A9 Dualling - progress and slowness

[702]

The dualling of the A9 in Scotland from Perth to Inverness is not going well. Or at least, not going quickly. Why is this? Plans to do it predate the SNP-Green coalition (with the Greens not keen on new road building). Is there a lack of engineers/construction/human resource? Is it too expensive? Badly managed? Clearly there are issues with communication, as Civil engineers said they knew for years a target to dual the A9 from Inverness to Perth by 2025 would not be met. Recently the contract to upgrade from Moy to Tomatin was retendered, with only one bidder, and the Scottish government saying it was too expensive.

From the second link, Transport Minister at-the-time "Ms Gilruth added: “It is true that the target date set always represented an ambitious challenge. It was reliant on the timely and positive outcome of a range of factors such as completing public and stakeholder consultation; statutory approval processes; market capacity; supply chain availability and availability of funding, all of which have been significantly impacted by the events I outlined earlier. This has made this 2025 date simply unachievable."

This all seems superficially plausible to me but... it also covers pretty much everything! To what extent is this fair, and to what extent is it a failure of government?

(P.S. if Gareth Dennis is reading, this thread isn't about the advisability of dualling the A9, but the implementation!)

 

[Bald Rick]

AIUI, it’s purely politics (Including ‘availability of funding’)

 

[GusB]

I'd rather we didn't have any new road schemes at all, but with the A9 I feel that there's a need to get on with dualling the whole lot.

It's not a road that I drive very often and I will try to avoid it as much as possible, but the constant switching between single- and dual-carriageway is dangerous; the section of dual-carriageway around Druimuachdar is especially so because the two carriageways aren't together in some parts. Even with signage and road markings I find that I have to constantly remind myself and it only takes a momentary lapse of concentration for things to go horribly wrong. Add foreign tourists who are also reminding themselves to drive on the left and it's easy to understand how it can all go pear-shaped quite quickly.

It's a great road to drive later on in the day when there's very little traffic about (and not in winter), but during the day at the height of summer there are far too many hair-raising moments for my liking.

 

[ld0595]

A lot of it largely boils down to politics and the expectation that the statutory process will run smoothly which is simply unrealistic in this day and age. There's so much more focus on protecting the environment and historical assets which makes it incredibly difficult to build a significant infrastructure scheme in such a sensitive area.

The other problem is that because of the glacial pace these schemes have been going for, design standards change and assessments become invalid leading to a significant amount of abortive work and further delay as proceeding with the statutory process without outdated assessments and design criteria would not stand up to scrutiny.

Jenny Gilruth suggesting that the delay was down to Covid, Brexit and the war in Ukraine was frankly a cop out excuse. These influences no doubt have had an impact, but it's been known for many years before all these events occurred that the 2025 deadline was simply unachievable.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

the section of dual-carriageway around Druimuachdar is especially so because the two carriageways aren't together in some parts.

Sorry but I don't follow what you're getting at here. How does the two carriageways being separated by a greater margin make it more dangerous? There are plenty of sections of motorways and trunk routes where the carriageways separate: the M62 over the top of the Pennines, the M6 through Cumbria, the M5 just south of the Avonmouth bridge (in that case the carriageways are parallel but at different elevations) to name a few.

If the alignment of one or both carriageways is poor and therefore more prone to accidents, that's a different issue to the carriageways not being adjacent to each other.

 

[The exile]

Sorry but I don't follow what you're getting at here. How does the two carriageways being separated by a greater margin make it more dangerous? There are plenty of sections of motorways and trunk routes where the carriageways separate: the M62 over the top of the Pennines, the M6 through Cumbria, the M5 just south of the Avonmouth bridge (in that case the carriageways are parallel but at different elevations) to name a few.

If the alignment of one or both carriageways is poor and therefore more prone to accidents, that's a different issue to the carriageways not being adjacent to each other.

I think the issue is having to remember whether the “two lane road” you are currently on is a bit where there is two way traffic with one lane in each direction or a bit of dual carriageway separated visually from the other carriageway. Thinking you’re on the former when actually on the latter probably doesn’t matter- vice versa could easily be fatal.
The equivalent error is extremely unlikely (though not impossible) on a full-blown motorway.

 

[Bald Rick]

Sorry but I don't follow what you're getting at here. How does the two carriageways being separated by a greater margin make it more dangerous? There are plenty of sections of motorways and trunk routes where the carriageways separate: the M62 over the top of the Pennines, the M6 through Cumbria, the M5 just south of the Avonmouth bridge (in that case the carriageways are parallel but at different elevations) to name a few.

Being a regular on said road, I can confirm that this is an issue.

When you drive that section of dualled A9, it feels to all intents and purposes like a normal single carriageway road, and you can’t see the other carriageway. Particularly northbound (uphill), and especially so at night. More than once I’ve been midway through overtaking, and had a horrible ‘double take’ moment where I have been momentarily unsure if it really is dual carriageway or not, with a bend coming up.

Given the standard of driving I see out there, it is quite easy to see that someone might have the opposite, ie overtake further along on a single carriageway, but thinking it is dual carriageway (when it isn’t).

It really does need doing. It won’t affect rail traffic to any great extent, and it will considerably improve safety and speed up journeys for the tens of thousands of people who use the road every day.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Thanks for the explanation, both. That does make sense as a hazardous situation, though once the road is fully dual-carriageway (if/when that happens) that hazard will be removed. I did realise after posting that the examples I gave were all motorways so the risk factor as described above is not present in those cases, there being no two-way roads under motorway regulations apart from that weird bit of the M58 near Wigan.

 

[blueberry11]

Being a regular on said road, I can confirm that this is an issue.

When you drive that section of dualled A9, it feels to all intents and purposes like a normal single carriageway road, and you can’t see the other carriageway. Particularly northbound (uphill), and especially so at night. More than once I’ve been midway through overtaking, and had a horrible ‘double take’ moment where I have been momentarily unsure if it really is dual carriageway or not, with a bend coming up.

Given the standard of driving I see out there, it is quite easy to see that someone might have the opposite, ie overtake further along on a single carriageway, but thinking it is dual carriageway (when it isn’t).

It really does need doing. It won’t affect rail traffic to any great extent, and it will considerably improve safety and speed up journeys for the tens of thousands of people who use the road every day.

And when half of the carriageway is closed (due to resurfacing), there has to be a way to make sure people know that a contraflow system is in place. That happened during the construction of the A9 dualling project. For an overnight road/motorway closure (in one direction), a contraflow is almost never set up. But as British roads are normally very busy, we do most of the work at night. A temporary crash barrier would help so they drivers that fall asleep (errant drivers) would not hit oncoming traffic, as shown on the A11 from Norwich. Cones can also be used but are soft in comparison. Why don't re replace the crash barriers on trunk roads with concrete so that trucks cannot penatrate it?

 

[PTR 444]

Sorry but I don't follow what you're getting at here. How does the two carriageways being separated by a greater margin make it more dangerous? There are plenty of sections of motorways and trunk routes where the carriageways separate: the M62 over the top of the Pennines, the M6 through Cumbria, the M5 just south of the Avonmouth bridge (in that case the carriageways are parallel but at different elevations) to name a few.

If the alignment of one or both carriageways is poor and therefore more prone to accidents, that's a different issue to the carriageways not being adjacent to each other.

Plenty on A-roads too. The A31 between Cadnam and Stoney Cross, A38 Haldon Hill and A55 Penmaenmawr tunnels are just a few examples of split carriageways.

 

[Bald Rick]

Plenty on A-roads too. The A31 between Cadnam and Stoney Cross, A38 Haldon Hill and A55 Penmaenmawr tunnels are just a few examples of split carriageways.

And one I discovered yesterday, the A611 from ‘ucknall to Annesley. This must surely hold the record for the greatest separation of carriageways.

 

[ABB125]

For a foreign example of separated carriageways (and a loop!), take a look at the A6 between San Bernardino and Savona in Italy.
This appears to be an example of a second, much more direct carriageway being built several decades after the first (which may have simply been a series of upgrades of an existing route), with the original carriageway being converted from one lane in each direction to two in one direction.

There are a few examples of this in the UK (such as the descent on the A40 into Monmouth), but nothing on the same scale as far as I'm aware.

 

[702]

Thanks for all the replies everyone!
For the Moy to Tomatin stretch, any idea only one company bid? Is it the costs and bureaucracy described? Is it not worth the contract?

 

[Morayshire]

Thanks for all the replies everyone!
For the Moy to Tomatin stretch, any idea only one company bid? Is it the costs and bureaucracy described? Is it not worth the contract?

More than one company/consortium looked at it apparently but only one returned a tender. My personal suspicion is that the cost overruns on the AWPR loomed large in the bid teams memories and that combined with the A9 contract risk profile apparently being very much in the favour of Transport Scotland meant the other bidders walked away.

 

[stuu]

For a foreign example of separated carriageways (and a loop!), take a look at the A6 between San Bernardino and Savona in Italy.
This appears to be an example of a second, much more direct carriageway being built several decades after the first (which may have simply been a series of upgrades of an existing route), with the original carriageway being converted from one lane in each direction to two in one direction.

There are a few examples of this in the UK (such as the descent on the A40 into Monmouth), but nothing on the same scale as far as I'm aware.

Italy has a few like that, as the earlier autostrade were built as single carriageway, often with a third "suicide" lane. The A6 was known as the autostrada della morte as a result, before it was dualled

 

[702]

New Tender opportunity launched for A9 Dualling: Tomatin to Moy Project

The Contract Notice for the construction of the £150 million A9 Dualling: Tomatin to Moy project was published today, following an extensive market consultation exercise resulting in a new contract designed to attract more bidders to the competition. It is anticipated that the contract will be awarded in early Summer 2024 and the project is expected to take around three years to build.
The First Minister announced the launch of the new procurement during a Parliamentary Statement on the Programme for Government.
The Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition, Màiri McAllan, commented further on the announcement, saying
“I know that today’s announcement will be a welcome update for communities and businesses across the A9 corridor. Progression of the A9 Dualling Programme continues to be a priority for this Government and today’s announcement underlines our commitment to one of the largest, most complex infrastructure programmes in Scotland’s history
"Road safety is of paramount importance to both myself, and this Government, and I understand how vital dualling the A9 is to the communities and businesses that rely on the A9 each day. Today’s announcement is another positive step towards full dualling and I can assure you that my officials and I continue to work urgently to progress the remainder of this critical programme
"The Tomatin to Moy section, once completed, will contribute to our shared vision for Scotland – a connected Scotland, with safe, accessible transport systems for all of our communities and businesses, as well as the tourists we welcome each year. It also allows us to set new aspirations for carbon reduction in construction whilst creating employment and training opportunities that benefit the communities surrounding this project.
The announcement follows an extensive market consultation undertaken by Transport Scotland to understand the views of the sector. Creating a new contract of this nature is a complex process and it was necessary to take the time to get the new terms and conditions right, both to listen to the market, maximising market interest in the new procurement and to ensure the new terms and conditions are robust and do not lead to unintended consequences affecting value for Scottish taxpayers.
As a result of this engagement, the updated contract strategy for the A9 Dualling: Tomatin to Moy project uses both a new form of contract, preferred by the industry and used widely across the UK, as well as a more balanced approach to the sharing of risk between the Scottish Ministers and the contractor. This new procurement represents a significant change in the way that Transport Scotland contracts its major infrastructure projects.
Grahame Barn, Managing Director of The Civil Engineering Contractor’s Association (CECA) has said
“All construction projects – particularly large-scale projects – have a significantly greater chance of a positive outcome for both client and contractor when meaningful collaboration is undertaken ahead of, and as part of, any procurement process
"CECA is grateful for the substantial consultation Transport Scotland has undertaken with me, CECA member companies and the wider contracting industry to enable them to develop a new form of contract that seeks to address many of the concerns previously expressed by industry
"The move to NEC4 is a welcome change and aligns Transport Scotland with other major clients across the UK. Whilst this contract is to be an amended version of NEC4, I am comforted by the assurances that the changes are mostly around process and do not, once again, transfer significant risk from the client to the contractor
"A considerable body of work has had to be undertaken by Transport Scotland to ensure that the terms and conditions of their new contract work for both the taxpayer and the contracting industry. This has, rightly, taken time to execute properly and I am confident that with this change to an amended NEC4 contract, contractors will view the Tomatin to Moy dualling as being attractive to bid.”

I think the tl:dr version is the Scottish government spoke to contractors about why they didn't bid before and has adjusted the contract accordingly.

 

[yoyothehobo]

If you want insanity, try out this lane separation for a service station in Correze, France

 

[PTR 444]

If you want insanity, try out this lane separation for a service station in Correze, France

View attachment 142147

A bit of “left hand running” there too. Reminds me of the stretch of US Interstate 5 north of Castaic, California where the carriageways swap sides.

 

[156421]

Jenny Gilruth suggesting that the delay was down to Covid, Brexit and the war in Ukraine was frankly a cop out excuse.

Blaming all three has to go down as some sort of "hat trick" usually they just blame one or two

 

[Davester50]

Isn't the hard part the southern end, particularly the Dunkeld and Birnam area?
The Latest News for that part was last updated in 2019!

 

[judethegreat]

Being a regular on said road, I can confirm that this is an issue.

When you drive that section of dualled A9, it feels to all intents and purposes like a normal single carriageway road, and you can’t see the other carriageway. Particularly northbound (uphill), and especially so at night. More than once I’ve been midway through overtaking, and had a horrible ‘double take’ moment where I have been momentarily unsure if it really is dual carriageway or not, with a bend coming up.

Given the standard of driving I see out there, it is quite easy to see that someone might have the opposite, ie overtake further along on a single carriageway, but thinking it is dual carriageway (when it isn’t).

It really does need doing. It won’t affect rail traffic to any great extent, and it will considerably improve safety and speed up journeys for the tens of thousands of people who use the road every day.

I do totally understand the safety issues, even though the argument does to a small extent pander to the atrocious driving standards we see now, and the ground environment, habitats etc, loses out. Surely constant signage, both above and on the road surface, would make things a lot better?

There is also of course the knock on effect on other roads of any induced demand this scheme may create.

However, to make sure dualling doesn't affect rail traffic to any great extent, perhaps the HML - and other lines in a similar scenario - should be improved completely in tandem with the road improvements? As much double tracking as possible or reasonable, electrification*, signalling...whatever is required to increase capacity, reliability, speed (the dualled road will presumably be 70 rather than 60), and general attractiveness to use. Dare i suggest a few new stations for perhaps a local service, with the increased capacity? And yep...more/new trains aswell, obviously...

There may even be stretches where the road and rail lines are so close together it would make sense to carry out the works as one single project, thus saving money and environmental impact - i don't know though.

* Or atleast preparatory work for such. I could envisage people saying "Look how horrible it is with a new "motorway" running through that beautiful scenery...we don't want it to be made even worse with electric train wires". I forget the timeline of northern WCML electrification versus parallel M6 construction and completion of A74 dualling... I know they were close to each other, i think the roads were completed first, and i read suggestion that people may not have been happy with the "double whammy", one after the other?

If you want insanity, try out this lane separation for a service station in Correze, France

View attachment 142147

That does look crazy, but i'd guess that rather than being due to the landscape, that design was chosen so that just one service station needed to be built, rather than a separate one on each side of the road as per normal, but the access to it would still be from the nearside of each cariageway?

Thinking of i think the Victoria Line at Kings Cross, which does that, so it can interchange better with the Northern Line...