Joan McAlpine MSP has welcomed a commitment from the Scottish Government that further A75 upgrades will be given consideration as part of a major transport review.
The local MSP was commenting following today’s (Thursday) parliamentary questions when Transport Minister Humza Yousaf MSP agreed with Ms McAlpine that local authorities should feed into the Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR) to identify Scotland’s transport infrastructure priorities. The politicians also agreed on the economic importance of the A75 between Dumfries and Gretna in particular.
Ms McAlpine asked the government:
“Does the government agree with me that it’s vitally important appropriate projects for the a75 and other roads are identified locally and put forward for the STPR for consideration and furthermore does he acknowledge that prioritising the stretch of the A75 between Dumfries and Gretna would bring about the greatest economic benefit to the area?”
In his response, Mr Yousaf said “We’re open-minded to suggestions that will come forward in the STPR. In terms of that stretch of road that she talks about I can confirm that that will be given consideration when we do the review of the STPR.”
Mr Yousaf repeatedly paid tribute to Ms McAlpine’s efforts to drive forward transport improvements in the region, remarking that “We had a good Dumfries and Galloway Transport Summit organised and called for by my colleague Joan McAlpine, where we have ongoing actions which the member and the public can keep on top of.”
Ms McAlpine recently wrote to Mr Yousaf, following her latest meeting with the local transport activists behind the campaign to Dual the A75.
In her letter she stressed that priority should be given to extensive new dualling on the A75 from Dumfries to Gretna and a Dumfries southern bypass.
