Contractor sought for £115m phase of £3bn project to dual A9

Part of the A9 which will benefit from the wider £3 billion project
(JasperImage, Shutterstock)

TRANSPORT Scotland has commenced the procurement for the £115 million contract for the next phase of the £3 billion A9 dualling programme.

The contract will see work carried out on the most northerly section of the route at Tomatin and Moy with around six miles of road to be upgraded to an all-purpose dual carriageway.

Cabinet secretary for transport, infrastructure and connectivity, Michael Matheson, said, “It’s particularly pleasing to announce that the next phase of A9 dualling will be the stretch between Tomatin to Moy. When complete, it will result in nearly 20 miles of continuous dual carriageway to the south of Inverness, allowing safer, more reliable and shorter journey times.  More immediately, this investment will provide a vital boost to the construction industry as we support its recovery from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Today’s publication of the made orders for the scheme represents another milestone towards dualling the A9 between Perth and Inverness, one of the biggest transport infrastructure projects in Scotland’s history.”

Transport Scotland started the procurement of the construction contract with the publication of a prior information notice late last month (February) and it said it expects that the contract will be awarded in the second half of 2022. Meanwhile, ground investigation works, which are a key step towards construction, are planned to progress over the coming months, subject to Covid-19 restrictions.