A9 dualling

[Altnabreac]

So with the Tomatin - Moy draft orders published this is the state of play:

Complete
A9 Kincraig - Dalraddy (September 2017)

Under Construction
none

Contract Let
none

Procurement Underway
A9 Luncarty - Pass of Birnam (March 2017)

Made Orders Published
none

Public Local Inquiry (PLI) ordered / underway
none formally but Killiecrankie to Glen Garry reported to be going to PLI

Draft Orders published
A9 Killiecrankie to Glen Garry (November 2017) - Exhibition responses published March 2018
A9 Pitlochry to Killiecrankie (December 2017)
A9 Glen Garry to Dalwhinnie (December 2017)
A9 Dalwhinnie to Crubenmore (December 2017)
A9 Tomatin to Moy (May 2018)

DMRB Stage 3 exhibition held (Interim detailed design consultation)
A9 Dalraddy to Slochd (November 2017)
A9 Tay Crossing to Ballinluig (December 2017)
A9 Crubenmore to Kincraig (April 2018)

DMRB Stage 2 (Preferred Route) designs published
none

Co-creative Process (community engagement on different options)
A9 Pass of Birnam to Tay Crossing (September 2017) - should be at shortlisting stage but appears to be behind schedule

Next couple of months should see the Luncarty - Pass of Birnam contract let, draft orders published for Dalraddy - Sloch and Tay Crossing - Ballinluig and the co-creative process concluded. Hopefully at least a couple of schemes avoid the PLI process as well.

[Burns]

I'll be dead before most of that gets through planning at this rate and I'm only 31 years old.

[B9127]

Can anyone explain why it takes around a year from tendering to letting a contract

[Burns]

Can anyone explain why it takes around a year from tendering to letting a contract

So that everyone with a finger in the pie gets paid whilst the grand sum of nothing happens. Construction seems to move at a glacial pace. It's just a shame there aren't any real glaciers left in the UK to visit whilst we wait.

[Nwallace]

Can anyone explain why it takes around a year from tendering to letting a contract

As in the point the tenders are offered rather than the point the tenders close?

Time to allow those preparing tenders to do so
Time to make sure you've got the requisite minimum (often at least 3)
Time to sit and read them and lob the obviously junk ones in the bin
Time for the lawyers and government side technicals to look through the ones that weren't obviously junk and lob the subtly junk ones in the bin
Time for the lawyers and government side technicals to look at the one remaining tender and pick holes in it
Time for the one remaining tender to be rewritten realistically
Time to repeat the process of going over the legals and technicals of it
Repeat until something that is acceptable to both sides it thrased out
Time to prepare the actual legal documentation that lets the contract

Followed by loads of fighting over the stuff that both sides missed despite the attention paid to it...

[Altnabreac]

The Co-Creative process for Pass of Birnam - Tay Crossing is gathering pace.

The ranking of long listed options to form a shortlist has taken place but the shortlist has not yet been published.

An event is planned for June 23rd to choose the preferred option from the shortlist so presumbly the shortlisted options will be published by then:
https://a9co-creative.scot/event/the-big-decide/

[orudge]

"Fun for all the family" - they should say that about more road schemes!

The ideas are all available here. Just as long as we don't end up with 4 at-grade roundabouts!

[Altnabreac]

"Fun for all the family" - they should say that about more road schemes!

The ideas are all available here. Just as long as we don't end up with 4 at-grade roundabouts!

Yes I did notice there were a fair few roundabouts in there. My big fear about the co-creative is that we will be stuck with a bottleneck roundabout at Dunkeld (Dalguise, Hermitage and Birnam seem less likely to end up as roundabouts.)

However at long listing stage there did seem to be some local opposition to the Dunkeld roundabout option as well so hopefully the suggestion that goes forward is a Grade separated one.

[GrahameCase]

This is my favourite offline option !

https://ideas.a9co-creative.scot/media/ ... F_0005.jpg

[Burns]

This is my favourite offline option !

https://ideas.a9co-creative.scot/media/ ... F_0005.jpg

Now there's a proposal I can get behind. It's also very similar to something I threw together a while back as a joke.

[GrahameCase]

Two of The proposals for the Hermitage junction are perhaps the most interesting out of the co-creative process - the creation of a LAR from the hermitage to Inver or the old military road (a822)

[Duncan macknight]

Fantastic video for the route of Tomatin to Moy released today https://youtu.be/YCUx19ljOI0

[GrahameCase]

Worrying development on Birnham to Tay crossing co-creative

3 out of 4 of the shortlisted whole route options have an at grade roundabout junction in them -

The other is an offline tunnel

https://a9co-creative.scot/stage-5/

[orudge]

A tunnel would be nice, I'm sure...

It does state on the FAQ section though that "the Scottish Government has the final decision". One would hope that they're not about to stick a roundabout in the middle of their lovely free-flowing grade-separated road, especially when they're trying to remove roundabouts elsewhere (e.g., Longman, and eventually Broxden, Keir, and hopefully Inveralmond).

[Berk]

Where is the proposed roundabout?? I’m guessing this will be immediately revised by engineers and folks with more design and planning experience.

[GrahameCase]

Roundabout just at where the military road junction is at present

[Berk]

Sure an interchange would be more appropriate?? What justifications did they give for a roundabout??

[orudge]

Reading the ideas page in more detail, I notice that the estimated cost for the Dunkeld tunnel is £2.5 to £5 billion. Given the entire dualling project is supposed to cost £3 billion, somehow I can't see it happening! I don't really see why they even included the option in the first place, to be honest.

Also notable is that the first online option has a 50mph speed limit. The fourth option has two online roundabouts (but a 70mph limit).

I'm not quite sure what's wrong with the second Dunkeld junction option (DN_0016) when compared with the at-grade roundabout - it still offers full access, and doesn't look like it would require too much extra land or demolition of property.

Hopefully Transport Scotland would go with route B, but use their powers to select junction DN_0016.

[Burns]

Reading the ideas page in more detail, I notice that the estimated cost for the Dunkeld tunnel is £2.5 to £5 billion.

Why? What justification is there for such a short tunnel to cost so much? That question isn't really directed at anyone here, more just general frustration at how you get so little for so much.

[Altnabreac]

The co-creative process was always likely to end up with a roundabout at the main Dunkeld junction. The design of the Dunkeld junction and the fact that roundabouts were rejected early on in the engineering design were the primary local complaints about the original engineer lead process.

Handing the choice back to local residents unsurprisingly resulted in them choosing the option that won't work well in peak summer traffic albeit it will probably be not too bad for most of the year.

I doubt anyone in Scottish Government will be willing to overturn the whole process and reinsert a grade separated junction but we will see. In ten years time it will probably be locals complaining about tailbacks and traffic diverting through the village to avoid the queues on the A9, asking for a grade separated junction to be built...