£184.7m Tomatin-Moy A9 dualling contract lined up for Balfour Beatty
The Scottish Government intends to award Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering the £184.7 million construction contract to dual the A9 between Tomatin and Moy.
It is the final phase in the procurement process which, subject to the successful completion of a so-called mandatory standstill period, will conclude in the coming weeks with the contract being awarded to Balfour Beatty.
This is the next stage in the government’s rolling programme to dual the Inverness-Perth section of the A9 by 2035 - a decade after it originally promised it would be complete.
• Sign up to our free newsletters
It is set to be the third section of A9 dualling project to begin construction - and the first within the delivery plan announced in December 2023 to reach construction stage. But it is unclear when work would start and how long it would last.
The dualling works between Tomatin to Moy will upgrade six miles of single carriageway to dual carriageway and, when complete, will provide approximately 20 miles of continuous dual carriageway between Inverness and Slochd.
Scottish Government acknowledged the project will bring benefits to road users, communities and businesses in addition to providing safer and more efficient roads, improvements to active travel routes and greater connections to public transport.
Transport secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “Once work starts on Tomatin to Moy, it will not stop until dualling between Perth and Inverness is complete.
“The award of this contract for A9 Dualling: Tomatin to Moy will start our rolling programme of construction to dual the A9 between Perth and Inverness and reinforces our steadfast commitment to deliver on our plan.
“Major transport infrastructure supports the local community and businesses, providing jobs and delivering economic growth throughout the project and beyond. It has been fantastic to see the impact contractors working on the advance works have already brought to the local community, and I look forward to delivering further benefits to local businesses and communities through our investment in the construction of this section.”
This contract for the dualling of the A9 between Tomatin and Moy follows the successful completion of advance works in 2021 and 2022, including the replacement of Lynebeg Underbridge on the Highland Main Line railway, the establishment of an ecological pond to support translocation of a rare fly species ahead of the dualling works as well as upgraded active travel and public transport infrastructure, archaeological investigations and outreach work with local schools.
