Local MSP Brian Whittle has continued his campaign for road and rail improvements in South West Scotland, with a debate at Holyrood that saw MSPs from across the parties back his calls for investment in the area.
South Scotland MSP Brian, who has been leading the campaign to improve rail links and roads including the A77, A76 and A75 since his election in 2016, highlighted the value of good transport connections to the economy, and criticised the SNP for failing to deliver on past promises of investment.
The Scottish Conservative also voiced concerns that failure to deal with traffic chokepoints like the Bellfield Interchange was holding back the local economy and putting off businesses. The Scottish Government were also criticised during the debate for their decision not to cooperate with a UK wide review of transport links between the four nations of the United Kingdom.
Several politicians representing the area for the Scottish Conservatives, Labour and the SNP took part in the debate. Despite some political disagreements, there was broad support for Brian’s motion calling for improvements to transport links. The motion also highlighted the need for more efforts to support active travel like walking and cycling and the importance of boosting numbers of electric vehicle chargers in the area.
Speaking after the debate, Brian Whittle MSP said:
“It’s no accident that I spend so much time talking about Ayrshire’s transport links. The A77 is the main route for freight traffic between Ireland and Scotland’s Central belt. We have some of the best coastline and countryside in Scotland, but we don’t have the walking and cycling routes that many tourists are looking for.
The Covid pandemic has only strengthened the argument for investment here. Not only because Ayrshire’s economy needs good transport links to help its recovery, but with more people thinking about moving out of cities in the future, we need good infrastructure to make the area an attractive place to live.
It’s time the Scottish Government stopped pretending spending money on maintenance was anything more than a sticking plaster solution and committed to bringing Ayrshire’s transport network into the 21st century.”
