Regional Labour MSP Rhoda Grant persuades the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee to back Transport Scotland into a corner to ask why the A890 and A832 cannot be adopted as Trunk roads.
Today in the Scottish Parliament, the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee kept open two petitions in relation to the A890 and A832 which would see them both be adopted as Trunk Roads by Transport Scotland.
In a compelling submission Mrs Grant said that she couldn’t “stress enough how vital these links are” to connecting the Western Isles to Western Highland.
She rejected Transport Scotland’s submission and stated that she could not understand why these roads do not meet the criteria set out by the Strategic Transport Projects Review.
She then listed why she believes the A890 and A832 fulfils the criteria including access to hospital care, secondary education, tourism, farming, aquaculture and renewables.
Following Mrs Grant’s compelling submission, the committee have decided to keep the petition open and ask specifically why these roads do not meet their own criteria.
Speaking after the Petitions Committee Rhoda Grant MSP said: “I am glad that the Citizen’s Participation and Public Petitions Committee are continuing to pressure Transport Scotland on this issue.
“I suspect Transport Scotland and the Scottish Government are refusing to take on these roads is due to the cost of making this route safe as opposed to whether or not they qualify as trunk roads. If that is too expensive for Scottish Government budgets, it is far too much for a rural local authority. However, the current status quo is not a sustainable option for the future so it is vital that we work past this impasse to reach a solution.”
