The pilot project commences on the A9 in Scotland on Tuesday 28th October and will raise the speed limit on the single carriageway sections between Perth and Inverness from 40 to 50mph for heavy goods vehicles which have a laden weight exceeding 7.5 tonnes.
The trial, which will last 36 months and is to be introduced at the same time as a new average speed camera system, is aimed at improving the operational performance of the route.
Malcolm Bingham, FTA’s head of road network management policy, said: ‘FTA is in full support of the 50mph speed limit trial for HGVs on the A9 and we look forward to its introduction on 28 October. We welcome the opportunity for such a trial as we believe the current differential in speed limits between HGVs and other vehicles increases the road safety risk.’
The Scottish Government has said it is committed to dualling the route between Perth and Inverness by 2025 and the pilot is part of wider engineering, enforcement and education measures being delivered in advance of the dualling programme.
The trial will also come under focus at an FTA Transport Manager conference taking place in Dunblane on 29th October, the day after the trial begins. The event will include Minister for Transport, Keith Brown MSP, as the guest speaker (subject to parliamentary business).
