A96 Dualling: Inverness to Nairn

[Starling]

A big problem with the A96 is that there are not many lay-bys where slow moving vehicles can pull into to let the traffic stuck behind them past.

A lot of the problems could be alleviated by installing more lay-bys every few miles.

A more extreme measure could be to ban slow moving vehicles from the A96 road from 8am to 8pm. Tractors and caravans etc. would only be able to use the road from 8pm to 8am.

They could put in average speed cameras and fine people for going too slowly causing congestion.

[Glen]

In response to a parliamentary debate yesterday, the transport minister said she expects to be able to make the orders for the Inverness to Hardmuir scheme in the "coming weeks".

https://www.scottishparliament.tv/meeti ... d=16:48:11

[Mikehannah]

And that means what?
If memory serves me correctly several sections of the A9 have been at “ made order “ stage for several years but are still nowhere near ground being broken on any of them or I suspect ever likely to be under the current administration.
Both the A96 and the A9 are two of the biggest seeing to be doing exercises in Scottish history.

[KeithW]

A big problem with the A96 is that there are not many lay-bys where slow moving vehicles can pull into to let the traffic stuck behind them past.

A lot of the problems could be alleviated by installing more lay-bys every few miles.

A more extreme measure could be to ban slow moving vehicles from the A96 road from 8am to 8pm. Tractors and caravans etc. would only be able to use the road from 8pm to 8am.

They could put in average speed cameras and fine people for going too slowly causing congestion.

I dont believe there is any legal basis for lower speed limits between certain hours and apart from motorways see little justification for such rules, All Purpose roads are for general usage by everyone from walkers to the drivers of supercars, if the road is not up to spec then fix it. Additionally do you really thinks its a good idea to force agricultural vehicles to only use the road at night ?

[jnty]

A big problem with the A96 is that there are not many lay-bys where slow moving vehicles can pull into to let the traffic stuck behind them past.

A lot of the problems could be alleviated by installing more lay-bys every few miles.

A more extreme measure could be to ban slow moving vehicles from the A96 road from 8am to 8pm. Tractors and caravans etc. would only be able to use the road from 8pm to 8am.

They could put in average speed cameras and fine people for going too slowly causing congestion.

I dont believe there is any legal basis for lower speed limits between certain hours and apart from motorways see little justification for such rules, All Purpose roads are for general usage by everyone from walkers to the drivers of supercars, if the road is not up to spec then fix it. Additionally do you really thinks its a good idea to force agricultural vehicles to only use the road at night ?

Yes, banning agricultural vehicles from key trunk roads for the whole day is the stuff of daydreams had while staring at the back of a tractor, not a workable proposal.

[orudge]

The STPR2 technical report brings up the dualling of the A96:

At the commencement of the STPR2, the dualling of the A96 between Aberdeen and Inverness was classed as a committed project and was therefore out of the scope for the STPR2.

In August 2021 the Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party Parliamentary Group published their Cooperation Agreement and shared policy programme, titled The Bute House Agreement. In the shared policy programme, various agreed principles regarding investment in the transport network were set out. In relation to the A96, the following was noted: “The Scottish National Party and Scottish Green Party have and will maintain distinct positions of the dualling of the A96. However, as part of this agreement, the Scottish Government will take forward a transport enhancements programme on the A96 corridor that improves connectivity between surrounding towns, tackles congestion and addresses safety and environmental issues. This will include:

• dualling from Inverness to Nairn;
• bypassing of Nairn, Keith, Elgin and Inverurie accompanied by measures to remove through traffic from the by-passed town centres;
• targeted road safety improvements where needed, for example between Fochabers and Huntly and Inverurie to Aberdeen;
• the development of an A96 “Electric Highway”.

The Agreement goes on to state: “The current plan is to fully dual the A96 route between Inverness and Aberdeen. We agree to conduct a transparent, evidence-based review to include a climate compatibility assessment to assess direct and indirect impacts on the climate and the environment. This will report by the end of 2022.”

Given the above, the STPR2 recommends that the A96 Corridor review is undertaken in accordance with STAG. The review should consider the transport problems and opportunities on the A96 corridor, the changing policy context and other relevant considerations such as development aspirations for the corridor and surrounding area. The review should also include a Climate Compatibility Assessment, SEA and Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) Stage 1 Assessment. Since the publication of the A96 Strategic Business Case in 2014, there have been updates to the policy context, including the publication of the NTS2 and Delivery Plans, 2018 – 2032 Climate Change Plan Update, the Revised Draft NPF4 and 20 per cent Car Kilometre Reduction Route Map. A policy context refresh will therefore be required. Given the strategic importance of the A96 Dualling Programme, it is particularly important that national policies are taken into consideration alongside regional and local policies.

Quite what that will mean in practice I'm not entirely sure, but I guess we'll need to see what the current A96 review reports back. Whether there'll be any money to pay for any A96 dualling is of course another matter entirely.

[Ruperts Trooper]

A big problem with the A96 is that there are not many lay-bys where slow moving vehicles can pull into to let the traffic stuck behind them past.

A lot of the problems could be alleviated by installing more lay-bys every few miles.

A more extreme measure could be to ban slow moving vehicles from the A96 road from 8am to 8pm. Tractors and caravans etc. would only be able to use the road from 8pm to 8am.

They could put in average speed cameras and fine people for going too slowly causing congestion.

Caravans aren't slow-moving vehicles - they have a speed limit of 50 mph on NSL single-carriageways, higher than HGVs in Scotland at 40 mph - they also have better power-to-weight ratios than most HGVs. As a caravanner, one of my pet hates is the number of cars who "queue" up behind a caravan travelling at it's speed limit but won't overtake even when the road is clear and has good sight lines - that in my book is self-imposed congestion. I'd be fine with increasing the caravan speed limit up to the same for cars.

It's not practical to banish tractors to the night shift and I'd suggest they're a bigger hazard at night than in the daylight.

[B9127]

Maggie Chapman the local Green MSP has previously stated that dualling the A96 is not viable but some improvements could be made whereas the SNP state that the dualling is a commitment - since the tail is wagging the dog I wonder what the outcome will be

[jnty]

Maggie Chapman the local Green MSP has previously stated that dualling the A96 is not viable but some improvements could be made whereas the SNP state that the dualling is a commitment - since the tail is wagging the dog I wonder what the outcome will be

I thought roadbuilding was excluded from the agreement? In any case there is presumably majority support in Parliament so it is hard to claim that the Greens have some kind of political stranglehold here.

[Glen]

Maggie Chapman the local Green MSP has previously stated that dualling the A96 is not viable but some improvements could be made whereas the SNP state that the dualling is a commitment - since the tail is wagging the dog I wonder what the outcome will be

The Bute House Agreement states that the A9 Dualling and Inverness to Hardmuir will continue as planned, but the rest of the A96 is subject to the review which is currently being carried out

[Mikehannah]

The Local green MSP ( one hopes will be out of a job at the next SE) claims dualling the A96 is not viable!! Not viable how?
Cost, usage or because it gets in the way of the pseudo green utopia of a network of Goat and pony trails serving Scotland .
How is it viable to have the volume of traffic passing through these towns and villages? How is it viable to have cars stuck at an uneconomic speed for 100 miles.

[B9127]

I really dont understand the Greens - want us to change to electric vehicles so after that the same volume of vehicles will still be there so the road capacity does not change- also my car a Kia Sportage 2l 4x4 weighs around 1.6 tonnes - A friend of mine bought the near mordern equivalent Kia Sportage Hybrid with a 1.6 l engine and weighs around 2,5 tonnes - the road damage with the new electrics will be horrendous IMHO

[Ruperts Trooper]

I really dont understand the Greens - want us to change to electric vehicles so after that the same volume of vehicles will still be there so the road capacity does not change- also my car a Kia Sportage 2l 4x4 weighs around 1.6 tonnes - A friend of mine bought the near mordern equivalent Kia Sportage Hybrid with a 1.6 l engine and weighs around 2,5 tonnes - the road damage with the new electrics will be horrendous IMHO

You're not comparing like with like - the 2022 Kia Sportage Hybrid 1.6 has a kerb weight of 1905 kg in "3" trim - the 2.5 tonnes quoted is probably the gross weight.

[orudge]

I really dont understand the Greens - want us to change to electric vehicles so after that the same volume of vehicles will still be there so the road capacity does not change

I think the Scottish Green Party at least would rather people didn’t have cars at all (unless absolutely necessary) - I guess if people have to have cars they’d prefer them to be electric, but they appear to be opposed to private car ownership in general.

That said, my impression (which may not be entirely accurate) is that the Greens are predominantly “urban” in nature, and reducing car use in cities is generally something most people appreciate is beneficial. It’s considerably less practical for the many rural dwellers in Scotland (and you don’t have to go that far from Scottish cities to become ‘rural’).

[Mikehannah]

The pseudo Greens are happy to push their Green utopia on others but they rarely leave the central belt with its excellent road, rail and public transport.

[jackal]

The pseudo Greens are happy to push their Green utopia on others but they rarely leave the central belt with its excellent road, rail and public transport.

I guess you haven't spent much time in Edinburgh.

[Mikehannah]

It is a considerably better than what passes for roads and public transport in the North.

[roadtester]

I’ve just been catching up with this week’s Debate Night on BBC Scotland. This was coming from Elgin and there was a question on why the A96 dualling was taking so long.

The audience reaction was interesting. Far from the sort of Nimbyism you might get in some parts of the country, pretty much everyone was moaning about the road not being built and being quite vocal about it.

There was also quite a lot of grumbling about public transport, the A9, railways, the ferries and other services in the Highlands compared with the central belt, which I don’t think bodes well for the SNP’s future chances but that’s probably a subject for another thread!

[KeithW]

I’ve just been catching up with this week’s Debate Night on BBC Scotland. This was coming from Elgin and there was a question on why the A96 dualling was taking so long.

The audience reaction was interesting. Far from the sort of Nimbyism you might get in some parts of the country, pretty much everyone was moaning about the road not being built and being quite vocal about it.

There was also quite a lot of grumbling about public transport, the A9, railways, the ferries and other services in the Highlands compared with the central belt, which I don’t think bodes well for the SNP’s future chances but that’s probably a subject for another thread!

Having driven through Elgin several times I absolutely understand it, both Nairn and the A96 approaching Inverness can quickly become very congested, hardly surprising for an S2 road with an AADF approaching 20k

As for the SNP it has only held Inverness since 2015 so its definitely going to be target for the Lib Dems especially as the sitting MSP has backed the line of not dualling the A96 by 2025.

[Summers-lad]

As for the SNP it has only held Inverness since 2015 so its definitely going to be target for the Lib Dems especially as the sitting MSP has backed the line of not dualling the A96 by 2025.

In fact Fergus Ewing (SNP) has been the MSP since the Scottish Parliament was "reconvened" (as his mother, Winnie, put it) in 1999. Representation in Westminster (with some boundary differences) has been more varied, with Labour, Lib Dem and SNP during that period. Earlier, in 1992, it was the country's only 4-way marginal, with only 1741 votes between 1st (Lib Dem) and 4th (Tory) place.