Welcome to the Autumn 2024 A9 Dualling Newsletter

Image of Balfour Beatty representatives on site preparing for the main works construction on A9 Dualling: Tomatin to Moy

We have been making lots of progress since reaching the first of the milestones in the delivery plan set out in December 2023. You’ll read below of activities taking place across the Perth to Inverness corridor.

Tomatin to Moy project

Major construction works on the Tomatin to Moy project are expected to commence in the spring of next year (2025). In the meantime, essential site preparations are now well underway with an initial compound being established at Dalmagarry and the construction of site accesses and clearance works continuing. Overnight works on the A9 utilising temporary traffic signals will commence in December.  Read more here.

In November, members of the Tomatin to Moy project team met with the local community at two ‘Meet the Contractor’ events, in Inverness and Tomatin. The events provided further detail for the community on the contractor’s approach to the works ahead, including traffic management plans, environmental mitigations and future plans for community benefits. In addition to providing an opportunity for community members and local businesses to ask questions, there were also opportunities to interact with members of the public including trying virtual-reality headsets and thermal binoculars used for bat surveys, amongst other activities.

Image from the ‘Meet the Contractor’ event in Tomatin

Tay Crossing to Ballinluig & Pitlochry to Killiecrankie projects

Soil Engineering Geoservices Limited (SEGL) have started work on site on a ground investigation contract totalling nearly £635,000, which will provide information for both the Tay Crossing to Ballinluig and Pitlochry to Killiecrankie projects. Read more here.

Meanwhile, arrangements for other advance works for the Tay Crossing to Ballinluig project are on-going including tree felling, habitat creation for reptiles, under track railway crossings to facilitate drainage connections under the railway and utility diversions. These advance works will help reduce the risk of disruption to future main construction works.

Images of a sonic drilling rig carrying out ground investigation works on the Tay Crossing to Ballinluig project near Dowally.

Killiecrankie to Glen Garry project

Made Orders for the Killiecrankie to Glen Garry project were published on 18 October 2024, which, subject to no legal challenge, will complete the statutory process for the project. This is the first of three projects planned to conclude their statutory procedures in the coming months. Find out more here. 

Social Value Programme

The long-running A9 Dualling education programme Academy9 continues to undertake events in the corridor. Academy9 is a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) related programme of activities and experiences aimed at pupils, students, teachers, parents and the wider community along the route.

Since the previous newsletter, there have been seven school events involving over three hundred primary and secondary pupils from Grantown Primary and Grammar Schools, Kingussie High School, Breadalbane Academy and Pitlochry High School.

Academy9 events at Breadalbane Academy and Grantown Primary School

Parliamentary Engagement

In October the Cabinet Secretary for Transport committed to providing written updates to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport parliamentary committee at six-monthly intervals.  The first of these updates, which looks back over the period between January and September 2024 and looks forward from October 2024 to March 2025 was issued on 22 November and is available here.

Thank you for your continuing interest in the A9 Dualling programme.  Please help us grow the subscriber base so we can keep as many people informed and updated as possible by sharing the link to register for updates.

The Winter 24/25 edition of this newsletter will be issued towards the end of February 2024. In the meantime, everyone in the A9 Dualling team wishes you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

A9 Dualling Team