welshbairn Posted February 15, 2023 Share Posted February 15, 2023 (edited) On 13/02/2023 at 22:17, Stephen Malkmus said: What's the reason why progress with the A9 has been so slow? Is it just not being funded properly or have there been unforeseen planning and engineering challenges? The UK has always been incredibly slow on major infrastructure projects, spreading them over decades to decrease the yearly spend. Also there are always demands on the budget for greater priorities so the spending gets shunted a year or two. A Chinese firm offered to build the HS2 in 5 years for half the cost by building it on multiple locations simultaneously (they have the machinery available from completing their massive projects in short time frames) but this was taken as an insult to the empire who built railways across the planet, in the olden days, so I think we're looking at 20 years. France had their TGV link to the channel tunnel built for when it opened, the UK hadn't even started theirs. Doing the A9 all at once would be a massive inconvenience and would probably need PPP funding but I'm sure with a different funding model it could have been done by 2025 as promised, now it looks like 2030 would be a massive achievement and the A96 by 2050, if ever. Edited February 15, 2023 by welshbairn 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvo Montalbano Posted February 15, 2023 Share Posted February 15, 2023 On 13/02/2023 at 18:45, Sherrif John Bunnell said: Geoff Marshall has a video up about Inverness Airport station. The walk to the airport doesn't seem too awful, but the lack of signs and timetables seems very amateurish. Trains stopping on random platforms, miles away from the bridge isn't ideal either. Seems to be a thing on that line, or it least it was. Had a mate in Huntly and was up visiting by train one time so was heading back to Aberdeen to get back to Fife. Was waiting at the platform and he said that I'd have to go over the other side - I asked why when the side I was was the eastbound platform and he said there wasn't an eastbound and a westbound, all the trains stopped on the same side unless there were two trains due in which case it was basically First come, first served for the main platform and the other train went to the other. I asked how he knew which platform to wait on in this case and he just shrugged and said "you just know". On 13/02/2023 at 21:04, ajwffc said: his videos are a good watch One of the few I subscribe to. The secrets of the underground stuff is really good, especially the wee shortcuts and hidden entrances/exits. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newbornbairn Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-64637058 Quote Fatigue behind almost quarter of serious A9 crashes Who can be surprised? Over 100 miles of road and no service stations? Get a few Tebay-type service areas set up and the accident rate will drop. -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin_Nevis Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 9 minutes ago, Newbornbairn said: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-64637058 Who can be surprised? Over 100 miles of road and no service stations? Get a few Tebay-type service areas set up and the accident rate will drop. TBF if folk want to be ripped off with ludicrously overpriced foodstuffs there's always House of Bruar. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newbornbairn Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 1 minute ago, Benjamin_Nevis said: TBF if folk want to be ripped off with ludicrously overpriced foodstuffs there's always House of Bruar. No fuel - though I'm sure the bandits there would be happy to charge £8.99/l for authentic Auchenshoogle petrol with a tartan pump. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICTChris Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 I think that when the A9 was upgraded it was agreed to not build standalone service stations as it was thought this would take business away from the towns and villages on the route. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin_Nevis Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 2 minutes ago, Newbornbairn said: No fuel - though I'm sure the bandits there would be happy to charge £8.99/l for authentic Auchenshoogle petrol with a tartan pump. They should take some tips from the Cluanie Inn imo https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/uks-most-expensive-petrol-station-27191371 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin_Nevis Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 2 minutes ago, ICTChris said: I think that when the A9 was upgraded it was agreed to not build standalone service stations as it was thought this would take business away from the towns and villages on the route. There's no need. There can't be many stretches of over 10-15 miles between towns that are pretty much on the A9 for fuel, scran and a shite. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newbornbairn Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 1 minute ago, Benjamin_Nevis said: There's no need. There can't be many stretches of over 10-15 miles between towns that are pretty much on the A9 for fuel, scran and a shite. People don't want to leave the main road to go wandering into wee villages jammed with tourists just to get fuel and a coffee. That's why there's accidents on the A9. Can you imagine driving from Glasgow to Penrith without a service station because the villagers of Lockerbie and Crawford reserve the right to rip off travellers? I'm still wincing at the ridiculous amount I paid for a coffee in Kingussie 10 years ago, that's where I discovered what the "Highland charges" really were. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
101 Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 3 hours ago, ICTChris said: I think that when the A9 was upgraded it was agreed to not build standalone service stations as it was thought this would take business away from the towns and villages on the route. Even if they don't build service stations there should be at least a couple of truck stops to save them wandering about the countryside looking for somewhere to take their break. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topcat(The most tip top) Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 3 hours ago, Newbornbairn said: No fuel - though I'm sure the bandits there would be happy to charge £8.99/l for authentic Auchenshoogle petrol with a tartan pump. Taking the old road to get petrol at Blair Atholl isn't going to cost you much extra time 3 hours ago, Newbornbairn said: People don't want to leave the main road to go wandering into wee villages jammed with tourists just to get fuel and a coffee. That's why there's accidents on the A9. Can you imagine driving from Glasgow to Penrith without a service station because the villagers of Lockerbie and Crawford reserve the right to rip off travellers? I'm still wincing at the ridiculous amount I paid for a coffee in Kingussie 10 years ago, that's where I discovered what the "Highland charges" really were. I would like to join in being self righteous about small highland towns ripping off tourists and out of towners but being from Central Edinburgh I may have to recuse myself 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICTChris Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 13 minutes ago, 101 said: Even if they don't build service stations there should be at least a couple of truck stops to save them wandering about the countryside looking for somewhere to take their break. There are a couple of big lay-bys where trucks can stop. I don’t think they have any facilities though. I have driven up and down the A9 (to Inverness) hundreds of times and I’ve never found the lack of service stations a problem. If I need to stop it’s hardly a huge endeavour and the stretch between Ralia and Ballinluig is only about 50 miles. I know the road though, I think a few of the horrendous crashes have been tourists who might not realise where to stop etc. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
101 Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 39 minutes ago, ICTChris said: There are a couple of big lay-bys where trucks can stop. I don’t think they have any facilities though. Yeh and that's the problem 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melanius Mullarkey Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 Do folk really have to stop on the A9? I mean its what, 2 and a bit hours in a car? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
effeffsee_the2nd Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 15 hours ago, welshbairn said: The UK has always been incredibly slow on major infrastructure projects, spreading them over decades to decrease the yearly spend. Also there are always demands on the budget for greater priorities so the spending gets shunted a year or two. A Chinese firm offered to build the HS2 in 5 years for half the cost by building it on multiple locations simultaneously (they have the machinery available from completing their massive projects in short time frames) but this was taken as an insult to the empire who built railways across the planet, in the olden days, so I think we're looking at 20 years. France had their TGV link to the channel tunnel built for when it opened, the UK hadn't even started theirs. Doing the A9 all at once would be a massive inconvenience and would probably need PPP funding but I'm sure with a different funding model it could have been done by 2025 as promised, now it looks like 2030 would be a massive achievement and the A96 by 2050, if ever. Everything in Scotland seems half arsed even by UK standards. the main motorway between our two largest cities is mostly only 2 lanes. comparable ones in England are almost always 3 for instance. I know it would add a shit load extra to the costs but we should really have been looking at extending the motorway all the way from Stirling to Inverness, bypassing roundabouts at Dunblane and Perth. same with the M90, motorway up through and past Dundee to Aberdeen. Dueling is better than not dueling but your still going to have turning traffic crossing the carriageways which must cause plenty accidents by themselves as well as having slow moving farm traffic acting as moving chicanes. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherrif John Bunnell Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 Tourists treat the Highlands like a theme park/sewer for a decent chunk of the year, so we have every right to fleece them for every penny. I'm proposing to rename the A9 to the Cairngorm 300 to get a few more quid out of gullible tourists. Loch Ness should also be sold to Underbelly. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScotiaNostra Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 by the time the A9 is dual carriageway, we will all be using self- 35 minutes ago, effeffsee_the2nd said: Everything in Scotland seems half arsed even by UK standards. the main motorway between our two largest cities is mostly only 2 lanes. comparable ones in England are almost always 3 for instance. I know it would add a shit load extra to the costs but we should really have been looking at extending the motorway all the way from Stirling to Inverness, bypassing roundabouts at Dunblane and Perth. same with the M90, motorway up through and past Dundee to Aberdeen. Dueling is better than not dueling but your still going to have turning traffic crossing the carriageways which must cause plenty accidents by themselves as well as having slow moving farm traffic acting as moving chicanes. just some thought and planning would go a long way in Scotland, nothing has ever seemed like anyone looked ahead and planned any infrastructure or town/city ever 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melanius Mullarkey Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 1 hour ago, effeffsee_the2nd said: Everything in Scotland seems half arsed even by UK standards. the main motorway between our two largest cities is mostly only 2 lanes. comparable ones in England are almost always 3 for instance. I know it would add a shit load extra to the costs but we should really have been looking at extending the motorway all the way from Stirling to Inverness, bypassing roundabouts at Dunblane and Perth. same with the M90, motorway up through and past Dundee to Aberdeen. Dueling is better than not dueling but your still going to have turning traffic crossing the carriageways which must cause plenty accidents by themselves as well as having slow moving farm traffic acting as moving chicanes. The majority of junctions are grade separated. Just grade separate the outstanding ones. No idea what you need 6 lane motorway up here for. They’re sitting empty most of the time. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbairn Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 1 hour ago, Sherrif John Bunnell said: Tourists treat the Highlands like a theme park/sewer for a decent chunk of the year, so we have every right to fleece them for every penny. I'm proposing to rename the A9 to the Cairngorm 300 to get a few more quid out of gullible tourists. Loch Ness should also be sold to Underbelly. Charging a pound a mile for camper vans doing the North 500 would be a good start. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topcat(The most tip top) Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 1 hour ago, effeffsee_the2nd said: Everything in Scotland seems half arsed even by UK standards. As someone who has to go to Bloody West Cornwall later in the year I can assure you that the A30 (England's A9) isn't much better. England Runs out of motorway at Exeter and the dualling on the A30 doesn't go far beyond Devon There are twice as many people in Cornwall as in the Highlands @welshbairncan probably report on whatever the Welsh equivelant is 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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