INVITATIONS have been extended to UK Ministers to travel the A75 and A77 ‘roads from hell’ to see how grim they are.
Dumfries and Galloway MP John Cooper has invited the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Department of Transport to the area.
And in a Westminster Hall debate on Wednesday, he also highlighted the 96-mile diversion caused by overnight works between Newton Stewart and Castle Douglas, describing it as a ‘record’.
Mr Cooper said: “A journey which normally takes 40 minutes will become a two-and-a-half hour epic.
“Maintenance is welcome, but diversions such as this treat the public with contempt. Surely we can do better?”
Acknowledging that responsibility for transport sits with Holyrood, the MP said he was raising the issue at Westminster because the A75 and A77 are critical to Dumfries and Galloway, but also have national importance.
He added: “The A75 – grandly titled ‘the EuroRoute’, though it’s often more akin to a cart track – has significance for every one of our constituents.
“Sir Peter Hendy’s Union Connectivity Review identified the A75 as the key link between Northern Ireland, Scotland and England as it serves the busy ferry port of Cairnryan.
“Estimates vary, but perhaps as much as 60 per cent of Northern Ireland’s trade grinds along that road.
“And the other road which services the port is the A77. It too could be a record breaker for it had, according to the A77 Action Group, three closures for road accidents and 161 for works – and that’s only between January and September. It was shut on Monday and again on Tuesday morning because of a lorry on fire, and another off the road.
“The A77 still hangs by a thread in Glen App, where literally years of roadworks have failed to cure a landslip risk.”
The Conservative politician revealed he had already asked Scottish Secretary Ian Murray to drive the A75 and A77, but he he was too busy, so he invited someone from the Department of Transport to visit instead.
