Amey faces inquiry after closure of M9

Amey’s trunk road contract for southern Scotland is at the centre of an investigation by the Performance Audit Group (PAG) after a section of the M9 was closed for two hours to allow extra gritting to take place.

Transport Scotland, the Scottish Executive’s transport agency, has asked PAG to carry out an inquiry into the incident during the rush hour on the morning of Wednesday 4 January.

It will look to determine whether Amey had carried out enough gritting on the stretch after icy conditions forced some vehicles to shunt into one another and others to slide off the road.

Results from the PAG investigation are due back by the end of this week.

Amey holds two trunk road contracts in the south of Scotland for the Executive. In December, it secured another five years of its contract in the south-west through a round of tendering. The south-east contract is due to be retendered soon.

A Transport Scotland spokeswoman told CJ: “We are concerned over the closure on the M9 and, as a result, we have asked the independent body, PAG, to investigate the circumstances surrounding the closure.”

The spokeswoman added that, depending on the results of the inquiry, Amey could face financial penalties under the terms of the contract and will be expected to put procedures in place to prevent a re-occurrence.

The Automobile Association said there was no excuse for the stretch of road being closed.
Willie Watson, Amey’s service director for Scotland, responded: “Amey receives a daily forecast from the Meteorological Office, which is used to determine when and where precautionary salting treatment is required. The forecast received on 3 January advised that the minimum road surface temperature overnight was to be -2oC with increasing risk of freezing fog patches.

“Consequently, precautionary salting was carried out on the full route of the M9 during Tuesday, in advance of the forecast freezing conditions. In addition, a patrol salting vehicle covered the M9 route from 10pm on Tuesday and applied additional spot salt treatments throughout the night, where considered necessary.

“Carriageway temperatures were consistently below zero during the night. On Wednesday morning, road sensors conf-irmed salt was present on the carriageway.”