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Need for speed on A9
Page 8
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Pressure's building for a 50mph A9. Guy Sheppard reports.
HAULAGE LEADERS want the truck speed limit on the A9 in Scotland to increase from 40mph to 50mph to cut tailbacks.
This follows the completion of a £5m improvement scheme along the Kingussie section of the road, creating two overtaking areas.
The Freight Transport Association's Scottish Freight Council argues that the A9 needs a 50mph limit because of the increasing number of trucks using it and the dangers of overtaking.
Carl Olufsen. Scottish Freight Council chairman, says: "Inverness is probably the fastest growing area of the country. Although dedicated passing opportunities provide some relief for drivers stuck behind slower moving vehicles, this is not the whole answer.
"The government does have other options open to it to deal with the problems of long tailbacks, like raising the speed limit for trucks to 50mph on good quality single-carriageway roads."
Murray Prentice, MD and owner of JBT Transport, whose biggest depot is in Inverness, points out that tailbacks on the A9 are exacerbated by the road's frequent sweeping bends which restrict vision for overtaking.
"I have seen an awful lot of near misses where car drivers have been trying to overtake other cars and trucks." he adds.
"Having a 40mph speed limit [on this stretch] for artics is crazy, because people get frustrated when stuck behind them."
• See our investigation into this issue on pages 28-29.