Galloway and West Dumfries MSP Finlay Carson has called on the Scottish Government to invest in the A75 following last week’s Autumn Statement.
As a result of the measures announced in the Statement, the Scottish Government will receive an uplift of £800 million to spend on infrastructure projects – money that could be used to boost productivity and promote growth and jobs in Scotland.
Mr Carson, who made investment in the region’s infrastructure one of his key election priorities is now calling on the Scottish Government to use some of that money to fund bypasses for Springholm and Crocketford.
He said “The Scottish Government will receive a significant amount of money to spend on this Country’s infrastructure network, directly as a result of the UK Government’s investment in the rest of the UK.
“Following August’s ‘missed opportunity’ at the Transport Summit in Dumfries, Humza Yousaf now has the perfect chance to demonstrate his commitment to this Region and my constituents by spending some of that money on a bypass for Springholm and Crocketford.
“The residents of both those villages have been making the case for such bypasses for a long time and it beggars belief that their calls have fallen on deaf ears.
“For years, the Scottish Government have found the money to invest in other major roads across the Country but seem to have forgotten about our region. It is time for this disparity of spending to be redressed”.
The call for more spending on the A75 also follows the Scottish Parliament’s Petitions Committee’s discussion of the petition for a commitment to major upgrades to the A75, which was raised on behalf of the ‘Dual the A75’ campaign group.
The petition has already been heard twice and has so far been well received.
Mr Carson attended last week’s Petitions Committee with Matt Halliday of the campaign group, where it was agreed that the Committee would write to the Transport Minister seeking further information on the timescales when a decision would be made.
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