A long-awaited road dualling is to be sped up on the A9, where 60 people have died since 2007.

The Scottish Government has announced plans to speed up the timetable for the £3bn programme on the Perth-Inverness road.

The 113-mile road is all to be brought up to dual carriageway standard starting from 2015, two years ahead of schedule.

Alex Neil, the cabinet secretary for infrastructure and capital investment, visited the Luncarty overbridge north of Perth yesterday to make the announcement.

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But campaigners pointed out that the target date for the extensive programme remained at 2025.

Murdo Fraser, the MSP for mid-Scotland and Fife, said: "No one expects the A9 to be dualled overnight but the sooner we start dualling the road, the sooner we will see a road fit for the 21st century. We now need to have the ambition to bring forward the completion date as 2025 is too long to wait.

"The SNP pledged in their 2007 manifesto to dual the A9 between Perth and Inverness in its entirety. We have already waited five years to get to this stage and we cannot afford to wait another 13 years for completion as this road is claiming too many lives every year. Dualling the A9 is one of the priority investments in Scotland and will be good for drivers, good for the economy, good for communities, good for connectivity, good for haulage and good for Scotland."

(NE/GK)