A9 has longest delays in the UK 05 | 04 | 2011
SCOTLAND'S INFAMOUS A9, the long drive from Perth to Inverness, is known for its nightmarish delays. But the road's reputation has suffered another severe blow after it was confirmed it had experienced some of the worst traffic delays across the UK in March.
The road, which takes drivers through some of the most majestic countryside in the world — but is also potentially one of the most dangerous as it switches between single- and dual-carriageway, and creates immense frustration for drivers stuck behind a tail of slow-moving lorries or caravans — featured four times in the list of top 10 jams published by the TomTom HD Traffic Centre.
The worst delay was on Sunday, March 13, at 20.31 when there was a 20.2-mile queue from Inverness towards Loch Alvie, with a 19.5-mile delay in the opposite direction from Aviemore to Inverness.
The same stretch of road had a 19.9-mile queue at 22.58 on Tuesday, March 10, with a 19.5-mile delay between Kingussie and Calvine at 06.14 on Friday 11th.
The congestion on the A9 was beaten only by the notorious M25, which accounted for the top three jams in the country in March, with the M4 in fourth place. The worst delay overall was a 30.3 mile queue on the M25, from Junction 8 at Reigate to the Junction 16 interchange with the M40, at 08.56 on Monday, March 7.
And don't think these findings are just pie-in-the sky observations. TomTom HD Traffic is updated every two minutes. Delay and congestion information from 80 million mobile phones and one million connected TomTom devices across Europe is transmitted over the air to Go Live and Via Live satellite navigation devices.
If an alternative route is available that will get you to your destination faster, HD Traffic will suggest it. The big problem is, of course, if you're stuck on the A9 …. well there just isn't another alternative. That is, of course, until the Scottish Government taps Westminster for the cash to dual the whole road.
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Jim McGill