SOUTH Scotland MSP Colin Smyth has once again raised the issues with the A75 and A77 in the Scottish Parliament.
Speaking during a debate on rural roads last week, the Labour politician highlighted the importance of the vital and much neglected roads to the Scottish economy.
Mr Smyth urged the Scottish Government to set out a clear plan for the proposed feasibility study into improvements to the A75 following the announcement of £5 million of funding from the UK Government to carry out the plan.
He also criticised the failure of the government to set out a delivery plan for improvements to the A77, despite their Strategic Transport Projects Review 2 – which proposed some upgrades - being published two years ago and he urged them to agree to a taskforce to consider the impact of the growing number of road closures when routine maintenance is being carried out.
He will be meeting with members of the A77 Action Group when they visit the Scottish Parliament on Thursday to hold talks with the transport secretary Fiona Hyslop.
“Often, important trunk roads that cut across rural areas - no matter how strategically important they are - have suffered from chronic underinvestment, which makes them dangerous, hampers economic progress and actually slows efforts to improve the environment.
“For example, we can take the A75 and the A77, which are key routes to the ferry terminal at Cairnryan - the fifth busiest port in the UK. It is the hub from which businesses not just in South Scotland, but in central Scotland and northern England, trade into Northern Ireland and then south into the European Union.
“The need to upgrade the A75 and the A77 is, at its heart, about saving lives, but it is about improving them, too. Bypassing the towns and villages through which the roads currently run would cut congestion and emissions, from Springholm and Crocketford to Girvan and Kirkoswald.
“However, two years after the much-delayed second strategic transport projects review was published, there is still no delivery plan from the Scottish Government, even for the very modest and inadequate improvements that are proposed to both roads, and there is not a single penny of the investment that was promised for upgrading, either.
“The only investment that has been proposed in relation to the A75 is the £5m that was announced in the recent UK Government budget to complete a feasibility study into possible upgrades.
“I also urge the cabinet secretary, when she meets members of the A77 action group later this month, to listen to their call for a task force to bring together local stakeholders, Transport Scotland and Amey Highways to explore what more can be done to better manage road closures on both roads when maintenance is being carried out.
“Everyone understands that some closures are needed for road safety reasons. However, when the closure is in a rural location, the diversion is often lengthy and drives traffic on to small rural roads, which are simply not built for HGVs, causing damage and disruption to communities.”
Mr Smyth added: “Above all else, I hope that the cabinet secretary will set out when we will see a clear delivery and investment plan for those two key rural roads, which will save lives, grow our economy and improve the environment in the towns and villages across the south-west.”
Read the rules here