Caithness motorist left fuming by monster tailbacks
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A MOTORIST from Caithness has spoken of his "nightmare journey" to Inverness Airport which resulted in his future daughter-in-law missing a flight to London due to over-running roadworks.
Philip Butler blasted the lack of information put out by Transerv Scotland to motorists and the media about the obstruction at Longman Roundabout, near the Kessock Bridge, which led to horrendous tailbacks on Monday.
Contractors have been constructing a new slip road connecting the A9 to Stadium Road. It was scheduled to be closed between 7pm on Sunday until 7am on Monday to allow the extra lane to be built.
But the morning deadline was not met and the south-bound carriageway was reduced to one-way until noon on Monday.
Mr Butler was taking Natalie Long (24) from his home in Occumster to the airport so she could catch a flight to Gatwick to meet her mother.
The pair were then flying on to Antigua, where they were planning to celebrate Miss Long’s 25th birthday.
Leaving at 7am, the pair were making good time and managed to reach the outskirts of Inverness when they encountered a tailback of traffic at 9am.
Mr Butler (58) said that it took them more than two-and-a-half hours to get through the two-mile tailback, by which time Miss Long had missed her 10.45am flight.
"We actually saw the plane flying past Inverness as we were still stuck in the tailback," he told the Caithness Courier.
"We were aware that there were construction works and the website said there would only be a 35-minute delay.
"But once we got there, we were brought to a standstill and the website increased the delay time to 45 minutes, then it did not give an estimated time at all.
"We were stuck on the dual carriageway for over two hours to travel less than two miles and there was no way we could get off.
"If there had been advance signs warning us of the long delays, we could have travelled via Beauly and bypassed the roadworks but there was no warning."
Miss Long was then forced to take an 11-hour train journey from Inverness to Euston Station, arriving at midnight on Monday, before catching her flight to the Caribbean on Tuesday.
The rail fare cost her a whopping £157 compared to the £30 concession fare she had purchased for a 90-minute flight.
Scotland TranServ apologised to motorists affected by the delays and thanked the public for their patience.
A spokesman said: "Scotland TranServ will make every effort to ensure that the public are kept informed and that any disruption to travellers is kept to the absolute minimum and there is no repeat of Monday’s events."
It is feared that the traffic chaos experienced on Monday could lead to more problems when lane closures on the Kessock Bridge are implemented next month as part of a £13.2 million resurfacing project.
