Transport Scotland has announced its intention to award Balfour Beatty a GBP 62 million (USD 76 million) design and build contract, part of GBP 96 million (USD 118 million) worth of investment to construct the second phase section of the A9 Dualling Programme, which will run from Luncarty to the Pass of Birnam.

The contract will be the second to be awarded as part of the Scottish Government’s ambitious GBP 3 billion (USD 3.7 billion) programme to dual the A9 between Perth and Inverness. It follows the completion of the first section from Kincraig to Dalraddy which became fully operational in September 2017.

This marks the final phase in the procurement process, which subject to the successful completion of the mandatory standstill period, it is expected that the contract will be awarded in the coming weeks.

Upon completion of the A9 Luncarty to Pass of Birnam, road users will benefit from 15km of continuous dual carriageway from Inveralmond roundabout in Perth to the Pass of Birnam.

In addition to the construction of 9.5km of new dual carriageway, the construction of the Luncarty to Pass of Birnam section will involve four new overbridges to maintain local access across the A9, the widening of one existing underbridge and the provision of a new side road bridge.

As a result, the safety of the A9 will be improved by replacing at-grade junctions with grade separated junctions and providing safer overtaking opportunities along the route. Together, these improvements will reduce driver stress whilst improving journey times and overall operational effectiveness.