A75: The near 100-mile-long Dumfries and Galloway road targeted by new dualling campaign after fatal crashes

A key route between England and the Northern Ireland ferry ports in Dumfries and Galloway should be fast-tracked to become a dual carriageway following a series of fatal crashes, the Scottish Conservatives have urged.

The call follows at least five deaths on the A75 between Gretna and Stranraer this year.

The single carriageway A75 is a key freight route which spans Dumfries and Galloway | Stuart Walker/SWSTA

The single carriageway road, which is nearly 100 miles long, links the M6 with Cairnryan, from where Stena Line and P&O operate to Belfast and Larne.

Transport Scotland last year announced work on options to bypass the last villages on the road - Springholm and Crocketford - thanks to funding from the UK government, even though it is not responsible for roads in Scotland.

However, South Scotland Conservative MSP Craig Hoy and Galloway and West Dumfries MSP Finlay Carson launched a campaign on Thursday for emergency legislation to dual “key sections” by 2031, and the rest “as quickly as possible thereafter”.

Fatalities this year include a 77-year-old woman who was a passenger in a car that collided with a van on May 28 at Auchenlarie, between Newton Stewart and Castle Douglas.

Weeks earlier, a 67-year-old female car driver died in a collision with another car on May 3 between Castle Douglas and Bridge of Dee.

At least three people were taken to hospital after two crashes on the road this month, between East Riggs and Gretna, and near Creetown.

New temporary average speed cameras on a seven-mile stretch between Newton Street and Creetown are due to start operating in mid-August to boost camera van enforcement.

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The MSPs said the proposed emergency law would include measures to speed up environmental impact assessments, which they said could hold up work, and to establish “infrastructure investment partnerships” to help attract private investment.

Mr Carson said: “As someone who has lived along the A75 my whole life, I know just how important it is and how desperately we need to see it fully dualled. The SNP are full of warm words, but continue to treat the A75 as a low priority.

“Motorists’ lives are at risk every time they drive this road due to the SNP’s inaction. It is disgraceful they fail to recognise the importance of the A75 for the local and national economy, given the port at Cairnryan.

“If this road isn’t finally dualled, then there is a threat of businesses taking their trade elsewhere, which would be a hammer blow for south-west Scotland.”

Mr Hoy said: “Despite sustained calls from local campaigners, communities and businesses, successive SNP transport ministers have been asleep at the wheel and failed to deliver the upgrades they promised.”

Transport Scotland said it was focusing on the Springholm and Crocketford upgrades, where work was “proceeding at pace” on the design and assessment of options.

Crocketford is one of the last two villages on the A75 to be bypassed | Stuart Walker/SWSTA

The body’s spokesperson said: “We will continue to press the UK government to support future stages of this project, which is vital for improving the road connection between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

“The strategic importance of the A75 to Scotland’s economy is recognised by the [Scottish] Government. It provides a critical link to the markets in the rest of the UK and Europe. That is why we have already completed six major roads improvement projects with a total value of over £50 million.”

These included creating a series of overtaking opportunities - near Newton Stewart; between Barfill and Bettyknowes, west of Dumfries; between Cairntop and Barlae, west of Newton Stewart; between Hardgrove and Kinmount, west of Annan; between Plantinrg End and Drumflower, east of Stranraer; and the nearby Dunragit bypass.