Case to upgrade major Dumfries and Galloway roads taken to Scottish Parliament

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The case to improve two of the region’s trunk roads has been taken to the Scottish Parliament.Campaigners were joined by politicians and the ferry operators, Stena Line, at Holyrood to push the case for improvements to both the A77 and A75.They met with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and Scotland’s Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth – despite her previously having said she was unavailable.Stranraer councillor and campaign team member Willie Scobie said: “We put our case to Ms Gilruth for both trunk roads to be improved to dual carriageway standards, not least because of the lack of investment over decades but, more importantly, because it was crucial for both the Scottish and Northern Ireland economies.“We were disappointed just how much the Transport Minister did not know about these trunk roads and how we challenged the accuracy of the spend that the minister had been given on these roads with the minister to come back to us and clarify.“What we did take from the meeting is that the minister is to look at her diary to fix a meeting in the early part of the New Year to meet again with us in Stranraer.”In the Holyrood chamber, Ms Gilruth said: “I had a very positive meeting with the action group.

I made time to meet the group and to listen to its concerns.“I had a wide-ranging conversation with the group, including, in relation to the UK Government.

A wide range of matters was discussed.”The Scottish Government’s Strategic Transport Review includes plans to realign the A75 at Springholm and Crocketford.And the UK Government’s Union Connectivity Review also hints at a significant upgrade for the route – despite roads being a devolved matter.As well as meeting with Mr Sarwar and Ms Gilruth, the campaigners also met with