A key Highland road has been closed over 80 times in just three years, the Scottish Express can reveal. The A9 between Inverness and Scrabster is a lifeline link for people living on the west coast of Sutherland and Caithness.
But they have faced huge disruption since the start of 2022 with 83 recorded closures of the route. Over 40% have been on the Kessock Bridge just outside Inverness, the majority of which are due to major police incidents, but closures have been recorded all along the 112-mile route.
Campaigners say the figures, obtained through Freedom of Information legislation, highlight the situation faced by NHS patients in the north of Scotland. Peter Todd, 42, from Thurso, who requested the data, said centralisation of health services under the SNP had left thousands of Highlanders facing brutal journeys to Inverness, often in bad weather.
Speaking to the Scottish Express, Mr Todd urged First Minister John Swinney to visit the area to see the problems himself. He added: “John Swinney’s party have been the architects of centralisation which thousands and thousands of patients each year from Caithness and Sutherland are forced to do the 100-mile torturous journey to Inverness hospitals.
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“From pregnant women to mental health patients to children accessing an orthodontist – which they have to do all sorts of weather.” The longest closure during the three-year period came on January 18 last year when the road was shut for over 16 hours between Helmsdale and Latheron.
The most recent closure was on December 19 when the road was closed for three hours south of Brora after a two-car crash. There were 24 closures in 2022, 35 in 2023 and a further 24 in 2024.
Many of the closures were due to police incidents on the Kessock Bridge
(Image: Loop Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Scottish Conservative Highland and Island MSP Edward Mountain said it was “unacceptable” that locals were facing such a high number of road closures in the past three years. He added: “The blame for this lies squarely with successive SNP transport ministers, who have promised upgrades for years but delivered nothing.
“Their incompetence is putting lives at risk. Out-of-touch SNP ministers just don’t understand how important this road is for rural Scots who rely on it to get to work or take relatives to hospital.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “The 2025-26 Budget, if approved by Parliament, will provide a record £21.7 billion for Health & Social Care, including a commitment to provide £16.2 billion for NHS Boards to deliver key services. We expect Boards to plan and deliver services to meet the needs of local populations, our role is to set the national policy and direction and create the conditions for local implementation.
“This is particularly relevant in rural and island areas where we know that sustainability can be challenging. Sustainable service reform requires collaboration across our NHS and therefore we have convened a rural and island board-led working group to consider how reform can improve sustainability of care, maximise access and ensure equity of outcomes for all communities.
“As part of the work, the group will seek to define ‘core services’ that should be delivered locally, balancing these with the need for specialised care which may be provided outside the local area where clinically appropriate to ensure the best outcomes for patients.”
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