Plans to fully dual the A96 are in doubt amid the Scottish Government spending squeeze and climate action targets.

SNP ministers announced proposals to dual the route between Aberdeen and Inverness in December 2011 with a target completion date of 2030.

But the project was delayed in summer 2021 after the SNP and Greens formed a government and a review of the scheme including a climate compatibility test was ordered.

Its findings were first expected in December 2022, but have still to be published meaning work on dualling the road has yet to start.

There is still no date for the review to be made public.

The Scottish Government said "the draft outcomes from the review, which includes the climate compatibility assessment and transport appraisal reports will be consulted on in the coming months, before a final decision can be reached."

In 2016 it was reported that the cost for dualling the road would be around £3 billion but that figure is expected to have increased since because of inflation and the rising price of building materials.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Government earlier this year announced a £200m reduction to its affordable housing budget because of a 10% cut to its capital budget over five years following the previous Chancellor's autumn statement. Ministers also face the challenge of meeting a climate change target to reach net zero by 2045.

Speaking to The Herald, Mark Ruskell, the Scottish Greens transport and environment spokesman, said it would be difficult for the Scottish Government to undertake its commitment to dual the A96 given pressures on its capital budget and its climate change targets.

"When we started off with the Bute House Agreement we talked about the A96 and we agreed that the case needed to be built up for retreating back from a full dualling; that there is a need to invest in the road but there needs to be a range of options including public transport. The climate compatibility test was a way of assessing those options and going forward with a sensible package of measures. But there has just been delay, delay and delay," said Mr Ruskell.

"We are at a point where if you want to spend thousands of millions of pounds on a road, where are you going to get the capital from and what is going to have to be dropped from the Scottish Government's capital budget, from other transport projects to make room for this road?

"They could go ahead with bypasses, bus priority lanes and even some rail enhancements for relatively small amounts of capital budget but if you want to do every inch of dualling [the A9] and the A9 you are talking about mega million pound projects. I don't think we are in that space anymore."

He added: "The Welsh Government several years ago did a review of road programmes, they set it against other priorities and they dropped some of the big road projects they were planning....We need that grown up conversation now in Scotland. It is obviously difficult as there is a constant drum beat to dual the A9 and A96. But the reality is there is just not the money for it.

"I don't think there was the money for it three years ago and there is certainly not the money now."

Mr Ruskell said he thought it was also the "wrong priority" for the Scottish Government in the Highlands at a time when he believed it should be making improvements on rail and bus infrastructure in the area.

"Like the financial budget the government has a carbon budget. It can only allow a certain amount of emissions in each sector of the economy, so it allows a rise in emissions in transport, it will have to reduce them in for example in buildings, land, food production.

"At the moment the government has a lot of hard choices on climate. It has to deliver a target on climate, it has to reduce emissions if it is to reach net zero by 2045. Transport is one of the few areas where emissions are growing. They are not going down. In that context it will be hard to allow a project to go ahead which will significantly increase emissions and build in car dependency."

Mr Ruskell called for improvements on the rail network between Perth and Inverness alongside A9.

"It is ridiculous you've got a line from Perth to Inverness running alongside the road where it takes over two and half hours for a train journey, that is absurd and we are at a point now where we need to see massive investment in connecting cities across Scotland. Part of that is investment in train," he said.

Earlier this month it emerged that the cost of the long overdue review into plans to fully dual the A96 had risen by almost £1 million since December, taking the total to almost £6m.

Separately, transport secretary Fiona Hyslop has said the Scottish Government has an "unwavering commitment" to dualling the A9 Inverness- Perth road by the end of 2035, despite the "complex nature" of the project.

Ministers had previously pledged the work would be completed on the A9 by the end of 2025, but were later forced to admit the work would not be done until a decade later.

A Transport Scotland spokesman said the government is committed to "improving the A96" plan and the draft outcomes from the review will be consulted on in the "coming months", before a final decision can be reached.

He said: “The Scottish Government remains committed to improving the A96 and will take forward an enhancements programme along the corridor that improves connectivity between surrounding towns, tackles congestion and addresses safety and environmental issues.

“The current plan is to fully dual the route and, as part of this process, we are undertaking a transparent, evidence-based review of the programme, which includes a Climate Compatibility Assessment and other statutory assessments.

 “The significant interest in the review’s initial consultation, with nearly 4,600 responses, generated 11,000 options to improve the corridor and it’s only right that appropriate time has been taken to examine and fully appraise these. It is expected that the draft outcomes from the Review, which includes the Climate Compatibility Assessment and Transport Appraisal reports will be consulted on in the coming months, before a final decision can be reached.

“The evidence-led transport appraisal that supports the A96 Review, along with the feedback from stakeholders, will assist in planning how transport improvements along the corridor are prioritised, and the review’s outcomes will inform our timescales going forward.”