The question of noise is one of the most likely to vex residents and visitors to the site, especially at the Memorial Cairn where the annual commemorative service is held.
Examination of noise, sources of noise, types of noise and methods of measuring noise took up a disproportionate amount of time at the Inquiry. None of the objectors was satisfied and it would be hard to believe that Transport Scotland thought it had done a good job in convincing us.
All the documentation relating to the evidence can be found on the DPEA website. Follow our guide on the current Inquiry page. The story relating to our acoustic concerns before the Inquiry are now documented on the Archive section of this website. Look in the margin on the right and click on the Noise page there.
The question of noise impact is further complicated by new Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region that were issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2018. The latest guidelines recommend a greater reduction in noise levels from road traffic noise than the level which Transport Scotland uses. If the new guidelines were applied, it would result in more onerous noise mitigation being adopted than is the case in the current proposal.
Transport Scotland points out that there is unlikely to be a rapid conclusion as to when, or indeed if, the recommendations for road traffic noise levels contained in the WHO’s 2018 report would be adopted in their current form.
Scottish Ministers have a responsibility for the protection and improvement of the population’s health. The National Transport Strategy (NTS2) which was published in February 2020 reaffirms this.
The original completion date for the entire A9 dualling project from Perth to Inverness was 2025. It looked impossible to achieve that at the time of the Inquiry in January 2020. Since the coronavirus epidemic stopped all normal economic activity including construction on the second section of the project, it looks even less likely that the remaining 9 sections will be dualled by 2025.
Economic conditions post-Covid19 will inform all investment decisions. We would like the Scottish Ministers to consider the WHO guidance as a matter of urgency so that the largest transport infrastructure project in the country affords the highest level of health protection to everyone who lives beside the road or visits sites, such as the Memorial Cairn, in the A9 corridor.
