A9 Road Closure

On 5th January, after a fatal accident on the A9 near Auchterarder, the A9 was closed from Broxden roundabout to Greenloaning for about 18 hours to allow police to investigate. This was quite understandable and correct as it was necessary to divert the most of the traffic via Methven, Crieff, Muthill and Braco to get back on to the A9.

Suggestion

However, it would have helped local traffic greatly if a policeman could have been stationed at either end of the blockage to allow authorised entry to traffic wishing to access dwellings on the 12 mile stretch between Broxden and Aberuthven and the 5 mile stretch between Greenloaning and Loaninghead. Although we would all agree that roads have to be closed on occasions to allow investigations I feel that the police do not give enough consideration to minimising the disruption to other road users

Posted by anonymous over 2 years ago
1844 Views

Police Response: Re: A9 Road Closure

I don't cover Auchterarder area but by collegue Jason Salisbury who does is currently off so I will respond on his behalf.

Thanks for your valuable feedback. When Tayside Police are dealing with these tragedies on the road, the subsequent road closures and diversions are carefully managed in partnership with Bear Scotland Ltd and Perth and Kinross Council. This is to enable crash scene investigators to examine the scene in a safe and controlled environment. Whenever possible, we try to minimise disruption to the road network as little as possible whilst at the same time balancing the needs of the police investigation. However, we have taken note of your observations and you can be assured that they will be discussed with our partners at Bear Scotland and Perth and Kinross Council so that in the future we can put in place diversions that take into consideration local access wherever possible.

Posted by Morven Ramsay over 2 years ago

Police Response: Re: A9 Road Closure

Thank you for taking the time to provide this feedback. As you will be aware, Tayside Police have to deal with too many serious injury and fatal road crashes on the A9. We have to balance the need to properly investigate such incidents with the inconvenience this causes to the public when road closures or diversions are in place. The point you make is valid and I will pass this on to the person in charge of our roads policing section to consider if we could do things differently to minimise disruption, particularly to local residents seeking access. Thank you very much for taking the time to contact MyPolice. Your views will help us improve the service we give to the public.

Posted by Gordon Scobbie over 2 years ago