Funding for A9 and update on A96 project

Almost £200m has been allocated in the 2026-27 Scottish Budget for work to dual the A9 between Inverness and Perth, the finance secretary has said.

Shona Robison also reaffirmed a commitment the Scottish government made two years ago that the £3bn project would be completed by 2035.

The SNP had previously committed to upgrading remaining single carriageway sections on the stretch of trunk road by 2025.

Robison also told MSPs that work to dual key sections of the A96, a road linking Inverness with Aberdeen, would be progressed.

Robison said her Budget would provide “stronger investment” in Scotland’s infrastructure.

After announcing the planned funding for the A9, she said: “I will say this loud and clear – this government is committed to the completion of the A9 by 2035.”

Robison later added: “We will take forward dualling of key sections of the A96.”

Both road-building projects have been controversial.

Two sections of single carriageway totalling 11 miles (18km) of the A9 have been upgraded and opened to traffic over the past decade.

But 77 miles (124 km) of the route has still to be dualled.

In November 2024, a Holyrood committee said they were concerned not enough money would be available to complete the dualling.

It said wrangles over funding had already “significantly” contributed to the original 2025 target being missed.

Scottish Conservative MSP Jackson Carlaw said there was “no conspiracy to frustrate” the road but told the committee there had been a lack of scrutiny and focus.

In January last year, Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop said the current timetable for the project was “robust and practical”.

Last week, a former SNP MSP accused the Scottish government of failing to disclose that it had no money to build a bypass in the Highlands.

Former SNP minister Fergus Ewing, who broke away from the party after fall-outs over issues including roads, said the A96 Nairn bypass had been promised since 2011.

He told BBC Scotland News ministers had been “concealing advice” which said there was unlikely to be any money to take forward the procurement and construction phases this decade.

Transport Scotland said Ewing’s claims were “factually wrong” and added that work to dual the bypass was already under way.