rigid, with a snowplough, to do a U-turn.

I bet the Designers haven't even considered Winter Maintenance...
Ta, I'll feed it to our tender team as a VE proposal, when we get through the PQQ which is due to land in 6 month's time we hear.....
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Re: A9 dualling

Post by Truvelo »

A GSJ, whether compact or not, is going to be far superior to a roundabout or any other at-grade junction that impedes the flow of through traffic. Compact GSJs are fine so long as the merges are a decent length. Having an entry slip end at a give way line or too short a length for vehicles to reach 70mph is a no no.
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Re: A9 dualling

Post by Bryn666 »

The entire A9 brief has been to eliminate cross traffic and remove dangerous overtaking.

I still think that the road really does not warrant full blown D2 and would have delivered much similar casualty savings as a WS2+1 with GSJs.

Politicians wanting a road improved to this standard though is something of a novelty so I'll not exactly bang the drum on it...
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Re: A9 dualling

Post by Nwallace »

Bryn666 wrote: I still think that the road really does not warrant full blown D2 and would have delivered much similar casualty savings as a WS2+1 with GSJs.
Politically that would be a disaster, publicly the major changes are the removal of head on conflicts and removal of turning conflicts. As that is what pretty much everyone views as the cause if the majority of crashes on the road. There were a good few WTF comments when the overtaking lanes went in.
Truvelo wrote:A GSJ, whether compact or not, is going to be far superior to a roundabout or any other at-grade junction that impedes the flow of through traffic. Compact GSJs are fine so long as the merges are a decent length. Having an entry slip end at a give way line or too short a length for vehicles to reach 70mph is a no no.
Thinking of the junctions on the A90 north of Dundee and the A92 East of Dundee?
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Re: A9 dualling

Post by Stevie D »

Truvelo wrote:A GSJ, whether compact or not, is going to be far superior to a roundabout or any other at-grade junction that impedes the flow of through traffic. Compact GSJs are fine so long as the merges are a decent length. Having an entry slip end at a give way line or too short a length for vehicles to reach 70mph is a no no.
To be honest, I would rather have a give way line than a short taper, and that is what the design standards say should be used in CGSJs ... a taper on the diverge and a give way on the merge.

The reason for that is that at a give way, there is an expectation that drivers will slow down and stop if necessary, and wait for a gap in the traffic before pulling out. While this might leave people waiting for a while, on a lightly trafficked road like the A9, it shouldn't be too big a problem. Whereas when you have a taper, drivers start to expect that they will be able to merge, even if the taper is way too short for that to be a safe option, so you have drivers coming out of a tight turn and trying to boot it from 20mph to 60mph in a very short distance while simultaneously hoping that it is safe to merge ... I say "hoping" rather than "checking", because in that situation you have no plan B ... if there is another vehicle heading for the same bit of tarmac that you are then you don't have any wiggle room to get ahead or tuck in behind.
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Re: A9 dualling

Post by James »

Bryn666 wrote:The entire A9 brief has been to eliminate cross traffic and remove dangerous overtaking.

I still think that the road really does not warrant full blown D2 and would have delivered much similar casualty savings as a WS2+1 with GSJs.

Politicians wanting a road improved to this standard though is something of a novelty so I'll not exactly bang the drum on it...
Agreed, this may end up being another A1 Alconbory-Peterborough style road, but much better IMHO than the opposite option
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Re: A9 dualling

Post by Mark Hewitt »

Maybe once they get the A9 out the way they can start looking at other roads in Scotland, as the focus as been solely on the A9 for so long.
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Re: A9 dualling

Post by Bryn666 »

It's the A96 on the books next isn't it?

Poor old A82 doesn't get a look in.
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Re: A9 dualling

Post by rileyrob »

When you look at the AADT figures for the A82, as I have said before, there is a clear and valid reason why other routes are given priority. Not to mention the fact that the Crianlarich Bypass opened at Christmas, Pulpit Rock is nearing completion, The Gloy Bends are due to start soon and the numerous bridge replacements undertaken over the last 10 years.
Oh, and the whole 'bad' stretch along Loch Lomond from Tarbet to Ardlui is in planning, some of it may already be in the early stages of the design process.

Yes the A82 is a very poor road in places, but If you exclude the two ends, the highest AADT is through Fort William, where it is about 9000, it drops to around 2600 on Rannoch Moor, and 2700 near Fort Augustus. The A9 reaches a low point of about 7000 at Drumochter Summit, the A96 has a low of 6000 west of Keith.
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