Transport Scotland says facilitating freight movements is fundamental to delivering sustainable economic growth in Scotland in its Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR) published on 10th December.
The review outlines 29 projects for improving Scotland’s rail and trunk road networks to be implemented over the next 20 years.
Gavin Scott, head of policy for Scotland at the Freight Transport Association has welcomed the proposed “packages of work”.
He said: “The review is good news for freight and Scotland in general. The very fact that freight’s concerns are clearly now being recognised as key to the health of our economy is not only encouraging, but also refreshing given that so often in the past transport policy has been skewed toward public transport issues.
“However, industry was expecting a programme of improvements to be set in the context of a yearly plans and so far we have not been given a definitive date for any of the intended projects.”
The FTA highlights the following plans as particularly interesting:
? The Forth Replacement Crossing
? A82 targeted road improvements
? Route management
? Improved links to Loch Ryan ports
? A9 upgrade from Dunblane to Inverness
? Grangemouth Road and rail upgrades
? Dundee Northern Relief Road
? Park & Ride and Park & Choose
However, Scott went on to warn that while the STPR will bring overall benefits, more could still be done: “The Devil, as always, is in the detail and there are several caveats we would like to issue. For example, we would strongly hope that the proposal to reduce road congestion on the A77 will include a bypass for Maybole. We await further details with baited breath.”
