A construction contract worth over £10 million to extend a section of dual carriageway on a lifeline road for the north of Scotland, is set to go ahead with the appointment of a contractor.

Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson announced that John Paul Construction will build the Transport Scotland funded project, which will provide a further 3.2 km of dual carriageway on the A9 at Crubenmore.

Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson said: "The Scottish Government is committed to dualling the A9 from Perth to Inverness on a phased basis. As a signal of our commitment, earlier this year the Finance Secretary announced that we would use some of the budget consequentials to fast track the work to extend the dualled section on the A9 at Crubenmore.

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"I am delighted to announce the selection of the contractor and that this project will soon be moving to construction, bringing widespread safety and economic benefits to communities and businesses the length of Scotland."

Located to the south of Newtonmore in Glen Truim, the A9 Crubenmore Dual Carriageway Northern Extension is one of a number of improvement schemes recommended for development to help achieve safer operation and more reliable journey times for the A9.

On completion, the scheme will support businesses, communities and tourism throughout Scotland by improving the access to and from Inverness and the Highlands, giving additional guaranteed overtaking opportunities in both directions and reducing both journey times and the number of convoy incidences.

The A9 is the longest trunk road in Scotland and serves many different users, from remote communities to key strategic traffic between the central belt and the north of the country. Work is due to start on site this autumn, with completion anticipated in late summer of 2011.

(GK/KMcA)