Update on A7 Action Plan

The focus is to deliver immediate improvements and an initial investment of more than £240,000 is being made.

Some of the ideas put forward by the A7 Action Plan fall outside the scope of the current work programme but Transport Scotland is due to start work on a pre-appraisal study to help determe the future transport needs in The Borders. This initial work will examine the case for extending the Borders Railway along with improvements to the A1, A7 and A68 and will then be used as input to the Strategic Transport Projects Review.

Transport Minister Humza Yousaf said:

“A comprehensive review of the A7 Action plan has been completed by Transport Scotland and we are updating campaigners as to how we can make timely improvements to the safety and operation of the route.

“The programme of work being put forward in the coming months will address many of the issues brought forward by the A7 Action Group and our commitment to the A7 is on-going. Our annual maintenance programme, which has seen investment of more than £23 million since 2007, continues and the A7 is reviewed annually to establish where safety improvements can be made.

“Transport Scotland will be holding further discussions with the A7 Action Group on progress to make sure that they are kept fully up to date and that representatives are given the opportunity to raise any concerns.

“Some of the items on the Action Plan fall outside the scope of our current programmes but nothing is being ruled out for the future. We are undertaking a review of the National Transport Strategy and Strategic Transport Projects Review within the current parliament to establish what transport in Scotland should look like in the coming years. The process will include the opportunity for stakeholders, including the A7 Action Group, to contribute their views.

“The initial work for the Borders Transport Corridors study is getting underway to examine the case for extending the Borders Railway along with improvements to the A1, A7 and A68, with emerging findings to be reported by the end of 2017.”