£185 million deal for A9 in Scotland

Transport Scotland has awarded a £185 million (€208 million) contract to Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering for work on the A9 route in Scotland. Meanwhile also in Scotland, AtkinsRéalis has been appointed to deliver the Stage 3 design of the East Airdrie Link Road, part of the Pan-Lanarkshire orbital transport corridor to link three motorways, the M80, M8 and M74. 

The improvement work for the A9 will see widening of a 9.6km stretch of the road between Moy and Tomatin. The work forms part of the €3.5 billion dualling of the A9 between Perth and Inverness.  

The existing A9 route features a single lane in either direction on  this stretch but will be upgraded to dual carriageway status, separated be a central reservation. In addition, four bridges will be built. The work is expected to take 36 months to complete.  

The work is needed as the A9 carries heavy traffic volumes, providing a key link between southern Scotland and Inverness in the north, with a high percentage of heavy vehicles as well as tourist traffic. The route has been notorious for its high crash rate and has had an unenviable safety record. Poor overtaking means that head-on crashes have been common, which the dualling programme between Perth and Inverness will help address, as well as boosting capacity.  

The A9 project was put out to tender previously. Transport Scotland retendered construction of the A9 Dualling: Tomatin-to-Moy project to attract more bidders to the competition.  

Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering, Wills Bros Civil Engineering and John Graham Construction were previously shortlisted for the project. But issues arose at the start of 2023 regarding the equitable sharing of risk and procurement for the 9.6km Tomatin to Moy stretch so the tendering process had to be restarted by Transport Scotland.  

For the East Airdrie Link Road, North Lanarkshire Council in Scotland appointed professional services and project management firm AtkinsRéalis to handle the design work. This project will improve north-south transportation links in the region,  reducing journey times, traffic congestion and improving air quality.  

The East Airdrie Link Road will provide a new two-way, single-carriageway road to the east of Airdrie, running from the M8 at Newhouse to the north of Riggend, as well as a new walking and cycling route between Calderbank/Chapelhall and Riggend. The road will provide the primary access to the new Monklands Hospital in Wester Moffat.  

Councillor Alex McVey, Convener of Enterprise and Fair Work Committee at North Lanarkshire Council, said: “The East Airdrie Link Road will create a strategic north-south link between the M8 and Cumbernauld, essentially creating a transport route as part of the wider Pan Lanarkshire Transport Corridor.’’ 

East Airdrie Link Road is supported by investment from the Scottish UK governments and North Lanarkshire Council through the Glasgow City Region City Deal Infrastructure Fund.